Help with Nursing!

Hi E.,
I have found that drinking hot tea has helped tremendously. I don't know if it matters much about what kind of tea it is, though my mother has told me that it is better if you can get real tea to brew instead of the tea bags. I just drank unsweetened green tea. You can get the leaves at any oriental store. Good luck!

Hi E.. I am a mother of three and what always worked for me was after each (or some) feedings, pump for 3-5 minutes, until you seem to be producing more. Maybe someone can give the baby the formula,while you pump. It really worked well. Also loading up on the water works, and I know some days you feel you can't drink anymore, but it really does help. K.

I too had low milk supply issues. The thing that absolutely helped the most was buying a good electric pump (I own Medela), and pumping some between feedings, and even pumping right after feedings for the first couple of weeks of increasing it.
Good luck!

Here's my advice: Nurse, nurse, nurse! The very best thing you can do to bring up your supply is nurse. Make sure you're drinking plenty of water, don't let yourself get dehydrated. It's actually fairly rare to have too low of a supply, but I've felt what you're feeling now (and took the fenugreek, etc) but it wasn't all that necessary. Supply and demand are what is really going to help. Of course, a bowl of oatmeal every morning doesn't hurt either. :)
Good luck!

Hi E.! I'm sorry you are having trouble with your supply. That is so emotionally hard on a woman. You feel this huge biological urge to feed your baby with your milk, but your body just isn't responding. It tears you up. At least it did me. I struggled with milk supply with both of my kids. So if you're having a hard time emotionally, please know you're not alone. You're doing a great job. JUST KEEEP AT IT!

The three things that helped my supply the most were 1) drinking more water. Although this seems pretty obvious, I realized that I really wasn't focusing on my own fluid intake with all the other things I was worried about. I got a jug of ice water and kept it with me all the time. I made sure I went through it 3 times a day, and then I knew if I was getting enough water. It always helped if I kept up on the water. 2) Nurse more often or pump after you nurse. Even though you may seem dry after nursing, you can usually get more milk out by pumping. And then it signals your body to produce more. So even if you supplement with formula for the baby's sake, keep pumping after each nursing session for 5 minutes. 3) REGLAN. If you're not opposed to medications, get your doctor to prescribe you Reglan. NOTHING helped me as much as Reglan did with both kids. It is a digestive medication, but the pleasant side effect for nursing mothers is increased milk production. When I started Reglan both times, my milk came in so strong it was like the first milk, all over again. I had to pump every 2 hours just to keep myself from exploding! It is a wonder drug, if you ask me.

Finally, give yourself a couple of months. It took to 2-3 months before my supply really came in well with both kids. And also, in the end, dont' feel like you're a failure if you have to give up nursing. You're not a failture or a bad mom. Everyone's bodies are not the same, and for some women no matter what they do, they won't be able to produce enough milk. I had to quit nursing by 6 months with both kids because I just went dry. It's emotionally HARD to stop nursing. And a lot of women will try to make you feel bad about it. But in the end, getting your baby fed, and making sure you yourself are not on a constant emotional roller coaster because of your milk supply are more important. If you have to stop nursing so you don't go crazy, IT'S OK. Good luck to you.

I too had trouble providing enough milk for my baby. I took the funugreek, but didn't really notice a good change until I started eating and drinking more, and I would nurse my baby constantly. I felt like I was a pacifier for 3 days, but it did the trick. There are still times when my baby will go through a growing spurt and once again I have to start feeding him constantly for a day or two to get the milk supply up. Also, make sure you're getting some good sleep. Even if it means you're taking short naps with your baby all day.

Good luck to you!

Gotta go quick cuz I'm holding my six week old :-)
didn't read other responses but here are some unusual things that worked for me with my three year old:
1. Vitex herb (also known as chaste tree berry) Balances your hormones and helps increase milk supply
2. Acupuncture--specifically small intestine one on the edge of your pinky finger
3. Get a chiropractic adjustment--T4 houses the nerve for the breast--if it is out of alignment it effects milk supply
4. more "normal" stuff: alfalfa, b-vitamins, more milk tincture and nurse, nurse, nurse!!!

Hope this helps--good luck!!
J.

I had a similar problem when my son was born. Unfortunately, my milk never really came in. Another thing you can try is beer. The nurses told me that the yeast in beer helps to build milk supply. You can use nonalcoholic beer so that it doesn't have any negative affects on the baby. Also, they had me pump after nursing while feeding my son the formula. It can get a bit tiresome after awhile, but it did help somewhat. Good luck!

Hi E. - Clearly you have received a ton of great advice to date! My experience was very similar to yours, and the problem with b-feeding, then supplementing, then pumping is that you are doing a triple feed relative to those lucky moms that can get away with just b-feeding.

As a bit of background, I was first successful at getting my pumped milk supply high enough that I could use milk instead of formula as a supplement. About 2 or 3 weeks after that, I was able to discontinue the supplement in full. All of the tips referenced by others are items that helped me (including the herbs, oatmeal, root beer, real beer, etc.) That said, I'm convinced that my supply issue was centered around a poor suck / latch by my son that wasn't resolved until we tried the supplemental nursing system (SNS) mentioned by a previous reply. The great thing about the SNS is that it gives you a ton of bang for your buck ...you are able to combine the supplementing process with the b-feeding, thereby eliminating 1 out of 3 steps in the feeding process. As well, the SNS helps to teach your young one how to nurse. Their ability to effectively nurse is critical for the supply and demand concept that everbody talks about to work.

Hi E.,

Looks like you have gotten lots of responses but here is another tip. When I was nursing I used Melaleuca's Prenatal vitamins and had plenty of milk. I know of other mothers who have said that the vitamins actually increased their milk supply. I know that you have lots of other things to try but if you are interested in trying them let me know.

Find a lactation consultant ilca.org or a La Leche League leader llli.org and trouble shoot with someone trained to give accurate information specific to your situation. your doctor can prescribe metoclopramide (reglan) or domperidone to jump start your supply--if herbs aren't working you might benefit from prescription medication. If your baby isn't sucking correctly, or has an oral weakness, herbs or medication won't help until you find someone to evaluate and help your baby nurse effectively. Oh--we know that moms who drink too much water actually reduce their supply, so just drink to thirst, and add some drinks with calories rather than over-doing water. Good job hanging in there--now find a real-life body to help!!

nurse on one side...pump on the other side right after you experience letdown. Then let the baby drink the hind milk from the breast you pumped. Then switch back to the first breast every 5-10 minutes or so.

you can also try pumping every 3 hours (day and night). I toss the extra milk, but you can store it for evenings out or growth spurts.

Hi E., I haven't tried this tip myself, but it's worth a shot: I recently bought a bottle of liquid chlorophyl at a health food store in Idaho Falls. It is supposed to be helpful for a variety of health issues, and the store had a handout with a long list of its benefits, including helping nursing moms' milk supply. It is a concentrate and you just put a teaspoon or so in a glass of water. It's actually pleasantly mint tasting, even though at first it seems wierd to drink really green water! I can't remember the name of the health food store I was at, but it's the one right next door to Gandolfo's deli, on the road that goes up to Winco. Just off 17th. I hope this is helpful! Also, I remember from when I was nursing, drinking lots and lots of water helps, and with the herbs you are trying, herbs typically take a long time to show any results, so don't give up on them. Good luck!

My 1st baby was the same way...I was told to only nurse for 15 minutes on each side by the lactation nurse at the hospital. Once I contacted the local LLL they told me to nurse on demand as long as baby wanted, as soon as I started doing that we were good to go. My milk supply built up and he gained weight right away. Also rest, no stress, and lots of water is always good. Make sure you are calm and relaxed when nursing. Hope this will help. L.

My first question is have you asked your doctor and the baby's doctor for advice? I have had friends who just couldn't produce enough milk no matter they tried and breast fed and supplemented with formula as any breastfeeding is better than none for the first 6 months. But, this has to be a your choice situation to choose what is best and going to cause you the least amount of frustration so that you can take care of your baby. My advice is to talk to your pediatrician and physician.

Hey I had some problems with low milk supply too. You have to make sure your drinking a TON of water and eating right! Make sure your getting a LOT of rest as well. You know everyone says sleep when the baby sleeps.......you have to! If that still isn't working you might have to start pumping after every feeding for 15to 30min which I used as the very last resort since pumping is never fun! =)
Good luck I hope it gets easier for you!

T. B.
Team Leader
Bubble Goddess Bath Company
"Natural Bath Products For Your Inner Goddess"
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Ask your docter about Regalin. Its safe for baby and helps you produce milk immediatly.

What Jeanne F. said earlier is right! My mother-in-law told me to make myself milk shakes with regular (not low-fat) ice cream. It helped a lot! I was trying to cut my calories to lose some of the baby weight, but even though I ate milk shakes and ice cream, I still lost weight as long as I was breast feeding. It sure demands a lot of calories to naturally feed our precious babies, but it is so worth it! Good luck to you!

I am pretty sure someone else already said this but NURSE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN! Also, buy a good pump and pump in between feedings. I am going to be honest...it is not fun for the first couple of days, but you should see improvement if you are diligent about it. Make sure you are drinking A LOT of water. When I was nursing my son, at the very least, I drank 64oz a day. Keep at it. Nursing can be difficult but I know many women that stuck with it and got through it. There is always the option of calling a lactation consultant too. They usually are very helpful. Good luck! And keep trying!

Nursing is all about supply and demand. If she is only nursing for about 20 min on each side and then still being supplemented I would suggest pumping in between feedings. I know that you will be low durring your normal feeding times but if your body thinks the baby is eating every hour instead of every two hours your supply should increase to supplement the need. Good luck.

Hi E..

I am sorry you are struggling with nursing. I have also gone through the agony of having a low milk supply. I worked with three different lactation consultants and two midwives before I finally got it figured out. The good news is, it can get better! They say confidence is the key to breastfeeding. It is definately a big component.

You have gotten a lot of good advice that I won't repeat, but wanted to add a couple of things that I didn't see mentioned in the other responses. Goat's Rue herb (tincture) is the best herb to boost supply. I got mine through Wish Garden Herbs ###-###-####). In addition to increasing my calorie intake, drinking more, and trying to pump after most feeds, I used a supplemental nursing system, aka SNS,(by Medela). It holds formula in a small bottle between your breasts and has two tiny tubes that you tape along each nipple. When the baby nurses, she will stimulate your nipples to produce more milk while still getting the reward of food. You want to avoid using the bottle to give supplements. Use the SNS for all feedings that you need to supplement. By using a bottle at all, you are not giving your body the chance to respond to your baby's needs.

The SNS is rather annoying to use and clean each time, but it is the only thing that can break the cycle of bottle use. After your body experiences the benefit of additional nipple stimulation for a couple of weeks, you should be able to stop using it and be ready for exclusive breastfeeding. It is worth it!

I would also recommend looking at Dr. Jack Newman's website thebirthden.com. I contacted him through his website and he responded with some really great information. He is a breastfeeding specialist (strange that a man is a breast expert, hmmm)out of Ontario and is very knowledgeable and helpful.

It took me until my daughter was 11 weeks old to really feel confident in what I was doing. Please don't give up. I felt like quitting every day, but am so happy now that I stuck with it. She now gains weight normally and is very satisfied after every feeding. It is the best gift you can give your baby. I wish you luck!

M.

E.,

I am sorry that you are having difficulties with your milk supply. I have heard great things about Motherlove's More Milk Plus. they have several formulas, the standard one comes in an alcohol based tincture, a non-alcohol-based tincture, and vegetarian capsules. They all work about the same, but from what I understand, the alcohol based one is the best (the alcohol in the tincture will not affect you or baby). If you can't find any in your local area, I can ship some to you as I sell these product with my business. If you want to read more about motherlove's products, you can go to www.motherlove.com Tinctures are more effective than teas, so this might be just the boost that you need.
I hope you and your baby have a long, wonderful nursing relationship!
H. Gaitten
www.naturalchoices4baby.com

Nurse, nurse, nurse and then nurse again. It's the ultimate supply and demand system. The more often you nurse the more your body will be stimulated to produce milk. Also try to eliminate anything that causes your baby to suckle on anything except you, primarily pacifiers and bottles (either expressed milk or formula). They can be reintroduced later if you like. Try to minimize the supplements and nurse more often. I would also make sure that the weight chart your baby is being measured against is for breastfed babies and not formula fed babies. They vary greatly early on. I struggled with low supply off and on and this was always the best help for me. Herbs are fine but they won't have the same results as constant nursing. Good luck and don't give up, it's worth it.

There are several things you can try:

1) Eat Ice Cream...a bowl each evening....not the fat free kind though....real ice cream....not only will it help increase your milk supply, but it will have a higher nutritional fat content that will help your baby gain any needed weight....now is NOT the time to worry about your weight....the health of your baby is far more important.

2)Make sure you are drinking plenty of water and other healthy fluids.....juice, milk, gatorade, etc....it is REALLY easy to dehydrate when you are nursing. However much you are drinking now...increase it.

3) Pump in between nursing, which should help stimulate your milk supply.

4) Don't be afraid to have a beer.....it is a truly amazing aide in nursing. Alcohol will enter the breast milk at about the same percentage as it enters your blood supply. If you can't drink a whole beer without getting tipsy, then just have half a beer...or even a quarter...but trust me...it helps with milk let-down, and is FILLED with nutrients....plus it will help you relax, and being tense (even if you're just worried about whether or not you'll make enough milk this time) will also hinder milk production.....some people would shriek at this.....but honestly it's okay.

5) Finally, a little trick that I found was to have my back-cracked. After pregnancy my back was all out of kilter. I believe there is something behind luxation....though I don't believe that a chiropractor is a miracle cure. Try having your husband crack your back about 15-20 minutes before you are going to nurse. It can't hurt anything....and I found myself filling up with milk very quickly on my right side which never produced milk with my second child the way that it had when I nursed my first child.

I hope these suggestions help you. Good luck!!!!

I drank a lot of water, it helps increase milk supply. Also, the more they eat, the more you produce. You could also try pumping occasionally, then if you need to supplement still, you'll have your own breastmilk to give her and it might increase production.

Everything you are doing is great. You could also talk to a lactation consultant. They are VERY helpful and reassuring. You may also to try to pump between each feeding. Keep the pump on a low setting so it will be similar to you baby feeding. This may increase your supply.
Also try taking warm towels and apply them to your breasts before feeding. The warmth will help to let down your milk. Don't forget to relax while your feeding, if you're tense your milk supply can go down. Go into a comfortable room,prop your baby on a pillow so you won't strain, turn down the lights,put on some relaxing music and just enjoy your time with your baby.
There could be another thing, you may just have a low supply and will need to continue to suplement with formula. My sister-in-law had a very low production also,that's just the way she was. You may also try talking to your doctor.
Good luck.

First, I always encourage the basics - drinking a lot of filtered water, Dr. Christopher's mother's milk tea worked great for me and several of my clients. Have a positive outlook about the nursing time you spend with your baby and give yourself positive energy about milk production. As your baby is nursing, close your eyes and picture your milk flowing freely and getting to your baby. The reason the baby gains on formula is because they can not digest that highly heated and processed stuff and it just sits in their colon, can be constipating (baby's stools should still be somewhat lose and lighter in color) and fattens them up with the wrong things. Also, it is easier to suck from a bottle and if the baby knows that she will get a bottle she will nurse the minimum amount in order to get her reward (the bottle). Sound like she is becoming dependent on that bottle and so is nursing less and less which would make your production decrease. Breast milk works on supply and demand. Try stopping that supplementationg for a few days and encouraging her to nurse longer. Breast fed babies are often leaner (3 out of 4 of mine where lean babies - but are now off the charts or in the 90th percentile!)because mother's milk is easier to digest. They also tend to have higher I.Q's, confidence, stronger immunie system, and fewer infections. She does not need to be at a set weight, as long as she seems to be growing consistenly relative to HER trend.

Congradulations on your new daughter. Yes, being a mom is the most difficult, yet most wonderful, rewarding experience in the world! I look at my 4 kids and can honestly say, if nothing else, I have done 4 perfet things in my life! You will be a great mom,and be able to provide for your little girl's specific needs because you are her mom and can do it better than anyone else!(despite the inadequacies ALL moms feel at times) Trust in your abilties and in your body too!

Hi E.,

My name is Nicole and I had the same problem! My nursing specialist told me that oat meal, Chai tea, and Green veggies were some foods good in producing milk! It worked like she said, My fist child is a girl and she is almost six months now and right where she needs to be in weight and height! I hope this will help you out! and yes they are very much hard work! just know that things will level out once you get the hang of things! Especially when she starts sleeping though the night! That is a blessing in it's self!!!

"i think i can, i think i can, i think i can" and lots of peace and quiet (low stress etc) are great ways to boost your belief in your supply which in turn will actually increase your supply. i recommend martha sears' "breastfeeding book" for lots of good info on everything you're wondering about. . . good luck, you have what it takes!

I had a very low milk supply with my twins because they were early and had a very hard time nursing. What worked for me was Reglan, prescribed by my OB. Just keep nursing and supplementing. I know it is hard to to both but your milk supply will increase if you keep trying. I would nurse (but my girls weren't very good at nursing) So then I would pump for about 15 minutes with a very good pump and then mix whatever I got with formula to make about 2 oz. It was hard but after about a month or two my milk supply was good enough to not suppliment anymore and I nursed my twins until they were 9 months old. You can do it!

I had this problem, too. So I'll tell you what turned things around for me. I was very serious about taking care of this.
1. Make sure baby is really opening her mouth wide before latching on. A weak latch-on can make it hard for baby to drink the milk you are producing or to stimulate you to produce enough to meet baby's caloric needs.
2. Use a breast pump for 20 minutes *every four hours* *after* you nurse the baby. Body needs to get the message clearly that you need to make more milk. If you don't have a good breast pump, you can rent one. Hospitals often have them. Give baby as much expressed milk as he wants, and freeze the rest.
3. I rented a baby scale, and I weighed baby before and after he nursed to see how many ounces of milk he was getting. This gave me a clear indicator of how much milk he was getting, and how much I was producing.
4. Make sure you are getting enough healthy calories. Bacon and eggs for breakfast is not a bad idea, for example. Whole milk is fine. On the other hand, ice cream every day is a bad idea. Avoid empty calories so you have room for the nutritious stuff.
5. I used an herbal supplement recommended by my breastfeeeding consultant, and I took it as prescribed. I also used the homeopathic remedy Ricinus Comm. It is probably something you would need to get from a homeopath, homeopathic pharmacy, or from a breastfeeding consultant who uses homeopathy.
Best of luck to you and your little one!

Nursing, pumping, nursing, pumping all day! Not fun, but after a bit my daughter was able to stop being supplemented. She was early, so she needed to become a better nurser and I needed to keep my supply up. I kept my hospital grade pump rental for the first couple of months and was glad I did because even using the top of the line medela, my milk would never let down.
Have you had an actual consultation about your milk supply? The lactation consultant at Greenwood Ped said I didn't have enough milk and made me get herbal supplements and stressed me out, because my daughter wasn't gaining weight the first few weeks. I thought she may be right because I never leaked milk like my friends did. Finally I called her angry one morning and insisted on a consultation, and the result was that yes, I did have adequate supply, my daughter was just a lazy nurser. I also spoke to my mother, who had nursed me, and she never leaked either except right when the milk came in. The LC insisted we continue to supplement and we said no, we were strictly breastfeeding for a few days before coming in for yet another weight check. In 3 days, without the supplement, she learned to nurse and started gaining weight. Just something to think about!
Good luck and good for you for hanging in there!

Hi E.. I thought I would chime in since I have enjoyed nursing both of my children. I have to say the best thing for me and my milk supply was nursing on demand. It meant nursing often and for long periods of times but it was worth it. I was shocked at first how much my son wanted to nurse but I trusted that he knew what he needed.

Also, a "nursing vacation" is a wonderful way to get the rest you need and focus on just you and your baby. A few days of rest and skin-to-skin contact is wonderful for you and your baby to enjoy nursing even more.

I hope that helps. I can remember feeling very overwhelmed too. Your a great mother! That's the most important thing to remember.

Congratulations!
A.

I'd say just keep trying & nurse as often as possible. Your body will respond to the stimulation. This learning period is the hardest but it should all come together by 10 weeks. Also, how reasonable is your weight goal for your baby's body type? Use more than weight to gauge her health. If she's having a normal amount of wet & poopy diapers then she could be doing just fine. I think poopy diapers can have a normal range of a few per day to once a week, but there should be at least 6 wet diapers a day. A better answer about what is normal for diapers would be in a book, like the Womanly Art of Breastfeeding. Someone mentioned getting help from La Leche - it's a good idea. The meetings are great - it is a great support group from other moms who have also had trouble with breastfeeding but overcame them.

Most breastfed babies eat 4-5 ounces per feeding, which means that right now half of your baby's feeding is formula. If your baby is only taking 2-3 ounces from you, that is going to make it difficult to build your supply. Plus if babies know they are going to get a bottle after each feeding, they sometimes don't work as hard at the breast. I would rent a hospital grade pump from a nursing supply store like Bosom Buddies or from your hospital and add a few pumping sessions a day. It is extra work, but hospital grade pumps will really help build your supply (make sure it is hospital grade!). The more milk you pump and the more milk your baby takes from you signals your body to make even more milk. My son was a preemie and so wasn't big/strong enough to build my supply. I used a hospital grade pump and it worked well for me. Because he needed to gain more weight, I gave him a couple of bottles a day of my expressed breastmilk with added formula (I think it was a tablespoon to each bottle?)- that is a way to add calories to your breastmilk and not give your baby so much formula. After a few weeks we were able to stop adding formula to my milk and my son continued to breastfeed successfully until 16 months. That might be a way to build your supply and still give your baby the extra calories she needs right now without having to truly supplement with formula (which really messes with your supply).

Good luck!
J. (mom to Zachary, 2 years, and Talia, 4 months)

Hi E.. I'm J. and I am currently nursing my 2nd. Are you getting enough water and calories?? These are two essential items to building and keeping your supply. AT LEAST 1700 calories a day is recommended, but should be more. Other things you can do is adding a pump session. You should also go for a weigh-feed-weigh. This is where you weigh the baby, feed her and then weigh again. This tells you exactly how much she's getting in an average feeding. Usually the hosp. that you gave birth at has a lacation consultant that can do this for you or at least point you in the right direction. LCs are great resources, so contact your's at the hosp. if you have one. Eventually, you need to get your supply up and stop using formula. The more formula you use, the lower your supply will be. It's a vicious cycle, one that is not easily recovered from.

www.kellymom.com is the best website I have found for nursing. It has a lot of great info on there about low supply and others. Also, talk to your doctor! There is a prescription for those with true low supply. Another great website is www.momsquawk.com ...it's a mom's forum and they are such wonderful women who can answer your every question.

The most important thing you can do right now is keep offering your breast to your infant! She is your most valuable tool!! You are doing a great job. We've all had these road bumps, just keep on truckin'.

Good luck!

The beer that my doctor recommended for increasing milk production is "Coors Blue Moon Wheat Beer", 8-16 ozs consumed right after feeding.

I think any wheat beer works and I love that they are generally served with an orange slice -yummy!
I have five-month-old twins that I am exclusively breastfeeding, so I know how worried you can get about milk supply!!
Good Luck,
J.

Props to you for sticking with it! I have nursed twins and a singleton to 17 months, I know you may think I am crazy :) My suggestion would be to pumb after each feeding. The more you stimulate and show the need for more milk, in my experience, the more your body will begin to produce. Also, I don't know if you are feeding every three hours but if you are not you may want to pump during the time that you aren't nursing. It may be a pain but the pay off will be well worth it and most likely your body will catch up to your wee ones desires and you will no longer need to pump. If you don't have a pump a lot of people do, see if you could borrow one for a few weeks. Good luck, try not to get discouraged and remember that if it doesn't work out its not the end of the world there are a lot of great parents who don't nurse their babies.

Hi E.,
So these are the things that need to be in place in order for your milk supply to get higher:
You need to be drinking a LOT of water--pop and coffee does not count as good fluid intake. Your body can't make what it doesn't have enough of. Food also needs to be a good amount more than pre-pregnancy. I think it's about 500 good calories more, but not sure exactly. Don't worry about losing baby weight. It will come off very rapidly if you breastfeed. Your baby needs to be on your breast often--this is the only way to maintain a good amount of milk. (Most women's bodies may respond to a pump at first, but eventually the milk still decreases.) Unfortunately, supplementing with formula probably decreases the baby's desire for you and will have adverse effects on your breastfeeding endeavers. Instead, I recommend taking a day (literally a day--or two) of staying at home and putting your baby to breast every hour or two. Put the baby on for 20 minutes each side (each breast should not go more than 3 hours with suckling). Even though the baby may not be hungry, the sucking will raise your oxytocin levels and thus your body will suddenly realize that the demand is much higher than the supply and kick into gear. Also make sure the baby is sucking properly--chin up,not tucked, diastolic wave occuring (watch your own throat swallow), lips curled out, nose gently to breast mouth WIDE open, dimple in cheeks, and listen for swallowing or gulping. Is your nipple normal after the baby sucks, or is it eliptical? If it's eliptical, the baby may be chomping rather than sucking and pinching off it's milk supply (therefore, not gaining weight). Also, try baby-lead breastfeeding or Kangaroo Care. Strip down to your bare chest and get baby naked except for the diaper. Lay the baby on your chest and let the baby "find" your breast--it's amazing; the baby will push herself around, tilt her body, find her preferred breast, get her face in the right position and start suckling perfectly. This could help her practice nursing properly.
The best of luck to you and your beautiful daughter.
J.

I am a mother of 3 1/2. But never had enough milk to breastfeed my first two girls. With the last one I had to fight every day to keep my milk supply up. I used fenugreek and Blessed Thistle. But in addition to that, It was suggested to me that I pump for 10 minutes on each side after every feeding. It was all I did for almost 2 months, but it worked. I never had an abundant supply of milk, but i never had to supplement with formula either. what little milk came with pumping I froze and eventually I had quite a supply. The whole supply and demand thing you know, if you demand more by pumping your body will make more. And hopefully you won't have to pump forever. I breast fead for 6 months and by the end I was still pumping but only during the day. Let me know know how it goes. Rebecca

Hi E.-

I'm with the mom who said nurse, nurse, nurse! I drank Mother's Milk tea after my daughter was born and pumped after I fed her to increase my supply. By giving her formula, you may actually be reducing your milk supply because you aren't telling your body what the baby actually needs. You could try to feed her on one side and pump on the other or pumping on the same side you fed her on (you won't get much milk, but it will stimulate the milk supply). Hang in there--whatever you can give her, it's really the best thing you can give your baby now. Hope that helps--hang in there!

If you can get an electric breast pump that has helped my supply. If your baby eats every 4 hours pump in between (feed at noon, pump at 2, feed at 4, pump at 6, etc). While it is tedious it will teach your body to make more milk. Also increasing your water intake.

Good Luck!

my milk supply was low with my first and i supplemented with bottles the whole time. i think a lot of the problem was getting him to open up wide enough. i tried forcing his mouth open with my fingers, but he would just go back to what was comfortable for him, or get frustrated with me. we didn't have much money, so i bought the cheapest bottles, which didn't help because they have narrow nipples. with my second, i was a little wiser. my milk supply was better, so i didn't need to use bottles as often, but i made sure to spend the money on the bottles with the wide nipples. you can gently push them into the baby's mouth a little farther to train them to open wider. in my opinion, if i would have gotten the wide nipple bottles for the first baby and gotten him to open wider so that he could drink more when nursing, my milk supply probably would have increased. good luck!

When I was not producing enough I used a product called Motherlove More Milk Plus (www.motherlove.com) or some local vitamin stores carry the product. I was able to nurse my son until he was 22 mos.

Good Luck.

I work for a company called Motherlove Herbal Company. We make herbal supplements to help increase breast milk. They are liquid herbal extracts made with organic herbs. They are so simple to take and have helped thousands of women with low milk supply. You can go to our website www.motherlove.com to find a store in your area. The More Milk Plus is our best selling product, in fact it is the best selling breastfeeding supplement in the US. If you need help or have more questions call us. We work with breastfeeding moms all day long. I hope that helps. Happy feeding.
S. Cox

Hi E.-

After every feeding, try pumping for 5-10 minutes. This should start to increase your supply after a few days. Also, drink a ton of water!!!

Have you tried night-nursing? The milk you produce at night is richer and fattier than the milk you produce during the day, so if you can take your baby to bed and let her nurse during the night (a 'sidecar' crib is supposed to work well for this) you may have better results than getting up and going into another room to nurse your baby (if that's what you're doing).

Hi E., I recommend you contact the Leleche league. If you haven't heard of them before they are a group dedicated to answering all nursing related issues. I am sure you can look them up in the yellow pages or google them.

Don't give up nursing is one of the most rewarding aspects of motherhood, T.

Hello there,
I have had sucess with Nettle tea also. Be sure to drink plenty of water during the day and keep water at your bed table. Also be sure you have YOUR glass of water befor you sit down to nurse! You keeping hydrated should help a great deal. I have experienced the ebb & "flow" of nursing as well & my water inatake seemed to make the most difference. Good luck. A.

Hey E.! I had this same problem with my first child and everyone kept telling me to "eat more" and "drink more water" even though I was eating a TON, drinking protein shakes etc. I was also pumping/feeding every two hours but I still had to use formula because I just wasn't producing enough. I eventually got a medication from my midwife called Reglan. It is a prescription medication that increases your milk supply. It really was the only thing that helped me. Talk to your doctor and see if they recommend taking it.

I am nursing my second baby now (she is 5 weeks old) and I have plenty of milk. I found out that I had hypothyroidism and that was the reason that I didn't have enough milk for my first baby. Now I am taking medication for my thyroid and it has helped a lot. So I would also recommend getting your thyroid checked. GOOD LUCK!!!

I drank one beer a day. I don't know how it works, maybe the yeast or something. And one beer won't harm your little one. I would give it a shot!! Congrats!

I had the same troubles with my first baby and I think it was because I was so worried about losing weight that I wasn't eating enough, plus I was excercising too much. I don't know if you are in that boat. I realized that that was what was causing the low supply when we went on a trip and I stopped exercizing for a few days and ate whatever I wanted when I was hungry.

I also recommend having a private lactation consultation (if you haven't yet) with the lactation specialists at the hospital or calling the warm line for some tips.

All the best to you and your sweet baby!

E.,

I know if you contact your Dr., there are prescriptions you can take. It will boost your supply. The next question is, will it last....? In addition, there is a wonderful lactation center at the University of Colorado Denver (down CO blvd.). They are fabulous there and will help you every step of the way!

J.

Wow, this sounds just like what I went through. I always struggled with my milk supply. I took Fenugreek for a long time and it might've helped a little. I also got a Rx from my doctor for Reglan which some people say helps w/ milk supply. You can also try pumping after every feeding to increase your supply, but that can be tough to do if you're tired or have other things to do. AFter a while, it got to the point where I didn't have to supplement after breastfeeding, but if I pumped (like at work) I usually had to add formula to it b/c I didn't get enough from pumping. Just try to stick with it--as tough and tiring as it is. It's all worth it in the end; I ended up nursing until my son was 14 months and now he is 24 months! Keep up the great work!

Fenugreek capsules helped me in the beginning. I now have a 7 1/2month old and feel my supply is decreasing again now that he's eating baby food, so I just started taking them again a couple days ago. 2 capsules 2x/day. And drink lots of water, nurse often and try to rest (I know this can be hard) :) Hang in there. Several times my hubby & mom have said maybe I should stop bf (I've dealt w/ low supply, thrush, mastitis, and blocked ducts) but I just say damnit I've worked to hard to come this far to quit. So I didn't!

I had my son 4 weeks early and the dr was concered about his weight gain. He had me pump after every feeding to ensure my supply came in. It was terrible when I backed down -- but I did it for 2 weeks and had a huge back up supply. Good luck and don't beat yourself up. If you need to supplement, you still have a wonderful blessing.

I know beer was suggested, but I think alcohol in general should be avoided when nursing. So, instead, try Brewer's Yeast. It gives you the yeast that beer would, but without the alcohol. You can buy it at Walmart, and it will help bring your supply up.

The other thing that was suggested is to nurse. A lot. That will stimulate your milk production a lot more than a pump will. Offer your breast frequently to your baby and just let her nurse a lot. Good luck!

R.

I would definitely recommend pumping with an electric pump. This is what helped me build up my milk supply. Electric pumps can be expensive but they are much more effective than the manual ones. Good Luck!!

Hi! I nursed both my daughters for a year and when I found my milk supply dwindle, I cut out caffiene (as best as possible), drank Mother's Milk Tea several times a day and ended the day with a beer (wine is supposed to work almost just as well). I saw a difference in 24 hours. I also try to nurse more frequently (like every 90 minutes to 2 hours) and on both sides each time. If your baby won't nurse that frequently, try pumping in between. Your body can take up to 3 months before nursing is fully established. Hang in there!

Hi E.!
I totally know how demanding it can be to have a newborn. I had my little boy in Oct of 2006. I'm not sure if you have tried this but....pumping milk every hour or two will bring your milk in faster and produce more for your little girl. After about one week of doing it for my son I had no problems feeding him. Lets just say that he was in the 90th percentile for weight!!!
I just used a hand held pump from Walmart. It worked perfectly! You don't need to waist your money on expensive pumps. The Walmart one worked great! I really hope this works for you. Let me know if you need any tips on using a pump. I hope this works for you!
D.

Hi E.,

I found that keeping myself hydrated along with eating balanced meals really helps. The best thing though is to nurse and pump as often as you can handle. I have so much milk now from doing this that our freezer is FULL of frozen milk (there is literally no room for anything BUT the milk at this point) and we are going to buy a chest freezer to aid in my stockpiling.

The more you nurse and/or pump, the more milk your body will produce. Start yourself at every 2-3 hours and see how it goes. Good luck!

Just adding to the other ladies. Nurse a lot more, drink LOTS of fluids/water, and one thing that helped me was trying to cut back on the stress if possible. Your body will respond to you if you are stressed, it will go into reserve mode. I found out that stress was one of the reasons I started to loose my milk. Good luck!

Have you tried pumping in between feedings? Breast feeding is all about supply and demand, if your body thinks your baby is demanding more, it will produce more. Plus, drink tons of water!

Hey E.! My advice to you would be, always be sure to eat a well balanced diet, and keep your fluid intake up. Also you can try pumping in between feedings, I know it's a lot of work and time consuming but it really will help. Your body will respond to the more frequent "feedings" with more milk. I hope it all works out for you and your little one!

I pumped after I nursed which seemed to help me for at least 10 minutes. The great thing about our bodies is that we adjust our milk supply. My dr also gave me a prescription to help with increasing my milk supply and that also helped.

Hey E.! No worries we all go through nursing problems at first. The best way to get your nursing supply up is nursing. Keep her at the breast as long as you can. Try not to use the bottle unless you have to. I also recommend pumping after she breastfeeds. The more the sucking the more the body says oh we need more milk. I also recommend the book The Womanly Art of Breatfeeding by La Leche League International. La Leche League is a great resource and you should check out their website. Lots of great tips and they also have meetings. You get together with other breatfeeding moms and everyone helps eachother out with all kinds of family stuff and lots of breastfeeding help. Good luck keep it up it gets easier I PROMISE!

I have the exact same issue right now with my almost 5 week old and I had problems with low milk with my now 4 year old also. Fenugreek does help but I always had to use a little formula. (I take medication that decreases my milk supply) One helpful thing is also pumping between feedings. I splurged and bought the Medela pump. that works much better than a manual.I saved the milk for supplementing instead of formula.My sister told me that she found some vitamins that helped her but she wasn't sure of the name when we were talking last. I will definately get back to you as soon as I find out. Hang in there. I was able to breastfeed my son for 15 months and I plan on Nursing as long as possible with my daughter.

Keep nursing! Nurse, nurse, nurse! Let the baby cluster feed! That's the very best thing you can do. No time frame, nothing like that, just nurse on demand, even if that means the baby is on you for hours at a time. Just nurse as much as you can, even at night, no matter what.

Second: drink a LOT of water. A lot. You can mix things up with some Mother's Milk tea. It'll help a little bit with the supply.

Make sure you are eating enough. Nursing moms need double the calories than a formula feeding mom does. You're providing your nutrients for your baby, so you need to keep some for yourself, too. Don't worry about your weight right now, it WILL come off in due time.

Lastly, a supplement like More Milk Plus from Motherlove will definitely help. More than just fenugreek or milk thistle. Whole Foods, other natural foods stores, and breastfeeding supply stores carry it. You can also check motherlove.com.

Be careful with the supplementing with formula if you really want to breastfeed. It takes a lot less energy to get the goods out of a bottle and a lot of babies will then become lazy with the nursing. For a lot of moms this results in quitting the breastfeeding because the baby is no longer interested.

Unfortunantly some women just don't produce enough milk. it is okay. i have had friends produce no to very little milk and after speeking with doctors and lacation specialist, and trying to get a milk supply, they decided that she just needs to formula feed. i tend to produce more on one side then the other, and that is okay too. if you end up needing to do mostly formula and just nurse at night and morning that is okay too.
good luck. continue pumping alot, that should help. do you have a lactation nurse helping you? often times she can help determine what to do and if nursing will be okay for you and your baby.
Formula is a wonderful, healthy source of nutrition for your baby, it is okay to formula feed.
K.

How often does your baby nurse? Sometimes it helps to pump between feedings to increase your milk production, plus you have extra breast milk to feed baby instead of formula.

You also want to make sure you are eating plenty of calories. You should eat a well balanced dient and talk to your doctor about the number of calories you should be consuming for your height, body type and of course since you are breast feeding. You will need more than usual.

The thing that helped me the most when I needed more milk was good old Ovaltine, the kind with malt in it. It made my milk literally half cream (I put some in the fridge because I had so much). My babies loved it, and frankly, so did I!
I drank a small glass before or during a nursing session, and after a month or so, I was good to go!
Good luck!

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but eating oatmeal really helped me. In cookies, in granola, in anything! Also, nurse as much as possible. Nursing is definitely a learned skill - don't give up - it takes time to figure it all out. You can do it!! Good luck!

J.

I had a lot of trouble initially with nursing, my daughter was put in the hospital at about a week old. She was dehydrated because my supply was so low. I went to Lactation & this is what they suggested I do - I started taking Fenugreek & Blessed Thistle 3 times a day. I would nurse her about every two - three hours for 5 minutes on each side. Then my husband would supplement with a bottle while I pumped for 20 minutes on each side. I did this around the clock, every 2-3 hours. After a week or so, my milk suppluy was back up, and I was able to nurse only, and cut out the supplementss. I continued to pump after each feeding though. It really seemed to help my supply. By about 6 weeks, we had nursing down! Lactation said that pumpping both sides at the same time increases milk supply better than doing one at a time. It was a lot of work, feeding and then pumping, but it was worth it.

Hello E.,

The only extra advice besides what you are already doing is making sure she is latching on correctly, relaxing and switching to a hospital grade pump. If you haven't been then I also suggest pumping after nursing her on each side for around 5-10 minutes. Also drink A LOT of water oh and a nursing specialist told me to drink malted milk or ovaltine. Don't know if that helps, have also heard beer, this is to help with the let down. Good luck it is frustrating and overwhelming but it's the best thing you will ever do. One other thing, if this is something you decide not to do, because it isn't for everyone, try not to feel to guilty about it. Kudos to you for being a nursing mom though, it was one of my most favorite times with my son. They just don't stay little babies long enough as scarry as it is in the beginning it is entirely too short of a time from newborn to toddler. :( Good Luck and persistence.

Call Motherlove or go to their website www.motherlove.com/ they have a supplement called More Milk Plus which can build you breast milk, and help you and your baby exclusively breastfeed. I would get in touch with them immediately, as they are very knowledgeable and will be able to help you figure out the best solution for you.

Also, breastfeeding mothers should not restrict their calories: you must feed yourself well to make milk! The goal for pregnant and breastfeeding mother's is 100grams of protein a day, and two to three liters of water (fluids). In addition, breastfed babies should be fed on demand, not scheduled, as they process breast milk differently than formula. You should always offer your breast whenever your baby seems hungry. By caring for yourself well you will nurture your breast milk for your sweet babe.

Best of luck, and i hope you have a long and fruitful breastfeeding realationship with your child.

A glass of wine or a can of beer will help you relax and build milk supply. You might just be trying so hard to do everything right and are stressed. Relax and enjoy you r baby and new family. None of us get it right. Parenting is a learning process and you will do just fine. Don't worry about the housework and get enough rest. Dirt always comes back but a baby grows up.
Blessings!
C. B

I agree with others who have said to pump. After each feeding, pump as much as you can, and feed that to your baby in addition to any formula you may also give her. Milk is based on supply and demand - the more milk is removed from your , the more they'll make.

Rose medical center has amazing lactation consultants. I would talk to one of them. I would also suggest a baby moon. That is 24 hours of skin to skin contact with you and your baby nursing on demand with little to no supplementing. It will help your body so much to connect a little more with your sweet baby. Accupuncture helps a ton with increasing the milk supply. Also, bosom buddies has an amazing lactation consultant at the store all the time and she can help a ton too! A really good post partum doula could be the answer if you are tired and your body just needs rest so it can make milk. Good luck these things get better and work themselves out. We all have been in your shoes wondering if we were making enough milk and we were making just what our baby needed for that moment. Good luck!

Hi E.- I can give you a few suggestions, hope they work. First, you need to take in a lot of water and other fluids, drinking and eating dairy rich foods will help. The process of breast feeding is natures way of losing the baby fat from hips, buttocks, stomach, etc. If you are thin and on a strict diet, then you may need to increase the amounts of fats that you intake. - Now if this isn't the case and you have plenty to spare, then find a relaxing spot to breastfeed, while taking a bath, in a comfy chair listening to soft sounds, basically a quiet spot so that your body can relax, this helps a lot too. Oh Yeah- you may need to cut back on caffeine- for some people this can be extremely hard to do. I hope this helps, Good Luck!

Hi,
i had troubles nursing and had to pump for a while and that really kept up my supply..so maybe try to pump after she is done nursing (it'll make your body think she is not done nursing and hopefully will produce more milk)

This may sound totally over-the-top but I thought I'd share it. My sister-in-law recently told me she was losing her milk supply but didn't want to stop nursing yet. She asked her doctor for suggestions on how to build her milk supply back up. Guess what he told her? Drink A&W Root Beer! No other kind of root beer will do it, just A&W. She was desperate so she thought "what the heck?" She says it definitely works! She (and I) can't figure out how or why, but she raved about what a difference it made. Go figure! Worth a try!

Hi

I am a mum to an 8 monther. When I first started out, my milk supply was very very low. What was recommended was to eat fish (preferably the fatty kinds), lots of it. For the six months that I breastfed my son , I would be eating a portion of fish everyday (steamed salmon, steamed cod).
The fish diet was very monotonous but was very effective. Everytime I dropped fish for a couple of days, the milk supply would go down. Loads of friends will testify that they have the same experience with eating fish. Fish oil capsules do not have the same effect.

To be extremely accurate, I actually expressed everything and bottle fed by son the breastmilk througout the six months as we could not get the hand of direct latch ons.
The other thing I did to increase my milk supply was to also express milk frequently. Everytime my milk supply dipped, I would pump at more freuquent intervals (21/2 to 3 hour intervals rather than 31/2 hr intervals). That helped get the signal to the brain that more milk was needed. I guess, what you could do is to express milk during feeds to stimulate milk production.

Fenugreek is good but beware that over a long period of time (4-5 months), it may lead to high blood pressure.

Good luck! :)

Try pumping after each feeding or between feedings. Even if you don't get any milk, the stimulation will help you produce more. And if you do get some milk, keep pumping for a few min after your milk flow stops. Sometimes you will actually start to get more. Eat oatmeal, drink lots of water, I've heard that beer works, and if all else talk with your dr. There is something that they can give you to produce more milk. I'm not sure what it's called. Good luck!

Hi E.,

Congrats on your new baby girl! I suggest you contact a La Leche League leader. They have a 24 hour breastfeeding support hotline, 1-877-4LALECHE, or you can post your question to their online forums or find a local leader there, too (www.llli.org). All leaders are or have been nursing mothers and dealt with breastfeeding issues. They also have monthly meetings, which can give you some much needed support and encouragement from current nursing moms. Gives you actual people support in addition to the online or phone support.

One thing you can do to increase your supply is to pump immediately after nursing Haley. You can save this milk for future bottles or use it to supplement instead of formula. Also, take a day or two and just the two of you snuggle up in bed, each with your shirt off, and let her nurse as frequently and for as long as she wants. Your milk supply works on supply and demand, so you need to tell it to make more milk.

The supplements everyone has previously mentioned can help, too, but may not do the trick by themselves.

Good luck!

Hi Emiliy -

I have had little to no milk for each of my 2 kids. With my 2nd I was determined to nurse and got pretty good results. I rented the hospital pump (stronger than any pump on the market) and would pump or feed every 4 hours. If the baby seemed hungry after nursing I would supplement with breast milk, if there was some from a previous pump or formula. While the baby was drinking a bottle (after nursing) I would pump. This really helped to increase the milk supply. In other words, I would nurse and then pump immediately after to signal to my body that it needed to produce more milk per feeding. Pretty soon I had enough milk at each feeding and the baby was happy.

I would really suggest renting the hospital pump because chances are you won't have "extra" milk to pump once you have upped your supply and actually purchasing your own pump is expensive and might go to waste after only a couple of weeks of use.

Good luck and don't be discouraged if the milk doesn't come. Even though I was able to up my supply, it didn't last long. My body is exactly like my paternal grandmother who had 10 kids and wasn't able to nurse any of them. This was in the 40's and 50's before formula (and if there was formula they were much too poor to purchase it) and pumps and so each child was fed goat's milk. It has simpler protiens that babies can handle. Anyway, I switched to formula with my 1st after only 4 months and with my 2nd I switched after only 6 weeks. It was so much work and though worth it, I could not be the mom I needed to be with this extra stress. The formulas they have now are amazing and you would be able to find one that your baby likes and agrees with. Its expensive but a wonderful blessing.

Mari is right! Nurse, nurse, nurse! Even after you have nursed for a bit and you feel like your breast is flat and nothing is coming out...there is still milk and it's the best. The hindmilk (the last milk that the baby gets) is the thicker milk that fills the baby. It sounds like you might be stopping too soon and of course your baby is still hungry. If you continue to supplement, your milk supply will keep going down and then you'll feel like you need to keep supplementing. Just let your child nurse on your "flat", seemingly empty breast.
Also, start nursing before she is starving or she'll get frustrated and not attach well. Start nursing when she first shows signs of hunger so she'll attach better.
I nursed both my boys exclusively for just over a year and I know it's frustrating, but hang in there!! Good luck!!

I think everyone has already said much of what you need to do to help, but here's some help with the hows and some of the behind stuff too.....if you want.

Though I didn't have problems with low supply at the beginning, I did have to pump for my daughter for 9 months during her 2 year nursing "career". Because of the demands of pumping, I learned a few things about supply.......

"More Mother's Milk" from Whole Foods is a supplement with fenugreek and some other stuff. It works very well...sometimes you have to increase the dose.

It seemed if I did do a beer a hoppy microbrew seemed the best. If we went to CB Potts and had a beer, within 2 hours OMG I was FULL! Stouts work well too.....I did a "milk Stout" from Left Hand brewery and Guiness. Strong, but you don't need the entire amount. (Milk Stout is less strong).

The Ice Cream helped like one mom said....I used the REALLY FULL fat ice creams....and again, boom. Dove and Godiva were my keys. Someone suggested chocolate to me, so I did Dove and Godive Chocolate mint.....don't know if it made a difference, but I thought it did.

There is a relaxation cd you can buy and a milk tea too. It's by Earth Mama Angel Baby. Vitamin Cottage carries some of their products...maybe the tea. The weblink is http://www.earthmamaangelbaby.com/

If you haven't already seen a lactation consultant, you might want to see one to make sure your daughter is latching properly etc.

Pumping helps b/c it increases demand and nursing is based on supply and demand. One of the nice things is if you can get enough in the pump, you might be able to supplement the milk with your own milk.....

So pumping.....I recommend WhittleStone Pumps. Dr Brown's has an electric handheld version of a whittlestone, (www.breastmiilk.com) but if you can at all find a whittlestone rental or decide to spring for one, Whittle Stone is by far the best. (Medela IMHO is the absolute worst, I think they are the standard simply because they advertise well. I went thru 4 NEW medelas and they were PAINFUL) Whittlestone is extremely comfortable and a good way to comfortably increase supply. http://www.whittlestone.com/

Oh the back adjustment too.....there is actually some information out there that moms with low milk supply can have subluxations that cause low supply. The recommendation is an adjustment and in some studies they found it to help a lot. Two great chiros in the area are Collen Holland at Inner Potential and Ben Galyardt. Both are Gentle. Colleen Holland is a Prenatal and kiddo chiro. She works on my dd. Another idea might be to get the baby adjusted too....make sure she's opening her mouth etc wide enough. Apparantly, babies can have a TMJ type thing and their latch etc affects your supply. Colleen is excellent at adjusting Newborns and my dd has been going to her for 2 years. It's awesome. Both docs are in the yellow pages or dex online. She also might be able to tell if something structural is affecting your supply.

You might try getting both of you adjusted before you spring for a pump.....

Good luck. It's tough enough with a newborn w/o the stress of milk supply!

Beer or brewers yeast. (Beer is more enjoyable.) What is your lifestyle like? Diet & exercise? This may be affecting your milk supply.

Hi E.,

I don't know if you have already been told this response cause I haven't read through ALL your comments, but I would like to recommend having your thyroid checked!! I had the exact same problem with my son. He was 9lbs at birth and at 41/2 months he only weighed about 11lbs. You do the math! People were constantly commenting on how tiny and skinny he was! I was starving my baby and instead of the doctors looking into the reason behind it, they almost considered him failure to thrive and told me to supplement with formula. Well, I didn't want to give him hard to digest formula, so I decided to supplement with goats milk, but that is a whole other story. Anyway, long after the issue had passed, when my son was 18 months I decided to go to the doctor for my weight. I could not, for the life of me, lose the weight that I gained through the pregnancy. I was doing everything right and it wasn't budging. Turns out I have a post pregnancy hypothyroid! It affects nearly 15-20 percent of new moms, which is pretty high in my opinion! I also don't have any history of thyroid problems in my family, so don't let that stop you from having it checked if that is also the case for you. I NOW know that one of the main reasons for low breast milk supply is a hypothyroid! If your body is not functioning properly it can not produce adequate amounts of breast milk. Why didn't the doctors know this and check my thyroid when they saw that my baby wasn't gaining weight??? Real low breast milk supply is rare in a healthy, normal functioning woman. I was feeding my son constantly for long periods. I tried everything, even vitamin supplements that were suppose to help, but he still didn't gain weight. It is also hard for a new mother to even think of a thyroid problem because of the fact that the symptoms are very similar to what a new mother would be feeling anyway...tired, constipated, depressed, weight problems, etc, etc. This is all just a suggestion because of what I experienced. I just what other mothers to know what I didn't! I hope that you find some answers! Good luck! You know your body and baby best! Take care!

T.

BTW-My son is now a happy, healthy, smart and active 2 year old. He started gaining weight with supplements, while I continued to breastfeed and he is now just fine!

Are you pumping at all? you should pump even after you nurse, especially when your baby is having formula. Do you know for sure it is your milk supply? Sometimes babies have a hard time getting started nursing - I have a friend whose son took a few months to become an agressive eater. I would also suggest you contact LeLeche League - they are the experts.

The trick to building up your milk supply is simply supply and demand. After nursing your daughter pump (with a good pump) for about 15min. Do this for 3 days and you will have more milk than you need.

Have you tried a medication called Reglan?...your doctor would have to call it in. I used this as did a friend of mine who was nursing twins and found it helped! Also, there is a program called WeeSteps at Medical Center of the Rockies where they can measure the amount your baby is getting in one feeding. It is really helpful.

Rent a high- end breast pump from someplace like Bosom Buddies. Pump for about 10 minutes before you breast feed to get your milk flowing. Then breast feed. Then after your baby is full pump for another 10-20 minutes. Even if you don't produce anything more for a few days the pumping will stimulate more milk production. You'll be surprised at how much more you'll produce with the pump's help.