Not Enough Breastmilk - Denver,CO

I personally could not sleep at night knowing my baby was hungry. Give the child some formula, for goodness sake. If you make more milk you can wean him off the supplemental formula then. Good luck.

I just googled "how to increase breast milk supply" Here is a link that might be helpul. Good luck, I had the same problem all three times with my girs. :(

http://www.breastfeedingbasics.com/html/increasing.shtml

Contact a lactation specialist ASAP. The more you supplement the more you will lose your milk. Pumping is not a good indicator of how much your baby is getting. A lactation specialist can weigh the baby before and after nursing to determine how much the baby is getting. Babies are much more efficient than a pump. Drink tons of water, eat oatmeal, try the mother's milk tea. If it is your desire to continue nursing I think. PRofessional or someone from la leche league could really help. Good luck.

DO NOT SUPPLEMENT... not if you want to succeed with breastfeeding that is. You start supplementing you will sabotage your own supply.

Get help from a LC, an IBCLC is preferred due to more knowledge and training. Go to Le Leche League meetings - they are free and FULL of Motherly support, experience and motivation. Pediatricians are not trained in breastfeeding information, benefits, norms, etc.

Stop gauging your milk supply with what you can pump. The pump gets only 25% of what is in your breasts whereas the baby will get all100%. Offer the breast more than every two hours... and don't worry about pumping (unless you will be immediately returning to work in the next month) at all until after a full 2-3 months of breastfeeding.

Also, only nurse from one side twice in a row - as in two nursing sessions - only then switch to the other side. Remind yourself to keep hydrated, eating a good diet, rest when baby does and RELAX when you nurse.

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Supplementing with formula will cause your milk supply to diminish further; it is not a good solution. The best thing that you can do is to nurse your baby more often and for longer periods of time. You can also take the herbal supplements Fenugreek and Blessed Thistle. They are safe and effective. You can find them at a supplement shop or natural foods type store. I have taken them in pill form; you have to take a lot for them to be effective, like 4 capsules of each with each meal. A friend of mine took them in the form of liquid drops and she said they were more concentrated and worked really well for her. You can also use Mother's Milk tea, it is an herbal tea and it tastes good! It is not as effective as the pills or drops, but it is good to have in addition to them. Also, make sure you are drinking plenty of water and eating well, and I know it's hard to get enough rest with a little one, but get as much sleep as you can. You can do this! Your milk supply will increase if you work at it! I had a baby ion the NICU who couldn't nurse and I had virtually NO milk at all, I took the supplements and pumped like crazy and eventually had to be on a prescription med to get some milk, but once it finally came in, I had plenty and was able to nurse my baby for 2 1/2 years without another supply issue. Good luck!

You are on the right track with pumping after you feed him. The intention of this is not how much you get out it is to get your breasts producing more. So after you feed him, you pump for 5 to 10 minutes on each side. Do not expect too much milk since you just fed the baby. You will not get hardly any (an ounce is quite a bit actually). Just keep doing this and your production will go up.

Another thing to look at, that I did with my second baby, is your diet. When I had him, I was in the best shape before, during, and after I had him so my food intake was closely monitored for fats and calories. I thought that since I was eating more than I would if I was not breastfeeding that I was fine, but it was not. I did not have enough fat or calories going in and my milk went down quickly. In fact, not knowing any better I did what you are doing now and supplemented with formula and by 4 months he dropped the nursing all together (my other two went for a year and my current baby is still nursing at 7 months). Don't get me wrong, today he is a VERY smart, healthy 5 year old and I have never seen any issues with him because I gave him formula, I was just sad I lost time nursing him and we all know breast milk is better if you can do it.

In short, everyone's body is different, changing your diet to include sufficient food, or adding more water, more fats, no caffeine, etc. may help. Pumping after each nursing may help, but if these things do not help, don't beat yourself up, I have seen proof in my little guy that he is just fine after having the all-sinful formula.

Great job in your effort to stick with the booby just go with what you baby needs and he needs to grow! = )

Get a water delivery service, stay super hydrated. Check your stats for how many calories you should consume a day based on your weight/height for a b/f mother. Fenugreek worked really well on me but my best advice would be to leave the pump alone. Put baby to your breast EVERY time hes hungry and your body will get the hint to produce more milk. Our bodies work on supply and demand and for some moms pumping can make them under AND over produce. Ever notice how your baby can cry or coo and you are 5 feet away and that makes your nipples itch or leak? Thats magic right there. There are pheromones/sensory,visual and auditory cues that tell your body to create more sustenance, this means you need the baby there at feeding/suckling/rooting times to make that work properly.

And sometimes there is milk coming out very slowly when you dont even realize it.

Hey M.-
I didn't read all the responses, so if this is a repeat, sorry! :)
1) try Fenugreek tablets, 4-6 a day
2) stay hydrated, drink lots of water
3) eat as healthy as possible

I had a breast reduction in my 20's & I had a really hard time producing enough milk w/my first baby. I drank Mothers Milk tea until it was coming out of my pores! It helped a little, but during my second pregnancy my OB recommended the Fenugreek & its made such a difference! Last time I was at the store, one of the employees also recommended Motherlove drops & said they really worked, they contain fenugreek and milk thistle and a few other things. They have a website motherlove.com in case you want to research that. You can find the Fenugreek with the herbs and vitamins aisle in almost any store. If you need more info you can message me. Good luck!

This is a tricky one, but the more you supplement and the more he takes a bottle, the less chances you'll have for continuing breastfeeding. But you have to do what you feel you need to do, whatever that is. Good luck.
As for increasing your milk supply, fenugreek, mother's milk tea, malt powder, brewers yeast, are all things that you can try. You can get malt powder from the grocery store (by powdered chocolate milk), and you'll have to check around to food supply stores for the brewers yeast. Mother's milk tea can be found at health food stores. Some health food stores even have their own herbal formulas to help milk supply. Also, your doc can give you a prescription to increase milk supply if those other remedies don't help. Drink lots of water! Best wishes!

Go to a vitamin store like GNC.
Get a bottle of Fenugreek.

You might want to look it up online to learn about it.

I wish you the best.

I know exactly how you are feeling and drove myself absolutely crazy dealing with this with my 1st son. Have the same problem with my second, maybe even less milk this time around, but this time I was ready. I have come to terms with it just being how my body works and since I don't have a nursemaid, I supplement and my kids are healthy and happy.
There is no shame in supplementing. You are giving him as much as you can and then using the formula to help you out.
This is what I do-
I'm always up with my 1st son before the baby is up so I pump as much as I can.
When the baby wakes up, usually 3 hours after I've pumped, I nurse him and then supplement. Repeat as necessary and after two days I *might* be able to give him one bottle without formula. (Sounds like you won't have to deal with it taking so long for you though :) )

You can try to eat oatmeal breakfast, lunch, and dinner, drink tons of water, take fenugreek till you smell like a maple forest from 1000 feet away. It could work. Didn't for me but your results may vary. :)

I definitely agree with MJ. My son had acid reflux and breast milk is highly recommended rather than formula when it comes to acid reflux. When I saw the specialist he also referred me to a lactation specialist and she recommended fenu greek (pills you can buy over the counter) and there is also a prescription that can be prescribed to increase the milk supply. You should definitely get in contact with a specialist. Good luck!

My daughter also didn't seem to get enough initially. The pediatrician simply recommended formula. I really wanted to breastfeed and so I kept trying. After doing a lot of research, I realized that most pediatricians certainly have the baby's best interest in mind but don't necessarily understand or know how to best support breastfteeding.

For a little while, I did use formula BUT I did it after meeting with a lactation consultant. The key was this strange bottle (called a SNS or Supplemental Nursing System by Medela) I wore around my neck that had little tubes coming out of it. You tape the tubes to your nipples and the baby nurses from you while also getting the formula from the bottle. This simultaneously feeds the baby AND triggers your breasts to make more milk. I also took drops of More Milk Plus from the local health food store and drank a tea for increasing milk as well. I'm happy to share my experience in greater depth if you want to contact me privately.

Many blessings and good luck!

J.

I tried just about everything and the only thing that really helped me was eating a huge bowl of oatmeal once or twice a day. I could actually tell a big difference when I missed my morning oatmesl. Good luck.

Your body produces the amount of milk that you feed/pump. When you supplement with formula, it tells your body that it doesn't need to make as much. What happens when you put your son back on your breast when he's being fussy and sucking on his fingers? If you're able to pump an ounce more at that time, he should be able to get even more than that by nursing more, and that tells your body to keep making it. I agree with going to see a lactation consultant or La Leche League. A lot of lactation places will have you feed your baby and then weigh him so that you can see how much he is actually getting. That can be reassuring or can let you know if there is a problem. Even if you do supplement with formula, keep pumping so your body gets the message that it needs to do more. And look into the things you can eat and drink, as well as supplements that help with production. Don't give up! Just because your mom and grandmother had the same problem, doesn't mean that you will, too. It could just be that they didn't get the tips that you are getting now.

could be reflux...maybe he just needs a binky to help him soothe himself after eating. your supply is probably just fine. only supplement if there if you truly dont have enough of your own milk to feed him.

Hi--
You probably have plenty, but just a few thoughts to add. Obviously drink lots of water---1 ounce per pound of your weight a day. Eat plenty of calories. If the supplements suggested don't work there are a few other things you can try. Vitex (also known as chaste tree berry) balances prolactin production (as well as other hormones) at the pituitary level. Acupuncture also works well to increase breast milk supply. And of course, nurse on demand for as long as baby wants.
Good luck!
J.

You know, I haven't read requests here in years. I think I was meant to today. I also struggled with trying to breast feed by two daughters. The older is 4 1/2 and my baby is just 7 weeks today. I pump a total of less than an ounce from both sides. The first time around, I kept trying the "if you do it more, you'll make more" approach and eventually supplemented when my daughter hadn't gained an ounce in 3 weeks. Scary. Of course I never made enough and eventually switched to full-time formula. I tried pumping after each feed, while also supplementing, but at that point no one else was home and the schedule was impossible. The whole thing nearly drove me into serious depression and anxiety. So this time - I met with a really good lactation consultant from the start. Tried herbs, pumping, supplemental nurser, nursing - all of it. This wonderful woman gave me the "release" of telling me I'm just not going to make enough to feed my child. I have hipoplastic breasts - also called tubular (nice, huh?). Not enough breast tissue to make enough milk. Characterized by wide-set breasts and what I've always described as all nipple, no meat. Like I never developed past 12-year-old shape. Something that caused me great embarassment as a teen turns out to not be condusive to breast feeding. I'm not sure if you have the same situation, but I think it's really important to hear that some women just can not make enough breast milk. My mother had the same problem and the same breast shape. Go figure. So I'm trying to make it to 12 weeks nursing then supplementing. I think she gets around 1/2 and ounce from me each session. I'm not bothering to pump much these days, mostly because the grandmas have come and gone! I do have fantasies some days that I'll start to make more, or what if I....?? But for the most part I've given up on making more, so the pressure's off. If I skip nursing one time and only give a bottle, no big deal. I hope that you can find some success, but it sure sounds familiar, and if not, I really hope that you can find some peace with things as they are. NO WHERE did I read true support for women who really can't do it. Good luck, Mama!!