CALLING ALL NURSING MOTHERS

vmastudios

My 2nd son is 2 going on 3 months old and I'm noticing, because i'm feeding him more bottles of formula, that my supply is reducing. The reasoning behind the formula is that my son (no lie) would stay awake for 11-13 hours at a time throughout the day, straight through WITHOUT A NAP since we brought him home... so I would nurse and nurse and nurse.... after a while, i needed a break and I began to give him formula.

He then began to take naps which was WONDERFUL, but like I said, my supply is going:(
I just now pumped (after no pumping or nursing for two days, thinking I had nothing in there) and out came 5 oz total! YES!
I was extatic!
So my question is this:

I was concidering to give him 50% breastmilk mixed in with 50%formula so i CAN continue to breasfeed, as well as getting him to sleep during the day LOL...BUT what can I do to make my supply more abundant?
Are there any tricks/tips/ or food recipes you guys have that you can share with me that would get this flow back to where it once was???

I breastfed my 1st son till he was 6 months old...and it was so saddening to think I was done after barely 3 months:/

Thanks u guys!

zilchie

The more you need, the more you make! Nursing and pumping frequently will prompt your body to make more milk. You can also try drinking Mother's Milk herbal tea, eating oatmeal, and Fenugreek supplements. Also make sure you're drinking lots of fluids and getting enough rest. But really, the best way is to just nurse and pump, nurse and pump. Good luck!

TamaraGraceS

I have the opposite problem still milk and it is never drying up! Have you taked to your Dr or public health nurse. Often the Dr will suggest domperidone which increases your milk supply ( medication) Do you have La Leche League where you are? If not they have an amazing book out on nursing.

_Johanna_

I was told to drink gallons of water and PUMP like crazy to up your production! I know there are teas and nutritional things you can do, but I'm not sure what those are right now

I breastfed my daughter exclusively for five months until I was so stressed that I wasn't producing enough. I weaned her onto a bottle and nursed her one last time the day she was six months old. Why do I mention this? Because I truly think the stress is what was causing my supply to dry up. Watch your stress levels and if you find yourself a little too frazzled, you might want to find a way to relieve that stress!

poustotah

Unfortunately, the only way to increase your supply is to keep nursing. If he's 3 months now, you should have better luck getting him to adjust to a nap routine. So maybe you can wean him off of the formula and back onto the breast milk as your supply increases? My third baby was a 'non-napper' and I had the same problem and then at 3 months, he got into his own little baby groove and all was fine. I also don't know about mixing breastmilk and formula. My doctor for my first baby told me not to do that but I forget what the reasoning was.

hjfischer

I agree with Zilchie. I drank Mother's Milk Tea on and off through out nursing my children. My youngest is 13 months and I still nurse him at night. Oatmeal works really well, too. Keep pumping when you can, that will keep your supply up as well. I have 4 kids and exclusively pumped for 2 of them. You can make it work to fit your schedule and your son's needs. Good luck!!!

vmastudios

wow! THANKS U GUYS! im already googling this stuff:):):) good info... thanks a bunch!

Silvercivic

I'm not an expert- but I nursed my 1st baby for 1 year and I'm currently nursing my 6 month old. I'm pretty sure that the answer to how to increase your milk supply is to nurse or pump more frequently. The theory is that as demand goes up, supply will go up. I don't think that there is a magic food that will help your supply, but if you cut your calories too much then your supply will go down. So make sure you are eating and drinking enough calories! Good luck

sarvalfon

There is a "nursing tea" that you can get, it will help increase your supply. You can also try a beer a day. The beauty of nature is that breastfeeding happens on a supply and demand schedule. If you continue to pump or nurse regularly, you will begin increase your supply. Make sure to drink lots of water and eat good food. I also found in my son's first year, that my supply would increase and decrease from time to time. I stopped worrying when I realized that it coincided with introducing solids. Your baby will also have phases where he nurses less, or eats a lower volume. These are all normal, and, if you're producing milk with no complications, you will be able to keep up with the changes. No matter how little he nurses, if you have to make more, and he "asks" for more, your body will accomodate. I only nurse once a day at this point, but in a pinch, or when he's sick, I can still nurse my 15 month old son at any time of day. The milk is always there.
Hope this helps!

emmabeckemeyer1

When you introduce formula your supply reduces. Have you tried upping your supply and cutting formula out? YOu have eat, drink, and take supplements that boost your supply. I nursed my first daughter 6 months exclusively and my second daughter I nursed exclusively for 12 months.

hjfischer

Also, my kids did get formula and breast milk. You can do that as well. Pumping does help increase milk. I can be hard and time consuming, but after your son gets in a better schedule try to go back to the breast full time and only supplement formula when you need to. It is all good!

hjfischer

When you introduce formula your supply reduces. Have you tried upping your supply and cutting formula out? YOu have eat, drink, and take supplements that boost your supply. I nursed my first daughter 6 months exclusively and my second daughter I nursed exclusively for 12 months.

Introducing formula does NOT reduce your milk. I hate when people say this. It is disheartening. I gave all 4 of my kids formula at some point. There are times when you need to work on getting your supply up. Not all women produce enough milk on demand.

77tes

My info is very old -- my youngest is 28! But I did nurse 3 successfully. I would recommend nursing to increase your supply. The baby's sucking stimulates increased production much better than pumping. Once you have reestablished the supply, you can figure out how much you want to pump and supplement with formula. Good luck! Enjoy this precious time -- it is so short.

jojowink

i agree with that...
the more you demand...the more you'll supply. and yes, drink plenty of water & rest yourself. I pumped & gave formula for the first 6 months and also had a freezer full for days when couldn't stay on top of things.

do you literally MIX the formula & BM- i don't think that your supposed to do that?? totally not trying to bash anything (i hate when people do that) but wasn't sure if that was what you meant or that you do one bottle formula, then the next feeding BM (alternate).

congrats on your baby & good luck to you! don't stress either--that won't help:)

indycello

I haven't started nursing yet but I have been in classes recently that spoke on this subject.

Basically what they said was the baby should be on breast milke exclusively for the first six months.

My SIL (who has BFed for 10 years straight now for 5 children) has successfully used BFing as a birth control by not introducing any food but breast milk until the baby is a year and then breast feeding until her child is 2 years old.

So from my understanding and what I was told in classes, continue breast feeding more frequently to up your supply and reduce the amount of formula you are using and pump.

Hope my novice .0098 cents (adjusted for inflation) helps somewhat!