Keeping up breast milk!

Dairy, good fats and keep boosting your calories

Let's start with the basics. How do you know your supply has dropped? How old is your nursling?

Kellymom.com is an amazing site for research based information for breastfeeding moms. Here's an article on feeling like your supply has dropped and a list of articles on supply worries.

I'm in the same situation i've lost 4 pounds but I also feel that my milk supply is dropping. I'm nervous because my baby won't take any bottles he is exclusively breast-fed. How many additional calories should I add to my daily intake?

I had huge supply problems bc I had to exclusively pump. Oatmeal, fenugreek pills and a daily Guinness (yuck) helped keep up what little supply I had. I ate regular oatmeal, oatmeal cookies and Quaker oatmeal bars daily (the bars usually in the middle of the night). The Guinness was recommended by my doctor and doesn't hurt the baby. This is in addition to eating enough calories and drinking plenty of water. If you are having supply problems, I'd put all thoughts of dieting and calorie restriction out of your head.

I am exclusively pumping for a 6 month old. On average I eat 2000-2300 calories a day. I am 5 lbs away from my prepregnancy weight but those lbs probably aren't going to move until I'm done breastfeeding and that's ok. Try upping your calories and drink a ton of water if nothing works see about getting a prescription for domperidone (sp?) it will increase your milk supply.

try taking fenugreek as a supplement

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Unfortunately, I don't think it's FDA approved in the US. I couldn't get it when I asked.[/quote]

Oh really? I didn't know...I wonder why. I'm in Canada and here it's the first thing doctors offer if a woman has problems with her milk supply.

ellycotton wrote: »

Hi thanks for your replys. I have expressed since she was born, and put her on each boob at least twice a day. Haven't seen my doctor as the are now booked up to June and it's not classed as an emergency. Spoke to my health visitor who said I was doing everything right and the only help she have me was to express in front of her. I've gone from making 8oz bottle first thing, followed by 4oz bottles for the rest of the day to half an oz each boob I pump every 3.5 hours also. I just woke up Friday morning and just got an oz x

Your problems have nothign to do with eating enough, and sorry to say, but the health visitor is clueless. Been there, done that, and the sad reality is, unless you talk to a lactation consultant or a dr/nurse with a personal passion for nursing, you have better luck doing your own research on the internet. Like someone else posted, absolutely go to Kellymom.com, it can change your nursing experience completely.

So, to ekeep a long sotry short, sorry, but it seems you are not one of the few lucky ones who can pump exclusively and maintain their supply easily. Supply is based on demand, and the average baby (excludign medical issues) is more efficient than any pump. So, for most women, pumping starts as easier the first weeks (easier to pump than go through the painful and exhausting procedure of teachign a baby to nurse), but then it gets progressively harder to maintain a good supply, while when nursing, the opposite happens: an exclusively breastfed baby becomes more and more efficient at nursing. For some women, pumping is easier, for most it is not. Which unfortunately we usually find out late in the game
If your baby can still nurse (in which case you are very lucky) try putting baby on the breast more. Ideally, hide the pump, and nurse nurse nurse. In general, the combination feeding scenario works for young babies when the majority of feedigns comes from nursing, the opposite is very hard during the first months and usually the baby will not be an efficient nurser. So, if you can nurse more, give it a try for a while. Ideally on demand, or every 2 hours, whichever comes first, until you feel again comfortable with your supply. While re-introducing nursing to your baby, and building your supply, it will mean a couple of weeks of the abby being glued on you day and night. It is normal and will get soon much much better.

If you want or need to focus on pumping, then there are some basic things to keep in mind:
-First, your baby needs 1 to 1.5 oz per hour between feedings. Unlike with formula, this does not change wth time, it is the same at 2 months or 12 months. So, this is your goal for the day, not to produce several 8 oz bottles per day.
- Second, breasts need stimulation to produce milk. So, unless this is an older baby and you have a well established supply, you need to pump frequently. Like every 2 hours, maybe 3-4 at night, although I would nto risk 4 hours stretches with supply issues. It is possible to pump less frequently: if you have oversupply (which you do not, like most women), if you have an older baby/toddler and already have a well established nursing/pumping routine, or if you start with a hospital grade pump that your body responds well to.
- Third, you need to use a good pump and pump both sides, at least 15 minutes per side, even if nothign comes out. Because, stimulation. And make sure to change the membranes frewuently, it makes all the difference in efficiency.
- Finally, if you are supplementing with formula, you are unfortunately entering a vicious cycle. Every drop of formula your baby gets, is one drop your body will stop making the next days. Because, supply and demand. But, the baby gets hungrier, so your immediate reaction (for all of us) is to supplement more. So, even less milk produced and so on. The only way to break this cycle, is to take a nursing "vacation", nurse nurse nurse like crazy, (or pump pump pump like crazy) and gradually reduce the formula, a few oz per day.

Good luck.