Hi Moms,
This is my second week back to work after being off 10 weeks with my darling little girl. She has always been a good eater and I have been able to keep her satisfied with just breast feeding but now that I am back at work, I am having trouble pumping enough to keep her happy for the 8 hours that I am at work. The doctor said she she have about 3 oz. at a feeding but she is eating 4 or 5 oz. at a time. I am pumping every two to three hours at work but just not getting enough milk. I finally went and rented a better pump but it doesn't seem to be making a difference. We are barely making it through the day and I don't want to have to give her formula quite yet. Does anyone have any ideas about tricks I could try to produce more mommy milk for my girl? Thank you in advance for all your great advice!!
Mother's milk tea, by Traditional Medicines.
LOTS of water
Oatmeal
Dont give up... you are a trooper and a good mommy!
I'm all for keeping up with the breastfeeding if you can do it. But my second was 10.65 lbs when she was born so by the time I went back to work I just couldn't keep up with the milk production no matter what I did. She has always been a healthy eater (even at day care she took 6 oz bottles at a time when she was under 6 mos). Now she's nearly 5 and is in the 100% in height and weight in her class (she's 64 lbs...not fat, just dense bones). My feeling is that kids this age aren't and can't overeat because they haven't "learned" how...she's only responding to what her body needs...if she needs more and you can't provide it, I would suggest looking into supplements.
I am using a supplement called "More Milk Plus" by motherlove right now, you can go to their website www.motherlove.com you can use the store locator to find who sells it in your area. It has fenugreek and a few other supplements in it that is supposed to help. My son was also taking 4-5 oz at that age, even with the slow flow nipples. It really helped me to pump first thing in the morning right after I fed my son, the morning is when your body is supposed to produce the most. After a while I was pumping almost enough for two bottles AFTER I fed him. Make sure when you pump that you pump for 3-5 minutes after the milk stops coming out. This will give you additional stimulation, and make your body think you need to produce more. Try to do this at the same time everyday also.
My sister told me the other day that breastfeeding would have gone a lot better for her, and she would have made it longer, if she hadn't been so stressed about giving her son formula when she needed to. The easier you make it on yourself, and the less stress you put on yourself, the more likely you will be to keep it up.
A.,
My daughter didn't eat much at daycare, but made up for it in the evenings! (so, I didn't really have this trouble), but you might consider trying to eat more oatmeal (my lactation specialist said it would help me produce more milk), and dring LOTS of water. Also, be sure you are getting enough calories to produce the milk. As you demand more from your body, it will adjust and make more milk. Just don't worry about it too much. It will happen. Good job on giving her the best food for babies! It is well worth the effort.
Fenugreek, a natural herb, that you can buy at any health food store or section, is incredible! my son went through 2 4 day long nursing strikes so I had to pump, which decreased my supply. I contacted LaLeche and they suggested it. It worked wonders! They also have it in tea form...I did both at one point or another.
I have also heard drinking one ale beer a night, helps, although you should drink it after you nurse/pump so it has time to leave your milk before the next feeding.
Call a La Leche League leader and go to a meeting. There are so many moms doing just what you're doing, you might get something that really works for you. You've gotten great advice so far. One more pumping/feeding will help. Also, frequency, not duration helps most with upping supply. Massage before you pump and look at how/where you pump, as it is very mental. You need to be able to relax and think about your baby. It will get better...
Hello A..
I drink milk every time I try to increase my breast milk production.
Good luck.
I say kudos for you for all your hard work. I let it stress me out for a long time before I finally decided that some breastmilk is better than none. If you have tried all you can and still can't keep up, don't worry. Give her the milk you are able to pump and supplement for the rest.
A few tips:
Try to pump some on the weekends so you can put some milk away for the week. I don't know if your baby goes to bed early, but if so then you could pump at night before you go to bed. This will give you a little extra milk. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water and getting enough calories. This made a huge difference in my supply!
Best of luck and enjoy that precious little one!
Take blessed thistle and fenugreek. Any health food store should have them. That was recommended to me by my lactation consultant. And of course plenty of water. Oh I was also told oatmeal (not the instant kind) also helps. The fenugreek and blessed thistle did the trick for me. Also try pumping after you nurse your baby to increase the supply.
You have lots of great advice here! When I breastfed my baby I noticed a huge drop in milk supply when he dropped his late night feeding. This happened about the time I went back to work. I drank more water and I started pumping during the feeding that he would have normally eaten, which was about 11:00-12:00 at night. You might look at your feeding schedule and see if there is a time you could fit in an extra pumping that your baby wouldn't normally be eating. I noticed an increase in a matter of 2-3 days. I don't know where your baby is with sleeping through the night, but again, you could pump in the middle of the night once and that should produce more milk. Breastfeeding is all supply and demand so the more you are pumping or placing baby to breast, the more you should produce. I know you are tired and the last thing you want to do is wake in the middle of the night for a pumping if your baby has started sleeping through the night. BUT, it's worth it if you really aren't ready for her to have formula. If you haven't had problems with your supply before now, your body should catch up and adjust just fine. Many women have this problem when they go back to work. With a little support you will get through it! All this to say you are at a transition and it does get easier. There will be more growth spurts to get through, but transitioning back to work is a huge milestone. Many women give up breastfeeding all together during this time for all different reasons. If this is what you want for your baby, hang in there! It's worth it!!! Email me anytime.
A.-
I went thru the same thing with my little guy! I took fenugreek, an herb that increases your milk supply and would pump for 10 minutes or so after each feeding. I also make sure I pump or nurse every three hours, no matter what! It helped get my supply up quite a bit! After a night of nursing for 2 hrs straight- and with my little guy still hungry at that, I did have to supplement some with formula. I cried that first night, but am glad we did. It’s all about doing what’s best for baby! After talking to several friends, I found that many of them supplemented while nursing, especially during those growth spurts. We all know breast milk is best, but don't get all stressed out about it. (I know, easier said than done!) Getting any breast milk is better than none at all! Baby still gets the benefits of breast milk, and some extra nutrients from supplementing- I look at it like a multivitamin for baby. Many moms end up doing a combination of nursing and supplementing. My little guy is doing great now, and mom is a heck of a lot less stressed out!
Instant Oatmeal cook per directions,oatmeal cookies,anything that is store bought that contains oatmeal water lots of it and you'll be happy with the results.If that doesn't work try to pump at nite after her last feeding and beofre you go to bed and store it
Pump early in the morning, before you feed her. This helps also.
Change to low flow nipples on the bottles that the babysitter/daycare is feeding her. I had the same problem. My husband would feed my daughter 8 ounces because she would keep eating. She ate all the time. She had reflux and nursing or taking the bottle would make her feel better. I made my husband and sitter slow down on the feeding and only give her 3 to 4 ounces at that age and she did just fine. It is there so she is going to eat as long as they keep giving it to her.
Good luck.
As far as increasing your milk production, everybody has given great advice. Take fenugreek and blessed thistle, 3 tablets of each, 3 times a day. YOu should start to see an increase in a couple of day with full benefits by day 7. Also start pumping after baby eats. Watch this clip about maximizing milk production. http://newborns.stanford.edu/Breastfeeding/MaxProduction....
As far as her eating during the day, she may not really need that much. Try having her daycare provider slow down the feeding. My LO is 11 weeks and we still try to burp her every 1/2 oz. By breaking the suction it allows her tummy to fill up slowly and signal when she is full. I would try to slow her eating down and only give her 3-4 oz and she if she is not satisfied.
I know this can get difficult, but EVERY time she eats at home or on the weekends, pump when she's finished eating and freeze it. You may need to pick an "extra" time at night after she's went to bed to pump also to overstimulate milk production and again, freeze it.
My baby's ped. recommended Fenugreek, an herbal supplement found at health food stores(it is in Mother's Milk tea). It really does work. Also, make sure you are drinking plenty of liquids.
I had this same problem. Are you drinking enough water? It makes a huge difference in the amount of milk you produce. After a few months back at work I had to start supplementing formula in her bottle, one ounce at a time. So she was getting 4 oz of breastmilk to 1 oz of formula at each feeding. My pediatrician said that as long as they are getting 50% breastmilk they are getting all the benefits from you! Good luck and happy pumping!
Hi A.. I feel for you! I pumped after going back to work too and it is such a strain on your body. Especially if you are only breastfeeding during the night and not getting enough rest. I just wanted to say hang in there and don't drive yourself crazy. I agree that sometimes daycare will just feed like crazy to keep them happy instead of other activities, so have that talk.
But also, take care of Mom! A bottle of formula to supplement now and then shouldn't hurt her if she has such a tremendous appetite anyway and you keep pumping the same amount. Some breastmilk and a healthy, happy mommy is worth a compromise with a little formula if you need to. :)
You're doing great!! Congratulations and take care.
the whole food store on metcalf (i think its metcalf and 91st? but i could be wrong. its around there though!) sells mothers milk tea. i drank it earlier when my son was still on breast milk only. it really does help and its really tasty too! also make sure you are drinking lots of fluids! i know this sounds weird too, but if you gently roll your nipple between your fingers until you can feel the tingle of getting ready to let down your milk before you pump that can help too. you might also just do better manually expressing. i never pumped well. but i could express just fine.
A. the only advice i have for you is stay hydrated and try to relax, the milk supply will catch up with your hungry girl soon, its supply and demand with breast milk...I would predict that within a week you should have more milk. Also it never hurts at all to give a little one an ounce or two of water, if you are not worried about the whole bottle/nipple confusion thing...all 3 of mine were able togo back and forth, it just was inconvenient becuase my little ones would not easily take a bottle from the one person who they already knew had "the good stuff" so to speak.
Lots of luck
B.
