Help with Breastfeeding

I have a friend who swears by marshmallow root. She said it greatly increased her milk supply. She actually went from bottle TO breast using this stuff! Look for the capsules in a health food store.

The fenugreek helps a lot, lots of women just take it everyday to help milk supply. Eating oatmeal will help out also and drink plenty of water. You really need about a gallon of water a day.

Eat healthy an drinking a lot of water. Also oatmeal will help you out too. If you have any more problem call the Le Leche For breastfeeding information, call our Houston Area Helpline at ###-###-####.
Best of luck,
Leti

Hi T.! I was having the same problem and it sounds like you are doing the right thing by pumping. When I was going through this, I looked online and there are some herbs and stuff like that you can take. Just look up "low milk supply". I hope this helps..

hi T., i have been in my life a skeptic of herbal remedies, but not after i tried, breast milk tea(called mothers milk), i am unsure of its brand but you can find it in krogers signature stores in the new age section, i was one of those moms who's child wouldn't latch on, so i pumped my milk, my doctor said that because my baby wasn't actually drinking strait from me that my body would produce less milk, not so , the tea was a lifesaver, i have turned 2 other mothers onto it and they have had results as well, hope this helps, p.s. the only weird thing is that your little ones head may smell like licorice, i thought it was cute

This has happened to me and I tried drinking a TON of water (I hadn't been drinking any and my milk supply went way down.) I started drinking 1-2 L. daily in addition to pumping, which you said you are already doing and I went from being able to pump 2 oz. to about 6 oz. at a pumping within a few days.

Good Luck!

I breast fed my son while I was pg with my daughter and my supply went way down too. I just fed him all the time. I only did formula a few times and that was when he had been eating a long time, but was crying. I only gave him a little also. So he was hungry again soon. If he gets full on formula, he wont want to nurse. Pumping just doesn't stimulate your milk like the real thing. I would feed him every 30 minutes to an hour. Just spend a few days at home in front of the tv holding him and feeding him.
Good luck
btw I nursed my 1st 2 for a year and am still nursing my 8 month old, so let me know if you need more help.

As the others have said, put him to your breast, pumping just isn't the same; it'll help but him actually nursing helps way more. Also, this may sound terrible/extreme, but do not give him another bottle of formula... it'll be hard but if you don't give him, he'll nurse on you and your milk supply will increase. I went through this with my first born. I was taking some medication and wasn't sure if it was okay to do so while nursing and ended up having to fight for my supply and for my child to want to nurse! I won... lol And we went on to nurse for a long time afterwards. It'll be hard, but babies love the easy way out (bottle). They do love nursing, but when they're hungry, the bottle's milk comes out so fast.
Best wishes! Also, if you want to contact me, that's fine too... I've been breastfeeding continuously for almost 8 yrs now! So, by now, I know a good bit.

drink as much fluids as possible. I'm sure you have done that and are doing that, but I had that happen to me and that's what did the trick. Also, don't stress. Stress can weaken your supply.

Try an herbal supplement tea (can be found in the health food section at Kroger or HEB) called Mother's Milk. It's helped me in the past.
Big congrats on being able to breastfeed! I'm glad to see that you've taken on the task...we need more supporters out there!

Hi T.,
My advice to you would be eat & drink healthy. I found myself drinking lots of water. I nursed my triplet for 6 months. When they slept I used electric pump to store up. Good luck to you. My motto is " Any breast milk, is better than no breast milk".

If you have been taking a decongestant that can greatly reduce your supply. Drink lots of water, make sure you are eating well, and try nursing then pumping every two hours. Also you can get Mother's Milk Tea from the health food section in Kroger or a health food store, taking fenugreek can help (not sure the dosage), and Motherlove More Milk Plus can help boost your supply (available at A WOman's Work, not sure where else). Hope this helps. Stick with it, your milk will come back :) Feel free to email me if you need to ____@____.com

D.

Hi T.,

There are definately some SAFE herbal suppliments that you can take. Mother's Milk Tea is a very common one, but it is the weakest one since you boil out most of the herbs--another alternative is Fenugreek, you would take 3 pills 3 times a day. This usually takes up to 72 hours to work, OR you can take More Milk Plus, a liquid capsule that contains Fenugreek, Blessed Thistle, Fennel and Nettle-all increase milk supply. This works in 24-48 hours. We carry all of these herbs so you can go to our website at www.thebreastfeedingshoppe.com and look it all up, or stop by and we can fix you up!!!

N.

Ditto on the water. Its all about supply and demand, so just try to nurse as much as you can.

My doctor told me about something you can get at GNC. I can't remember what it is called but they should be able to help you.

There is some medication that I think is for nausea also, that is supposed to help with milk supply - it is possilby Metoclopram. Try calling your ob and ask about it. I took it briefly b/c my premature baby would not nurse well and I was concerned about not being able to breastfeed. She gave me a prescription for it and I started it but then he started nursing well and I did not need it anymore. Maybe that will help...

I was hospitalized for dehydration when my baby was 5 months old and my supply went down too. Keep pumping, breastfeeding and drink as much water/juice as you can. That really helped me. Give it time and supplement as you need. Any breastmilk your baby is getting is a great.

The same happiend to me right after I had my little one.. I drank alot of milk. Drink it all day long. I know you just might get tyred of it.. But it just might work.

T., I had the same problem and I was pumping as u were every hour, it took about a week or so but i finally got my milk supply back up so be patient. it will soon come.

G.

Try calling the Le Leche League for advice. There's a location in Katy. http://www.lalecheleague.org/. Also, I'd try finding a Lactation Consultant in your area, maybe contact your Obgyn and/or hospital for consultants in your area. I had one come to my house periodically, and I even rented a hospital grade pump from her when mine wasn't strong enough. She helped me quite a bit. I had had a lot of problems right off the bat with breastfeeding because I had no really good, detailed instruction in the beginning and the hospital put my baby on formula right from the start at the hospital regardless of my instructions that she be a breastfed only infant. With the help of the consultant, I was able to breastfeed my baby until almost 6 months, but always with the help/supplementation of formula. Good luck to you and your baby. :-)