I went on a mini vacation for four days without my 7 month old DD. She was exclusively BF but started to teach her the bottle and formula at 6.5 months so that my DH could take care of her. During my time away, she got really sick and teething at the same time.My milk supply has dropped drastically to .5 oz when i pump from a fast 4 oz when i pumped before. What can I do to increase it to before bc she no longer wants to BF?! Secondly, she seems somewhat distance to me now and i feel guilty bc I think she doesn't trust me anymore since I wasn't here to respond to her crying when she was sick. What can I do now???
I also understand that i should keep BFing to keep the supply but she doesn't want to even BF. Will constantly pumping and when I do, will my supply come back? I just have extreme mommy guilt and I really love the bond we have with BFing.
Milk supply came back with lots of BFing and pumping. I also took 9 fenugreek pills a day with Mother's milk Tea until I started to produce the same amount. Unfortunately, she hates the bottle again! Now my DH can't watch her for long periods of time... oh well... at least she's happy!!
Keep nursing. As often and as much as you can and then when she is done, pump for a minute or two on each side.
Nursing is supply and demand. The more you need the more you make.
You can do it!
Once you get back into your routine with your infant, your supply will go back to what it used to be, tho PUMPING wise - you may be only able to improve a bit. I want you to realize what you can pump does not have any bearing on how much you are producing. The pump is a faulty machine compared to the amazing streamlined abilities of the infant's mouth... the pump gets around 25-30% of your milk while the baby will get 100%.
She may be not nursing as much BECAUSE she was sick and teething and just needs to get back into the routine... offer the breast often and before anything else. I would hold off on bottles until you can get her back to breastfeeding like she used to.
I agree with the encouragement from AV and Vanessa to bf as much as you can.
I have heard several stories but this one gave me the most hope:
A bf'ing mother who works during the day has her husband care for their baby at home during that time. The baby kept refusing anything the dad would offer, bottle of breast milk, bottle of formula, water, anything. The baby would get to bf when her mom came home from work. She is a thriving and healthy baby even though she waits "all day" for mom (and dinner) to get home!
Most lactation consultants also tell me that a baby simply can't "go without food". If you nurse your baby and do not offer anything else, you will know pretty soon if your supply returns. Also, it wouldn't hurt to ask a lactation consultant for advice.
You are a very loving mom!! Good luck!
Don't feel guilty, first of all. Every good mom needs time away sometimes, and it's not that your baby doesn't trust you. Around this age, when babies are learning to crawl and explore the world around them, as well as starting solid foods, it's totally normal that your baby is less into you and more into her surroundings! You're probably noticing it more because you have mommy guilt. ;)
That being said, you can pump after your normal feeding times to increase your milk volume. I always found that eating cheese pizza and/or a cheeseburger (basically something high-protein and high fat) helped increase my milk supply, too. And of course, drink lots of water.
I do have to share with you that both of my daughters (exclusively breastfed up until 6 months, via me or via a bottle) weaned themselves from breastfeeding at that age. They just lost all interest in it the minute they started solids! Both of them were too busy exploring the world around them (crawling, pulling up, etc) and they both LOVED solids. It was kind of sad for me at the time, but they both turned out just fine. Try not to worry!
Milk supply is all supply & demand, the more you nurse, the more milk you make. Just keep nursing and pumping, it should take about 48hrs. Also drink water and eat heatlhy, whole oats should help too.
Remember, what you get when you pump is less than she gets when she nurses, pumps never get out as much as the baby.
