Hello, I have a 5mth old and I can't seem to pump enough during the week to keep up with his needs. He stays with my mom Mon-Fri so nursing him directly is not possible. I feed him from the time I get him Fri night til Sun afternoon but it still doesn't help me. During the week I am only pumping and storing around 20 bags or so and my mother ends up having to give him formula around weds or thurs. I have taken fenugreek, reglan and mother's milk it seems to help me produce more milk but not an over abundance. Is there anything else that will help me make more milk so I can store up milk to last me a while until my supply builds to a good amount?
Thank you all for your input... I'm in the military with no daycare but I an lucky enough to have my mom three hours away to keep him I would love to nurse him more but that is not an option at this point. I'm not going to give up, I'm just going to let nature take its course. I hope I can make it a year... oh the bags I store for him are six ounces and my mom is going to start solids hopefully with that the milk I make will be enough
I had problems with volume as well and ended up supplementing with some formula in every bottle to make the milk stretch. I was probably 80-20, 80% milk, 20% formula every bottle. Sometimes more or less depending on how production was.
Nursing more is really all you can do. You can take as many herbs and things as you want, but since pumping isn't as good at getting the milk out as nursing, those won't help boost your supply in the long term. Is there any way you can nurse at all during the week, even just one extra nursing session a day could help.
When my milk supply decrease my doc recomended oatmeal for breakfast every day and a lot of water. It worked for me.
If I wanted to pump 8 oz, I would drink 10 oz of water and that seemed to do the trick for me. You need to keep really well watered, cause remember, if the liquid is coming out of your body, it needs to be going into your body.
Hope this helps!
Good luck
R.
Are you taking any allergy medications? That can dry up milk supply. Also, make sure you are drinking a LOT of water (other liquids won't cut it). You may also consider a good-fat diet - lots of avacados, fruit milk-shakes, etc. Good luck.
M., I am a mother of 2 boys, 3yrs & 7.5mo. With my youngest son I kept myself well hydrated. Drinking atleast 32oz of water every 30-45 min. No coffee (coffee dehydrates)or soda. With that I pumped every hour and a half. I was able to produce 40oz of milk daily. I hope this helps. All the best. -M. A.
Is he eating any solids yet? How many ounces is he getting a day of breast milk? I pumped 2-3 times a day at work like clockwork. I was able to pump enough each day so my daughter could take it in a bottle the next day. She probably took 18 oz in a bottle between 8AM - 5PM. Make sure you're getting enough water in your diet. Just keep drinking, and keep pumping. If you pump and it starts to slow, keep going an extra 5 minutes. Also, relax while you're pumping. In the end, a little formula is just fine too. You're doing a great job!
I had trouble with the amount as well I drank Healthy Nursing Tea by secrets of tea that`s organic tea and really good helped me to boost milk supply factory.
I was told by a lactation consultant to drink tons of liquid! (Water, milk, juice, fenugreek tea, anything except coffee or soda.) Up to 2 gallons a day. Continue to take your suppliments so the milk will be good quality.
I hope this helps.
Ugh, I've been through this, with both my kids, and earlier than 5 months so good for you that it's been working out up til now. I am sure you are trying everything you can. My advice, for your sanity, just let him have formula wed and thursday when he runs out of the pumped milk. Do not stress over this. Who knows, as soon as you let go of the worry, that may be all your body needs to start producing more... or not, and if he gets formula 2 days a week, that's ok.
I say this because I know how crazy it can make you to be so focused on increasing milk supply... sometimes it's better to just relax and go with what's naturally happening with your supply. You're still able to breastfeed him all weekend and pump consistently so that's great. Nothing wrong with putting a little formula in the mix at this point.
Same problem here. All the pumping and herbs and water and rest cannot replace the baby on the breast. My md recommended a drug called Motilium Domperidone. Not FDA approved, but used all over Canada and Europe. google it. You can get it from one of those online pharmacies. Has worked wonders for me. I was about to give up. Only was getting 2 oz ALL DAY. Now I get about 20 oz. good luck.
The only thing that worked for me was to pump one breast while babe nursed at the other.
How much milk are you trying to send to your mom's house? Remember, breastmilk needs are not calculated based on weight like formula, so you don't need to increase his breastmilk volume as he grows. Rather, the milk grows with him.
You calculate breastmilk needs by figuring that the average baby takes in around 24 oz in an hour. So you figure for daycare 1 oz per hour you are gone. So if you're gone for 9 hours in the day, you figure three 3 oz bottles. Here is a handy calculator you can use to calculate how much milk and how big your bottles should be:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkcalc.html
If you're still running into problems, here is some good info on increasing supply:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/pumping_decrease.html
Mammary PMG works like a charm. You can probably find it online or at a holistic doctor's office.
I didn't start solids with my kids until 8.5 months, 4.5 months and 18 months with my last. I waited until they had teeth - I figured that was their boy's way of letting my knwo their digestive system was ready. My last one didn't want ANY food, so at 18 months, I had to cut her off. Literally, she would go ALL day an not eat ANYTHING if I wasn't around.
Personally, I'm not a big fan of trying the products you mentioned because there is NO clinical evidence on record to support their claims of being able to increase milk supple.
A lot of it has to do with demand. When you say 20 bags, how many ounces does that translate to?
I was a full-time working mom and had the following schedule most of the first year I nursed my first child:
1. awake ~6:15am, pump
2. nurse if he was awake around 7:30am
3. pump ~10:30am
4. pump ~1-2 pm
5. pump ~4:30-5pm
6. nurse at home while awake and at bedtime
7. 11pm - pump
On the weekends, I tried to nurse exclusively to get his demand to stimulate supply better and would pump in the morning and evening both Saturday and Sunday.
It was a huge pain, but my only reasons not to were completely selfish, so I did it for him.
Prolactin levels (hormone that allows you to nurse) can also be a factor in your ability to produce milk.
With my son, I was very adamant that I wanted to exclusively breastfeed for the first year, and to my knowledge, he never received formula.
Our daughter didn't take to nursing so well, and I had to supplement in the hospital and then had to stop nursing when she was 11 weeks to start chemo.
I got over the "I have to nurse exclusively" thing quickly and realized sometimes we have to do what's best for our kids which may mean supplementing as necessary.
Have you started solids? If he's consuming so much, I have a feeling the milk may not be satisfying him enough. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends initiating solids between 4-6 months - our pediatrician recommended 4 months with both of our kids because they were on top of the growth charts. Perhaps that's a question to ask as well at your next visit so you're not so hard on yourself.
Good luck!
