Not Producing Enough Milk During the Day

At the Family to Family Connection they have lactation specialists. Call ###-###-#### and ask for Suzy. She is wonderful. She will give you tips that you can do at home before feeding time. Foods you can eat. They are SO nice and very helpful. Good luck! I was in the same boat and am so glad I had Suzy. OH AND IT IS FREE!!!

Hi A.,

I had the same problem. She would latch on and try her little heart out, but nothing, or just a tiny bit came out. My Dr. told me to have a small glass of wine before breastfeeding (cool huh?) to relax myself. Little sweetie ended up expending more calories try to get the milk than she took in. I pumped too and still, not a lot so I had to go to formula. I really was dreading that because of the bonding that goes on with breastfeeding, but even with a bottle she still looked up into my eyes and neither one of us saw a bottle involved. It'll all work out A.. Good Luck!

V.

Try this link about increasing your milk supply:

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/low-supply.html

There are things you can do to increase your milk supply.

Your breast pump may not be adequate enough. Try a Medela Pump In Style or even the upgrade of that. Good luck!

I had low supply with my first. I took "Healthy nursing tea" and pumped a ton with a rented hospital grade pump. I did several pumps a day and drank plenty of tea as well. It took a few days but eventually my milk supply was adequate to feed my baby.

As other moms said, after nursing for a while, your breasts adjust to the feeding cycle & you're less likely to feel full & get engorged. It could also be that your body is adjusting to the fact that he's on solids & may be producing less milk around the time you're giving him solids when that used to be a time you nursed him. Which may be the cause for less milk later in the day. Try pumping right after you nurse him & freeze it or put a few ounces in bottles so that if he's frustrated that your milk isn't letting down fast enough, then you'll have a bottle of breast milk ready for him. Giving him a bottle still offers that cuddling that you have while nursing. Unless it's bottles all together you want to avoid. My second son self-weaned about 6 months cuz he wanted the milk faster than I could provide. He was getting more active at this age & wanted to feed & get back to his rolling around & investigating. Plus he was easier distracted & would pull off....w/my nipple still in his mouth...OUCH! Your son could be going thru one or all of the same things. All that is pretty common among babies. Good luck!

First, NO NO NO on the cabbage leaves that were suggested below. Cabbage leaves are used to reduce engorgement and decrease supply when you wean.

What you are experiencing might not be from a low supply, after breastfeeding for a few months your body adjusts and the full feeling goes away. I think this happend at about 4 months for me and the only time i would feel full was if i was away from my son for more than 4 hours (i bf 13 months). The amount your are getting when you pump in no way can determine how much your son is eating, i could never get more than 1 oz pumping on the breast that my son nurse on the least and on the one he prefered to nurse on i could never get more than 1 1/2-2 oz there was no way a 1 year old was only eating 1-2 oz at a time!

When my son started to teeth he would nurse a few seconds pull away and cry, could your son be teething?

If you are looking to increase your supply you can try Mother's milk tea, eat oatmeal it's suppose to increase supply and there is also a supplement called fenugreek that helps to increase supply. Hope this helps.

Hi A.,

I have a 7 week old baby and he is impatient for his milk as well. I had a very complicated delivery and couldn't nurse him for the first 5 days of his life, so my milk supply was very low when I started and we have had to supplement. He also gets very frustrated and starts to cry, what we have been doing is dripping a little milk onto the nipple from the bottle and he then thinks that he is getting the milk and if you can do that until you have "let down" then it may work, it works for us most of the time. Just a suggestion. Good luck and take care.

Co

Have you tried organic raspberry leaf tea? It really works wonders! You should be able to find it at a health food store. You might also try green cabbage leaves. I would place them (washed and chilled) onto my breasts and they helped milk flow...strange but true...hope this helps you

Dear A.,

I don't know anything about breast feeding, but I do know that when we are raising children that we need to be watchful. ....as you are doing - and we need to not get stuck in one way of doing things. We are all unique individuals and one way does not fit all.

I adopted my children and, of course, couldn't breast feed - it is an eternal mystery to me how we know how much the baby is getting. I always held my babies when they were having a bottle and it seemed a nice cozy time for us even though it was not my personal milk that was nourishing them.

C. N.

You are perfectly normal! He still needs you, but he is also getting additional nutrition from his solids. Your baby is more than likely getting more than a few ounces when he nurses. If you are really worried try going to a lactation station or hospital that lets you weigh baby for free. Weigh him before you feed him - with only a clean diaper, then again after you feed him with a clean diaper. If he really isn't getting enough, ask the lactation consultant, they are usually very nice, helpful, and supportive. If you really aren't getting anything in the afternoon, try to express a few drops to see if you truly are empty my guess is you aren't. My baby gets cranky in the afternoon (that is when he usually has a bowel movement) and it is harder for him now that it is solid food. I wish you the best of luck!

Mother's Milk tea at about 4:30.....helps to keep your milk supply up. Eating oatmeal and grains helps as well.........Raspberrry tea.....is goood as well...........I am not a drinker but during my nursing years I would sip on a half of glass of malt liquour at about 6:30 pm........I nursed all my kids to at least 14 mos. ......last one till 2 and found each one had a different rhythm with food.........
Good luck,
M.

Sometimes it just happens. I started to get like thatwhn I went back to work. My doctor said you need to be near him for your body to sense the need for it.. You will still produce it for a while.. My doc said to drink 1/2 to whole beer then 1 hr later pump each side for few mins. They use to give this to you in the hospital.To help get your milk started.. I know it works.. for sure tried it.. It actully felt like the 1st couple of days very full.. Good luck..