I have been breastfeeding my daughter for six months and for some reason this week everytime that I pump ( in the morning before she wakes up and in the evening when I get home from work) nothing comes out. I pump at work and i get between 4-6 oz but i can't get any when I pump at home unless she is nursing on the opposite side that I am pumping on. I just never seem to get a letdown. Has this happened to anyone before and is there any advice that anyone can give me.
It could be due to the fact that you haven't had any fluids at night to help produce. You may want to either drink a bit before you go to bed or have some water sitting beside the bed to have before you even actually get out of bed.
I had a similar experience when my son was around the same age... at some point my body realized I was not with him during the day most days and I wasn't able to pump much if any milk. I would highly caution you to NOT pump unless you feel engorged... I really think that quota pumping contributed to all my breastfeeding issues, I had to have D&C surgery when my son was 7 months old because of a nasty mastitis incident that did not respond well to antibiotics. I battled 3 times with mastitis before I figured out it was the extra pumping that was causing nipple irritation that seemed to lead to the mastitis... My advice would be to relax and enjoy breastfeeding when you are able to - my son adjusted to my working schedule (I had to go back to work wen he was only 6 weeks old) he nursed more in the morning before I left had a few bottles of formula (needed to do that with the first mastitis incident when I couldn't pump) with the babysitter and then nursed when I came home and several times in the night. The fear of not having enough refrigerated BM around for him during the day really played on how I felt (thus my enjoyment of that precious time) and feel I would have been better off just listening to my body (pump when engorged not for a certain amount of ounces) and leaving the formula incase he did run out of BM during the day. Hope that helps.
Hi Lauren,
Contact your local la leche league consultant at:
Hope this helps. Don't give up.
D.
Hi Lauren,
I have had similar problems also while i breastfed and pumped breastmilk for my kids. A safe herb to take is milk thistle. It will increase and enrich your supply of breastmilk. Let me know if you need any more help. I hope everything turns out well!!
www.mynsp.com/ritak
I had a similar problem & I was told to look at a picture of my baby while pumping. That didn't really work, so, I thought, "What reminds me of my baby the most?" The answer was the smell of her clothes, so I starting taking one article of clothing with me & that helped. Also try to contact a lactation consultant (I called the ones at Harrisburg hospital). Best wishes =O}
Make sure you're pumping on both sides -- worked for me!
This might sound strange, and I don't know if it's medically proven or not, but has your period returned yet? My period returned at 3 months with my oldest, 5 months with my youngest and I was breastfeeding both exclusively when it returned.....and I always seemed to notice I had trouble pumping or feeling like I'm letting down while nursing right around that time....Anyway, I just kept with my schedule and it always cleared up on it's own, usually after my period started.
Consider renting a hospital grade pump for a few weeks. Also check your tubes and membranes and things. Make sure your pump is working at it's optimum. Even the slightest thing can cause havoc and pumps do wear out overtime. Friends of mine have had good luck renting a pump for a short while and then going back to their old pump later. Also maybe add a session during the day?
Consider that maybe your venue is causing problems? Maybe your body isn't letting down at home because you feel like you should be nursing instead of pumping. Possibly consider pumping before you leave work instead of once you get home?
Like another poster said, drink more fluids than you think you can handle, try taking copious amounts of Fenugreek and consider adding oats to your diet. If you run a google search you should find plenty of recipes for lactation cookies. Certainly a tastier option than old fashioned oatmeal.
Don't give up! And don't worry about mastitis. I have had it a total of 14 times with both of my boys. 8 with my oldest and 6 with my little one. It's awful but there is no one thing that caused it- pumping usually helps with mastitis and you're told to nurse and pump as often as you can when you do have the infection.
Good luck!
