Before I went back to work, I spent a few weeks building a frozen supply of breast milk for Leah. However she’s gone through it a lot faster than I thought she would. And I only have bottle feeding to blame for that. I’ve read that primarily breastfed babies have a hard time knowing they are full on the occasion that they take a bottle. Flow from the breast is much slower so it’s easier for baby to recognize when its full. Example: Leah can nurse anywhere from 20 -35 minutes, but she can down a bottle in under 10. So on the two days I am at work, she goes through double what she would when I nurse her.
Now my frozen supply is dwindling, and I‘m freaking out a bit about how I will be able to keep up. On the days I am at work I pump and bring that home, then I try to pump every day when I am home just to make up for the additional bags that are used on the other two days, but I’m thinking I won’t be able to maintain my frozen supply much longer.
I drink tons of water, and even started drinking Org.anic Moth.ers Mi.lk Tea to help increase my supply so I can pump twice a day instead of once, or have a larger quantity to pump. Does anyone else have experience with this? Any tips?
8 comments:
I read that the teas aren't as effective as pills, as it's hard to drink enough tea to get the result from the herbs. So I would suggest taking fenugreek and blessed thistle. Another herb that is supposed to help, although I never had huge success with it, is shatavari. Is Leah sleeping through the night? If she isn't eating during the night, one tip would be to pump in the middle of the night, both to increase production as well as get more out. The more often you can pump and drain your breasts, the better. So try to not go more than 3 hours between pumps or nursing sessions for a week or so and see if that increases your supply.
And if you think that Leah is eating too much, then try to have the daycare folks slow it down. Also what size nipple are you using? Can you get a smaller nipple?
Hope that helps!
1) Try a pre-mie nipple to get her to drink slower.
2) Only put 3-4oz max in a bottle. After that bottle is gone, have the feeder distract her for a bit before offering another bottle.
3) Make sure they're burping her every 2oz or so... she'll probably protest for a second, but it gives her enough time to slow down and think if she's still hungry, and hopefully get a good burp out of her so she'll spit up less / eat less.
I hope this helps - we've been struggling with the same thing with Stella! I've found the bigger the bottle I send to daycare, the more she eats...so I only send 3-4oz bottles max now.
Hey girl,
Seconding trying a smaller nipple (or one with less openings). More importantly, seconding only putting 3-4 ounces in each bag.
For us, we nursed right before we left for daycare. I pumped twice at work (once around 11 and once at 2) and then we nursed right when we got home (about 5). R generally nursed every 2 hours and he got bottles on that schedule based on when we last nursed in the AM.
I found Kellymom.com to be a great resource for all things breastfeeding, and there are a few other sites dedicated to helping nursing moms who pump.
Hang in there! You are doing a great job! Make sure that you're taking in plenty of water. (Go Caps! And Sharks! (until we have to play each other). :)
You can try Brewers yeast but you'd have to take about 18 tablets/day to get the desired effect. Another thing you can try is drinking a beer (either non-alcoholic or the traditional beer) because the yeast in it really does help to increase production. (One beer/day won't be in the breastmilk if you're worried about that part of it.) Also, your body makes the most breastmilk in the morning (usually between 2am-9am) due to hormone circus your body does when it's sleeping. If you're a crazy lady like I was and you're willing to get up you just might notice more milk production during that time.
The first commenter was spot on in saying don't let your body go more than 3 hours without a feeding/pumping because supply may diminish since it isn't being demanded of your body if you go longer.
One last thing I haven't seen posted yet is oatmeal. It works really well for some. Kellymom.com is a GREAT resource for breastfeeding information if you can't get ahold of a lactation consultant or you don't have time to spend on the phone with them. GL!
I obviously have no real life experience with this, but: Roasted Pumpkin Seeds.
Eat as many as you can stomach. They must be roasted.
This message brought to you by a student who Chinese Medicine has made its bitch.
=)
I have heard good things about fenugreek, and drinking a beer. When a friend's supply was dwindling dr told her to pump every 2 hours. The girls are right it is supply and demand...it you are trying to get more the chances are there will be more. <3 Good Luck!
Since I had a reduction, I struggled with reduced production the entire time I pumped.
Fenugreek works wonders (I second that you have to drink too much of the tea to get much from it).
Beer.
Oatmeal, spinach (several foods that are recommened - I can scan what they gave me in the NICU and email if you need me to).
Also - are you double pumping? Pumping both at once is supposed to increase supply...
A lot of the suggestions and tips your other readers are offering are great, and with the exception of tea or herbs, I did many of them myself. I work full time and the transition to work was difficult in regards to pumping/supply. I had two "rules" for myself. The first was not to use my freezer supply-I read somwhere that by using your freezer supply it can reduce your supply because your body isn't being asked to make the milk the baby needs (kellymom.com I think- a pretty good resource, especially if you are committed to breastfeeding). The second was to pump what she drank while we were away from each other in the same one day period. For example if she had 10 ozs at daycare that day, I had to pump 10 ozs, whether it took 2 pumping sessions or 5 (and there were days in the beginning when it took 5). This was an extension of what I said earlier. I figured if I was pumping what she drank, my body would keep up its supply and meeting her needs. I still have a good freezer stash and dip into it when work gets super crazy and I can only pump once in the day. Long story short, I found I needed to just keep pumping. If you respond well to the pump it can work to maintian or even increase your supply. Also, when I first started I would only pump for 10 minutes or so and wasn't getting a lot of milk per pump session, but then I realized that pumping longer would get a second or even third let down. After a while, my body got the message that I needed milk and now I pump for 15 (sometimes 20) minutes and get enough for my little one. I was constantly worried about my supply when I returned to work and it was just plain hard, but after a while I've settled into a good routine that works for my schedule, keeps my supply up and still provides for my baby:) I assure you that you too will find this balance. Good Luck!
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