Tuesday, 28 December 2010
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How Do I Get My Milk Supply Back Up?
Welcome Home Dad!
Well life is good but it certainly hasn't slowed down any.
My husband is home from deployment and loving doing all the Daddy things (yes, even changing diapers). He is amazing with Everett- not that I'm at all surprised- and Everett loves being with him, too. He definitely knows who his daddy is. I love their time together too since it means I can have time to get things done. It's been great having him home (and being home in VA) the last couple weeks. He has been back to work since Monday though and won't be home until Christmas Eve morning. He leaves again for 3+ weeks at the end of January also but I'm just glad to have him home for Christmas.
I also start back to school in January to finish up my prereq's for the RN program... Which means daycare. I hate the thought of it. I don't like leaving Everett for a few hours, let alone all day long. Thankfully I will only have to be on campus two days a week though, AND one of my best friends works at the daycare he'll be going to so I can always have her check in on him for me. It is a very nice (and clean) facility which makes me feel a little better also. It isn't cheap though, another reason I'm glad he'll only have to be there two days a week.
Well Mr. Everett will be 10 weeks old tomorrow and we are still breastfeeding. I'm having a big issue right now though.
The other night my wonderful son let me sleep for seven whole hours!! (He must have known yesterday was my birthday- the big 21, whoo hoo!) BUT, since then my supply has been very low. I've been trying to feed him every two hours instead of the usual three just to get my supply up again but he'll only nurse for 5 - 10 minutes instead of 15 because there just isn't enough in there for him. I've also tried pumping in between and drinking more water. I don't know what to do. I'm starting to get a little nervous as I'm hoping to continue breastfeeding for quite a while. Any suggestions to get my supply back up?Aside from everything else going on, Ev has been hitting some milestones. Of course I'm happy and excited but it certainly makes me see just how quickly the time is going. He is "talking" (aka cooing, making vowel sounds) all the time now and smiling like nobody's business. He has outgrown the newborn diapers and moved up to a size 1, and he is in size 0 - 3 month clothing and just about bursting at the seams. He is such a tall boy!
He also had his first overnight hospital stay.. not such a pleasant experience. He got very sick over Thanksgiving and they were afraid of pneumonia so they did x-rays and bloodwork and found that he had the croup and also a heart murmur. He had to have an IV and that was a little hard to watch as a mom, but I held his hand and he toughed it out like a big boy :). His eyes are starting to lean more towards brown, too- just like his dad, as if he'd get anything from me. This kid looks like he spent nine months in his daddy instead of me, that's for sure, lol. Anyway, here are some pictures from the last few weeks....
Hospital Stay..
Smiling for his daddy....
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About the Author
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- From: PeaceLoveMaternity@xanga
- Name: PeaceLoveMaternity
- About Me: I'm a twenty year old Navy wife and my husband is deployed over seas. It's been a crazy first year for us as newlyweds but it's about to get even better because we are expecting our first- a baby boy!- on October 15, 2010 :).
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Comments (24)
you have a gorgeous family :) sorry, can't help with the milk thing too much - I know that your body can produce as much as needed, so I'd say stick with trying to pump in-between feeds to trick your body into thinking your son is needing a lot more than you're currently producing. But that's advice from someone who really is just hypothesizing, so I'd trust other answers over mine :P
Your baby is adorable! You might want to try More Milk Plus. I've been taking this off and on for about 8 mos now and it helps. It's a little pricy, but worth it. Good luck!
Definitely find call the local lactation consultant (should be one from the hospital around...) and get her advice. Other than that it sounds like you're doing what you can.
Find the La Leche League in your area and contact them. They will put you in touch with someone immediately who will help you one-on-one, and they are an amazing support group for nursing mothers. I think if you decide to stick with them, there is a minimal donation fee or something, but they provide around the clock support when you need it. They are sincerely devoted to helping mothers be successful.
Beer (one, not a six pack), brewer's yeast, and oatmeal all increase your supply. And as mentioned above, keep nursing, nursing, nursing. Pump in between when you can, but the more you nurse, the more milk your body will supply. The less you nurse, the less your body will supply.
And you should be proud of yourself for sticking with it rather than just throwing in the towel.
You have a beautiful baby! =) I just had a little girl in September and I'm breast feeding as well. I recently heard of a tea you can buy to help make you produce more milk. I don't know what it's called but I was going to check out CVS to see if they carry it. Also I think there are pills you can take as well. I'll let you know what I find out and if it works =) in te mean time, just continue pumping in between feedings and don't stress and I'm sure your supply will get back to normal.
P.S. ^I've also heard the bear thing works
There IS ENOUGH for him in there.
Your breasts are NEVER empty. EVER. Eat oatmeal, and protein to boost your supply-
and nurse nurse nurse.
If you can't nurse.. pump pump pump. (if your baby is gone) it is the ONLY way to get your supply back up. Once it's gone it will not come back; so you have to boost it now or you lose it.
Let him nurse even if you think there's nothing in there- there IS something in there.
I would let my son suckle for as long as he wanted (no more than 20 mins on a side before switching) and I would just rotate back and forth every 20 minutes until he fell asleep or stopped nursing. It worked fabulously for me.
ALSO.
If you are a smoker STOP. It decreases your milk production by I swear almost %100. AND it makes your milk taste bitter. so does drinking alcohol.
First of all your baby is just GORGEOUS! Congratulations! I have a preemie who is now 6 months old, but for 3 months he was in the NICU and I had many milk supply issues. The biggest thing is to nurse and/or pump every 2 hours whether you think anything is in there or not. Likely at 10 weeks Everett is not going to want to nurse every 2 hours, so try to pump. Every time you pump you release a hormone that aids in lactation! When I had these issues it was difficult because I was exclusively pumping and it took Trenton a looooong time to get the hand of nursing as he was so sick and small for so long. Now, however I am having the opposite issue! I make too much milk (like double) than for what he needs. You will be able to do it if you work at it and it is worth it! Good luck!
I have a friend that swears by eating oatmeal and having one beer at night. She says it help to keep her supply up. She exclusively breastfeeds and has for 6 months but occasionally she has supply issues. My sister says whenever she has issues she will feed the baby until she is done and then pump immediately afterward. She says it helps her to supply more.
BTW your baby is just adorable. Good luck on finishing up your prereq's. I have been a nurse for 2 1/2 years now. All of the schooling is hard and requires a lot but it is so worth it in the end.
#1 - Yay for hubby coming home! Mine missed the birth of our first one, too. It's so nice when deployments end!
#2 - Brewer's yeast and oatmeal, as mentioned by previous posters, are wonderful suggestions, as is LLL. If you gave birth on post, there should be lots of lactation consultants around, too.
But after all is said and done, if you end up supplementing or switching to formula before you planned, remember that you are NOT a failure. I wish someone had told that to me when I was a new mom. I had the worst anxiety over BFing, and my daughter turned out just fine even though my supply dried up at 9 weeks.
Good luck, and congrats on your beautiful family being back together again!
I BFed for 6 months; after that I went on watch, was working 12 hours and overnights/weekends and I just could not pump enough to keep things going.
What I did find worked for me, though, was oatmeal. I drank Mother's Milk tea and took More Milk Plus and pumped every 2 hours (prior to 6 months) and got between 12 and 16 oz per pumping. If I could do it all over again I'd have kept up with the pumping more often and tried to keep up cosleeping to make sure he'd get enough at night times.
Fenugreek, alfalfa, fennel, and brewer's yeast are all supplements that help increase supply. Be forewarned however, they are expensive ($7 a bottle) and you will need to take at least 6-9 pills a day to see a change. Still cheaper than formula though.
Try not to supplement and if you do, PUMP when you are supplementing, otherwise it's a deadly cycle for your milk supply. Have you considered that 5 minutes of nursing is all your baby needs? My three babies never nursed longer than 5-7 minutes for the most part and they got all they needed. Is the baby fussy or having very few wet diapers? The wet diapers is really the only way to tell if they are truly not getting enough...if they're still peeing it's not your supply that's the problem...probably just a growth spurt. My supply is very sensitive so I understand the worry...message me if you have questions or need more advice...I have TONS of personal experience and I love helping moms breastfeed as long as they can!
Good luck!!
@M3ssyJess@xanga - I think I've heard of that tea. Isn't it called Mother's Milk? :)
@ohletitbe@xanga - this.
none of the things you listed indicate your milk supply is down. The decreased time feeding only means he is better at getting the milk out and doesn't need to nurse as long.
However, fenugreek works really well at increasing your milk supply.
@C0N5PIR4CY@xanga - Yes I think it is =)
@BoogersAndSpice - Yeah, agree! I'm afraid I have no personal experience here to offer this blogger but I do agree that there is a very unfair stigma against women who stop breastfeeding early. The whole assertion that ONLY BREAST MILK IS GOOD can actually be dangerous. My high school French teacher had a baby boy who ended up losing massive amounts of weight during his first month after birth because her milk had a "nutritional density" problem. If she hadn't switched to formula he probably would have starved to death... he looked very emaciated and strange at five weeks, not like a baby at all. (He's now a beautiful, 5-year-old boy. Happy ending! Don't worry
)
Anyway, just wanna wish this blogger good luck with her adorable baby and RN studies
Keep blogging!
Oh I remember those days about 5 months ago. Ha! I was freaking out about my milk supply around the same time and for me it came back. Always remember the more you express the more milk you get. Don't feed your son every 2 hours because he'll expect that later on. After feeding your son, breast pump for 15 minutes even if nothing comes out and save the milk. If you do this regularly more milk will come out. Your baby will have a growth spurt soon around 3 months and man! He will complain and want to feed all the time! you'll be glad you saved all that milk. Believe me you can never have too much frozen milk it will be gone so fast. After his spurt he'll feed less then around 6-8 months [my son is 8 months now] he'll have another growth spurt along with teething !! OMG it is so bad with my son right now. Growth spurts is not easy for babys and teething I believe is worst. So to have the two combined. Get ready! But by this time your son will be so active all the baby drama will mean nothing. Enjoy it now! Because before you know it they'll be teenagers !!
Since the holidays just happened, i'm going to say that your supply may have been affected by your diet. Some people put Sage in dressings and the likes for holiday dinners and Sage is known to adversely affect milk supply. I didn't know this through our first Thanksgiving but learned quickly not to eat dressing at Christmas. lol
Ofcourse, it could be any number of things. Even the stress (though it may be a joyful stress) of reuniting your family could be affecting your supply. Deffinately contact a lactation consultant. It sounds odd but these women really do know what they're talking about and they really can help you. I know my lactation consultant saved our breastfeeding experience. I was just days away from desperately switching to formula (I'd already pointed to a day on the callender and said "If this isn't working by HERE, we're done!") when i called her and she turned everything around for us. We were able to nurse just past my daughters first birthday.
It's wonderful to see your family together for the holidays. Your son is quite the handsom little man.
If you are concerned about this issue - or that your son is not getting fed enough - consult your pediatrician or a lactation consultant asap! A midwife can also be an amazing resource for assistance in this area. They know their way around these issues sometimes better than "medical" consultants. This is the best way to get things taken care of. If you feel you aren't getting the answers you need from your doctor, then get a second opinion.
You might also look into wholesome alternatives when you can't produce milk - such as goat's milk (it is the closest thing you will get to breast milk, but talk to your doctor about this first, because many things factor in to it's use, such as your baby's age/weight/etc.
Good luck - keep pumping!
I agree that your son nursing for a shorter amount of time may not be an indicator that your supply is low. He could just be getting good at nursing. Is he still producing plenty of wet diapers? Does he seem satisfied after each feeding? Increasing the frequency of nursing is a good way to keep your supply going strong, but he may be eating for shorter amounts of time because he's not as hungry as he was when he ate every three hours. Just something to consider. I know that it's not easy to trust that we have enough milk when we can't see the measured amount.
I agree that meeting with a lactation consultant may be a great idea. A LLL meeting would be a good place to voice your concerns too. If your pediatrician immediately suggests supplementing with formula without discussing ways to increase your milk supply, then definitely consider consulting a midwife or LC. Plenty of pediatricians claim to be pro-breastfeeding, but don't really understand how to answer these questions and still keep a good breastfeeding relationship.
Yay for your hubby being home and keep up the good work!
Go for dairy and oatmeal. Try not to lose too much weight either that tends to make it plummet. Finally, my family suggested this old wives tale to me, it's semi-risky, but they suggested drinking beer. Since beer makes your bodily fluids multiply (think of how badly you have to pee after 3 of them), it does the same for your milk supply. Just wait til the alcohol clears out, but I promise while you're drinking you'll feel your breasts fill up.
I had to talk to my OB about brestfeeding, and he told me that usually once you start drying up, that's pretty much the end of it. How acurate that statement is, I don't know but it seems pretty acurate to me, since at two months, I have absolutely nothing left now, and we have had to start formula feeding him. I tried EVERYTHING I could think or hear of: I ate oatmeal for breakfast, nursed my son every two hours, made sure I wasn't too stressed out, and even went out and bought Fenugreek as a last resort. Still, nothing. I will suggest talking to a lactation specialist, though. They will have tons of suggestions and advice. Just don't get discouraged.
I think my baby blues (or depression....) has interfered with my milk supply. Plus I was having so many problems with breastfeeding (even with help) that I HAD to start pumping and giving it via bottle instead, just so I could heal, I was in so much pain each time. Now he won't latch and if I DO get him to, he just falls asleep.
I'll probably fail at breastfeeding =/
Keep trying though!
There are many natural things you can do, make sure you are drinking enough water, eat oatmeal, I've even heard a beer a day helps. Also, pump right after you nurse. Eventually your milk will increase, but if your son is happy and making enough wet diapers, you shouldn't need to worry about your supply.