Messed up with my milk supply! Help!

[pat]

My daugher is three weeks old. I have been trying to breastfeed her, from a lot of milk till is running low. She cannot suck well from me directly and I have to give her expressed milk in bottle. I am able to express 100ml only in total from both breast in 20 minutes. I worry it's going to get lower. Can anyone please tell me if I can increase the milk flow again?

[mishlc]

Maybe try phoning the Nursing Mothers/Breastfeeding Assoc tomorrow and checking with them too....



Good luck with it all!

[LucyE]

There's a lot of myths and misconceptions re breastfeeding and supply issues. Please contact the ABA or a good lactation consultant for proper advice.

Bub is still young so your supply is just trying to establish itself and find the right balance. It is normal to lose the 'full' feeling of the first engorement and think that there is not enough milk but so long as you are eating well, drinking plenty of water then you will have enough supply.

Expressing is not a good judge of how much milk you are producing because babies tend to be more efficient at getting milk than a breast pump is. Also the more you relax the easier the let down is. Expressing and any other nipple stimulation and breast draining (for want of better terms) are all good for INCREASING your supply. When your breasts empty, it triggers complex hormones to let your body know to make more milk. It's when you start to comp feed with formula that your supply will decrease.

Also around the 4 week mark babies tend to go through a growth spurt so in anticipation of that they will suck more freuently/longer to try and build up your supply. It's important to demand feed a baby and allow them this time to suck as often and for as long as they require. It is only a phase and won't last forever.

Breastfeeding is hard work on the mum, so your doing a good job. Take care of yourself (or even better get DH/DP to take care of you) and your body will naturally feed bub just the right amount.

[FunkyMonkey]

There's a lot of myths and misconceptions re breastfeeding and supply issues. Please contact the ABA or a good lactation consultant for proper advice.

Bub is still young so your supply is just trying to establish itself and find the right balance. It is normal to lose the 'full' feeling of the first engorement and think that there is not enough milk but so long as you are eating well, drinking plenty of water then you will have enough supply.

Expressing is not a good judge of how much milk you are producing because babies tend to be more efficient at getting milk than a breast pump is. Also the more you relax the easier the let down is. Expressing and any other nipple stimulation and breast draining (for want of better terms) are all good for INCREASING your supply. When your breasts empty, it triggers complex hormones to let your body know to make more milk. It's when you start to comp feed with formula that your supply will decrease.

Also around the 4 week mark babies tend to go through a growth spurt so in anticipation of that they will suck more frequently/longer to try and build up your supply. It's important to demand feed a baby and allow them this time to suck as often and for as long as they require. It is only a phase and won't last forever.

Breastfeeding is hard work on the mum, so your doing a good job. Take care of yourself (or even better get DH/DP to take care of you) and your body will naturally feed bub just the right amount.
What she said!
I'd also like to add that nipple shields saved my BF relationship with my DS. He couldn't latch on so for him sucking on the shields was easier and he was content. We used them for 6 weeks.
Good Luck!

[Alana13]

I would call the Aust Breastfeeding Association asap too, i called over the weekend and they were fantastic!!!

My local childhood centre has a breastfeeding drop in one day a week, have you contacted yours to see what help you can get?

It is soooo hard in the early days but once you sort out the hard bits it will be second nature and totally worth it.

Just remember you are doing a fansastic job!!

[allysophia]

Now, the best advice I can give is just let him suck, suck suck. Suck till he can suck no more, its hard, but a great way to boost supply. Also, I fully BF DS and still do, and I can only express 30ml or so.. TOPS. How much you can express isn't really a reflection of how much you have, kwim?

[Pippi Longstocking]

Everything LucyE and Allysophia said.
I have never been able to express milk in significant quantities - if I relied on the amount I expressed to show me how much milk I had, I would be convinced that my milk was drying up too. Fortunately I have years and years of experience in breastfeeding and I know not to doubt my body. My babies have all been healthy chubby and well-nourished so I know that my boobies work perfectly despite my inability to express much milk.
You'll be fine. Just let bubby access boobies whenever she wants until you're confident everything is running smoothly.

[our little treasures]

My dd was sick at 2 and a bit weeks she dropped her supply and I was told to supplement feeds as she wasn't gaining wait quick enough. I never supplemented and didn't bother expressing at all!! I just put her on every 20-30mns - hrly all day and night.

Anyway I sat every day for the last week feeding every 20-30mns or whenever bubs even whimpered. Within 3 days she had put a good amount of weight on and day 4 I was leaking as dd finally went back to longer gaps before she feeds.
Finally she is getting around 100gms every 2days of gained weight

I CAN'T EXPRESS, NOTHING comes out at all even though I have tried with all 3 of mine and for over 12mnths age.

So my answer to get your supply up is.................

Leave the house work and know that you will be feeding often for a few days.
Drink lots of water
REST with bubs when bubs rests (hard when you have a toddler or 2)
Know that this period is short and will eventually end!!

Ring the aba for support, SUPPORT is the key.
As someone said nipple shields are a god send but if your having attachment issues please get that sorted first.

Make sure that the whole nipple area is going into the mouth that includes most of the brown area, not just the nipple..

Good luck and take care, please know that your body will work for you and bubs. It's very very rare for someone not to be able to bf, even rarer for no milk!!

[draught]

A number of people have posted off topic in this thread. Those posts have been deleted.Please concentrate on answering the original question which is about improving milk supply.

[draught]

Pat
There are a number of different means of increasing your supply - giving access to the breast is the best one. If there are problems with your baby attaching please seek the help of a lactation consultant - they are worth their weight in gold. You have posted a number of times in the last couple of weeks about problems with breastfeeding - can I urge you to make contact with the ABA and/or a lactation consultant as this professional and informed support will really help you to take the stress out of it all and know that whatever decision you make is the best one for you and your baby.

Other methods of increasing your supply include taking a herbal remedy called fenugreek, or there is a recipe on here for lactation boosting cookies that people swear by.

Good luck - and please think about calling the ABA for some help and support.