View Full Version : Is it possible to re-estabish milk production?
Charlotte'sMummy
13-10-2009, 22:12
After reading thru a few threads today regarding breast vs bottle, it has got me thinking- is it possible to re-establish your milk supply?
DD is 5 months old and i BF her until she was 2 months old. Please i dont want any negative comments made but i chose to stop BF her as i found it was affecting my mental health.
After reading thru these posts i have a massive amount of guilt for stopping and feel like a terrible mother for putting my needs before hers. Sorry for the 'woe is me' story but im literally sitting here in tears because i feel like ive failed my little girl:gloomy:
I would love nothing more than to BF her again but am wondering if this is at all possible? I still have milk there (have no idea how since its been over 3 months since i have BF and have not expressed or anything in this time).
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
lizzymcfizzy
13-10-2009, 22:23
hi, it most definately is possible to reestablish your supply :)
I haven't done it myself but you ring the aust breast feeding association in the morning they should be able to tell you, 1800 mum 2 mum
i think i'm allowed to give a link to them. http://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/
best of luck and :hugs:
mummajugs
13-10-2009, 22:29
Hi, it is very possible and is very hard work. i tried to do it myself and gave up. i took was full of guilt but in the end, found it was best for me and bub to stick to the formula. to then find out she had severe reflux and was lactose intolerant.
i wish you the best of luck, and hope you last longer than i did.
FullMoon
13-10-2009, 22:29
Good Luck sweets..!
Just make sure your not starting again for the wrong reasons!
Absolutley it is possible to relactate. And good on you for considering it.
There are a couple of ways you can go about it.
You can put your daughter to your breast at regular and frequent intervals. Try before she is due for a feed and when she has had enough supplement her with the bottle.
You could also use a pump to express between feeds. You could also try using a supply line so that when you put her to your breast she will get the artificial milk, your milk and be stimulating your breasts at the same time.
If I were in your situation I would try the supply line. You can find further information on the ABA website erferred to in the above post.
Good Luck!!
lokibird
13-10-2009, 22:32
I just wanted to come in here and give you a big hug and say that I'm sorry that people have made you feel this way for making a decision you felt was the best for the both of you at the time.:hugs:
This is the reason why I avoid "those kinds of threads" as there are often poor people like yourself caught in the crossfire of opposing camps heatedly sparring with each other.
I hope that you learn to understand that you are NOT in way a failure and that your decision to begin breastfeeding again is for the right reasons and not for any kind of bullying or guilting by others (indirectly or otherwise).
Now addressing your actual question...I believe that provided your supply was okay to begin with (and was not the reason you had to stop breastfeeding) it is indeed possible to re-establish. Fenugreek is a popular herbal supplement to help boost your supply and there are also plenty of other natural herbs as well. There is a popular lactation cookie recipe floating around Bubhub if you just do a search. I'm sure there will be plenty of hubbers here happy to help you.
Good luck with it! :)
RedPanda
13-10-2009, 22:32
You did not fail her. Being a mother is a steep and sudden learning curve. I also bottlefed my first child and regretted it, but after they're not babies any more, you realise it is a small part of parenting.
The ship hasn't sailed, you can re-establish supply but make sure it's not out of guilt. We make our decisions with the information we have at the time. It doesn't make us bad parents.:hugs:
Good Luck sweets..!
Just make sure your not starting again for the wrong reasons!
What would ever be the 'wrong reason' to start breastfeeding again?
Instead of saying something negative you should be offering positive, supportive advice, or just say nothing at all.
RedPanda
13-10-2009, 22:36
What would ever be the 'wrong reason' to start breastfeeding again?
Instead of saying something negative you should be offering positive, supportive advice, or just say nothing at all.
Feeling bullied is a big "wrong" reason. Relactation takes commitment and a lot of patience, sometimes it also takes medication.
I think Full Moon was just trying to make the OP feel better, which I think is a lovely thing to do. The worst thing we could do here is to turn this thread into a debate thread, when clearly that's what is making the OP feel down.
FullMoon
13-10-2009, 22:42
What would ever be the 'wrong reason' to start breastfeeding again?
Instead of saying something negative you should be offering positive, supportive advice, or just say nothing at all.
I was positive..
But guilt doesnt means its necessarily the right reason to start as her health is just as important as her babies. mental, physical AND emotional health.
Which is why she stopped... I think breastfeeding is great i still do it myself however just cause some rude people make her feel bad doesnt mean she needs to put her well being aside to start again.
The sooper nanny
13-10-2009, 22:48
exactly
please dont feel guilty. You did what was right for you and your baby at the time. You had to give it up for valid reasons.
You make up your own mind about what you want to do, but please dont feel pressured, you need to look after yourself too. Im a midwife and I was a cr@ppy bfer, so sometimes these things just happen, even with the best intentions....
lokibird
13-10-2009, 22:56
Feeling bullied is a big "wrong" reason. Relactation takes commitment and a lot of patience, sometimes it also takes medication.
I think Full Moon was just trying to make the OP feel better, which I think is a lovely thing to do. The worst thing we could do here is to turn this thread into a debate thread, when clearly that's what is making the OP feel down.
But guilt doesnt means its necessarily the right reason to start as her health is just as important as her babies. mental, physical AND emotional help.
Which is why she stopped... I think breastfeeding is great i still do it myself however just cause some rude people make her feel bad doesnt mean she needs to put her well being aside to start again.
:iagree: and :iagree:
I had no idea this was possible. How do you know when it is not possible anymore?
FullMoon
13-10-2009, 23:09
Apparently (it would be hard) but someone who has never even had children could start breast feeding.. If they had the time and the patience..
You start taking maxolon and expressing..
Iv read before of a few adoptive parents breastfeeding their kids.
Charlotte'sMummy
13-10-2009, 23:11
Thankyou so so much for the encouragement ladies! You have no idea how much hope it has given me. I would really love to at least try and BF DD again and now that i know that i can, all i can do is give it my best shot and if it all works out, great, if not, then at least i gave it a go.
I should've gone into more detail in my original post. The reason i stopped BF is because i hit a major rough patch; my mother is terminally ill and things got pretty bad around the time DD was born, DD was born with a heart condition and that was a huge scare in itself and still is, DF and i were living at my dads as we couldnt afford to rent on our own etc etc..
The thing that upsets the most is that I had absolutely no dramas BF. She attached well from the word go and was a good eater, however she was very slow and would want to feed every 2 hours at times.
This lead to me being soo over tired and with everything else going on, it made life so much more difficult, so i gave up. To this day i regret the decision and to be honest, i let someone talk me into putting her on Formula (not that i have anything against it at all). At the time it seemed to be the 'easy' way out.
However now im feeling so much better about everything (granted this could be due to not having the stress of not having to BF- on top of other things) and i feel as though i should do what is best for her and resume BF if i can.
Dont get me wrong- she has taken to FF well, has gained weight and is doing fantastic so far, but i just feel like i could do 'more' if that makes any sense. On the other hand, since she is doing so well on formula, should i not stuff her around by changing her diet once again? Could this cause problems later on?
It's all very confusing but i am willing to do what it takes. I will admit that yes there is a small amount of guilt that has provoked this, however at the end of the day, its guilt because i feel ashamed that i gave up so easily. It's not entirely based upon this however- i do genuinely want whats best for DD and myself also.
Anyways sorry to blab on- i just wanted to show my appreciation for the words of encouragement- they are so greatly appreciated- thankyou :hugs:
Hollywood
13-10-2009, 23:18
I say go for it, you've got nothing to lose by trying. Any amount of breastmilk, no matter how small, is going to do her good, so why not just try? Good luck!
CatNoonan
13-10-2009, 23:22
I wish you the best of luck with re-establishing your milk and I'm sorry I can't help you with advice on how to do it.
I just want to say you shouldn't feel bad about stopping breast feeding. Your health is also important for the well being of your baby.
GOOD LUCK :sunshine:
Going back to breast feeding at this stage will not cause her any health issues provided that she had none relating to BF before. It will only benefit her :) Breast milk is magnificent.
I would call the ABA. You will probably need to go to your GP and get a script for maxalon or motilium and just put your baby to your breast when she's interested. Yu may need to do formula top ups too although these should be limited and you should get rid of them as soon as you can.
You might like to chat to the ABA about hiring a supply line kit which feeds formula to your baby through tiny tubes as she sucks form your breast - this is the quickest way to get your aupply back up.
Your supply will catch up soon enough either way.
Good on you :yelclap: Even if you decide not to do it, even if it doesn't quite work, what you are thinking of doing is wonderful and I wish I had done it for my son. I commend you !
MummaBear03
13-10-2009, 23:29
It's never not possible, unless you're a person who is unable to produce at all for some reason.
I know people who have never breastfed, never been pregnant, adopt a baby and breastfeed. it took a lot of effort, and a lot of switching between breast and formula before the baby went onto full breastmilk. Think it took around a month of fully formula but through tubes attached to the breast, then a further 3 months of formula and breast before getting rid of formula completely. She was in my ABA group and very committed to breastfeeding, which is why it was successful for her. If other things are going on in life, it might not be like that. She had nothing else going on at all for her, just establishing her milk supply for the baby.
The ship hasn't sailed, you can re-establish supply but make sure it's not out of guilt. We make our decisions with the information we have at the time. It doesn't make us bad parents.:hugs:
:iagree:
But it sounds like you are ready to give it a crack, but just remember if you find you can't reestablish don't beat yourself up.
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