Worried about milk supply!

[jenniferhedlund]

I am going back to work in a 3 weeks and I have a large (11 lb) 1 mo old. He has a veracious appetite and is glued to my breast 24/7 at home, that I don't have time or supply to pump. I try to pump when DH is home on the weekend, but then we are on the go too so we normally end up using it. My question is two-fold. How do you start to build up your supply of frozen, and also, I'm only pumping at the most 4 oz (on a good pump in the morning) to 2.5 oz at a time. Less than he eats. How do I keep up, and is my supply normal for his age???

[Mocosita]

Have you tried eating oatmeal? Or taking fenugreek? Also, about 5 weeks before getting back to work, I started pumping after the night nursings (3 and 5 am) and eventually my pumping sessions increased to about 8 oz in two sessions (I used the Medela PIS) I also forbid my husband from using any frozen milk while I was gone. Typically, I would pump and feed before leaving.

[Mary_Mary]

Have you tried pumping while your son nurses? The football hold works best for that. Prop him up on pillows (it might take some experimenting) so that you can have both hands free to deal with the pump.

Remember that you want to try to increase your supply, so every little bit you pump IN ADDITION to your son nursing is going to help increase your supply within a few days...you're not going to immediately notice the difference.

If I were you, I would start right away in pumping while your son nurses. I would say to wait until he hasn't eaten for a couple of hours and then pump a half ounce to an ounce from each breast before feeding him, but if he's nursing 24/7 then I would go with pumping while he nurses. Let him nurse on one side and then pump an ounce from the other breast to start. Then nurse on the side that you just pumped on.

Increase the amount you pump while he nurses every day. When I pump and nurse during the day when I'm home I'm happy if I just manage to get the 4 ounces I need to fill ONE bottle for day care in the course of a day. But remember, that's 4 ounces MORE than she ate that day so I technically have a four ounce oversupply per day. Obviously I pump far more on the days that she is at day care and gets bottles. (My pumping goal on days that I work is simply to pump as much as she ate that day.)

The key to building up your supply is to keep the breasts as empty as possible as often as possible. This will mean that perhaps you will only be pumping small amounts at frequent intervals, but eventually it will start to add up.

I've been doing this a lot lately on days I don't work...pumping small amounts throughout the day while my daughter nurses. My goal is twofold...first to amass enough milk to fill the bottles for day care on the days that I do work. Second is to always be in a slight 'oversupply' mode so that it is easier to pump on days that I'm working.

And absolutely DO NOT use the milk you've just pumped to feed your son on weekends. That's defeating your purpose of building up a freezer stash AND your supply in general.

[LianeV]

What she said!

[mlschwie]

With my son 2 years ago I did the same thing that Mary_Mary suggested. I have also noticed other women on the board report that they also pump while driving to and from work. I think this is a fabulous idea becuase this was often the times I was most uncomfortable, but I am not sure I could do it.

Right now while on maternity leave I try to pump 2-3 times a day with 2 of the pump sessions after night feedings. At night I get around 5-8 oz and during the day I am lucky to get 3oz. It is very time consuming but it does boost your supply.

[bronco4grl]

I would pump during whatever naps you aren't joining your child for :) You can pump every hour if needed! Don't use expressed milk when you're with your child. It will definitely hurt your supply and keep you from building up some milk for when you go back to work. Remember, you need enough for the 1st day at a bare minimum (3-4 3-4oz bottles in an 8 hr period). However, if you only have the minimum you'll need to pump as much as 16 oz that 1st day to have enough for the 2nd day.
Good luck!
Mom to Timothy 09/06

[jenniferhedlund]

Thanks for the advice. I think what we're going to do is I'm going to nurse at night and the bottle feed to supplement and then bottlefeed expressed milk during the day w/formula. I know that'a anti-breast but it's what's going to work for now. If I lose my milk supply, at least we've lasted on breast alone for 1 mo. Possibly even two w/half breast milk half formula. My ped says whatever breastmilk we can give is better than none at all. He was so much more content today when I gave a bottle. He drank 4 oz and took an afternoon nap for the first time in awhile!!! I feel that he's now sleeping as much as a 1 mo old should be. In the past I didn't think he was at all. He was hardly sleeping in 15 minute stretches... Hopefully with the pumping (every hour to hour and a half at home) I'll build up my supply. We'll see.

[Kimberly]

Please read this before you make that decision: http://www.promom.org/101/

Once you do, I think you'll feel more encouraged to continue nursing more often so you don't lose your supply.

Also, please understand that pediatricians get about 1-2 hours of education in medical school about lactation and breastmilk. Many of them are fairly badly educated about nursing a baby, strange as it may sounds it's true. Many women here know a lot more about it than the average pediatrician. Have you seen a lactation consultant?

Some breastmilk is better than none, but if you can give all breastmilk, you are giving your child great protection against ear infections, all other illnesses, and even cancer, and giving yourself protection against cancer too (breast and ovarian). Recently it was discovered that BM has stem cells in it.....amazing!!! :) It also has live antibodies and immune system stimulants which can never be replicated in formula. Science recently figured out that a child's immune system isn't fully working until around age 5 YEARS old! So breastmilk helps a child have a better immune system than without breastmilk. And it is no exaggeration to say that babies do die when if they had been breastfed, they would have lived because their immune systems would have been able to fight whatever illness they suffered from-----of course we'll never know which babies would have died anyway, and which would have lived, but if I could do anything to help me baby stay healthy, I'd do it. That's why I pumped for 3 months until I got my baby to nurse again...(and exclusively pumping for 3 months was hell at times, but I wasn't about to give up once I read 101 Reasons to Breastfeed Your Child.)

You seem smart and educated! :-) I'd suggest Fenugreek to build your supply, 3 tablets 3 times a day until your urine smells like maple syrup, (really!) It worked wonders for my supply! Best of luck to you.

[Stephanie]

Congratulations on the birth of your little one!

2.5-4oz is completely normal. Most children will eat more from a bottle than the breast because it is a lot easier to get the milk out of the bottle. Babies have to work at getting milk out of the breast, so it takes longer, and brain has more time to trigger the I am full feeling. Because the bottle is so much quicker, he may not be getting the I am full response.

My son was about that size at a month, and he only took abut 4oz at daycare. I know every child is different, but I really wouldn't expect more than 5oz at 2 months.

Will you be able to pump at work? If you will not, may I ask why? We may be able to help you figure out something, if it is something you want to consider.

I agree with pp about building supply. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water. My rule for working outside the home has also been when baby is with you, nurse only. I did not do this with ds and he quickly developed a bottle prefernce. We had supply issues and nursing struggles because of it. With dd I made sure that when we were together, she only nursed.

[Brandizzle]

I am also interested in increasing supply and building up a backstock of frozen milk. I return to work in a week and a half and I'm concerned she wont have enough during the day. I want to avoid formula for as long as possible. Please send me a personal message as I seldom have time to browse the forums