Milk Supply Not So Great!!!

[dorrie]

My son is 2 weeks old, he was 8 weeks early. It tires him out to Bf, so th dr has me pumping, I am using a medela pump.
On a good pump I will get 50 ml from each breast. Now my supply seems to be getting low, on every other pump I will get only 15ml combined.
I am drinking mother's milk tea 3 times a day, and drinking plenty of fluids and eating well. I pump every 3 1/2 to 4 hours
Is there anything else I can do??

[USAFeyez06]

Are you breastfeeding him in between pumping?

Couple suggestions here:

1: If you are not breastfeeding him in between pumping sessions of 4 hours, I would be pumping every 2 hours. Your son is only 2 weeks old and they can eat every 45 minutes this early since bm is so digestable.

2: I would pump right after he eats, to signal to your breasts that you need more milk.

3: Are you relaxed while pumping? If you are tense, this can inhibit let down and adequate supply. You should also be pumping for AT LEAST 15 minutes, if not longer.

Your breasts are basically producing what they think the baby needs, which is so little right now since he is not feeding well. You need to reverse that process. You said that bfing tires him out, but what do you mean? He's falling asleep? This is not uncommon... my daughter was born 2 days early and I had trouble getting her to suck for more than five minutes at time, so she would wake very frequently to eat. I tried, cold washclothes, undressing her, tickling her. etc. Nothing worked. Newborns sleep... A LOT and breastmilk makes them even more sleepy and drowsy. This is not unusual, if this is what you are speaking.

There are some other things out there like eating lots of oatmeal and fenegreek (spelling), but other mommies will know more on that and I'm sure they will chime in soon.

I cannot stress this to you enough: Breastfeed AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE. Your baby is much more sufficent at getting milk out then any pump. My supply didn't come in for a week and it was because I wasn't letting her feed as often as she needed (falling asleep or not)... first time mom and didn't realize she could be hungry 30 minutes later!

Good luck and I'm sure some more mammas have more information for you. I wish you the best. Relax mamma... you're doing great! And CONGRATULATIONS on the new baby!!!!

[dorrie]

When my son was in Nyicu, he had a feeding tube in. Now that he is at home,they want me to feed him BM by bottle, since he tires easily from working so hard to get it out.
I am not Bf between pumpings.

Thanks for the advice-I will try your suggestions!!!!

[intokermit]

What kind of bottles are you using? Most bottles cause nipple confusion, and it makes it harder for them to BF. Breastflow bottles, available at Babies R Us, are shaped more like a breast, and teaches them how to suck properly. (as many times as I recommend these bottles, I should be getting a commission!) They really do work. I agree with USA. You need to up your pumps. I understand how tiring it is. I solely pumped for my ds for the first 2 months of his life. The better your pump is, and the more you do it will give you better results. It will take some time, but you'll get there. I would continue to drink the tea, but add Fenugreek capsules to that. You can take up to 12 in a day to up your supply. I found the pills at my local HyVee store, in their organic section. I hope this helps! Keep up the great work!

[whitnessforhim]

I just wanted to add that I wouldn't cut out the nursing sessions entirely. Once he gets past this its my guess that you will want that babe back at the breast. The more he gets use to that bottle the more chances there are of him rejecting the breast.
I would do what Intokermit suggested, buy the BreastFlow bottles (thats what I use) or even a SNS. If you do bottles stay at the slowest flow nipples so to prevent him from getting use to a really fast flow of a bottle and then later saying no way to the breast b/c the flow is not the same.
I EPed for 4mo. and I can tell you from experience that your body is less likely to continue to respond to a pump then it is to your baby. Baby at breast is always best!!
I wish you the best of luck!!

[RedheadbyChoice]

Have you seen an LC? That would be my suggestion, along with perhaps finger feeding, to lessen the artificial nipple exposure.

If you're not nursing at all, you need to be pumping much more often, as milk supply is all about supply and demand. I'd suggest every 2 hours during the day, and every 3-4 at night. Do you have a hospital grade, double electric pump? I'd strongly suggest that, as they're designed for all day pumping.