Help! Not pumping what I used to

[majohns]

My baby is 10.5 months old and when I first went back to work I was able to easily pump 15-20 oz for her throughout the day. Now I am down to about 2-3 oz. I have a hospital grade pump, so I know that is not the problem. She is eating solids, but still nursing at night, in the morning, whenever I can get her to. She has not had 1 drop of formula, and my freezer stash is now down to 2 bottles, from an all-time high of 30-40. I live 5 minutes away from work, so I come home at lunch to nurse her.

I have tried fenugreek and that works a bit - any good suggestions??? I just pumped this morning for 15 minutes and came up with "grand" total of 1 oz. My breasts feel full, but the let down is just not coming.

I have been working part-time up until today when I will be starting full-time. DD says home with Daddy during the day. I nursed my DS until he was 2 and I am REALLY, REALLY, REALLY not ready to wean DD

Ok... that's my story...

Melanie

[whitnessforhim]

We're kind of in the same boat. I work full-time and Daddy stays home with baby.

I sware up and down what has kept my supply going is that we co-sleep. I know that co-sleeping encourages more nursing but thats the reason I chose to do it originally.

I did have a supply scare around 5mo. and I tried fenugreek but it didn't work well for me. What worked the best is getting DD to nurse often. I use the weekend and evening times to nurse as much as possible.

How often do you pump? Do you co-sleep? How often is she nursing?

One other thing I have done to give my supply a boost is to pick a long weekend when I can be home and do nothing but nurse and pump. I'd nurse DD and then pump 10-15mins (even if nothing is coming out) after she nurses. This has helped trememdously to boost my supply before.

I hope this helps.

[zediseot]

If you're feeling full still, I'd guess the pump or parts. Have you replaced your pump parts recently? Membranes and valves?
And hospital grade pumps can fail. I just had mine completely die. They can test them and give you a replacement.
If it's not the pump and parts, you can try other things. I pump after dd falls asleep. I also pump after she nurses in the morning.
IMO, it's pretty normal to see a dip when the baby starts eating more solids. I'd just try to squeeze a pumping session in here and there when I can.

[majohns]

We don't co-sleep, because I just can't sleep next to a squirming baby. ;-)

She nurses probably 3-4 times a day, plus I try to pump twice a day at work. I also try to pump in the morning or late evening depending. And if she wakes up at night, we still nurse. I try to nurse her more frequently during the weekend. I will try to pump after a nursing session to see if I can get something going. When I pumped this morning at work, I managed to get about 3oz so that was more promising than the 1oz I got this morning at home.

[minxs]

I would indeed check the valves and other pomp parts. Also, if your breast are full, you might want to try compression. For some reason i have a let down when i use my electric pump, but don't have one when i use my manual pump. By compressing i get at least something out.
My production is further supported by: oatmeal, oatmeal cookies, granolabars with oats