Advice Please

[Amberyll23]

Ok, my background.

DD1 born in October of 2011, I breastfed her for the first 3 months, then fed her expressed/pumped breastmilk for the remainder of her first year because I returned to work. I only had slight issues with supply during that time which was cured by taking Fenugreek.

DD2 was born June of 2013. I again breastfed, but only for the first 2 months this time, and moved over to the pumping, again, when I returned to work. My supply at her birth was much greater than when I had DD1, so I assumed I would have no problems, or if I did, Fenugreek would work again.

About a month ago, my supply started to dry up suddenly. Fenugreek did not help, so I added thistle, Mother's Milk tea, and oatmeal, and I am still not getting any recovery of my supply, so I have had to start supplementing formula.

I don't mind giving her formula if I have to, but I would like to maximize the amount of breastmilk I can provide to her. Does anyone have any other ideas that I have not exhausted?

Thank you ladies!!

 

[fieryphoenix]

How often do you pump? It's all about supply and demand, so I'd check out your pump first, how old is it? make sure its in good working order and then start to pump more often. It's particularly good to pump at night, at least until your supply is back up

 

[Amberyll23]

Thank you for your reply!

Because I went through 2 cheaper pumps with DD1 (blew out the motors), I purchased a new Medela pump in style advanced a week before DD2 was born and it is holding up very well, suction is very good, so I don't think it is the pump.

I pump 5x a day, 30 minutes at a time, I will try upping that if I can. I get my best production in the morning, but through the day and at night I get significantly less.