At 1 week I'm only producing this much milk (pic). Please help!

[Babyfor2]

I have never been more frustrated in my entire life. My body is just not producing enough milk for my baby. I just had her a week ago and my feeding/pumping schedule goes like this: breast feed for 25 minutes each side, give 1 oz of formula, pump breast for 25 minutes and then suck out milk with a syringe and give to my baby. I do this about every 2 1/2 3 hours. I know it's not just because she's getting a lot at the breast because when I skip feeding her directly I don't get any more milk out. I hate using formula with a passion, and since I've had to start supplementing she get very irritated at the pace my milk flow comes out compared to the slow flow nipple we use for our dr browns bottles. I just don't know what to do at this point. I'm drinking at least 135 oz of water a day. I am sleep deprived (maybe 2 hours a night) and I can't always find time to eat but surly that wouldn't be effecting my supply so aggressively. Here is a pic. Please please please if you have any advice tell me. I couldn't get in to see the lactation specialist until next week. My daughter is starting to just want my breast for confort and hardly tries to suck anymore. I have the medela pump in style advance if anyone has any tips for that! The pic is of 3 feedings worth of milk. I pumped for 25 mins and 2 out of those 3 she fed before.

 

[missk1989]

Pumping isnt a good indication of your production so dont fret about that. Is there a reason you started supplementing in the first place? does your lo seem hungry still after a feed?

 

[Biotechick829]

I would honestly just let her nurse, nurse, nurse. Stop supplementing with formula, stop pumping (it doesn't remove as much milk as your LO can). Only after a month or two did I feel comfortable enough in my supply to pump, bc her nursing is the best thing to do. The only thing that will boost supply and keep her satiated is to let her cluster feed until your supply comes in. I remember the first 4 weeks - I was basically a zombie with an infant stuck on my boob for hours on end. I'd say the first 6 weeks is the toughest for BF, but don't give up!

And for only 1 week I think you're doing really well! When my LO was born my lactation consultant told me that their tummies are the size of a marble, so they fill up on very little milk. They want to continually nurse to bring your supply up and because breast milk is so quickly digested.

Also, at this early on you could be creating nipple confusion! Only introduce an artificial nipple or pacifier once your LO is 4-6 wks old and nursing well.

 

[Babyfor2]

I started supplementing because she seemed hungry every 20 minutes and my nipples were bleeding from feeding her so much. The drs instructed me to do this. Now she is so tired when she nurses she doesn't even latch properly anymore (she used to be perfect at it) and she spits my areola out after a few minutes, refusing to suck on anything but my nipple to pacify herself. So I'm hardly getting emptied when she just feeds without me pumping.

 

[missk1989]

I forgot to add that not eating will affect your supply so get munching!

 

[Biotechick829]

Ouch you poor thing! Yes, sounds like a poor latch. Are both nipples cracked/bleeding? I'd call up the lactation consultant and tell them how urgent it is for you to seem them asap. Try to get them to see you sooner. If they still can't see you until next week then ask them to at least supply you with some nipple cream to help you heal (they have some wonderful ointment).

I had a similar problem - LO initially only suckled on the end of the nipple (ouch!). My DH had to help me nurse for the first week or so because LO had a poor latch. I'd pinch my breast together horizontally with my thumb above and index finger below, making it as flat and squished as possible and my husband would push LO's chin down with his finger to have her open super wide and we'd put her on like that. She eventually got the hang of it

 

[Bevziibubble]

What you express isn't always a good indication of what your baby is getting. Babies are much more efficient at removing the milk from the breast than any pump. I would nurse as often as you can and your baby will stimulate your milk supply to increase.


Lots of Lansinoh nipple cream will help and it doesn't have to be removed before baby feeds. Make sure you eat enough and drink plenty of water. I hope things improve soon

 

[Calif]

You can try some mothers milk tea to get your milk to come in faster. In the mean time, every time you supplement, pump to get your supply to keep up. Try to use a nipple with the slowest flow possible when supplementing.
Do you use lanolin on your nipples?

 

[Elmo5]

I started supplementing because she seemed hungry every 20 minutes and my nipples were bleeding from feeding her so much. The drs instructed me to do this. Now she is so tired when she nurses she doesn't even latch properly anymore (she used to be perfect at it) and she spits my areola out after a few minutes, refusing to suck on anything but my nipple to pacify herself. So I'm hardly getting emptied when she just feeds without me pumping.

Feeding that often is normal in the early days. It sounds like you have been the victim of bad advice. You need to seek support for your latch if you wish to continue. Have you a support group near you.

 

[Lownthwaite]

I agree with the other ladies. You need to stop supplementing.

Get some help with your latch. LC, midwife, peer supporter - you need to make sure your latch is correct. It sounds like baby isn't as interested in the breast anymore as it's easier and quicker to feed from a bottle. The good news is that as baby is still new born it should be fairly easy to bring her back to the breast.

Go back to basics. Lots of skin to skin, no bottles or dummies and just keep her at the breast. Make sure your latch is right and she will soon get the idea again.

 

[ecarroll2]

Oh you poor thing. I do think the advice you were given Re: supplementation was wrong. It is so important you get advice from a lactation consultant asap to help with your latch. In the meantime, I don't think there is anything wrong with expressing to give your nipples a chance to heal! I had a similar experience, my nipples were bleeding and I just couldn't help but cry each time I BFed. Sought advice from 5 midwives/BF consultants, and there was nothing massively wrong with Bea's latch, except that she was sucking her cheeks in even though she was positioned well at the breast. It seems it was the Lansinoh nipple cream that had made it difficult for her latch on from Day 1, as my nipples were too slippery. I used nipple shields for 2-3 days but Bea was not draining my breasts well with them and was not feeding well. So I ditched the nipple shields, stopped using the cream and instead massaged my nipples with expressed milk (life-saving advice!!), exclusively pumped for a few days to give my nipples a chance to heal, then part pumped/part BFed (my right nipple was extremely painful still, it still is actually but it is very bearable, and almost unnoticeable once the baby starts feeding on that nipple), then exclusively BFed until i went back to work. Now am pumping at work and BFing at home. I manage to produce more milk than the baby needs. Pumping has been a very good experience in my case and the baby has handled being bottle (expressed milk only) and nipple fed well.
One more thing, you mention the baby feeds for 25 minutes on each breast before you pump.. You are aware that the baby usually is able to drain your breast in 5-10 minutes, right? So by the time the 25 minutes are over, you really wouldn't have much milk left at all. Do you pump about an hour or less than an hour after baby breastfeeds? I would say your supply is more than enough if this is the case? How much does baby weigh? At 9 lbs they only need 20 oz on average per 24 hours. This means you need to produce around 0.8 oz an hour. You could check your milk production rate using the 4 hour test: draining both breasts well once an hour, then taking the average of the quantities pumped at hours 3 and 4, and multiplying by 24. I found the following book on breastfeeding extremely valuable: West, Diana; Marasco, Lisa. The Breastfeeding Mother's Guide to Making More Milk: Foreword by Martha Sears, RN. McGraw-Hill. It also refers to the 4 hour test, gives a lot of information on lactation, increasing milk supply, supplementing, etc. Good luck!!

 

[Emmeyeyes]

Medela makes a nipple shield that may help with the latch. Use it about every other feeding attempt so baby doesnt build
A dependency. Are your breast flanges TOO LARGE? A lot of women do not know that flange sizes go off of nipple diameter, not breast size. When i got my electric pump i couldnt get a drop with that "standard 24mm" try the personal fit shields. 21mm? After i did the milk came right out. Eat and sleep as much as you can too.

 

[MommyJogger]

I would honestly just let her nurse, nurse, nurse. Stop supplementing with formula.......

Feeding that often is normal in the early days. It sounds like you have been the victim of bad advice. You need to seek support for your latch if you wish to continue. Have you a support group near you.

These two ladies have given really excellent advice. I really just wanted to add as encouragement that that's way more than I was pumping that soon pp. I went on to both nurse and to pump over 40oz a day to supply donor milk until I got pregnant again. This is not a death sentence for your nursing relationship, but supplementing with formula is a really slippery slope. Support groups are full of women who can help you achieve a better latch while you wait on LC support. If you can find a LLL anywhere near you, they can put you in touch with a peer supporter. We've gone from phone call to home visit within hours and it sounds like you really need some in-person latch help and advice. I also found youtube to be a good source of videos of proper latching-- there are lots and sometimes you really just need to see what the latch should look like and how some women get it to look that way before you can figure it out yourself.

 

[halullat]

My LO would't feed properly at first, then because he couldn't feed he got jaundice, which then made him too sleepy to feed… vicious circle! We were told to supplement and it was the best thing for us to do and it was such a relief, I now generally breastfeed every single feed, only if I'm out will I use a bottle really, or he'll get a bottle if he is hungry with his dad. But I've been feeding this way since around week 3ish I reckon (he's now 5 weeks).

The first few weeks can feel amazingly hard, but if you do need to supplement don't beat yourself up over it, but also have faith in your supply as I'm sure you are producing enough, your milk also looks like it is still probably like mine was when I initially pumped, quite creamy etc. so it may well still be very nutritionally dense, that could be gibberish but I assumed the colour was still quite colostrumy as it gradually got whiter and whiter x

 

[ecarroll2]

My LO would't feed properly at first, then because he couldn't feed he got jaundice, which then made him too sleepy to feed… vicious circle! We were told to supplement and it was the best thing for us to do and it was such a relief, I now generally breastfeed every single feed, only if I'm out will I use a bottle really, or he'll get a bottle if he is hungry with his dad. But I've been feeding this way since around week 3ish I reckon (he's now 5 weeks).

The first few weeks can feel amazingly hard, but if you do need to supplement don't beat yourself up over it, but also have faith in your supply as I'm sure you are producing enough, your milk also looks like it is still probably like mine was when I initially pumped, quite creamy etc. so it may well still be very nutritionally dense, that could be gibberish but I assumed the colour was still quite colostrumy as it gradually got whiter and whiter x

I agree, in your case helping the little one overcome the jaundice was absolutely a priority!

 

[SjandPeanut]

One more thing, you mention the baby feeds for 25 minutes on each breast before you pump.. You are aware that the baby usually is able to drain your breast in 5-10 minutes, right?

Don't get caught up in time limits. Your breast will never be empty, but as others have said the pump is not a good indication. All babies are different when it comes to feeding.

Let baby feed at the breast until they are finished ( come off or fall asleep) the fatty milk comes towards the end of feed. My daughter feeds 20 minutes, then burp / bum change and I offer the other side. Sometimes she takes sometimes she doesn't. In the night she might only feed for 5 minutes but 5 minute feeds during the day wouldn't satisfy her at all.

 

[patch2006uk]

A baby's tummy capacity is only 15mls by day 5-7, so your supply is fine. The formula will have stretched Lo's tummy out, so they might be harder to satisfy on your breast alone. The remedy is to stop supplementing and let LO feed as much as they want for a few days. Keep a close eye on nappies, but as long as you're getting plenty of wet nappies and 6 poos a day, each around the size of a £2 coin, then LO is getting enough milk.

 

[Rachel_C]

I don't think I've ever been able to express much more than that. LO was EBF for the first 6 months and still going strong at 2.5 years - no problems with supply, ever. Try not to focus on what you're able to express as it really doesn't mean anything. Anybody who tries to tell you otherwise does not understand even the basics of BF so I would immediately put them on ignore!

As others have said, stop supplementing as quickly as you can. I would definitely stop with bottles right now - go cold turkey. Use a cup or syringe if you absolutely feel you must supplement, but remember that if you supplement you're not telling your boobs more milk is needed so they probably won't make it, particularly if your boobs aren't a fan of expressing!

I'd do a few days of skin to skin, no interruptions, just lie there with your top off and LO in just a nappy, preferably with somebody waiting on you for food and drinks Some babies want a big feed every 4 hours, others want a small feed every hour or even more often in the early days so forget what's normal and watch your LO. If she's weeing and pooing normally, she's getting enough milk so you don't need to worry whether she's feeding every 4 hours or every 20 minutes.