Exclusively pumping - trouble with supply/stash

[dinkery]

Hey everyone! My baby is 2wks old today and I'm having some trouble with pumping enough as well as trying to get some freezer storage established.

At first I thought I was doing pretty well, as I could pump about 4oz each time and he was only taking 2oz per feed, so I could put away 2oz several times a day. Now, however, he's taken to wanting to eat A LOT more. He is currently taking 4oz per feed, which is approximately every 3hrs, sometimes every 2hrs, and on occasion will scream until I allow him to have an extra ounce or so.

So let's just say for simplicity and arguments sake he takes 5oz every 3hrs.

Which according to what I've read is way too much for his age, but he is totally starving all the time and the lactation consultant I met with recently said they have a growth spurt around now and to just feed him on demand and if he's still hungry let him eat til he's satisfied, so I have been.

The trouble now though is that he's eating more than I was producing when I was able to pump 4oz at a time, and unfortunately something's started happening with my supply and I can now only pump maybe 2oz out at a time, and that's a generous estimate. The consultant said I should pump as often as he eats, so I do it every 3hrs. According to her this should be helping increase my supply but instead it's dwindling and I've burned through my entire freezer stash I'd started to get built up.

At this rate he will be on formula by tomorrow night!

I simply can't keep up - and I'm drinking lots of water, Mothers Milk tea, eating foods said to help with milk supply... Just not sure what to do here and it's stressing me out quite a bit which I know is only making things worse. I have to pump exclusively, as he refuses the breast and screams bloody murder when I try to put him on, so I rely entirely on my pumped supply to feed him as he will not nurse...

 

[angelandbump]

I exclusively pumped with my first son.
Things that helped me was
*pumping both breasts at the same time
*If your baby will latch even for a min or two, this helps to encourage let down
*a warm flannel on the top of each boob before expressing
*expressing during the night/early hours is the best time

I made the biggest mistake of stopping pumping when he was a few months old because I noticed I wasn't pumping as much but it turns out this is normal and if I kept going, my supply would have increased again.

Have you tried hand expressing? At the moment, my latest son has been EBF and I still pumped after a lot of my feeds to get a stash in the freezer (don't know why ) and I have noticed that if I use my electric one, I can somestimes get 6oz per breast then the next time half an ounce between them but if I hand express I can always get a minimum of 5oz per breast x

 

[Mimzy3]

I've been exclusively pumping for 7 months now. I know how challenging it can be! You need to pump every 1-2 hours for at lest 20 mins and make sure that the breast is completely empty. Allowing at lest two let downs per pump session. Also drink lots of water, oatmeal not the instant kind, and take Fenugreek 3-4 capsules, 3-4 times a day. I know every 1-2 hours is A LOT but its a must even at night time you must get up and pump. This is the only way to ensure you will have enough milk for your baby and build your supply. Once you get to 12 weeks you can reduce to around every 3 hours during the day and do longer stretches at night. Your supply should be established by then. GOOD LUCK you can do it!

 

[sheldonsmommy]

Massaging the breast tissue while pumping helped a little, sometimes I got 1oz more per breast! I'd start at the collarbone and press downward towards my nipple, or I'd start under my armpit working inward. As soon as I got milk to start squirting I would hold pressure for a minute, then continue moving my hand toward my nipple.