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Increasing milk supply

OmarsMum

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Hiii ladies. I need your advise. My nephew is almost 8 weeks old, his mum is struggling with her milk supply & as he was soo small at birth, she is supplimenting with formula at bedtime but she's not happy about it & wants to exclusively BF for a longer period.

Any advise on how to increase her milk suppy? Her LO feeds from the breast every 3 hrs & he spends around 30-60 mins feeding, but it's not increasing her supply. She tried to express but it didnt work.

Any advise as I have no clue about BFing :flower:
 
Hi hun. Feeding on demand is the best way to increase supply as the body is very clever and quickly adapts to what the baby needs. I would tell her to perservere with the expressing too. Oh, and offer both breasts at each feed helps too.
 
and to make sure she is drinking enough.
 
Thanks ladies. She's doing all that since he was born, her supply was great but it really started to get less for the past 3 weeks :( anything she can eat or drink to increase it?

She's drinking lots of water & milk, & she's feeding on demand from both breasts. But he screams after one hr of continuous feeding wanting more milk :(

She told me that her breasts are not filling up like they used to
 
she could try fenugreek tablets
 
she could try fenugreek tablets

Are they herbal tablets? or are they sold in normal drug stores?

I dont think they have them where she lives but I guess I can find them here.
 
When Daisy was that age I never stuck to a schedule, for example you said she feeds every 3 hours. I basically just looked for the signs that she was hungry and fed her whenever that was. She often had lots of short feeds as opposed to really long feeds spaced further apart. I also expressed frequently. That could be disheartening as sometimes I barely got an oz but I just kept on with it and it definitely helped up my supply. As Ke29 suggested, fenugreek could help too :).
 
Fenugreek (yes it's herbal, available from a pharmacy or herbal store), oatmeal, drinking lots of water, feeding on demand.

When you say she tried pumping, do you know if she tried only once or several times? Unfortunately some people can never express (but can successfully BF) but if she has only tried once it could be stress. If you are stressed usually no milk comes out on the pump. You need to be relaxed, helps if you drink water at the same time and some ladies say having your baby nearby, or smelling something that smells of LO can help to get the milk flowing on the pump. Pumping is a strange thing though. I used to pump A LOT as I was trying to increase supply and some days I could get 4-5oz in an hour and other days I would sit there and nothing would come out of either boob. Oh how I hate pumping! Some ladies are much better at it than me though.

At around this time the body starts to regulate milk and that feeling of engorgement and "fullness" generally goes away. In the early days her boobs would probably feel full before a feed and empty after a feed, but from now on it should be fairly normal for her not to feel that same full and empty sensation (as least not as regularly and not to the extreme that she felt it before).

Is your nephew gaining weight OK and having lots of wet and dirty nappies? Because the other problem could be latch resulting in poor milk transfer. However, seeing as he is 8 weeks I presume he must be latching well otherwise a lack of weight gain etc would have been picked up by now.

Fingers crossed she can resolve her problems.
 
Thanks ladies, great advises :)

I will tell her about all this, we live abroad, so I'm not really sure what she's doing. My mum will be visiting them at the end of this week, so I will get her some Fenugreek & I will tell my mum about all what you advised me. Her LO is adding weight nicely, but she feels he's not getting enough anymore as her breasts are not filling. My mum BF us & she never had supply issues. I guess when she visits her she can get a clearer idea if she's really having problems with her supply or if it's normal. She's a 1st time mum, & it's all new to her.

Thanks ladies, this is really helpful xxx
 
Her supply will be regulating now so she won't necessarily see her breasts getting fuller even though they will be. My advice would be to trust her body and carry on doing what she's doing, there are very few people who honestly don't produce enough milk. Aslong as baby is gaining weight and having lots of wet and dirty nappies they are both doing brilliantly.
 
Her supply will be regulating now so she won't necessarily see her breasts getting fuller even though they will be. My advice would be to trust her body and carry on doing what she's doing, there are very few people who honestly don't produce enough milk. Aslong as baby is gaining weight and having lots of wet and dirty nappies they are both doing brilliantly.


Wss ^ during that phase the supply is pretty adequate. If her baby seems content & having enough wet n dirty nappies, then it probably be that the baby is getting however much they need. x
 
Thanks ladies. She's doing all that since he was born, her supply was great but it really started to get less for the past 3 weeks :( anything she can eat or drink to increase it?

She's drinking lots of water & milk, & she's feeding on demand from both breasts. But he screams after one hr of continuous feeding wanting more milk :(

She told me that her breasts are not filling up like they used to

Is she sure he is feeding continuosly for the whole hour?

My LO used to feed every 2 hours or so, and it would take 60/90 minutes. Half an hour later she would start crying for food again - it was so exhausting! Turned out there were two things going on - first she was 'power napping' while feeding. Once I started making sure she stayed awake the length of feeds dropped a bit. Second, I was mis-reading her tired cries for hunger cries. Instead of feeding straight away my oh would try to settle her - if she didn't after a few minutes I would feed her.

Also my HV said if they do feed for an hour then they will be getting so little, you are best to take a break even if it is just 10 minutes or so, before starting it all again!
 

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