My milk supply is rubbish!

[spunky84]

I've been pumping for a week now and cannot get my milk supply up (exclusively pumping as I cannot get LO to latch on yet - still a work in progress).

When I started pumping last Monday, I started out by only getting 1 cc between both. It's steadily increased over the week, but I feel like it's just not going to increase anymore and feel like my supply is nowhere near where it should be at this point. I've read about others being able to pump so much more at this point.

I've only pumped a total of 2oz between both breasts twice. Otherwise I'm getting about 1oz - 1 1/2oz between both. Occasionally less.

I feel like I should be much further along than I am and that I'm not going to be able to pump/breastfeed for very long. I feel really disappointed and hopeless about it. I started drinking Mother's Milk tea a few days ago and doesn't seem like it's really doing anything.

I've been on a schedule of pumping every 3 hours for 30 minutes (upped it I think Tuesday or Wednesday from 15 minutes).

Is there anything else I can do to help increase my supply or am I pretty much doomed to switching to exclusively formula feeding?

 

[babybrums]

Is there a lactation consultant you can meet with regarding the latch? Only because pumping, unfortunately, isn't as effective as nursing. A baby is more efficient at getting milk from your breasts than a pump. Putting your LO to your breast will also help up your supply.

I definitely don't think it's a lost cause you just need to get the right help. If they don't have LCs at your hospital maybe check with your local Le Leche League. Best of luck to you!

 

[spunky84]

I'm in the process of checking with my insurance to see if they cover a lactation consultant.

Right now I only find that there are 3 in the area. I'm really hoping that I'll be able to get in with one.

Has anyone ever found that they've not had success with a lactation consultant or are they pretty much always successful? I'm really hoping something here works. I'll be heartbroken if I can't give LO breast milk. Not that formula is horrible, but I just want to try my hardest with breast milk, but if we go to formula, it is what it is. I just really want this to work.

 

[babybrums]

The hospital I gave birth at was breastfeeding friendly. All of their staff is the L&D unit are trained to help with BF. A lot of the nurses in the other parts of the hospital are too. I found they were very helpful. That being said, the first three weeks were pure torture. LO latched good (according to everyone) but I was still in pain, bleeding - it was no fun. I started religiously using Lansinoh after every feed and within a few weeks it was a piece of cake. Is there someone at your hospital you can talk to? I know at my hospital they said you could come in or call anytime - no charge. Might be worth looking into.

I hope you can get some help. Has your LO been checked for tongue tie?

 

[spunky84]

The hospital I went to for delivery, they have a lactation consultant there, but she wasn't in while I was there (I think she is on the list of three consultants listed for my area). Many of the nurses kept trying put push me towards formula. Actually, she was less than 24 hours old & had a nurse tell DH and I off and basically accused us of neglecting her. Maybe 4 hours prior, my midwife came in and told us that what LO was doing was completely normal for being less than 24 hours old.

We didn't supplement until she was a little over 48 hours old because it was obvious that she wasn't getting anything at all, was very hungry and was starting to get jaundiced. That was also when we started pumping.

I'm not sure if the pediatrician checked to see if she was tongue tied or not. I did discuss our feeding issues with her, but I can't remember if she looked her mouth (I just remembered her pediatrician looking her body over very thoroughly).

I have a follow up with my midwife tomorrow and can ask her (I'm sure she'd peak in her mouth for me).

I tried breastfeeding twice today. She did latch on, but she's only latching on for maybe 30-45 seconds and then spits it out and just gets very grumpy. It does feel like she has a good suck. I was able to feel what it is supposed to feel like when I tried using a breast shield. So, I know she's capable of latching/sucking. I think it's just a matter of getting her to stay on. Though maybe it's a poor latch - maybe if she can get a good latch, she'll stay on longer.

I think I may try the breast shield again. I tried it last week & she just spit it out and cried, but maybe I can give that a try again & hopefully can take it away and get her strictly on the breast.

 

[babybrums]

How terrible that your hospital wasn't supportive of your decision. Whether you decide to BF or FF, they should be there to support you, not push you in the opposite direction. Hopefully your midwife will be of some help. I go to one to and she's amazing! So much more personal and caring than her partner, who's an OB/GYN and the original OB/GYN I went to years ago.

When are you trying the breastfeeding? Is it after she's eaten or before? Maybe if you try when she's hungry, she'll be more likely to latch on and stay on. Or try hand expressing to get your flow started (you could even pump until you let down). Maybe she's getting frustrated because with a bottle, she gets instant results and with the breast, she has to work for it. And if the shield worked for you before, it's worth a try again. Once she gets the hang of BF and latching on, you can always wean her off it if you want to.

I really hope you get some answers tomorrow. I wish I could be of more help! Hopefully your midwife can give you some helpful info or at the very least, steer you in the right direction.

 

[spunky84]

There was only one nurse at the hospital who was absolutely amazing. She worked night shift and helped us out a lot. She was very supportive and spent a lot of time in our room trying to help her latch. She's the one that actually gave me the breast shield to try out.

I'm glad we refused formula until we decided we wanted to supplement. I refused to do so until I tried everything and it became obvious that supplementing was necessary at that point. The nurse who helped us a lot did ask if we wanted to do formula about 24 hours before we ended up doing it, but was supportive when I said not right now. She asked my permission before doing anything, which I really appreciated. We started off by trying to squirt formula on the nipple hoping that'd get her to latch, which unfortunately it didn't. That's what took us to pumping and supplementing. She's the one that helped us into a routine with pumping and FF which got her jaundice down by morning (of the day we were getting discharged - otherwise she probably wouldn't have left with us).

I'm trying to breastfeed before she's eaten. When she's really upset, I let her suck on my finger to try and calm her down before I try with the nipple - some attempts worked, others didn't. I've been trying to manually express some so that she could get a little taste and realize that's her food source. The one time I tried doing that, my breast milk ended up squirting out, hitting her in the face. Poor thing lol

But with both of those things, I've managed a little bit of latching. I'm going to continue to try that. I do think part of the problem now is that she has to work for it. I was thinking about that early today and actually mentioned that to my mom. I was even try to massage downwards hoping to kind of help her out a little.

My midwife is awesome. She's definitely pro-breastfeeding & even told me in the hospital not to let them bully me into supplementing (said the first 24 hours is way too early to just jump to that - which I felt the same).

I did find out that my insurance company covers 6 visits at 100% - any more are subjected to coinsurance/copay. I contacted a lactation consultant that works at a different (closer) hospital & she said that they provide free lactation counseling! So I'm really stoked about that and am really hoping to get started with that really soon. I'm starting to get very bummed/upset/discouraged with every pumping right now. So I really hope that this all works out and I can exclusively breastfeed & pump for supply for when I return to work.

 

[babybrums]

It sounds like expressing a bit before she tires to latch is somewhat successful. Breastfeeding is definitely not as easy as everyone makes it out to be! With a bit of time and a whole bunch of patience though, she should get the hang of it. I would just keep offering it to her at every feed. If she just won't latch or stayed latched on, then try a bottle - last resort. She might be getting too much at first too (only because she got sprayed). Maybe try expressing through your letdown and then latch her on. She might be popping off because it's too much. Babies can be quite picky!

It's great that the lactation consultants offers her service at no charge! It really is a valuable service to new moms. Hopefully she can steer you in the right direction. She'll probably be helpful in checking to see if your LO has tongue tie too.

Keep me updated! And good luck!

 

[seaweed eater]

For pumping, watch this video: newborns.stanford.edu/Breastfeeding/MaxProduction.html

It is really great news that your LO is latching at all. I would ditch the bottles and give any supplements (EBM or otherwise) via supplemental nursing system. It's a tube that you put next to your nipple and attach to a syringe full of milk to give to your LO as she nurses. That way she gets extra milk at the breast to keep her interested in nursing, and she is not getting an artificial nipple at all.

There is great info here as well: https://kellymom.com/bf/concerns/child/back-to-breast/

The good thing about being so early on is that your supply is still very sensitive, so if you are able to increase it, the increase will last. But you also have a real risk of nipple preference if you continue to give bottles.

Good luck

 

[3xpire]

I was in the same situation as you pretty much when I had my little one. She's eight weeks now. I didn't see an increase for a while actually. I exclusively pump, since my little one would not latch and in the nicu, they bottle fed her. I thought I was going to have to supplement for good. I supplemented for maybe the first month, to take the pressures off of myself until I could make enough milk for her. Just be patient with yourself and your body. I always followed the tip that the more you pump/express, the more your body gets the message that it needs to make more. I also like to wait through my pumping until I get a second letdown, no matter how little of a letdown it is. Emptying your breasts every time helps a lot. Also, and I've gotten this tip a lot and it's really worked for me, try power pumping even. It sucks, but for a good day or two, pumping every half hour to hour, you should be able to see more of an increase within a few days too. Even if she won't latch now, while you're working on it, just getting as much skin to skin as possible should help a little bit. And at the same time, the skin to skin and cuddling while you are topless or barechested will help your LO become more comfortable and help getting them to latch. Definetly helps with me.