Supply issues

[kajastarlight]

My LO is 4 months old. My supply is not good. Hasn't been ever sense I went back to work when LO was 12 weeks. Didn't help that I missed the cluster feeding of his last growth spurt! I take fenugreek, eat lactation cookies, and drink 2TBS of brewers yeast in water each day. Then I pump pump pump. My day goes something like this:

4:30ish I nudge LO awake for some nibbles. He usually lazy nurses for 20 min or so before he falls into too deep of a sleep to do it and I get up and get ready for work.

6:20am-7:00am - power pump 10 min on 5 min off while I am driving to work.

4 - 20 min breaks while I am at work to pump.

I feed my kiddo when I get home and then again in an hour and then I have no more than drops to feed him in the evening.

8pm-9pm I power pump 10 min on 5 min off

anywhere from midnight to 2am I wake up and pump again as LO does not eat durring the middle of the night.


And STILL I have to suppliment him anywhere from 3-6oz in a day! My nipples are sore, my pee smells like rottin mapel syrup, I am sick and tired of oatmeal, and I hate that I can't make enough for him!!! HATE IT!!!! And recently my milk got a lot more yellow. What is THAT about??

Any tips on how I can get more?? I usually only pump 12oz while I am at work and almost completely dry up in the evening.

 

[vkj73]

our dd is 4mo. i returned to work full-time on the 10th of august.
so far, i don't mind pumping at work. i like that it allows me some time
to slip away and hide for a bit. it can be stressful finding the right time, but i've been making it work.

the problem is, i can't seem to keep up with the demand. rather than stressing about keeping up (i.e. pumping at 10pm at night) i'm going to leave some formula with her day care provider to use, just in case.

has anyone else been in the situation? i'm hoping it won't affect my supply. i really want the formula to be a small percentage of what she drinks.

thanks everyone!

 

[kajastarlight]

our dd is 4mo. i returned to work full-time on the 10th of august.
so far, i don't mind pumping at work. i like that it allows me some time
to slip away and hide for a bit. it can be stressful finding the right time, but i've been making it work.

the problem is, i can't seem to keep up with the demand. rather than stressing about keeping up (i.e. pumping at 10pm at night) i'm going to leave some formula with her day care provider to use, just in case.

has anyone else been in the situation? i'm hoping it won't affect my supply. i really want the formula to be a small percentage of what she drinks.

thanks everyone!

I have to supplement my LO with formula. When I first went back to work he only had to have about 3oz every other day. Now it is more like 3-6oz every single day. As stated above, I am out of ideas to not have to supplement.

 

[Kazy]

May be a silly question but are you drinking a lot of water?

It could be that your body just isn't responding to the pump as well. When I worked with my first this happened at 3 months. I found that changing pumps helped a little bit. I had a hand pump that I would alternate with. It took longer but worked for a little bit.
Unfortunately I ended up having g other issues with him and only nursed him 4-5 months.
I wish I had other suggestions for you. It sounds like you are doing everything that you can.

 

[kajastarlight]

Thank you Kazy I am actually drinking quite a bit of water every day. I have a 32oz water bottle that I fill and drink at least 4 times a day. Plus whatever I pump I drink that much water right after.

I have an appointment with a Lactation Consultant tomorrow. Hopefully she can help me get to the bottom of things!

I think I have a good pump.... but I do have a love/hate relationship with it!! LOL. I used to not mind it at all but now that I am pump pump pump pumping with little results I am starting to hate that stupid thing!! lol

 

[vs011]

Kaja, just curious which pump you have?

 

[noon_child]

Does the supplementation happen in the evening when you feel like you are "dry" or is it during the day because he drinks more than you have pumped?

I honestly don't think it sounds like your body can't make enough for him. I'm sure if you were with him 24hrs a day you'd be fine - but that's not life is it? There are necessities (like going to work) that mean it is pretty damned hard for you to ask your body to make more. Everyone's breasts have a maximum they can make in a given amount of time and everyone is different. Babies regulate how often they breastfeed to accommodate this difference in production rates, but you haven't got that option because you can't be with him and have to pump instead. I actually think 12oz from 4 pumping sessions seems like a good supply, but because LO isn't big on waking to feed at night, and you miss the first thing in the morning feed because you need to be driving by then (and pumping, my word bless you!) he is going to drink lots during the day.

 

[kajastarlight]

vs001 - I have a Medela Pump In Style Advance double electric breast pump with large shields (the medium were too small for me)

noonchild - He gets supplement during the day while I am at work and during the night when my body just inexplicably decides it is not going to produce that much. Ian has no patience for non-productive nursing. He has always been that way and the introduction to the bottle has not helped that at all. He wants flow! Sometimes I wonder why I even put myself through all this stress when he likes a bottle just as much as nursing when I am producing and likes the bottle even more when I have dry times! Then I remember that too much formula gives him an owie tummy

I do have an appointment with a Lactation Consultant today so keep your fingers crossed that she gives me some hope!!!

 

[noon_child]

vs001 - I have a Medela Pump In Style Advance double electric breast pump with large shields (the medium were too small for me)

noonchild - He gets supplement during the day while I am at work and during the night when my body just inexplicably decides it is not going to produce that much. Ian has no patience for non-productive nursing. He has always been that way and the introduction to the bottle has not helped that at all. He wants flow! Sometimes I wonder why I even put myself through all this stress when he likes a bottle just as much as nursing when I am producing and likes the bottle even more when I have dry times! Then I remember that too much formula gives him an owie tummy

I do have an appointment with a Lactation Consultant today so keep your fingers crossed that she gives me some hope!!!

I think it is very common to feel like you have no milk in the evening, especially when you have a baby that is used to the bottle. Hormone levels dip then, and usually rise and peak sometime in the early hours of the morning (for me it was about 3am).

if your LO won't nurse when there is little flow then I'm not sure what choice you have other than carry on with what you are doing. I mean you could withdraw the evening supplementation so that he is hungrier and will wake at night to feed but that is probably going to leave you with a very grumpy screamy baby and very little sleep. Do you massage your breasts before your evening feeds so the letdown comes quicker? And do breast compressions when he gets frustrated? (So much extra work for a Mum who is already doing so much -sorry).

My suggestion would be to carry on as you are but set a limit for the formula supplements (whatever won't give him a sore tummy) and then whatever he needs on top of that has to come from you. Also is there anyway you could take a holiday from work? Even just a few days where you just nurse (no supplements) to replicate the growth spurt you missed.

 

[kajastarlight]

I have tried nursing vacations on the weekends and during that time I can satisfy him at the breast until after about 5pm, then it just doesn't happen. The last time I tried to do a nursing vacation he made it clear that he is just getting too active to stay in one room all day! That boy likes a scenery change I do compression, warm pack, switch often and massage the one not in use when breastfeeding. When I pump I lube up the breast shield with lanolin cream, I had a LC help me fit to what size breast shield I need, and I have little rice packs I heat up (not too hot lol) and stick in my bra just above the breast shield. I have a few videos of him cooing and smacking his lips (but not crying) and I have a video where I can hear the sound of him swallowing while he is feeding to use while I am pumping at work too. When I pump at home I try to do it at least in the same room with him if not while touching him. Frequently I pump while giving him his bottle when I need to supplement. I only get drops out but my hope is that it lets my body know that it needs to make more! But it hasn't worked yet.

His pediatrician has said that he can start rice cereal and we gave it to him (mixed with breast milk) in the evening for a week or so but during the day he was a crabby fuss. We stopped and he has not been as crabby. IF I can get my evening milk supply up then I am going to slowly start him on the cereal again and if he does not go back to being a crabby fuss (cuz I don't know for sure if it was the cereal that caused it) then I am going to have him eat the cereal during the time I am at work to see if it will cut down on his breast milk/formula consumption during the day so maybe it can get to where he doesn't have to supplement formula during the day and that way if I have to supplement formula at night it is only one supplement instead of 2 with formula. Did that make sense???? I hope so!

 

[noon_child]

His pediatrician has said that he can start rice cereal and we gave it to him (mixed with breast milk) in the evening for a week or so but during the day he was a crabby fuss. We stopped and he has not been as crabby. IF I can get my evening milk supply up then I am going to slowly start him on the cereal again and if he does not go back to being a crabby fuss (cuz I don't know for sure if it was the cereal that caused it) then I am going to have him eat the cereal during the time I am at work to see if it will cut down on his breast milk/formula consumption during the day so maybe it can get to where he doesn't have to supplement formula during the day and that way if I have to supplement formula at night it is only one supplement instead of 2 with formula. Did that make sense???? I hope so!

Is there a reason you'd prefer him to be on cereal rather than formula? As far as I'm aware formula is the second best type of food for a baby and contains all the vitamins, fats, proteins and carbs he needs, whereas cereal does not.

 

[kajastarlight]

It is just time for him to start solids anyway and rice cereal is usually what babies start with. (around here anyway) He is ready to eat some food and likes it. And yes the cereal does have all that because you mix it with either breast milk or formula

Sooo, the lactation consultant said I do have a supply issue due to PCOS. Now I just gotta convince my Dr. to prescribe me some Metformin and I will (hopefully) be good to go!

 

[noon_child]

It is just time for him to start solids anyway and rice cereal is usually what babies start with. (around here anyway) He is ready to eat some food and likes it. And yes the cereal does have all that because you mix it with either breast milk or formula

Sooo, the lactation consultant said I do have a supply issue due to PCOS. Now I just gotta convince my Dr. to prescribe me some Metformin and I will (hopefully) be good to go!

Good luck!