Tips o increase milk supply

[Joey55]

Hi guys, just joined up and hoping yous can help me out. My baby girl is 8 weeks old and i was exclusively breastfeeding up until two weeks ago. She started getting frustrated during feeding and still was hungry after being fed with both breasts. I've ended up having to supplement her with formula. I find that by about 6 in the evening i just don't have enough milk and she has been getting bottles in the evening. I do make sure i pump in the evening aswell so my milk supply doesn't dwindle but often i dont pump that much out. I had the tommeetippee breast pump which I didn't think was great and I've just ordered a medela swing to see ifs its any better. Has anyone any tips on how to increase milk supple as i don't want to give up breastfeeding.
Thanks in advance
Joanne

 

[TheNewMrs]

Hi Joanne,
It sounds like 2 weeks ago your baby was going through the 6 weeks growth spurt. Its hard work! How do you feel about the formula? Is it something you want to keep up or do you want to wean off them?

 

[Joey55]

Thanks for getting back to me, I would ideally like to be able to exclusively breastfeed. But I just don't know if its possible. She just had a feed there about 10 minutes ago. She feed bout 5 minutes of each breast before coming off crying. i could tell breasts were emptied.I had a bottle of expressed milk, only 2 ounces from earlier which I hada give her which has settled her a bit. Lucky i had it in the fridge! If she wants fed again soon i won't hav much to satifsy her and i know I will have to give her formula. I'm just struggling to keep her fed at the moment .

 

[Joey55]

Just seen youlive in Ireland to TheNewMrs. I'm in belfast

 

[TheNewMrs]

Right now she is still trying to rebuild your supply because she didn't get to do that during the growth spurt. So your body works on supply and demand. She will probably feed,feed feed for a few days around the clock. If you can take her to bed, lots of skin-skin and just rest, eat and feed for a day or two your milk will increase. A breastfed baby will do this cluster feeding any time they are having a growth spurt and need to tell your body to make more milk.

Rather than give her suppliment, its going to be best to keep putting her back to the breast. Breasts are NEVER empty. If you imagine a glass with a straw. You're drinking from the straw but theres a waiter slowly pouring more water in as you drink. It doesnt matter how long you drink for, hes going to keep pouring. Thats how the breasts work.

Do you have a local La Leche or NCT group you can get to to speak with mums in person?

How many oz are you giving a day as supplement (BM and formula?)

 

[Joey55]

I would pump about twice a day and find that I would get two to three ounces at a time between both breasts. I would give her that when shes not satisfied with the breast feeds. I find that I give her a bottle of formula at some stage in the evening, say between 6 and midnight. I do try to hold off and keep offering the breast but its as distressing for me as it is for her. She just keeps pulling away and screams and crys so much she sometimes chokes herself. At the moment it's just one bottle but I'm afraid it'll be a slippery slope from here. I'm going to a breastfeeding support group tomorrow for my first time. Hopefully it will help. I will try more skin to skin contact when feeding. Thanks for ur support, il let you know how my support group goes!