Breast Milk Drying Up - Minneapolis,MN

I would try anything you can. Pumping, nursing often, drinking pleanty of water (but not too much from what I have heard), teas and herbs. I have also heard drinking a beer a day (you can buy the non alcoholic beer) or even heard the suggestion of a glass a wine at the end of the day when you know your baby will not nurse for awhile. Eating oatmeal is supposed to help, healthy eating as a whole.

I do want to say my milk started to dry up around the 3 month mark. I tried EVERYTHING!! I swear everything. I fought and fought for another 3 months and I finally gave up. I tried nursing exclusively but my girls were not gaining enough weight so I had to supplement. finally after 2-3 months it was gone. I know it sounds awful and it was really hard on me, but sometimes it happens. I know many out there will say you will always produce as long as you try all of these tricks but I am certain that sometimes you dry up.

I was a wreck with my first baby, I had visions of BF until she turned 1 at least and that would be our time together and she would get all the best nutrients. When the second baby came and the same thing started to happen I was able to accept it a little better but it still hurt. When talking to my mother she too had that happen to her. She quit around the 3 month mark because of her milk drying up.

I just wanted to say try all you can and give it a full out try but try to accept that sometimes your milk supply doesnt come back. It's okay to feed your baby formula they are getting what they need and they will be just as happy and healthy babies for it. Try not to hold on to feelings of guilt or sadness, be thankful for great formula out there. Enjoy your baby and be happy that they are getting the food and nutrition they need, even if it isnt quite what you wanted.

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Have you tried pumping? Kellymom.com has a lot of great information and people that can help. You also might want to call the La Leche League or a lactation consultant. Good luck!

Around 2 months, babies go through growth spurts. These spurts will make it seem as if your milk is drying up, when in fact the baby is just demanding more. The best thing to do right away is just let them suck and suck and after a couple days your supply will adjust accordingly. However, since you started to supplement your breasts probably did not get the stimulation they needed to keep up the supply. It is not too late to take the herbs, but the best thing you can do is nipple stimulation. I would try two things, one, before every bottle let him suck as long as he wants. Then give him the bottle. Also, between feedings and while he is feeding you can stimulate your nipples yourself, you can also try pumping in between feedings but I find that that can leave less milk for the actual feedings and lead to less satisfaction. Try these things, and if you do I'm sure you can get over this hump. The 2 month growth spurt is probably the hardest. Just stick with it, let him suck his little heart out, and take A LOT of fenugreek (enough that you can smell it in your milk) and you will get your milk back. I know you said he won't suck, but keep on trying, try laying down with him in a dark room with no distractions.

You have gotten a lot of advice and it is true, you can build up your supply, but it is a TON of work. Are you at home or back at work. It is very common to have supply problems once you start working and you have to be *very* committed to pumping. The one thing I wanted to add was a bit of support to do what is best for you. You have breast fed your baby for 3 months and that is great (pat yourself on the back!) If you have the time and really want to get back to exclusive breastfeeding go for it, that is awesome. However, if all the pumping and constant breastfeeding sessions ever get to stressing you out (stress will also mess with your supply) there is no shame in supplementing with formula (or even switching to formula). I'm sure you are doing a great job and it is obvious you want to do what is best for your baby and whatever ends up happening will be the best. Congrats on your little boy and good luck working on that supply. Just don't let it start to take over your whole life. No one will care five years from now if you breastfed for 3 months or 2 years. You have already given your son a huge gift.

If he's refusing to nurse, then he is having a case of nipple confusion. You need to stop offering bottles to him. If you must supplement, use a cup, dropper, or finger feeder instead. ALWAYS offer the breast at feeding times, and comfort nurse when he's not hungry, but it will get him on the breast to help stimulate nursing.

Alot of moms think they are losing their milk supply when thats not hte case. Most breastfed babies don't gain weight as fast as they did from birth, around 3mos that growth slows and most doctors use the growth chart for formula fed babies (its likely put out by Similac or Enfamil). Ask your doctor to use or print out a copy yourself of the WHO chart for breastfed babies. Its MUCH more accurate. Also around 3mos is when your milk really settles into pace and you stop overproducing and only make what your baby needs which causes moms to think their supply is gone because they no longer feel full.

Nurse, even if he fusses, take a small break, then offer the breast again. He will need to relearn that he needs to nurse to eat, no more bottles. He will fuss because nursing takes work, and a bottle basically squirts the milk into his mouth and he just has to swallow with not much effort.

Also, your baby will hit numerous growth spurts over the next year. he will want to nurse almost constantly around 4mos, the 4mo growth spurt is the longest, most trying, growth spurt. MANY moms think they aren't making enough milk and start giving formula. Because the baby wants to nurse all the time, they wrongly think they aren't making enough milk because baby is wanting to nurse all the time.

Your milk supply will come back, you just have to take a 'nursing vacation'. Meaning you nurse round the clock every hour or so until your milk supply is up and your baby is taking the breast willingly and eating fully.

You can pump,which will help, but you HAVE TO REMEMBER that a pump will not pump out as much milk as your breasts have. So if you pump 2oz, that doesn't mean thast all thats there. Your baby can nurse out 2, 3, 4 oz or more than any pump can. But pumping will give you stimulation when your baby isn't nursing, and thats a good thing. You just have to remember that not pumping much is no indication of your supply. I think thats another thing that makes alot of moms stop nursing, they pump a small amount and think they aren't producing.

I agree with everything the others said. Nursing as often as you can, start cutting back on the formula and always offer the breast first, but try to offer before the baby's too hungry or he will get frustrated and then offer the breast again after giving a bit of formula. I would also do the fenugreek and supplement some pumping if you have one. Try sleeping topless next to your baby and offer throughout the night as milk producing hormones are highest at night. Definitely contact LLL, they are awesome!! It will be some work but it is SO worth it to nurse if you can!!! Best of luck to you and kudos for doing your best!

No, it is not too late. I would suggest pumping as often as you can and offering him the breast as often as you can. The greater the demand, the greater the supply. Keep trying, it should work. I bfed all of my kids, but never has supply issues, so I cant help you with the other things - other than letting you know I know of people that used fenugreek and mothers milk tea and it did help them. Good luck, and good for you (and your baby)!
S.

In addition to the other advice (making sure you try to nurse him, pumping, etc), make sure you are getting lots of water and you can try the Mother's Milk tea (it's at Target)--it has fenugreek in it--I tried it and found it helpful!

My milk never came in well and I also really wanted to breast feed my daughter. I tried the supplements that the lactician told me to get but since my doctor was worried that my daughter wasn't gaining enough weight she suggested supplementing with formula. I worked with the pump for a while but could never get my milk production up and my daughter, after having the bottle more, just wouldn't latch on. You can check with a lactician to see if there is anything else you can do but I ended up bottle feeding her. We still had plenty of mom and baby time and I was still happy that I got to breast feed her for the most important time. Good luck.

First of all, you can TOTALLY get your supply back, but it takes a LOT of work. The more formula you give your child, the less he takes from you and your body works on a supply and demand operation with respect to breastmilk. So, keep putting your child to your breast as MUCH as possible. If he is hungry enough, he will eat from your breast. (at least every 2 to 3 hours. Fenugreek and Mothers Milk may work a bit, but you have to demand more from your body. This is the only REAL solution. Do you have an electric pump? If so, use it EVERY 2-3 hours and get whatever milk you can AFTER you put your son to your breast. If possible, do this all night (every 2-3 hours) and after about 3-4 days it should come back very nicely. I have done it myself...mine only took about 2-3 days, but this is my 2nd child and I had lots to begin with. You will be a bit tired, but will see results and an increase within 48 hours. Also, drink LOTS of water. This also helps. Good luck! Stick with it...it is worth it. Just quick the formula cold turkey...this is the only true way your supply will come back. He will be hungry and take whatever he can get. Trust me....he will come around because he will get hungry. Also, if you are giving him a pacifier....you may want to stop. Babies mouths get tired of sucking and if you put him to your breast, he may be tired of sucking by the time it is time to eat. Also, make sure you are in a quiet environment...say place everytime you feed him with the same blanket and he will get more and more comfortable with nursing more and know what to expect each time. If you are working during the day...start mixing any breastmilk you get with the formula for now and start putting more breastmilk in with the formula and eventually wean the formula out as your milk supply comes back.

To keep my milk supply up, I pumped every three hours or right after she ate, at first. I even pumped at night. This only took about 2 weeks and then I kept producing more than I needed. When I went to work I pumped one to two times a day to keep it up. I also gave her a bottle at first for a few weeks and then I was given advice to just work it out with breast feeding. It was harsh advice, but I really wanted it to work so I kept offering the breast and tried very hard not worry about how much she was getting. We eventually got into a routine with no bottle or formula(I froze the breast milk I pumped) unless I was away. Good luck. A.

It is a game of supply an demand. Always first offer the breast, and let him take his time. Make sure you are relaxed and drinking plenty of fluids. Whenever we supplemented, we didn't use a bottle since it is easier for them to work a bottle instead of the breast and would then prefer to take a bottle. Nipple confusion can be an issue as well. We used a cup, spoon or drew it up in a straw. Regardless, you CAN get your supply up again, just be diligent and patient. Your baby is the best at getting milk drawn from the breast. The things you want to watch is number of wet diapers, and is he content after he eats. This would be a good time to get in touch with a La Leche League group and/or a lactation consultant. I had terrible trouble in the early days and went on to long term nursing. I was so glad I did and you will too. Just hang in there and keep focused. The days are long but the years are short when it comes to raising kids.
Take care and good luck,
J.

This may be a bit personal but, one reason milk supply goes down is pregnancy. Scary right? At three months, children tend to have a growth spurt so that could also be the source of the milk seeming slow. I would suggest pumping or feeding your child every 2 hours...on the dot! Doing this regularly will teach your body to produce more milk...it's the only sure-fire way! I tried fenugreek and saw no results, plus i got sick of taking so may pills! Good Luck!

I would encourage you not to give up! I nursed both my kids, my second weaned herself at about 10 months. I used the Fenugreek with my last child and definitely found that it helped early on to really ramp up my supply. Don't be shy with it, take quite a few to start (like 6 capsules) then take a couple twice a day. If you really want him to get back to you, you will have to avoid the urge to give him a bottle. When he is hungry he will eat. The early morning feeding is usually a great time to get him back to you. They are hungry and you are rested with a good amount of milk. Once they are getting it immediate from the bottle it is hard to get them to work at it. Since he is so young, you are definitely not too late. My doctor has always said the first 6 months, but I think really anything you can do is great. Don't beat yourself up about it if you aren't able to make it work! You have a lot to get used to right now...

Drink water, water, water. Don't drink tea, tea will dry up your milk!. Watch what you eat. Some vegetables will change your milks taste. I don't know about herbs, but I suggest you ask your local health food store.

They should still help a little. And, every little bit you can give him will help a lot. I struggled with my production from the day my son was born, but I pumped until he was 8 months. In the end, it took me three days to get fill a 6 oz bottle. It was very disheartening that he was getting that much formula, but I knew that every little bit of breastmilk helped (he didn't get his first cold until he was 16 months, and it was so mild! He's now 3 and has only had 3 mild colds - lasting about 2 days). I did take Fenugreek at the end and mother's tea - watch out, it will make you sleepy! I found out the hard way at work!

Good luck!

Pump pump pump! And nurse nurse nurse! You will get your supply back up, but you might have to pump a LOT. The teas will help somewhat, but not as much as pumping and nursing. Good luck!

my looking over a few responses it looks like you've got the best advice....nurse like crazy! we're going through something slightly similar with our 8 month old. he's been exclusivly breastfed and now that we've started solids we've replaced meals with real food. of course my supply is decreased. the last two weeks hes going through a major growth spurt and its obvious he just demands more. so i let him decide when he eats and i just nurse more, and it changes my milk supply when he eats more frequently. keep at it! and keep taking a prenatal vitamin and also eat eat eat! you need fuel to make his food! good luck!

Yes the herbs will help and pump. He may never really latch on so think about this. You can get your supply up and give hime breast milk witch is so good for him.
Good luck!

Stop the formula completely and just nurse, nurse, nurse! He'll get hungry and turn to the breast--a lot--which will bring your milk supply back. You'll notice an increase in just a couple of days. Also pump in between nursings, but don't give your pumped milk to him in a bottle yet because he needs to get back on the breast. It's easier for babies to get their milk from bottles, and then they get "lazy" and not want to nurse because it takes more work. If the bottle is no longer an option (at least when you are with him), he'll have to nurse!

When you are not with him, pump for every feeding you miss so that your body continues to produce milk for when you are with him.

Good luck. Don't give up the nursing--hang in there!!

When he's not hungry, try comfort nursing him. This way, he will not get frustrated since it sounds like he's now into bottle feeding. Do this as much as your schedule will allow. Starting this way may help him get reacquainted with the process. He will get something...even if it's a little bit, and hopefully will enjoy it enough to keep wanting more. The physical contact helps production too. When he starts accepting the breast (latching) without crying or struggling, start offering it when he's hungry.

Good times to comfort nurse are while your relaxing in front of the t.v., laying down for a nap. When you relax, your body naturally has a better production as well.

Make sure you are drinking lots of fluids, and eating enough to produce milk. If you're dieting to drop baby weight, exercising, not getting good rest, or have returned to work, this will affect your milk production greatly. Eating well, drinking lots, and rest all play an important role in upping your milk production.

In the meantime, until your son begins to enjoy breastfeeding again, a very important part of jump starting milk production is pumping. If you have a breastpump, start pumping the same amount of times he feeds, for 10 minutes per side. This should help re-establish your supply. Initially, you may only get drips after 10 minutes...and for a couple of days. It is hard and alot of work. Do not get discouraged. Hang in there. If you're consistent and persistent you will notice a sudden increase in your supply, and it will improve as you do more.
(a minimum of 4-5 times. Wake-up, lunch, afternoon snack time, dinner time and bed-time. Try to night-time nurse if possible to make up for overnight hours until milk levels are back.) When you bottle feed, give your baby breastmilk instead of formula when possible as your levels are restored.

A hospital grade, double-pump is the ideal (Medela, Lansinoh, etc.) as these have the closest suction to a baby and are as a result more efficient at getting milk. Many of the brands carried at department stores are good too. Just do a little research. While the really nice pumps can be real expensive, many insurance plans cover the cost of a pump, and you can find many used ones on ebay. Just be sure to purchase new sterile funnels, tubing, or any of the parts that come in contact with your milk or body for health/safety reasons.

To help stimulate milk production while pumping have a picture of your baby nearby, or have your baby nearby in the room.

You should know the pump is not as effective as your son at stimulating milk production, but it will help jump start it.

For more information or resources I strongly urge you to find your local La Leche League chapter. It's a great way to meet other moms, and lactation experts who can help you with questions etc. The website is also a good place to get information on questions like yours, books, supplies, how to find a LLL chapter near you and more. www.llli.org. You really need to read up on something called nipple confusion. It will help you as you try to transition back to the breast.

Lastly, Fenugreek does help milk production. But the suggestions of more fluids, food, etc. I listed before are far more effective. You can learn more about Fenugreek on the LLL website. It's carried at most stores that carry natural foods and supplements.