Help with Lactation and Formula!

Hi T.. I had the same problem with my 8 mth old. I tried different types of formula too. None that i tried would hold. He keep getting sick. This was because I was breastfeeding him too. It is common for breastfeed babies to not want formula. I had to use Similac Isomil. This is because it is a substitute for beastmilk. This did wonderful with my son. You might want to try it and see if it will work. Also, if you want to keep producing breastmilk, talk with your OB and ask about the pill that helps women keep producing. Let me know if this helps.
F. Simpson

Be sure you are keeping well hydrated. With going back to work, the time might be going by faster and you might not be remembering to keep yourself hydrated enough to produce enough milk.

http://kellymom.com/index.html

What you need to do is pump more, and keep your fluids up. Make sure, of course, that you're also eating enough, and that you're eating nutritious foods.

Hydration is very important. Even if you don't feel thirsty. Thirst is 90% habit. Make sure you're drinking about 10 8-oz glasses of water a day (most should drink 8, but you're nursing, so you need even more).

Can you pump at work? Is there a private place to do that? Some women just do it in their cars at lunch. Pulling the shades down helps. I knew a women who used a bathroom stall.

Just use it to do some reading and to force yourself to have some quiet time for you.

At home, pump more, too. Have your husband do the dishes after your children go to bed, and/or pump in the mornings before everyone gets up.

You'll find your supply increasing within a few days.

Since formula's not the best thing for him anyway, I wouldnt try to force it on him. The best way to increase your production is to have him breastfeed directly occasionally, or try a stronger setting on the pump. Make sure you're getting enough water in your diet as well - that's the real key, espesially with how warm our summer has been. fresh fruit snacks can provide some, along with a healthy dose of antioxidants. :]

Mother's milk tea (herbal) will really help. I have a friend in the exact same situation as yours, and she started this tea. She has seen a difference! Also, supply and demand - sneak away whenever you can and pump at work. Even if you pump and dump, this will increase your production. If that's not possible, and I know this sounds crazy, add in a one or two pumping sessions during the night (when baby is not nursing). I know, I know - less sleep? But it worked for me when my production fell off. Mix formula half and half with breast milk until baby gets used to the taste. This also works for switching them to whole milk at 1 year.
Good luck!

My third child was the only child that I had to give formula. My production went down and I could not "revive" it. I tried some medication that increased my production, but knocked me out. That didn't work with three young children. I went through several formulas and my baby refused all of them. Finally, my Mom went to the health store and got powdered goats milk - I think the brand is Myenberg or something close to that. The goats milk that is the same brand, but not powdered does not have something (I think it is folic acid) that the baby needs. My baby loved it and my Pediatrician checked it out and approved. He was actually glad to know about it for babies that had cow's milk allergies. The guy at the health food store said that it's taste was very similar to breast milk.

Get are really good pumping schedule down. If you don't have a Medela Pump get one. This is the best in my opinion. Be sure you are eating at least every 2 hours. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. If all else fails they have a supplement called Fenugreek that works wonders in a few days.

I feel like the supplements with formula may be what has reduced your milk production. Breastmilk is produced on a supply and demand basis. I had this problem when I returned to work as well. I have heard of products from health food stores that are helpful. Basically, the more you nurse the baby the more milk you will have. I made sure the baby ate food and or cereal while at the sitter and only had bottles while there. I nursed before I dropped him off and when I picked him up and all through the night- my babies don't sleep all night. Good luck to you and I hope this advice was helpful.

I agree with a lot of what's been said. 1) if he still nurses, then take a weekend and let him do nothing but nurse the whole weekend, no bottles at all. 2) during the week see if you can add an extra pumping session per day. 3) eat oatmeal for breakfast every day. 4) drink two extra bottles of water every day for a week and see if that helps (sometimes you are just more dehydrated than you think) 5) try taking fenugreek to stimulate more milk production 6) if you aren't already pumping until you get a second let-down reflex, you might want to start that at least one pumping session per day, maybe more--that was the only way I increased my pumping volume.

formula: the hardest formula on the baby's stomach is going to be similac, followed by enfamil, store brand, and nestle good start. so I would try nestle good start and mix it with mostly breastmilk to start instead of just offering straight formula...that's not going to work. Also, if he spits up a lot from it...buy the concentrate or ready to feed versions, my daughter couldn't handle the preservatives in the powdered version, when we switched to concentrate, it was like a different kid (she was a NICU baby and I didn't figure out things that would help my supply until it was too late).

my son never would drink formula either
i would try different kinds or mix your breastmilk with formula and just keep trying and keep trying

with all 3 of my kids I breast fed and used soy formula. it was the gentlest on my first son, so since i knew it, i used it with my other two as well. and walmart has the parent's choice soy formula for way cheaper than the leading brands. the less you breast feed, the less you'll produce. mine all ended up liking the bottle with formula since it was less work to get out, then ended up not wanting to breastfeed, therefore i produced less, until i decided to stop because they'd nurse for 20 min. then not be full and i'd have to top them off with 2 oz of formula. good luck.

T.,

I had this problem as well. Your doctor can give you a prescription to increase you breastmilk production. I don't remember the name of it, but I took it with both of my babies. Also, try mixing the breastmilk and formula. Start with a small amount of formula and gradually decrease the breastmilk. Soon, he will take the formula with no breastmilk at all. Good luck! You are doing an awesome job!

I have three little ones and found it very difficult to get anything even with a very high end pump. Sometimes we just won't let down for a pump...only our baby. I would recommend going to a lactation consultant. All of the advice about drinking and eating enough are very true. Also you might try pumping a few extra times every day for a shorter amount of time.

T., I am so proud of you for still pumping. I have just now stopped pumping a couple of weeks ago after phasing out for about a month. I have a 7 month old and he had exclusive breastmilk for the first 4 months (till he hit a growth spurt which dwindled my supply in the fridge), I realized that my production didn't really go down but his consumption was going up. I started supplementing slowly with only 4 oz a day starting at 4 months, by 6 months it was half and half. I used Emphamil because it is supposed to very closely resemble breastmilk. Also, the kind of proteins in their "Lipil" type resemble the types of proteins in breastmilk the most. My son didn't have any problems with it, though he didn't really want it by itself at first(smells funny, where breastmilk smells like, well... water, pretty much nothing). I mixed it with 3/4 breastmilk and slowly 50/50 then phased out. The slow transition was nice, though no stomach issues. If you look up the formula brand web sites, they have lots of educating info on the different types and reasons for each. Also, recent studies have shown that the amount of water you drink has no effect on milk volume you produce, though it will greatly affect your body and many other things for you, just not your volume. A mom posted the Kellymom web site below, which is the best breastfeeding source of information. All info has sources cited. I looked before writing this, there is nothing about the water you drink as a cause for decrease or way to increase but there are MANY other helpful things on there. Hope that helps!

I would let him do nothing but nurse when you have him at home. Keep in mind no matter how good your breastpump is, that it is still very inefficient compared to your son. I would also make sure that you are getting enough calories and water. Everytime I try to lose my baby weight my milk supply goes down. I wouldn't try to suppliment with the formula, but move on to the baby food. It would be filling without sabatoging your efforts to breastfeed.

When I went back to work, I took an herbal supplement called fennegreek. It increases your milk supply, and there are no side effects. If you talk to a lactation consultant she will be able to tell you where to find this; otherwise I found it at my local whole foods store.
Also, I agree with the other posters that you need to make sure you drink water all day long, even if you aren't very thirsty!
good luck!

look online for Mountain Meadow Herbs. They have a tincture call Maxi-milk, my friend used it with her 3rd child and she was never a big producer until she did. She ended up having to pull him away quite often because of the quantity that would come out and him not being able to swallow it all fast enough. I plan on using it with my son when he gets here.

Fenugreek is an herbal supplement recommeneded to me by lactation consultants. it does work. my first baby didn't start out breastfeeding well at all, so i pumped and fed it to him. i also had to use formula because i didn't have enough milk for him. maybe a soy or lactofree formula wouln't upset his stomach as much. hope this helps. good luck with it!

T.,
Hello. I used a wonderful natural product called More Milk Plus Capsules (it was the only way I was able to produce anything really - that's another story), you could maybe find them at a health food store, but I got mine from this website:

http://www.naturallullabies.com/breastfeeding-products.htm

I also tried Reglan (Dr. prescribed) and it helped a little, but not much. So, I would recommend the natural supplement route. Best of luck to you.
~ J.

Lots and lots of water and extra pumping should help. Also, does your baby nurse at all? If so, extra nursing time with baby will help increase supply. If all else fails talk to your doctor about a prescription that will help increase supply (I used it but can't remember the name of it, it's been too long). My ob/gyn prescribed it to me and I'm telling you my milk came in quick and fast. I actually had to cut back on it and only take half of the recommended dose. Sure wish I could remember the name of it. Sorry. Anyway, best of luck to you!

I was only able to keep up with my twins for three months after that we had to supplement with formula every other feeding. Our pediatrician recommended ProSobee, it is a soy based formula. It has all the nutrients and vitamins but is easier on baby's tummy than milk based formulas. The first couple times we feed it to the boys, we added a small amount of sugar to sweeten it (in case you have never had the experience of accidentally tasting breast milk, it is VERY sweet.) After a few feedings to get them accustomed to the taste we stopped adding the sugar. We really had a good experience with the Prosobee. I hope this helps. Good Luck!

I have been told that Fenugreek found at GNC is helpful in increasing milk production. As long as you have been pumping your production should not be affected by the suplimintation of formula. Also brewer's yeast added to your cereal or ice cream about a tblsp or a 1/4 cup to pancake mix has been shown to be helpful in increasing milk production. The biggest thing is to pump even if you are using formula to keep your supply up. Hope this is helpful