Hreastfeeding and Pumping for Daycare

My supply started to go down when she was around 9 months. I started taking the supplement, More Milk Plus. You can find it at Whole Foods or Sprouts and that helped my supply. I also pumped like crazy. I didn't want to give my daughter formula at all so I was really motivated to pump. Good luck!

If the baby fussing for more, or you just think she needs more because she's growing? Most babies needs stay level actually. They take about the same amount from 1-6 months, and even after that when they are older than 6 months they don't need more because they start taking in a little bit of solids. (http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/milkcalc/) So if she's not fussing, she's probably fine. If she is fussying for more, then here's the increasing supply advice:

Everyone is giving you great advice: oatmeal for breakfast, mother's milk tea, make sure you are drinking lots of water.

Also, although you seem to be pumping quite a bit - pumping 12 oz per day is really good - you might see if you get any more if you pump longer or at a different setting on the pump.

Things that worked for me were:
1) pumping for at least 20 min. I would get a good letdown of milk right away, then at about the 10 or 15 minute mark, I would get another big letdown. A friend of mine did something similar - pumped through the 1st letdown. Then turned the pump off for 5 min. Then pumped again and got the second letdown.
2) Although I most often worked at my laptop while I pumped, I got much more milk if I stopped working, relaxed, and looked at a picture of the baby and kind-of imagined him nursing.
3) Make sure you aren't turning your pump suction too high. If it is high enough that it hurts even a little, you might be tensing up which can make it harder for the pump to get the milk out.

A last thing - try pumping first thing in the morning before you nurse. Most women have the most milk in the morning, and can pump a few ounces (not until empty, but maybe 2 or 3) and still have enough for the baby to nurse until content. Then you would have a little bit of extra if needed.

Mothers milk tea, oatmeal, pump longer and more often...

A few years ago with my dirst, I had this same issue. I started to increase my pumping sessions with little or no increase. Then, some of the kid ladies on this site recommended Fenugreek pills and it improved the amount I was getting for a few more months. When I started to decline again, close to the 6 month mark, I decided my body was telling me no more. We had already had to suppliment so that transition was painless for our DD. Best of luck with all of it. I totally get where you are coming from!

If you breastfeed when you are with your baby (nights/weekends etc), you could feed her and then pump right after. You probably wont get much at first, but it should boost your supply. Or you could add an extra pumping session at some point (not sure what your schedule is like right now). For awhile I ended up pumping during the night when my baby was sleeping - not good for sleep, but it did help build my supply. As always, remember to drink plenty of water! Try not to stress out about not being able to meet your daughter's demand. Just do your best!

When I had to ramp up my supplly via pumping, my LC told me to 1. drink more non-caffinated liquids 2. take fenugreek (if I wanted to smell like maple syrup again - lol) 3. pump 5- 10 min longer after I was "finished" It really helped. My first was not a big nurser, so I had to do this from the begining to get us both through the one year of breast milk mark.

Good luck!

It depends on hour old your baby is.
I never pumped more than 3 3-4 oz bottles a day for daycare and DD never drank more, as a matter of fact most days she drank less and reverse cycled (nursed more in the evening and at night). I did not mind - but she was already 8 months old when she started daycare... so this may not work for a 2 months old.
I will second tandem pumping to up your supply: whenever you are nursing pump the other breast at the same time, both weekdays and weekends.
Good luck.

I know how valuable sleep is when you have a little one...but I found that I had a ton of milk in the middle of the night. At around 5 months old, after my son woke at night and I nursed him and put him back to bed around 3 am, I would pump completely before going back to bed myself. I usually would get twice the amount of a normal day time pumping session at this hour. This did not impact my supply for his next nursing session. I did this a couple of months and this allowed me to keep up with his spurt, kept my supply up so we ended up being successful with breastfeeding for well over a year. Good luck.

You might try pumping while she nurses the other side first thing in the AM (she'll help the let down) or pumping on weekends when she naps to have extra milk. I found that DD's highest need was around 6 mo. and then it tapered off again. Remember that your milk will change and be significantly fattier even though it's the same amount. So unlike another baby needing 8 oz of formula, yours will still only need the same general amount per day. If she is happy with her 12 oz and it meets the 1 - 1.5 oz/hour you are away guideline, then don't stress. I rarely pumped more than 12 oz a day and DD is a healthy little girl. If you have to short a bottle at any point, make it the last one of the day so that you can nurse her to make up for it.

I started pumping about a month before going back to work. I would also pump while the baby was sleeping- my body was ready to feed every two hours on the dot!! I pumped at work every two hours (4 to 5x a day). If you have a double pump that also helps. Don't turn the pump on high- if only a little milk is coming out turning up the strength won't make more come out (I tried this ) Drink lots of water. & relax while pumping. Sometimes I would pump & feed at the same time. Take your pump with you- this might sound silly especially when you have your baby but you might just need it. You can pump a little before feeding- I had to do this for awhile if I didn't the springs would turn on & my poor dtr would have a mess on her face & or end up choking.

I hope I helped- kinda rambled a bit-