Low Milk Supply - Pumping for Day Care

Hi L.,
I know going back to work can be stressful, and then to worry about your baby makes it even harder! Here are some reliable resources and some ideas -
- Dr. Jack Newman's website for problem solving
- More pumping sessions, hopefully going no more than 2-3 hours between baby or pump
- Fully empty breasts at each session, pumping long enough? (10-15 min is usually plenty, not more than a few minutes longer than milk comes out at all)
- C0-sleep with babe at night, the extra contact and often nursing too up production a lot
- MotherLove Herbals have great herbal combinations for increasing milk supply, fenegreek rarely does it by itself, and other writer is correct, you need more. (Several places carry it locally, Indigo Forest in Ann Arbor also carries nursing teas and has free support group and Breastfeeding/working class)
- More rest, liquids, calories (I know, lotsa luck!)
- More skin to skin time with baby ups hormones - take a bath together in evening to wind down?

Best wishes!

1 mom found this helpful

L.,

Does your little guy want to nurse as soon as you get home? The reason I ask if the daycare workers were feeding my little guy just before I picked him up thinking they were doing me a favor. But, the reality was he wanted to nurse from mommy as soon as we reconnected. I could barely make it in the door. :) The bad result was I had one bottle less for the next day. I discussed it with them and we were able to resolve the issue quickly. I know it's very hard to keep up with a hungry boy. :)

Sounds like you're doing a great job producing milk. As you know the more you nurse the more your supply. It will happen.

Good luck and hang in there!

C.

Oh L., I have totally been there with my first baby ~ it's so stressful! I'm sorry....

My best advice would be to nurse your baby as much as possible (can you stop in on lunch? a break? if not...spend as much skin to skin time as possible before & after work and on weekends), get as much rest as possible (ha, ha, right?) and most importantly - stay relaxed about your supply and everything else. I know this is all easier said than done, but just do your best.

If it helps to know, my first baby got enough to eat with nursing alone (and solids @ 6 mo too) for his first year, even w/ me back at work full time from 3 months on - but it was definitely a lot of work!

You're doing all the right things, keep it up, Mama!!

I hear you!!! It's hard to pump enough at work, like work isn't stressful enough without measuring your milk in ounces. It's great that you have a freezer stash, that's how I managed to keep my DD off formula. I found that fenugreek capsules (3 capsules 3 times daily) plus Blessed Thistle (3 capsules 3 times daily) seemed to help. It's great that you're pumping extra on the weekends, too. I also like to watch videos of my DD on my phone when I'm pumping, it's probably silly, but it helps. For something so natural, it ends up being a lot of work when your little one is in daycare but SO worth it! Keep up the good work, congrats on making it this far!

P.S. There is a book called "Making More Milk"-it's fantastic! You can find it at amazon.com, Borders, Barnes and Noble, etc...It helps you figure out why you're making less and what you can do to increase. Good luck!!

Hi L.,

You didn't mention the type of pump you are using, which can make a difference in the amount of milk you are getting. My mom is a lactation consultant and throughout the last year I have assisted her in doing research on breast pumps and milk production. One of the things that we found was that the avent silicone insert helps to increase the milk production significantly if used in an electric pump. On the breast I was using the petal on, I could get one to two ounces more per pumping than on the other side. Not only that but the side I didn't use the petal on was significantly smaller in size. When I switched the petal to that side, that breast produced more. Also, she suggested you might take fenugreek two to three times per day (side effect for too many is that you may begin to smell like maple syrup -- then you just decrease it). You didn't mention if you were able to pump during the time you are at work. If you are able to, then pumping a couple of times can reduce the stress of trying to pump just once and because you are not as full can signal to your body that you have added a feeding and to produce more. Hope this helps.

I feel your pain because I was there too! My son was drinking so much milk before I started him on solids, I was always worried about whether I was pumping enough. I took 2 or 3 capsules of fenugreek 3x a day. My sweat did start to smell like maple syrup, but I guess that's better than a sweaty smell, lol. I always kept hydrated... sometimes it's easy to forget to drink your water when you're busy and stressed. And when I needed the extra milk I'd throw in an extra pumpng session in the morning. I'd dreamfeed him, get myself ready, and then pump. Prolactin levels are highest in the morning, so it's the best time to pump. This website http://www.workandpump.com/boosters.htm has some great tips. Keep up the good work! I know it's hard, I hate pumping, but I love being able to still nurse my little guy.

I am working with a similar situation- my son drinks 4 bottles of breastmilk at daycare but I can only pump 3 bottles at work. However, I have noticed that I pump a few oz more if I drink a coffee (decaf). Maybe its because its a diuretic...not sure on the physiology, but it seems to make a difference every time. Good luck!

I completely understand. The same thing happened to me with my last child. I called the lactation consultant at the hospital where I delivered and she suggested that I nurse (no pumping) on the weekends. She told me that although the pump simulates the baby's suckling that it is not nearly as strong (your body works based on supply and demand). I tried it and it worked. Try nursing only on the weekends and nursing as much as possible in the evenings and it will help increase your milk supply. Good luck!

RELAX also one thing you might want to try is to massage your breasts before you pump and during pumping. from the sounds of it your doing quit well you just need to not get stressed out and relax more. when you can, not only pump but try to put the baby on too. sometimes or most of there suck does better to create more than the pump. Because you are back to work you may have to consider supplementing one or two bottles while at work so majority of the time the baby gets breast milk. Good luck oh one other thing becareful with fenugreek sometimes it changes the taste of the milk and the baby won't or hesitate to latch on.

L.
My suggestion is to increase your Fenugreek until your sweat takes on the maple syrup scent. I was taking up to 6 capsules a day at one point in time. You can research it on the web and you will get an idea of how much you need to take. Also drink the mothers milk tea at least 3 times a day. Make sure that you are drinking plenty of fluids and hang in there. Blessings! J.

Try drinking more water and taking a hot shower before you pump. Make sure the bra you wear is not too tight.

L.,
I have went through this too. With my second child my milk supply decreased much quicker when i went back to work and now i am expecting my third. I can't promise this will help butI would try increasing the mother's milk tea to 3-4 cups a day, not one. Also try increasing the fenugreek. I was told your urine should smell like maple syrup if you are taking enough. I did better with the tea than the fenugreek. YOu go through a lot of tea and i typcial join GNC for the discount during the time if that is convenient for you. Just go before you are out because sometimes they are out. It sounds like you are doing everything else right. And just know that if you can't get your supply up it is okay to supplement. You have done everything you can and given your baby as much as you can so be proud of yourself don't stress and enjoy your baby!

Pump after his first morning feeding. You tend to have more in the morning unless you have an all-night nurser. It won't be long before you can add some simple complementary foods while you're away. Go on www.llli.org and look under Resources then check out the Answers section for more ideas on Working and BF'ing. Good for you for doing this! It's worth the effort - your son is very blessed!

i was once in this position and i just couldn't get my supply back up. i tried everything in the book, flax seed, alfalfa tablets, the hot shower before pumping,EVERYTHING. and my son was taking 8 oz bottles to daycare with him and i was producing 18oz at work with a double pump! but i jsut had to concede to the formula but what i did was anything that i could get out i mixed with the formula to make it eaiser for him to switch over and so that he could still be getting what he needed from me. i hope that your supply can get back up but if it doesnt you have to do what you have to do . GOOD LUCK!

When I was pumping my milk supply would increase if I was looking at a picture of my daughter. It helped me relax :)

See if your OBGYN will give you a prescription for Reglan. It has helped me a LOT!!!! =) Good luck and keep up the good work. Oh, and try power-pumping (ie: 10 min on, 10 min off for an hour). Do this twice per day if you can and your supply should increase.

First, that is GREAT pumping output! Something to keep in mind with fenugreek is that you have to take a LOT for it to work. Seriously, you should be taking enough to make your sweat smell like maple syrup! One capsule every day is definitely not enough to do that. (http://kellymom.com/herbal/milksupply/fenugreek.html)

Check out this link as well: http://kellymom.com/bf/pumping/pumping_decrease.html

As for suggestions, are you doing breast compressions while you're pumping? I know it's difficult to do that while using a double pump, but it can really help. Try setting up your pump so you can be hands-free. I did this by altering the height of my chair so the bottles I pumped into could rest right on the counter top. They were stabilized and it allowed me to alternate breast compressions. (http://kellymom.com/newman/15breast_compression.html) You can also buy a hands-free kit or rig it yourself (http://kellymom.com/bf/pumping/hands-free-pumping.html).

Also, try experimenting with how much your son takes while you're gone. Try decreasing his bottles by 1/2 an oz each time. He might just be satisfied with that much. Lots of babies who are fed through a bottle are overfed simply because of the mechanics of it all - they have to suck/swallow in order to breathe so people assume they must be "starving!" when the baby gulps all the bottle down, when in reality they just have to because that's how it works. And make sure he's not being fed shortly before you get home. I would get so upset when I would go to pick up my daughter and she had just been fed half an hour before! It was so frustrating. If your baby is likely to eat every two hours or so, ask your daycare provider to space his feedings out so he's hungry right when you get there to pick him up. That way you can nurse him and not have to worry about pumping that much more while you're gone.

Good luck! If I could give you a high-five for breastfeeding I would. :)

Relax, relax, relax~ that helps with 'letdown'. Easier said than done as I was there, too.

Check out other ways to de-stress your body. I have found that massage / reflexology can help (de-stresses the body). Lots of water. You may be taking too much of the supplements (Mother's Milk Tea, capsules, etc.)... Focus on something and stay with the one. As the baby grows, do not be afraid to supplement with some formula - I did a ton of research at the time and compared suppliers to see which I would be comfortable with. (I almost wonder if the supply drops a bit naturally on its own? I could be wrong, but many women seem to go through this when they have a goal of nursing for six months or longer. I made it eleven months before I had to give it up due to health and medicines I had to take.)

Keep pumping - especially at work. The more you stimulate the 'need'; the more you should supply. If you had your baby through Beaumont, the Parenting Line is awesome for support and help. I called almost weekly for assistance on this same issue.

I only had my son on Breast Milk and a small amount of formula as needed - we did not start foods until he was six months so we could avoid any extra allergies. I think we did okay~

Have you tried looking at a picture of your baby or smelling (yes I know it's weird) something of his as you pump? Also are you comfortable in the environment that you are pumping in (do you have a nice quiet, private place to pump). One last thought: what type of pump are you using? You may need to rent a hospital grade pump which can be done easily through the lactation dept at you local hospital! Hope this helps!

I had this problem too.. I took fenugreek... alot of fenugreek... you need more than 1 capsule per day..

try to get him on the breast when you are at home. after the last feeding of the day - take him out of his bed and nurse him when he is asleep that will give you more stimulation to make your milk.

drink more water...

and you can have day care start feeding him a bit of cereal once a day too. just a bit of cereal will help fill his tummy and make your milk last longer.

my daughter started cereal at 4 months and my son at 5 months..