Seeking Advice on Expressed Breast Milk and Mother's Milk Tea

Hi, I have had to pump exclusively since about two weeks after my daughter was born (she's now 6.5months). I used fenugreek and other breast milk supporting herbs in pill form up until about the 3.5 month point without any problems. Some people report increased gassiness in the babies, but my little one never had a problem. Interestingly when I stopped using the pills my supply actually increased. The best method to keep up your supply is to make sure your breasts never get overly engorged which sends a signal to decrease production. So, I end up pumping three times during an 8 hour work day. And I have to pump about 30min/session to get about 4.5 ounces. It's a lot of work, but so worth it! In regards to the bottle, make sure that someone else is the one giving the bottle and you might also try different types of nipples and or different size flow. Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful

K.,
I took mothers milk tea when I was lacking breast milk for my baby. It taste so good I love having a couple of cups full of tea everyday. Anyways I dont see why it wouldnt hurt to drink the tea. It is always better safe then Sorry. SO I say go for it drink it up. I dont know if it will harm you.

My son was in the Infants I.C.U. for the 1st 7 weeks of his life, and I pumped for 6-7 months, exclusively. He never nursed, it was a long story.
As for your milk supply, as long as you are pumping regularly, your milk supply will be fine. When you are pumping or nursing regularly (every 3-4 hours) your breasts recognize that your baby is eating, and will continue to produce milk. When you are not pumping or nursing, your milk will decrease and eventually, stop producing.
I never drank Mothers Milk Tea, but I'm sure it won't do any harm, just don't rely on it to keep your milk up.
As for the bottle thing, just keep giving your baby the same type of bottle, and don't change bottle types (playtex nurser, advent, etc). He will get used to the idea that he's eating from the bottle. If you switch back and forth with breast and bottle, it confuses him.
It's great that you are pumping when you go back to work. It's hard, but worth it.

I love Mother's Milk tea and it's made for nursing moms so there shouldn't be any harm in it.
Good luck with the bottle situation, mine won't take one if she's to the point of upset hungry so we have to give it more as something she can play with and wow there's milk in there too!

I can't say any sure fire methods to taking the bottle, other than that once they are hungry enough, they tend to come around. Have you tried having someone in your family or a close friend watch him for a few hours and see how he does? That would at least give you a good feeling as to if this will be an issue for him. As far as the mother's milk tea, I am currently nursing and drink it occassionally. I have never been an "over-producer" and I sometimes worry about supply too. With my oldest when I had to start working 8 hour shifts, I did lose some milk production and had to start some supplementing with formula, which he hated, so I think it would be worth it! (I wasn't using the tea at that time).

From experience, sometimes(almoste always) the baby will take a bottle from someone else, but not really from mom because she has the breast and the supply. I have also used the mothers milk tea, and it is great. my sister is a nicu nurse and actually suggested me using it when my milk flow was low.
Good luck!!

Mothers milk tea is fine. :)

My younger daughter had a hard time accepting a bottle from me. I read that this is normal. Why take a bottle when you can get it from the tap! If someone other than you offers it to him, he'll probably gladly accept it. Babies don't like to be hungry!

As for the mother's Milk tea. I've heard nothing but good things about it, but I've personally never tried it. I was pumping 8 ounces from each breast every 4 hours. I had more milk than I knew what to do with!

I would suggest having your husband try to feed him with the bottle while you leave the room, or maybe even the house (take a moment to sit in the garden, soak up some sun). I've heard that infants can "sense" when their mothers are around & expect the breast from mom. It's not natural to be talking a bottle from mom. Maybe your husband will have better success at giving him the bottle & get him accustomed to it so he won't have issues when you go back to work.
Good luck to you!

Hello K.-

Don't stress. I know it feels terrible now, but it will all work out! I went back to work after 3 1/2 months. My son was doing ok on the bottle (with expressed breast milk) until about one month before I had to go back to work. He just refused to drink from the bottle. I think he must have felt my anxiety and knew something was going to change.

You might try an Adiri bottle. To the baby they feel like a real breast. Some people swear by them. They are expensive, but if it works any price is worth it!

When I did return to work, the first week with his grandparents was rough, especially the first day. It is difficult, but your son will get into the routine and he will be perfectly fine. Just know that when you get home from work he will probably want to nurse, almost, continuously. I know my son did. But it is a great opportunity to get reconnected after being away during the day.

I have been pumping at work now for three months and it is going smoothly. I pump 2-3 times per day. I am at work 30 hours per week M-Th. I have not had any problems with low milk supply.

My husband and I are now moving on to the next dilema. Our son's poor sleeping habits. But, I'm sure this too is just temporary!

Wishing you well,
M. Z

Having someone else feed your son the bottle will aid in his acceptance of the rubber nipple and it's difference. I would strongly suggest that you pump while at work during your breaks and lunch. Your son is a growing little boy and if you don't keep up a schedule of 'demand' the supply won't meet his needs. There are great battery operated pumps out there as well as great electric models. I did this with all three of my kids with great success. I refrigerated the milk in a bag with an coolant block and then it was available for my husband to use the next day. We offshifted from one another. I never used 'Mother's Milk tea', but I remembered to drink lots of water through out the day. When I sat and nursed my babies, I always had a glass of water or juice as well.

Again, keep your demand up through out the day by pumping and you'll find that you won't be leaking or have any discomfort during the day as well.

you could also try fenugreek. it worked really well for me when my milk supply started getting low.

He most likely will drink from the bottle when he gets hungry enough and you aren't there:) I also needed Mother's milk tea because my hunka hunka boy would drain me sometimes. It helped A LOT, just be prepared to possibly need to pump more often while using it... I became engorged at times after drinking the tea. It worked a litte too well for me:)

Hi,

I am a firm believer in positive reinforcement. Offer your baby the breast first until he is not so hungry, then offer the bottle-just a small amount of milk and until he is showing signs of frustration, then return to the "known"-- the breast. I think we all feel better when we are learning to go back to the safe starting point and then move toward the unknown.
When you return to work, chances are he will take enough to get by and will feed like a fiend when you get home. Just make sure to keep your milk supply well stimulated with a quality breast punp. Mother's Milk Tea is a well accepted supplement, 24 oz a day----well steeped.
I hope this helps.

D.

Mother's Milk tea is developed to help your milk production it is made knowing that you are going to be nursing and therefore keeps it safe for your child. The tea is not going to harm your child.