Advice Appreciated

Try mother's milk, fenugreek or blessed thistle, you can get them at health food stores, they worked wonders for me! I pumped some until my son was 18 months old. Oh, mother's milk is a combo of fenugreek and blessed thistle and recommended by the lacations consultants at martha jefferson hospital (maybe others, but that's where I went(!

Hi S.!

You are doing great! Don't give up! I had the same problem with my first child and ended up being able to nurse him for 2.5 years. A lot of people have recommended the nipple shield and that is what I used too. I found them at Babies R us, plus the hospital gave me one. I would let my son nurse with it on for the first or minute or two to help pull my nipple out and then quickly disengage him (with a finger in the corner of his mouth)and slip off the shield and let him try to re-attach. He was frustrated too but I kept encouraging him and if I needed to, I would just put the shield back on, but keep working at it. It was one of the most difficult things to do but I was so overjoyed the day I was finally able to throw the shields away that I cried. (he was about 6 weeks old)

My milk has ALWAYS decreased with pumping alone. A pump just does not stimulate the breast to produce like a nursing baby. To increase my milk supply, I pumped a short time after each breast feeding session until I was happy with the amount I was producing-my son never would take a bottle very well, but I froze and stored that extra "liquid gold" (as my husband called it)for any emergencies. I found it helped if I sat in a quiet place and thought of my son and how wonderful he was while I was pumping.

Good Luck to you!

K.

Who in the world told you you can't nurse with inverted nipples? The nurses at the hospital? They inevitably always ruin the chance of a woman breastfeeding. I nursed both my sons with inverted nipples. First, their sucking brings the nipple out. Second, they can still hold and suck on the areola, which will still stimulate milk letdown. Try and see if it isn't too late, and he has gotten used to the bottle nipple. If not, don't get stressed or frustrated. Stress will block the milk letdown response and you are creating your own failure.
You might have to pump more frequently, to get the reaction by the hormones to make more milk. It is a demand/supply phenomenon.

Good luck,
L.

my sister had a slightly similar situation and was able to use a sheild for both her boys to attach to while they nursed. Many will tell you (as they told her) that you can't keep nursing with a sheild but that's not true. She nursed both her boys for 8mths or more with using a sheild and with pumping daily too.
Take Care,
N. :) SAHM homeschooling 3 boys and married to my Mr. Wonderful for 15yrs. I love to help other moms, who want to become SAHMs reach that goal. Be sure to teach your children how to dream. So many people have lost their ability to dream and dreaming is so very important.

Don't give up!! It sounds like we are in very similar situations. I pumped for 10 weeks with my son (now 21 months) and was never able to breastfeed him directly. I have inverted nipples as well and was given a nipple shield by the lactation consultant in the hospital. With my daughter (9 weeks) I was determined to do everything I could to make breast feeding work and luckily it has. I had to pump for the first 3 weeks but I also tried nursing her at least once a day. I took Mother's Milk tea and fenugreek to increase my supply at first (oatmeal and beer were also suggested) and we have been fine since week 3. I no longer need to pump and she no longer needs supplements of any kind- breastmilk or formula. This is after the lactation consultant at my hospital told me to just go ahead and pump for all her feedings and that I wouldn't be able to breastfeed.
Please feel free to email me at ____@____.com if you want to talk.
Congratulations and good luck!

When I had my little princess she was only 5 lbs 1 oz and she had a hard time latching on because her mouth was so tiny. I bought a silicone piece (nipple shield), but basically it is a silicone nipple that you put on to breast feed your baby and it works really well (it is perfect for women with inverted nipples). I was having trouble keeping my milk supply up with just pumping at first, then when I started using the nipple and she got to actually breast feed everything seemed to pick up for me. I hope this helps.

You are doing fine...don't worry. I had inverted nipples and nursed all 3 of mine for a year. Try getting a nipple shield. You wear it all the time (well, except for when you are nursing) and it helps the nipple poke out. I did this with my first and did not have the problem with the other two. My nipples still don't stick out but the do when my babies are nursing. Your milk coming in 3 days later is perfectly normal. Just keep pumping and trying to get your baby to latch. All of that will tell your body to keep making milk. Drink plenty of water!! Good luck. Don't worry...it won't help the milk supply:)

Talk to the lactation consultantants associated with Holy Cross (see the hospital website).

I used a nipple shield to start. It really helped, and we were able to wean off it within a couple of months.

You might also need a prescription for something to help your supply. Are you eating oatmeal? Drinking lots of water?

Hi S.,
I had a similar problem with my daughter who was a preemie years ago. I saw a lactation consultant twice who gave me a nipple shield used to help inverted nipples and allow little ones to easily nurse. This did the trick for me, after using for a month we were able to continue to breast feed without it. I was never able to get a lot pumping, I don't think there is a pump that is as efficient as your little one! Good Luck!

Try Fenugreek! It's a natural herb that comes in tablets. It helped me a great deal.

Hi,
I can understand your situation. I have a 2 month old and i am pumping milk for her.. but i dont have any problem with it. I nursed by first one too, as she was not good at latching so from day one i pumped the milk and gave her in bottle.... i use to pump every 2 hrs intially and then came down to 4 hrs... but the milk supply lasted until she was 1 yr old, My second is good at latching but i started working so i am pumping the milk.. and feed her at night time. The only thing i could suggest you is check your diet and drink pleaty of fuilds and see if you can add fenugreek in your diet... and massage your breasts if possible.. i heard that massaging them would work out. Good Luck

Make sure you are drinking plenty of fluids. People seem to forget that they need extra fluids for milk productions. I drink 24 - 32ozs from 11 pm to 7 am and 40-64 ozs. during the day. As far as inverted nipples I have a few friends that said it is difficult but possible to still nurse.

I tried Fenugreek (u can find in any vitamin store) to increase my milk supply and it did wonders! good luck!

Definitely not strange for your milk to take a while to come in. Try the nipple shield (I had a lazy nurser). Make every attempt to nurse him for a while, and then after he is done, pump for 10 minutes. If he still seems hungry when he comes off, offer him some prepumped milk or formula. You will never be able to pump out more than he can suck out on his own - they are much more efficient by far. I think at that age, mine only took about 2 oz - 2.5 oz a day. If you are getting wet diapers, he is getting milk.

I think my milk supply yo-yo'ed a lot - sometimes I leaked everywhere and some days I felt like I had nothing. Even now I feel like I am really full for a week, and then I wonder what happened to my milk. Plenty of water (and if you can believe this - rest!) is what helps make milk - and his sucking is best - if not the pump. Some of the best advice I heard once was if your milk supply is down, grab your favorite book, a huge jug of water, and your baby, and settle into bed for a 24 hour rest - hydrating - suckling/stimulation marathon. (add bonbons to that I know, like any of us have time for that!)

Just feed him when he is hungry, and if it seems like no matter how much you feed him, he is still hungry, then offer to top him off with the bottle. Your lowest milk production time is in the evening, so this is probably when you will need to top him off. Just remember to pump a little if you offer him a bottle, to let your breasts know they need a little more!

Hang in there!

go to a vitamine store and get fenugreek. this should incrince you milk supply. then geta breast/nipple sheild and try breastfeading. when you first get your milk it takes awhile to regulate itself. give it some time. another thought to consider is the kind of pump you are using. if not the big one that the hospital rents, then look into getting one of those.

One poster mentioned checking on your pump. I would recommend that and also look into getting a hospital grade pump. I have heard that they much more efficient at pumping milk then the normal store bought ones.

Good luck!

I have flat nipples and have 8 week old twins. My milk didn't come in until day 5 and I had to supplement with formula because my babies lost too much weight and were slightly jaundiced. For the first few weeks, I pumped every 2 hours around the clock and my output was just ok. The past two weeks, I have been taking an herbal supplement called Goat's Rue. I opted not to take fenugreek because I read that it can cause gas and my babies are already having major gas issues. The goat's rue has increased my supply and it's supposed to help increase mammary tissue. I don't know about that one though. Anyway, one of my babies has a poor latch and the other has a lazy suck, so I've just been pumping. I still try to put them to the breast, but they are not getting it. So I'm coming to terms with the possibility that I'll be pumping for all their milk. The Goat's Rue is making that easier since I'm getting more milk. I'm pumping every 3-4 hours now with an occasional 5 hour break too. And I'm making enough milk for the both of them. Hope this helps.

I thought of two things when I read your post, so I'm sharing both. My SIL has one inverted nipple and it always produced less than her other one. She would pump just a couple oz from it a day and that was the most she could do. Also, I had problems with my milk after a couple weeks and I was recently diagnosed with hypothyroidism. It's not everyone's problem (or solution, depending on how you look at it), but for those of us who have it, treatment helps with energy, nursing, fertility, etc.

You've received a lot of good advice already, but I wanted to note one other possibility. Make sure you check all your pump parts and components to ensure they are in good shape. I pumped quite often with my youngest son and at one point had what seemed to be a big drop in supply. However, it turned out that one of the membranes for my pump had a small tear in it. Once I replaced that, I was back to pumping my normal volume. Good luck and congratulations on your son.

Hi-there's these things called nipple shields, which are basically like thin bottle tops that you stick on your breasts. It gives your baby something to latch on to. I used them w/my 1st son because he had trouble latching on. Check w/your dr. to find them-I got them from the hospital when I was in there.
Good luck!

Hi S.-

First of all, of course it is totally normal for it to take three days for your milk to come in. For what it is worth, your output of 6 oz. sounds rather normal to me, too. My son only ate 3 or 4 oz. every couple of hours at that age, so it seems like your supply should be matching the average intake for a baby that age. But if you have concerns, I'd recommend calling the hospital where you delivered and asking to speak to a lactation consultant or looking for a local chapter of La Leche League. Good luck!

You can nurse with inverted nipples! You can pump to draw them out or use the mini horn pumps designed for this, wear breast shells and/or nipple shields, and use a supplemental nursing system if he's having trouble with getting the flow fast enough. You can also push the breast tissue back toward the chest wall instead of sandwiching it and squeezing. It takes a bit of work and patience, but you can do it. It worked great for one of my patients who went on to breastfeed without supplements or bottles. If I lived closer, I'd offer in person assistance since it's hard to describe in text. LLL is free and insurance will cover LC visits. If you have WIC, call and ask for the breastfeeding coordinator or a peer counselor. In the meantime, drink a lot of water, eat oatmeal any way you can, and remember to breathe. A good way to let go of the stress at the pump is to cry. It sounds crazy, but it works. I hope you can get the help you need and have good support at home to be successful.

I pumped for 12 mo w/ my twins; I didn't have inverted nipples, they just were born prematurely and never got the hang of breastfeeding. I rented a hospital-grade Medela pump for the first month on the recommendation of the lactation consultant to get my supply up; after that, I switched to the Medela Pump in Style Advanced and had good results w/ that, pumping 15-20 min after each feeding. Another important thing the consultant recommended was to make sure I pumped between midnight and 5 am ( your prolactin levels are highest). I hope this helps; kudos to you for your determination! It is a lot of hard work:)