Breastfeeding Questions Take 3

The more stressed out you are, the less milk you will produce. Drink lots of water, relax and let your milk come down. You will need to pump ay work to continue breastfeeding, so don't drive yourself crazy. Kay from the Nesting Place is fabulous. I would e-mail her and get her advice. She was a FABULOUS teacher and a great source of encouragement and support. Keep up the good work. I have been exclusively breastfeeding for the last 8 1/2 months and it gets easy - I promise!

You are only at 3.5 weeks post-birth. Give you body a chance to deal with the many things going on with you and the baby. As long as the baby is getting enough and you are pumping after feeding her, you are doing well. Try not to supplement formula and instead cluster feed (keep nursing her when she needs food) and your body will catch up to her demand/need.

There are many Mother's milk tea that you can find at your local natural food store to increase you milk supply. Drink lots of liquids and eat well. Another thing that helps is the herb Dill in either the fresh herb form or seed form. You can eat the seeds directly or make a tea from it and drink it. There are may recipes on the web for the tea. I did the herb directly and my friend ate the seeds. We were both successful at nursing for 10 mons to 14 mons.

I worked so I did the pump and store thing. Are you using a machine or manual pump? If it is a manual, get a double breast machine. If you have a machine, make sure it does both breasts at the same time. Oh, when you go back to work and pump at the office, take a picture of your baby. Just looking at your DD and thinking about her will help with the let down and help you get more from your pumping.

Just do the best you can and don't beat yourself up about it. There are many babies that only had formula and they are fine. Remember, your love is the best thing for you baby and the fact that you are working so hard to get info to try to nurse your baby tells me that she is already a lucky little girl.

Regarding the gas, watch your food intake. Keep a food diary and see if she is more gassy when you eat certain foods. Then you can avoid or cut back on them as feasible. I used Gripe water to help my son with his gas. Worked great.

So breathe, relax and enjoy your baby. Good luck.

Kathleen
the amount you pump has a direct connection to the size of the shield, type of pump, time of pumping and do you pump with the baby at the breast or after feeding. Also the frequency of feedings and pumping make a big difference. I would be happy to help, feel free to call me at The Nestingplace.

K. @ The Nestingplace ###-###-####

You should be pumping after each feeding on each breast for about 10 minutes until your milk supply fully comes in is what my lactation specialist told me. Even if you only get an ounce, the stimulation is what triggers production, so keep that in mind!

Your milk production also takes part in how much she is eating, so if she is still really little it will take time to build. I went back to work my little one was 3 months old and by that time I was making 3 oz or so and that is what she was eating. You can take herbal supplements that help too. I did that too. Blessed Thistle is good, GNC has a few products. There is tea that will help milk production too. Biggest thing is dont stress. When you go back to work your milk supply will go down too because of working and stress and the emotional detachement. I called my lacation several times and was able to nurse for almost a year after going back to work. Put pics of your lil one in your pump bag to look at when pumping, i helps! Good luck!!

With my daughter I would pump on the other breast while she was breastfeeding on the other. It takes a little coordination but that way I didn't feel like I was doing double duty. I would pump in between feedings sometimes too if needed. All the other advice given was really good as well. Frequency of pumping, you forcing yourself to relax and drinking lots of water are all key in increasing your milk flow. Try to get some rest. Sleep is a beautiful thing.