Low Milk Supply, Sleepy Baby - Please Help!!

LLL has awesome leaders that can help.
http://www.lllusa.org/web/DallasTX.html
It looks like the Plano group meets the 2nd Tues of the month - 3wks away. If you go to their website, you can find phone numbers to contact your local leaders. You do not need to wait for a meeting to talk to them. I know they do phone consults and I know some leaders who do house calls on a regular basis.

Pumping: My recom. for a pump would be a dbl-electric made by a company that does not make formula (kind of a conflict of interests, right). Instead of pumping after you nurse, pump while nursing. Put your wee babe on one side and the pump on the other side. This will take advantage of the letdown that happens for your babe and help you get more pumped out. Don't be concerned if you only get a half ounce pumped. Relaxing can help, but even then some bodies just don't do well with pumps!

Also for milk supply:
-Water! Make sure you're getting enough!
-Traditional Medicinal makes a "Mother's Milk" herbal tea - it's really great for boosting supply. You have to drink '3 cups' or more a day. Since I'm not a hot tea drinker, I made a half gallon pitcher of it and drank it cold with a little xylitol/sugar in it.
-Nurse on demand if/whenever possible.
-Stay close to your babe.
-Wear him. Do you have a sling? If not, get one. If you were in the Austin area, I'd loan you one... There are a few on craigslist in DFW right now, but the only one I'd recom of those listed is pink :-). My recom is a ring sling with no padding (or just in the shoulder), with a 'fan tail' (not tapered). Here is an example on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ORGANIC-Mayan-baby-ring-sling-wrap-Bu...

I have a friend who makes/sells these for the same price as that listing. If you're interested, I can let her know.
Your local LLL chapter should be able to help you learn how to wear him comfortably. I recom. against the bjourns - they spread little baby hips unnaturally and can cause damage.
-Co-sleep if it's safe for you to do so - you can nurse him more, thus increasing your supply.
-All this 'staying close' -- helps your body hormonally to produce more milk.

Also, kellymom.com has some good articles and helpful advice
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/index.html

I know this was kind of long, but I hope that you find some of it helpful!

K. H

Be sure your calorie intake is good and that you are drinking AT LEAST 8 cups of water every day. I would recommend staying away from coffee or any kind of soda as those can dehydrate you. I would also try to pump after feedings. And as always....rest as much as possible. I know that is not easy with a 2 year old. I have a 4 year old, a 3 year old and a 6 month old. I nursed the first 2 until they were 1 and that is my intention with the baby now. I drink a lot of water. I drink about 24 oz. with each feeding. I firmly believe this is key. And I have absolutely no alcohol or caffiene. Good luck and hope this helps!

I agree that the tea is gross and even with the fenugreek, you have to take SO much for it to work. I recommend Milk Aid. You can buy it online and only have to take 2 pills a day. JUst google "milk aid milk supply". You want the capsules.
Also, if your baby falls asleep before emptying your breasts, then pump the rest of the milk out.
This will keep things going and increasing...

What the response right before me from Mary said is exactly right. My nurses in the hospital even told me to take my daughter's clothes off only leaving on a diaper while she nursed. She was 3 wks early. THe pumping thing works. Once you supplement, you will dry up so much faster. Pump even if you don't feel like you need to. It can build back up, just try your best to stay away from the formula. Good luck!!

The tea is gross and you have to drink like 5 cups of it a day. The active ingrediant in the tea is Fenugreek. I had a 6 week premature baby in October and really needed help getting my milk going because he couldn't nurse. I still struggle with this. The lactation nurse told me to take Fenugreek and Blessed Thistle, both of which are available at the Vitaman shop, GNC, or Whole Foods. Take 4 capsules of Fenugreek and 3 capsules of BT 3 times a day. It also makes you drink a lot of water, taking all of those pills. And pump, pump, pump! You can rent a Medela symphony pump (hospital grade, which is the best) from hospital pharmacies, unfortunately about $70 a month, or buy the Medela Pump in Style which is about $300. The other thing you might try is wearing a nipple shield if he can't latch on well. All of this advice was given to me by the lactaction registered nurses at the Preby special care nursery in Dallas. Good luck.

I had a very low milk supply with my daughter and had to supplement formula. I started pumping my milk after every feeding and that seemed to really help. You need to make sure both breast are emptied each feeding. If not then your body will not produce as much milk. I know it is a pain, but pumping might be your answer. Drink plenty of milk and try not to stress out it makes things worse you are going a great job hang in there.

Talk to the breast feeding nurses at the hospital where you delivered. I had the same problem but I was feeding twins. Somethings I was told to try was Mothers Herbal Tea (I think is the name, or something similar) and Fenugrek (herbal pill). I know several others who have tried this as well and it does help.

Let me know if you have any questions. Good luck and Congrats.

V.

Hi,
Dear, if you really want to continue breastfeeding ...You should drink organic tea which is best for all breastfeeding moms; Healthy Nursing Tea by secrets of tea...caffeine free work frequently;)

So, the sleepy baby is the reason you have a poor milk supply. YOu don't mention the size of your baby or whether he was early, but my experience is that it's the earlier, smaller babies that have this problem. Adding the formula will make things much, much more difficult. I would recommend to try pumping after the feedings and then feed the pumped milk if you feel he is not getting enough to eat. Also, you need to feed him at least every 2 hours during the day and don't go longer than 3 hours at nite until you get your milk supply established. I know the former is quite difficult when you have another child, BUT you can read to your other child while nursing or make sure she has activities she can do near you. Nitetime nursing is really important for establishing a good milk supply. I also highly recommend you contact your local La Leche League ASAP (they also have lots of good online info): www.llli.org. It's mother to mother support and the leaders are very well trained to coach you through this problem. There are also lactation consultants that can help you as well, and they may be the best bet for you right now. It could well be that he's also not nursing effectively due to poor latching.

My son was very similar. He'd fall asleep immediately when he got on the boob. My supply suffered and I first used an sns and then a lactaid to supplement. We also coslept and let him sleep on demand during the night. Bottom line -- you got to keep him on the breast to increas supply and also pump if possible. Get in touch with your local la leche league to see if anyone has some other advice. The meetings are free, you don't have to be a member either. They were very helpful for me.