My son is 7 months old and nursing has been going really until recently. my production is decreasing-i've tried pumping more, but that doesn't seem to be helping. while i'm at work my son take 3- 7oz bottles. i am just barely making enough milk to fill those three bottles. my O.B. called me in a prescription for some medication that increases production- but i haven't picked it up yet b/c i'm not too comfortable w/ taking a medication for that reason. Any advice? do i need to pump more frequently or just for longer periods of time to increase my production? do i pump one side while i feed him on the other or feed my son and once he's finished pump for a while in hopes to increase my flow??
thanks so much.
I had the same problem once I started to work more. The advice I got was to pump after each nursing for a while to increase milk supply. I think I usually would do that for about a week or so at a time and that seemed to help. Although not much would come out after nursing, it slowly started to increase. I was lucky enough to have a good supply built up in the freezer from when I was on maternity leave that I didn't need to supplement at all. I also have heard good things about the herb Fenugreek for milk supply. I actually bought that as well, but didn't end up needing it after the extra pumping. Good luck to you.
Have you tried fenugreek? I am nursing twins (5 months old), and that seems to help a lot. It is herbal, and you can get it as a tea or as a pill. Even hospital mid-wives recommend it. Also, even though my babies sleep through the night, I get up in the middle of the night to pump in order to get extra milk. this is a pain! but then I don't have to stress out when I don't pump enough milk at another session while I'm at work. Last but not least, try to fully relax when you pump, and not think about how much you are getting. I surround myself with pictures of my babies, read a trashy magazine like star or In touch, and/or listen to my I-Pod while I pump.
Pumping on one side sounds like a good idea, too, but I don't know much about that since I feed my twins simultaneously.
I hope this helps!
Christy (mother of 5 month old twin boys, an angel baby boy, and 3 step-sons)
I have had the same struggles. I would pump extra at night after my son would go to bed. I also ate steel cut oats for breakfast every morning and tried to be religious about taking my vitamins (have heard it helps to keep your Iron store up while nursing and I am often anemic). He was EBF until about 8 months. At that point, I just became too exhausted to keep up all of the extra pumping it was taking to keep up my supply and I started to supplement with formula. I travel a lot for my job and the extended times apart really wreak havoc on the supply. He's 10.5 months now and averages 4-6 ounces of formula a day, along with his breastmilk. For me, this is a good compromise since the majority is BM. However I can also understand that once you have gone so long (7 months is fantastic!) you start to feel passionate about continuing with no formula. My other suggestion is to drink water, water and more water.
This started to happen to me this summer, when I was dehydrated. I stepped up my water consumption and noticed an increase in two or three days.
Good luck!
Call your local La Leche league leaders. If you are in Canyon County. Call Tammie at 461-0280 or Juanita at 249-5869. La Leche leaders are trained to answer breastfeeding troubleshooting questions with scientifically based information.
Are herbal teas safe to drink while I'm breastfeeding? I've heard that some can even increase my milk supply.
While the herbal teas that you find in your grocery store are not likely to have any medicinal effects, larger doses of other herbs should be used with caution.
Remember that herbs are drugs. In fact, many commercial drugs originated from herbs. You should use the same care when taking an herb as you would in taking an over-the-counter or prescription drug. In fact, use even more caution when taking an herb, because most herbs are not regulated by the FDA. Neither their safety nor their effectiveness have been established by a large body of research.
Back to topGALACTOGOGUES
While many herbs are credited with the ability to increase milk production, none have been proven to do so. The claims that some herbs act as galactogogues (milk-makers) are based on anecdotal reports, meaning people are describing their impression of what happened. This kind of evidence is not as reliable as controlled scientific studies, especially in regards to milk supply which mothers may evaluate in highly subjective ways. This does not mean that galactogogues don't work or they're not safe, it just means they have not been studied.
The two most popular galactogogues are:
Fennel
Fenugreek seeds
These are usually sold in the form of tea. Since these two ingredients do have a milk-enhancing reputation, there may be some merit in their claims, and they seem to be harmless.
Other herbs that have been used as galactogogues are:
Milk thistle
Motherwort
Asparagus racemosus
Red raspberry
Chamomile
Herbs and teas that should be used with caution because of possible harmful side effects are:
Comfrey tea
Sassafras tea
Ginseng tea
Licorice tea
Be especially careful if these herbs are taken in excessive amounts.
THE BOTTOM LINE ON HERBS
While some herbs may increase milk supply through a pharmacological action, we believe that for many women galactogogues have mainly a placebo effect. Any substance that a mother believes will increase her milk supply probably will. Also, consider the ritual effect. The mother takes time to prepare the tea just for herself, takes time to drink it, and therefore takes time to relax. Under these circumstances, she probably will make more milk and/or worry less about her milk supply. However, the most reliable method of increasing your milk supply is to nurse your baby more often.
This is what got when I went on to ask dr sears.
Hi Jamie -
I had the same thing happen to me, but I couldn't even make it 7 months. I was only able to do for about 3 before I couldn't keep up with what my daughter needed. I worked with the lactaction specialist at the hospital and she gave me some suggestions - none of which worked. One of those was the fenugreek that others have mentioned; it did not seem to work for me and gave me TERRIBLE cramps when I first started taking it. I found out about this same time that my mom also had problems having enough milk when she nursed us (there are 6 of us), so it may have something to do with your genetics. I ended up weaning my daughter over to formula when she was about 3 months old.
There are lots of other good suggestions to try here and good luck in what ever you decide to do.
Jennifer
hey jamie i had the same problem when my younest way nursing and they gave me something called reglin i think it how it spelled it worked wonders for me i had enuff milk for my daughter and the frezzer it is safe i did the reserch so good luck and keep brestfeading as long as you can
May sound bad but my doc had me drink a beer just one but a beer. the hops help the production.
Jamie,
Take the medication. It's probably for Reglan or the generic, metroclopramide. My milk production started going down after my son was 3 weeks old because he wasn't latching on properly or feeding long enough. I went on the medication, and started pumping 40 ounces a day, easily. There were no side effects for me or my baby, and it gave me a chance to pump for 11 months! Then we put him on cow's milk, so it's been great. I went off the pills when we decided to get him on whole milk, and my milk was gone almost immediately. I was never engorged or anything. I stopped having the "let down" feeling after about 3 days, and that was it! Those are miracle pills, and they are very convenient. You don't have to stress about trying to increase your pumping, your water intake, or anything else you may be doing "wrong". I know I stressed about what else I could be doing (naturally) to increase my production, but that kind of stress doesn't do anyone any good, and it will impede your production anyway, so the answer for me was the medication. I highly reccommend you give them a try. Good luck.
Hi, Jamie.
Here is a link to the LLL site that almost describes your situation to a T. I hope it has some ideas for you that will help:
http://www.llli.org/NB/NBJulAug96p118.html
Here is another link to a great resource online called KellyMom about low milk supply and things you can try:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/low-supply.html
Congratulations on giving your baby the very best! And good for you for not jumping on the medication band wagon when there are defintely other alternatives out there.
Peace,
Kristi
jamie..........not sure if this is too late but go to the health food store and get some raspberry leaves. you can find them in capsule form and they will help with the production of your milk. i almost lost my milk because of work and stress and this helped me greatly. it is natural and my sister who is a OB advised me to get on them anyway.
I believe mine did the same thing, but I don't think I was drinking enough fluids. So, the only advice I have is to make sure you are drinking enough -especially, water.
There are 2 suggestions I have:
1) Try drinking much more water! I can't emphasize this enough. Milk is nearly all water...seems contradictory, but it's true!
2) Try a natural herb called Fenugreek. It doesn't contain any medicines and you can generally find it in a GNC or natural foods store. Maybe even Walmart.
You should also look at your stress levels, they can directly affect your production. Ihope it all goes well for you. And remember, if you have tried your best, you are not a failure if you use formula.
This might not be what you want to hear but maybe it would be okay to stop nursing now? He's seven months old - you've done a great job of nursing him up to now. Many babies don't get half that much time. I mean...why fight with your body?
in the old days a mom could drink one beer a day to increase production.?
Hi Jaimie-
It's very frustrating when your milk supply goes down and you're trying so hard to maintain it for your little one. I had the problem on and off thru the year I nursed. When you go back to work, it's just very hard. My Ob/GYN prescribed something called Regalan which is a medication used for nausea. It has many, many side effects. When I read the literature, it seemed so silly to even try it so I didn't. Then I was recommended More Milk from a lactation consultant and I feel it helped (even though there is no medical proof herbs work, I could tell a difference). Depending on where you live, it's sometimes hard to find but you can order it online. It's totally safe and has no weird side effects. I felt like it started to work within a couple of days.
Here's a link:
http://www.motherlove.com/product_more_milk_plus_veg.php
Good luck!
Dina
I had that same problem when I was trying to pump when I went back to work. Things went fine for a few weeks and then I could barely pump 4 ounces. My doctor prescribed a medication for me which is probably very similar to the one your doctor recommended. It worked really well and very fast. Within a two-three days I was back to normal. With the medication I was on, you could stop taking it once your milk production was back to normal. I saved the extra pills for other times when my milk supply went down. This happened at least three or four times and then throughout a few months, but then I started supplementing with formula. I hope that helps a little bit. Good luck.
I had the same problem with my son. Things that can encourage milk production are
Mother's Milk Tea (Health food store)
Drinking alot of water
Pumping more frequently.
The more you pump/the more is produced.
Also if you choose the pump and dump method many woman swear that a can of beer does the trick.
I hope that this helps
Good Luck!
Amy