We've lasted 6 weeks of pumping/nursing....but worried

[SeekerMage]

well we have lasted this long and I hope to go much longer....however Im worried about my supply. She is definitly getting enough because she is gaining and happy....however she only nurses about once a day...Im hoping to get her to nurse more but so far its a fight, and she will only nurse at this point on one side for a short while then pops off and wont go back...sigh.

Anyhow, Ive been pumping and giving her bottles but I dont think that I have as much....Im just getting enough for the day and have had to use most of my freezer supply to cover one of the feedings on occasion. Ive been trying to eat lots of oatmeal and drink as much water as possible....not sure where to get some more fenugreek ??though. (I have the fenugreek seed tea and boy is it yucky!)..any one have any good online resources or other recommendations?

I only pump a few times a day...should I pump more often or less? Any other suggestions to try and increase my supply? Would trying to get her to nurse more help? any suggestions would be great....Im enjoying the nursing and hope to continue for as long as possible.

[C99]

Yes, getting that baby to nurse as much as possible will increase your supply and decrease your stress levels!

Have you seen a lactation consultant? I don't where you are in IL, but if you are in Chicagoland, I can give you the name and number of someone who helped me a lot.

In the meantime, for pumping... if she only nurses once/day, I would pump about as often as you would nurse her if she would take the breast. For a 6-week-old, this would be every 2 hours. However, I established my supply with pumping and did it every 3 hours. You can also pump before and after she nurses, to help with letdown before and to help with supply afterward. You can buy fenugreek capsules at Whole Foods, or through this Web site: http://tinyurl.com/3cjth

[Momof3Labs]

Yes, you need to pump 8-10 times a day (the number of times she would nurse) to build/maintain your supply for now. Also, what kind of pump are you using? Not all pumps are good enough to maintain supply when you are solely pumping.

You also might want to join the Yahoo group pumpmoms for great tips on pumping (both f/t and p/t).

[stillplayswithbarbies]

You need to be pumping every 2 or 3 hours around the clock. You have to pump at the times she would be nursing.

Here are some links about increasing supply:

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/low-supply.html
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/pumping_decrease.html

And here are some about getting baby back to the breast:

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/back-to-breast.html

and definitely see a lactation consultant. You are doing the best thing for your baby by giving her breastmilk, and it will be much easier if you can get her to nurse rather than pumping.

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[hez]

DS and I STUNK at BF'ing when we started, and had I been on this board sooner, or less stubborn, I would have gone to see a LC early on. In the end, DS turns 4 months old today, we're exclusively BF'ing, we've not had to do any formula supplementing, and I have 400+ ounces in the freezer in prep for going back to work next week. So, I'm proof you can get things working for nursing even with a cruddy start.

Like you, we also did a lot of work with the pump & bottles in the first 5 or 6 weeks. For me the pumping/bottle feeding was a last resort so I could let my poor cracked self heal a little bit before we tried again. Every time DS ate, I pumped. Imagine us at 3:30 in the morning, DH feeding DS a bottle, and me pumping, sometimes me feeding DS (with a bottle or directly), and DH taking care of the pumping for me. It was a funny sight, I'm sure! I made sure at each session that we did this I pumped as much as DS ate, if not more.

Right at about 7 weeks, something clicked for both of us after I had done tons and tons of reading, etc. I got so excited we quit the bottle altogether (but not a pumping session every morning for the freezer), and we're just starting to get good at it again.

The moral of my story? Don't be as stubborn as me-- go see a LC if you really want to nurse, and just keep trying at it. New positions, new techniques to get her mouth all the way open, etc. I did a lot of reading on the LLL website, and some on kellymom.com, and one of those suggestions in there did the trick (though it's all a blur now!).

Good luck!

PS In my defense :) I did call a LC around 6 weeks, but by the time she called back an entire week later, we had it down and I didn't need her services!

[nitaghei]

Kathryn,

The others have great advice for you. And yes, you have to pump around the clock to maintain your supply. When I was pumping exclusively (first 8 weeks or so), I pumped a minimum of 8 times a day.

And do go see a LC. It can be enormously helpful (though in my case, it was my mother who had the breakthrough insight that helped us get over our BF'g problems). The money you spend on the LC will be the best investment ever!!

Good luck - as you can see, there are several of us who ended up BF'g successfully after a rough start.

Nita
mom to Neel 01/05/03
dog mom to a cocker and a PWD

[californiamom]

Heather,
Please tell me how you got 400+ ounces in the freezer! I am going back to work in 5 weeks and I am working on building a supply for when that day comes... However I can only get aorund 3 or 4 ounces in the morning after DD feeds. I get only 1 ounce from my left breast, even if she doesn't feed from it. I had major problems breastfeeding in the beginning and had to supplement with formula and all... Now DD is feeding only from the breast and not getting any supplement. She's growing and happy. Anyway, any advice on how to get more from my pumping sections? And how to increase my milk supply?
Thanks a lot!!
Ana

[stillplayswithbarbies]

try pumping before the baby nurses in the morning. Baby will still get milk, your breasts keep making it as long as the baby is suckling.

that's how I got a huge freezer stash, by getting up at 5:30 every morning and pumping before she woke up.

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[hez]

I don't check in as often since I'm back at work...

I read Karen's advice somewhere along the line here on the boards, and did just what she said: I pumped both sides every morning before DS woke up, then fed him when he woke up. I started to do this full-force sometime in November, and had my stash up pretty high by early January. I still do this so I get an 'extra' 7-10 ounces a day to put straight in the freezer. It really takes the pressure off my sessions at work-- since DS takes 13-18 ounces day, I have nearly half taken care of if I happen to have a bad day. At some point they're going to make me travel for work again :( so I want to be sure DH has enough in the freezer to handle my being gone a few days.

There's a whole list of things to do to increase supply-- see http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/low-supply.html#increase and http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/pumping_decrease.html for some ideas. I also joined the Yahoo group called Pumpmoms, and they were quick to help me increase the efficiency of my sessions at work. Super supportive!

Good luck :) I'm on week 7 at work, and can definitely relate to the 'holy cow I only have 5 weeks left' feelings!

[stillplayswithbarbies]

Heather, I have had to travel for work too, and it was really great to know I had a freezer stash to cover it. I pumped while I was away and brought all the milk home to replenish my stash.

I'm traveling next week, and taking the baby with me since I am gone all week (my mom is meeting me there to babysit) but anytime my trip has been less than 3 days, I have just pumped while I was away. It's stressful, but it can be done.

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[missmelis01]

Similar to yourself and Heather, BF was extremely hard for me in the beginning. I had all sorts of supply issues, had repeated blocked ducts, even got multiple blisters/blebs. But at the risk of sounding repetitive, pumping was key for my supply issues!

My son began sleeping through the night at 6 weeks, but to build a freezer stash and to maintain my supply, I would still get up at 4:00 am to pump. Even now, I pump first thing in the morning and nurse after. I pump 3 times throughout the day while at work and one time in the evening. As Karen said, I always pump before nursing because my son will still be able to get milk out.

For the Fenugreek, you can order it from GNC online, though somebody in another post stated that the Fenugreek from GNC was not as potent as the Whole Foods brand. I have been taking the GNC Fenugreek for 4 months and it has been working, but then again I haven't taken any other brand so I don't have anything to compare against! :-)

Good luck!