Could I keep up one nursing a day? (supply issues)

[June Mommy]

I fully intended on exclusively breastfeeding but unfortunately have an extremely low supply so DS (3 months) has been formula-fed from birth. I have however continued to pump what I can, and nurse him first thing every morning. The pumping is such a hassle (every 3 hours except overnight), especially since I do good to get 2 ounces. But I love putting him in the bed with me in the morning and letting him nurse, plus I usually get at least another hour of sleep that way. With my supply issues, would it be possible for me to discontinue pumping (or at least cut back) but still keep producing enough milk to nurse once a day?

[mtillu]

After DD turned 5 months old, the ped started her on solids (2 times a day). I used to pump during the day at work and nurse her in the evening and nights. Since she started on solids, she stopped nursing in the evenings. But for some reason my output decreased during the day and I had to stop pumping since it hurt too. I thought I would be able to nurse her during the nights even though she is formula-fed during the day. But within a couple of days that I stopped pumping during the day, my milk output during the night decreased so much so that DD remained hungry even after a feeding from both sides. Eventually I had to stop nursing her at night too and give her formula.

Maybe it is just me....every person's body is different.
Hope this helps.
Good luck!
Mamata

[psophia17]

Are you able to let DS nurse more often than just in the mornings? I don't know your supply history, but if you let DS nurse more often, he may get more than the 2 oz you're pumping, and that would almost definitely help maintain (and possibly increase) your supply.

As far as producing enough to nurse once a day goes, well, I don't know if the same logic would apply to women, but from growing up on a dairy farm I know that a cow will produce milk indefinitely so long as it doesn't get pregnant, and even when that happens it will take 7 months of gestation for the cow to go "dry." Also, if you go from milking a cow 2x per day to either 3x or 1x, the cow will continue to make the same amount of milk per milking, whether it's 1x or 3x, so long as they are getting adequate nutrition. From that, I would think that so long as you keep nursing once a day, you should make enough milk even without the pumping, but I don't know how your supply issues would factor into that.

Good Luck!

-Petra

DS - Nathan, 12/29/03

[sntm]

Was there a physiologic reason for the low supply (breast reduction, tubular breasts, etc) or just problems with supply?

Breasts work on a demand/supply model, so even if you have not demanded much of them up until now, you could potentially increase demand and therefore increase supply. Nursing will work better than pumping, pumping with a hospital-grade pump will work better than a personal pump, herbal/pharmaceutical support like fenugreek, blessed thistle, Reglan (metoclopramide) or domperidone will help. "Nursing" your baby with formula or EBM in a Lact-aid system can help stimulate your breasts and mimic the closeness of breastfeeding.

If you had previously had a well-established supply and your baby was older, you could probably nurse just once a day for quite a while. But with an already tenuous supply and a young baby, your breasts are still in the time period where they are "calibrating" how much milk they need to produce, and if you start to cut back on your demand (by stopping pumping, particularly if you don't nurse more in addition) I would be afraid that it will be difficult to maintain your supply for very long.

I think it's terrific that you've continued to nurse a little and pump a lot for these three months. There are definitely other options if you want to continue nursing, and there is a decent chance you could get to the point where you could exclusively nurse (it's not easy, but definitely doable.) A good IBCLC could help, and I would be happy to offer my advice and support. I'm a doc, not a ped or GYN, but interested in lactation.
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shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03
mama to Jack 6/6/03
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif[/img][/url]
Breastfeeding 15 months and counting

[lil_pushcake]

Yes, it's possible! I have a 6 month old daughter that I am BFing twice a day. I returned to work full time when she was 3 1/2 months old so from month 2-3 I gradually weened her to formula. I never pumped; it was either formula from a bottle or else straight BFing.

I actually wake her up at 4:30 am and let her nurse 15 minutes on each side. She falls right back asleep and I just put her back in the crib so that I can be out of the house by 6:00 am. When hubby is up at 7:30, he gives her formula. When I get home from work I BF again. I don't let her solely go on breast milk. Depending on when day care gives her the last bottle, sometimes my dd is still hungry after breastfeeding (or when my self imposed 25 minute time limit is up!) so I may give a bottle afterward. I feel the 2x a day keeps up my supply. I am considering dropping the 4 am feeding <yawn> but I don't want to jeopardize my supply. She is also starting to bite so I'll see how long she stays interested!

Give it a try! Remember that because your breasts don't feel full doesn't mean you aren't producing. Your body just gets better at the supply/demand and the milk stays high in the sinuses making you not feel "full." There are days I feel they are "empty", but then I hear dd swallowing mouthfuls. I think that is one of the biggest fallacies that cause people to stop (that they aren't producing enough milk). I found that support was tough. The BF purists ask - why don't you pump at work, etc. Meanwhile the non BFers ask - why bother with only 2x a day? You have my full support!

[stillplayswithbarbies]

Milk sitting in the breasts gives a signal to the body to stop making milk. You would have milk sitting in your breasts for 24 hours telling your body that you don't need milk anymore. Especially if you already have supply issues, that may cause your milk to stop altogether.

Continuing to pump every three hours removes the milk, stimulates the breasts, and tells your body that you still have a nursing baby who needs milk.

Can you let the baby nurse every three hours instead of pumping? That would help your supply more than pumping.

...Karen
DS Jake Feb 91, DD Logan Mar 03
http://members.aol.com/khowe14494/superpower.gif http://members.aol.com/khowe14494/borntobebreastfed2.gif

[June Mommy]

I have considered and tried somewhat letting him nurse instead of pumping, but if he isn't hungry, or if he is TOO hungry, he won't nurse, and even if he will, he may fall asleep or only nurse one breast so I have to pump anyway. As far as the low supply issue, I'll try to tell my story without getting too long...I had a c-section with lots of major complications reqiring large amounts of various drugs and a blood transfusion, then infection afterward and a LONG recovery. At first I thought nursing was the one thing going well, but the night before we left the hospital, DS refused to eat for over 6 hours...he screamed whenever he was brought to the breast and was so dehydrated that his mouth was dry, he wasn't wetting diapers, and he lost almost a pound. I had to do something, so we let DH finger feed him formula and I started to pump. After DS would come to the breast again, we used the supplemental nursing system on the breast. I kept waitng for my milk to really come in and it just never did. I took Reglan and fenugreek, consulted with 3 LC and my Dr., pumped in addition to using the SNS for 4 weeks, but never was able to increase production. It was wearing me out so much at that point that we went to bottles. I feel fortunate that DS has been so flexible. I question whether it is even worth it to continue pumping since he gets so little, but like I said I love nursing in the morning, plus it keeps AF away and all the other benefits of BF. With my supply issues, I'm just afraid to stop pumping. I'm open to opinions, if you were in my situation, WWYD?

[kijip]

I totally know where you are coming from because your story is pretty much my story (the c-section, complications, LCs, SNS, drugs/supplements etc) and I tried everything to get my supply to no avail. It is HARD work and I felt so let down when my efforts failed to work. I nursed in the mornings as well (till 5-6 months) and found that my "supply" was very much affected by regularly emptying the breasts by pumping. My advice to you would be to keep pumping every 3-4 hours and keep nursing in the mornings for a bit longer and then to carefully expermint with cutting a pumping, then another, while keeping the nursing in the morning. I wish that it were easier, but I can honestly say that as a fellow parent who had a very low supply, it is unrealistic to expect to maintain your morning nursing alone without some help. It may be more feasible if you gradually cut the pumpings vs. stopping all at once. If you are able to cut out some pumping and have no problems with nursing in the mornings, cut some more and see if it works for you since every mother is different. OF COURSE I could be 100% incorrect and it might work with no need for caution but given the low supply issues, I would be very hesistant to try to stop pumping all at once.

Congratulations for continuing after everything you went through and your low supply! Feel free to email me off the boards if you want to chat about combo-feeding and low supply issues. I know it can be a rough (and lonely) road to travel. joshua _ katie @ msn . com (no spaces). EDITED TO ADD: NEVER feel bad if you decide to stop nursing altogether- the choice is yours!

[sntm]

hugs to both of you! that's a lot of hits from the very beginning. june mom, skimming your post, i can't think of any other advice, other than trying a rental pump if you haven't or pumping at night (which is a definite ugh -- had to do that for a week). katie will hopefully have some good advice for you.

pak
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03
mama to Jack 6/6/03
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif[/img][/url]
Breastfeeding 15 months and counting

[stillplayswithbarbies]

oh wow you have worked so hard at this! Kudos to you for trying so hard to feed your baby. And thank you for sharing your story so that others can learn about this seldom discussed risk of c-sections. Doctors don't often tell people that a c-section (and associated complications) can affect the breastfeeding relationship.

If I were you, I would keep up pumping as long as possible. I know it's not fun. But the longer you do it, the more breastmilk he will get and the less formula he will get and that is so much better for him. I think that there will come a time that you can stop pumping without it affecting your supply for the once a day nursing. It may also be that he will come back to the breast more and your supply may increase for that. The first 4 months are crucial for establishing the later supply, so if you can keep pumping for awhile beyond 4 months and then start to cut down you should be good to continue nursing him well past a year.

...Karen
DS Jake Feb 91, DD Logan Mar 03
http://members.aol.com/khowe14494/superpower.gif http://members.aol.com/khowe14494/borntobebreastfed2.gif

[hez]

No additional advice to give-- just wanted to share the respect I have for you for going through all you have so far. You're amazing!