Low supply due to slow build up of milk
in [Breastfeeding]
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From: Anne Rogers on 22 Apr 2007 14:22 milk is supply and demand, it's not a case of how much each breast can store, milk is produced in the breast during each feed. Most of the time when there is low supply due to baby having difficulty getting it out, pumping and feeding bottles does not work, pumps do not stimulate the breast as well as the baby and the already low supply will likely dwindle further. The best solution is do nurse the baby on demand, as long as the baby will stay on the breast, switch breasts as needed, being sure to use both in each feeding, then after each feed, pump at least 5 minutes on each side and store the milk, do not feed it to the baby unless absolutely necessary, you need to send your body signals that extra milk is needed, if you feed the expressed milk to the baby, they will eat less next time so the signals are not sent. Of course if supplementation becomes necessary for the health of the baby, breastmilk is the best supplementation, not formula, but if there is true low supply expressing after each feed will not likely produce much, even over a day is unlikely to be sufficient for a supplementary feed. Ultimately, the more the baby is on the breast the more signals your body receives to produce milk. A baby with a weak suck is hard to deal with because each feed takes so much longer, but it is possible and usually after a week of feeding over half the time, the supply will increase, but as the weak such continues, it's important to keep making sure enough stimulation occurs. My son was like this and it was only once he was about 7mths that I finally didn't feel I had to watch my supply vigilently. The good news is that it doesn't mean it will be the same next time, each baby is different, plus 2nd timers do tend to produce more milk, I had a plentiful supply 2nd time around, though the strong suck of a normal newborn was a bit of a shock! Anne
From: Anne Rogers on 22 Apr 2007 14:30 > Sorry my son was born at 5 lbs 12 ozs and lost to 4 lbs 11 ozs in 5 > days. I started giving formula to get some weight gain and slowly got > to move to complete breast milk in about 2 weeks. He weighed 9 lbs 3 > ozs one week ago. Weight gain on the breast is good, only if he is > nursing all the time. I mean all the time with maybe 2 hours off > during day given at 30 minute times and a 6 hour stretch at night. With this information, I take back all my advice about pumping after each feed to build up supply, your baby is doing absolutely fine, my son was similar at birth to yours and was 8lb2oz at 8 weeks, a whole pound less than yours, even at that stage there was little concern about his weight gain, it was over the next 4 weeks that the concern rose. It doesn't sound to me like you have a supply problem. Feeding that frequently is your babies way of making sure he gets enough, it won't last forever, increasing your supply won't help the feeds be faster because baby can only swallow at a certain rate, he's not going to suddenly be able to eat faster if there is more milk. One of the supplements that encourages let down might be helpful, I think it's brewer's yeast, but I'm not sure. Anne
From: Irrational Number on 22 Apr 2007 15:57 mhammers(a)gmail.com wrote: > The only thing is > since he was feeding so much I thought that he was not getting enough. That's the problem with us being about two generations away from when humans all breastfed. We don't know what "natural" is when it comes to breastfeeding. Baby is supposed to feed a lot in the beginning! Enjoy your baby. It sounds like you and he are doing great. -- Anita --
From: Anne Rogers on 22 Apr 2007 20:15 > That's the problem with us being about two > generations away from when humans all > breastfed. We don't know what "natural" is > when it comes to breastfeeding. Baby is > supposed to feed a lot in the beginning! I'm not sure that's entirely true, both my husband and I come from families where no generation was formula fed, yet we didn't expect that, at least not beyond the first couple of weeks. All babies are different, my 2nd did not feed anywhere near all the time, had she been 1st, I'd have been even more surprised at my 1st feeding constantly. Many of my friends have sucessfully breastfed and their babies have not fed all the time. Anne
From: Irrational Number on 22 Apr 2007 21:02
Anne Rogers wrote: >>That's the problem with us being about two >>generations away from when humans all >>breastfed. We don't know what "natural" is >>when it comes to breastfeeding. Baby is >>supposed to feed a lot in the beginning! > > I'm not sure that's entirely true, both my husband and I come from families > where no generation was formula fed, yet we didn't expect that, at least not > beyond the first couple of weeks. All babies are different, my 2nd did not > feed anywhere near all the time, had she been 1st, I'd have been even more > surprised at my 1st feeding constantly. Many of my friends have sucessfully > breastfed and their babies have not fed all the time. I suppose "all the time" is an exaggeration. However, it is true that all of my friends (and I) expected that babies would feed once every 3-4 hours (which is a formula-fed "schedule"), and I don't find that true of breastfed babies at all! -- Anita -- |