Low supply due to slow build up of milk
in [Breastfeeding]
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From: mhammers on 22 Apr 2007 00:40 I am having a problem with supply. My son was born 3 weeks early and is now 8 weeks old. I have been having problems breastfeeding from the beginning. Know problems are high palette and weak sucking. The hospital grade pump is stronger than he is. I have been on Fenegreek and Blessed Thistle and still no success. I have gotten my supply "up" some by pumping. My problem is that I can pump every hour and get an ounce or less off each breast or I can pump every 4 hours and get 2 to 2 1/2 ounces per breast. I have gone to pump and then feed milk with the bottle until I can get my supply up. I know my breast can carry more that just a couple of ounces. If I go 8 to 10 hours then I get engorged and can pull 3 to 4 ounces off each breast. I have tried pumping every hour and can not get my breast to produce milk quicker. If I empty the breast, it can take up to six hours before I can "feel" like I have milk. If I do not "feel" like I have milk it seems that I can not even get an ounce after 20 minutes of pumping. I was wondering why it takes so long after being emptied to have enough milk for a good 4 ounce feeding. Any advice on helping the milk to come on quicker would me greatly appreciated. Thanks, Monica
From: xkatx on 22 Apr 2007 01:02 <mhammers(a)gmail.com> wrote in message news:1177216807.211066.145710(a)d57g2000hsg.googlegroups.com... >I am having a problem with supply. My son was born 3 weeks early and > is now 8 weeks old. I have been having problems breastfeeding from the > beginning. Know problems are high palette and weak sucking. The > hospital grade pump is stronger than he is. I have been on Fenegreek > and Blessed Thistle and still no success. I have gotten my supply "up" > some by pumping. My problem is that I can pump every hour and get an > ounce or less off each breast or I can pump every 4 hours and get 2 to > 2 1/2 ounces per breast. I have gone to pump and then feed milk with > the bottle until I can get my supply up. I know my breast can carry > more that just a couple of ounces. If I go 8 to 10 hours then I get > engorged and can pull 3 to 4 ounces off each breast. I have tried > pumping every hour and can not get my breast to produce milk quicker. > If I empty the breast, it can take up to six hours before I can "feel" > like I have milk. If I do not "feel" like I have milk it seems that I > can not even get an ounce after 20 minutes of pumping. I was wondering > why it takes so long after being emptied to have enough milk for a > good 4 ounce feeding. Any advice on helping the milk to come on > quicker would me greatly appreciated. > Thanks, > Monica I don't know if I have much as far as advice goes, but I'm sure there's a lot that will! I know for me, a pump just doesn't work very well. I remember with DS2, I could manually express a lot more than I could pump out with any type of pump, but I was able to get quite a bit out with a pump. I remember at almost any given time, I'd have about 10 bottles of 8oz of milk frozen and stored. With DD2, I couldn't pump and still can't pump. I also can't really manually express much either. She seems to be my only "pump" that can get much out any time. For some, pumps seem to work great. For others, not so great. You just might be one of those that the pump just isn't the thing for you. How is your son's weight gain? Weight gain, I do believe, is far better than trying to figure out how much milk. If weight gain is good, then chances are, regardless of how much you can pump out, he is getting enough. If his weight gain isn't very good, then that's a different story. With breast feeding, one of the downfalls can be you never know just how much a baby takes at one time. I've even found, IME, each baby is different. I remember DS2 would eat FOREVER. He would nurse a good 15-20 minutes on each side before he was done. I also know DD2 now will only feed about 5-10 minutes at the most on each side and then she's done. DS1 and DS2 were right in the middle and seemed to be 'on average' for all of my kids. DS2 and DD2 seemed to be extreme opposites for nursing, yet they both still had excellent weight gain. I would just watch weight and see how content he is. You don't really mention much about that.
From: mhammers on 22 Apr 2007 01:59 On Apr 22, 12:02 am, "xkatx" <x...(a)none.com> wrote: > <mhamm...(a)gmail.com> wrote in message > > news:1177216807.211066.145710(a)d57g2000hsg.googlegroups.com... > > > > > > >I am having a problem with supply. My son was born 3 weeks early and > > is now 8 weeks old. I have been having problems breastfeeding from the > > beginning. Know problems are high palette and weak sucking. The > > hospital grade pump is stronger than he is. I have been on Fenegreek > > and Blessed Thistle and still no success. I have gotten my supply "up" > > some by pumping. My problem is that I can pump every hour and get an > > ounce or less off each breast or I can pump every 4 hours and get 2 to > > 2 1/2 ounces per breast. I have gone to pump and then feed milk with > > the bottle until I can get my supply up. I know my breast can carry > > more that just a couple of ounces. If I go 8 to 10 hours then I get > > engorged and can pull 3 to 4 ounces off each breast. I have tried > > pumping every hour and can not get my breast to produce milk quicker. > > If I empty the breast, it can take up to six hours before I can "feel" > > like I have milk. If I do not "feel" like I have milk it seems that I > > can not even get an ounce after 20 minutes of pumping. I was wondering > > why it takes so long after being emptied to have enough milk for a > > good 4 ounce feeding. Any advice on helping the milk to come on > > quicker would me greatly appreciated. > > Thanks, > > Monica > > I don't know if I have much as far as advice goes, but I'm sure there's a > lot that will! > I know for me, a pump just doesn't work very well. > I remember with DS2, I could manually express a lot more than I could pump > out with any type of pump, but I was able to get quite a bit out with a > pump. I remember at almost any given time, I'd have about 10 bottles of 8oz > of milk frozen and stored. > With DD2, I couldn't pump and still can't pump. I also can't really > manually express much either. She seems to be my only "pump" that can get > much out any time. For some, pumps seem to work great. For others, not so > great. You just might be one of those that the pump just isn't the thing > for you. > How is your son's weight gain? Weight gain, I do believe, is far better > than trying to figure out how much milk. If weight gain is good, then > chances are, regardless of how much you can pump out, he is getting enough. > If his weight gain isn't very good, then that's a different story. > With breast feeding, one of the downfalls can be you never know just how > much a baby takes at one time. I've even found, IME, each baby is > different. I remember DS2 would eat FOREVER. He would nurse a good 15-20 > minutes on each side before he was done. I also know DD2 now will only feed > about 5-10 minutes at the most on each side and then she's done. DS1 and > DS2 were right in the middle and seemed to be 'on average' for all of my > kids. DS2 and DD2 seemed to be extreme opposites for nursing, yet they both > still had excellent weight gain. > I would just watch weight and see how content he is. You don't really > mention much about that.- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - 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. Any other time, we were feeding. I am lucking to work for myself, but still need time during the day to work. I have just never felt as though there was much milk. Even at times when most talk about engorgement and leaking, I never seemed to have any firmness to the breast at all. I can feel the milk now but only 4 hours after pumping and sometimes up to 8 (The knots in my breast). The lactation consultant said that most of it may be due to the high palette. He flipped the nipple upward and slowed the flow. He is also a weak drinker. I chose to go to pumping to help with the all the time feeding. I was told that my body may be used to the way my son fed. Since he nursed all day, my breast got used to slowly producing milk. I need to speed that milk production up. If I could never get 4 ounces off both (2 oz each) breast with 20 minutes at each breast(double pump), then I would say that maybe I could not pump. But, I can when the breast get firm. I also can get close to the same production from a manual pump (it just causes my arms to hurt). Not hard, just firm. Then when I fully empty it, it will take 4 to 6 hours to get to that state again to get 4 ounces. Or I can pump every 2 hours and get 2 ounces from both (1 oz each) breast and it take 2 to 4 hours before I can pump again. Sorry for leaving some details out. If you have any more questions, just ask.....:-) Thanks for your quick response. I see that each child is different. My DD1, DS1, and DS2 was all formula fed. My DS3 is the one that I chose to breastfeed. I enjoy it, but it is more worrysome than formula feeding. I had tumors in my breast after the birth of the first 3 and chose not to breastfeed out of fear that something could happen to them. I wish I would have been more knowledgable then.
From: Me Myself and I on 22 Apr 2007 02:03 If you are not BF at all at the moment then you should be aiming to pump every 3 hours. Make sure you drink PLENTY of water every hour (what I did was drink a glass of water after every tip to the bathroom). Aim to pump the same amount at each sitting and just stay put till you do. You might end up waiting a couple of minutes then pumping what comes in, rinse and repeat but it will help. I aimed to be pumping 100ml (around 4oz) off each breast at each pumping. It might initially have taken me 1/2 hour to get that amount but I always made sure I got my decided amount each time. Sometimes I would get 10ml of a breast then switch then switch back etc till I got the required amount. If I have read this wrong and you are BF as well as pumping then I would apply similar rules. After each feed pump until you get say 1oz off each breast. It doesn't have to be a huge amount extra because once your body adjusts to making that extra bit and you can pump it easier then move to pumping 1.2 or 2oz etc. As long as you are getting out more than your baby is drinking your supply will slowly increase. -- Pip My girls : DD1 Jasmine - 5 weeks early - March 02 - 4lb 12oz Still as small as a peanut but as smart as a whip! DD2 Abby - 8 weeks early - Feb 05 - 3lb 14oz I'm two and what a Demon I can be!! "Yes you can drive me insane just by talking to me!" <mhammers(a)gmail.com> wrote in message news:1177216807.211066.145710(a)d57g2000hsg.googlegroups.com... >I am having a problem with supply. My son was born 3 weeks early and > is now 8 weeks old. I have been having problems breastfeeding from the > beginning. Know problems are high palette and weak sucking. The > hospital grade pump is stronger than he is. I have been on Fenegreek > and Blessed Thistle and still no success. I have gotten my supply "up" > some by pumping. My problem is that I can pump every hour and get an > ounce or less off each breast or I can pump every 4 hours and get 2 to > 2 1/2 ounces per breast. I have gone to pump and then feed milk with > the bottle until I can get my supply up. I know my breast can carry > more that just a couple of ounces. If I go 8 to 10 hours then I get > engorged and can pull 3 to 4 ounces off each breast. I have tried > pumping every hour and can not get my breast to produce milk quicker. > If I empty the breast, it can take up to six hours before I can "feel" > like I have milk. If I do not "feel" like I have milk it seems that I > can not even get an ounce after 20 minutes of pumping. I was wondering > why it takes so long after being emptied to have enough milk for a > good 4 ounce feeding. Any advice on helping the milk to come on > quicker would me greatly appreciated. > Thanks, > Monica >
From: Workingmom on 22 Apr 2007 05:08
mhammers(a)gmail.com skrev: > more that just a couple of ounces. If I go 8 to 10 hours then I get > engorged and can pull 3 to 4 ounces off each breast. I have tried > pumping every hour and can not get my breast to produce milk quicker. > If I empty the breast, it can take up to six hours before I can "feel" > like I have milk. If I do not "feel" like I have milk it seems that I Your son is now 8 weeks - that's the time when milk production have stabilized to be regulated by demand and not by hormones. It's very common to to feel 'full' at this point - ever. If you only pump/feed once every 4 hours you're sending signals to the breast that you don't need as much as it's producing (gets worse with every 8 hours, naturally) If you want to increase output you should pump every 3 hours around the clock - or at least 8 times a day - maybe even more (Larry? Come in here?) The breast produces the most, when it's empty - you cannot completely empty a breast as it's producing constantly. Within an hour after pumping/feeding it will have produced 40% (IIRC) of it's maximum contents - and then less and less the next hours. How much you can pump also has to do with how good you are at letting go of the milk - how good you are at having a let down for the pump. Some do it easily and some have great difficulties letting down for the pump. Do you know if you have a let down when you pump? Or when you nurse? When you nurse you can listen to your baby - when there's a suck-swallow-such-swallow rythm you're having a let down - it slows down to suck-suck-swallow - and later to suck-suck-suck-suck.....swallow. You may have two let downs in a feed from one breast. My advice would be (as the others have also mentioned) - Drink enough - Fenugreek - you're having enough when you start to smell like maple syrup, I've been told - Pump/feed very often - at that age I fed 10-12 times a day - Take a three day break in bed and have someone bring you food and drink. Bring a good book and feed - feed - feed. Tine, Denmark |