Help!!!! Increase milk supply

hapimint

Member
Hi my bb is 13 days old.... I have been pumping every 2hours daily and 3hours at night but each time, I am only able to get 20 to 30mls in total....

I cannot latch my boy on anymore as he rejects my breasts and prefers the bottle....

Haiz... I tried exclusive breast milk on latching on during first few days but turns out, he did not have enough and worsen his jaundice so the pediatrician advised me to supplement with formula so that he poo and urine normally... In the end, now he is so used to the bottle, that I been pumping....He has not fully recovered so I still monitor his intake closely......

I am taking fenugreek and med already but my supply still seems low... I still got to supplement him with formula on every feed.... Is there any other help available... I AM SO upset ...... If I pump so regularly, how long more do I have to wait for my supply to kick in? Or will it never come????
 
Hi my bb is 13 days old.... I have been pumping every 2hours daily and 3hours at night but each time, I am only able to get 20 to 30mls in total....

I cannot latch my boy on anymore as he rejects my breasts and prefers the bottle....

Haiz... I tried exclusive breast milk on latching on during first few days but turns out, he did not have enough and worsen his jaundice so the pediatrician advised me to supplement with formula so that he poo and urine normally... In the end, now he is so used to the bottle, that I been pumping....He has not fully recovered so I still monitor his intake closely......

I am taking fenugreek and med already but my supply still seems low... I still got to supplement him with formula on every feed.... Is there any other help available... I AM SO upset ...... If I pump so regularly, how long more do I have to wait for my supply to kick in? Or will it never come????


My baby is 20 days. I only pump about 30ml every 3hours too.
 

camom

Well-Known Member
Are you drinking enough fluids? Fenugreek does not work for everyone. Do remember to rest well and stress can kill your supply too.
 

thepinkdot

Well-Known Member
u must consume enough food and fluids too.. otherwise ur body will start conserving energy and not produce milk..
 

Mummy to Baby V

Well-Known Member
Latching is still the best way because pumping doesn't work for many mums, especially when the milk supply is not established until about 6 weeks.
I'd suggest using syringe / small cup / spoon to feed any expressed or formula milk, and keep trying to latch. A young baby can still learn to latch, provided not using bottle regularly.
 

ast0212

Member
Are you baby wearing? Try it if you haven't already. Either in a sling or baby carrier as long as it is comfortable for you. Skin to skin is best. Having baby close to you all the time actually triggers a hormonal release which makes more milk.

Also try latching baby as much as possible. Even a few minutes of stimulation is good.
 

angiebaby

Member
Are you baby wearing? Try it if you haven't already. Either in a sling or baby carrier as long as it is comfortable for you. Skin to skin is best. Having baby close to you all the time actually triggers a hormonal release which makes more milk.

Also try latching baby as much as possible. Even a few minutes of stimulation is good.
I not yet try baked skin to skin with my gal, because everytime I carry her my milk will leak, stain both of us, i can have full
Breasts after every 4 to 5 hours, means I can pump out about 130 ml in total, but if my baby eats every 3 hours then my milk is not enough, must give her formula milk
 

charllmy

New Member
I would advise, speak to a professional. Call up your hospital's lactation consultant. They will help you access the situation and advise you.
-And yes, do not stress yourself so much. Do something enjoyable when pumping, like watch tv, listen to music. Soothe yourself. Too stressed=less milk. I experienced this before.
-Try positioning your pump again if there is no milk coming out. Sometimes your nipple is not in the centre, so less milk.
- Always massage your breasts before pumping or latching. It is really useful.
 

cseen

New Member
my baby is in her 2month going mth3.. during confinement my pumping is every 3hrs, supply kick in from day 4 onwards, actually is the diet besides fenugreek and traditional mother's tea. I drink alot of fluid and besides that eating healthy also... protein rich food helps alot, like pork and beef... fish as well.. try papaya soup with threadfin head, it helps also! my supply was quite good during my confinement as my confinement nanny cooks alot of fish and meat for me, soup every meal and red dates water! ( I didnt drink water for 40days) per pump can reach 120-150ml for every 3 hrs.. try drinking milo , i took 3cups before pumping and hot towel massage for 5mins b4 pump.. supply will go up and down, it's demand and supply thingy...if u dare to take milk( some say cause colic) you can try cow's milk too, for me i took soy milk..
till now my milk is stable but occasionally when i am lazy to pump the supply dropped, ever my supply dropped till 2 breast yield 50ml only...but i build it back slowly...
my 2cents...
my baby now is on total ebm and fmilk once for last feed...now she drinks 120-150ml per feed
 

cseen

New Member
try not to think about the yield when pumping, rem no stress on yrself... think about happy face from your baby.. every mummy hormones are made to make you want to feed baby, it's very normal that you are upset, but tell yourself you can do it.. I ever cry my pillow wet many times when my yield dropped and after crying start building up supply again..
remember formula milk doesn't contain poison.. if you need supplement, go for it... :))))
 

Rachelsg

New Member
dont worry hapimint.

my daughter is now 6 weeks old. when she was a newborn my supply was also very little. sometimes 20-30ml like yours, very frustrating i know. plus she was a small baby, paed suggested introducing form. milk to fatten her up for a few days. i got worried that she might prefer the bottle and that my supply might not be enough.

but as she grows bigger my supply increases gradually. now i mostly latch on when feeding her. in fact now i have a problem of her refusing the bottle when i pump out.

your baby will always prefer mummy than anything else. you just have to be very hardworking. gotta wake up in the middle of the night to express/feed. supply will definitely increase as baby grows.

i dont think you need fernugreek yet. just constant stimulation will do. hang on there mummy, i am sure you will do well=)
 

hapimint

Member
I am a jun 2011 mummy... My ds is born on 18 June.... I was induced as I was suffering from preeclampsia....

Just want to share my experiences so far... And I want to say it is really not easy being a mother....

My dh and I tried hard for this baby and at one point, we were almost sure that we needed help... After months of trying, we were really excited for this bb... Before bb is born, we were convinced to try breastfeeding at all cost... And it seems so easy when we surf the net... It seems to come naturally for all women....I think I have never been so wrong....

I understood that natural birth is better for breast milk so I insisted to try natural birth even though I had past back injury and heart problem when I was young....in the end, due to preeclampsia, my gynae had to induce the birth... After 12 hours, there is still no dilation... So I had to go for c-sect but I was still keen to latch him on immediately so I asked for epidural c-sect even though my family members and dh were against it....

In the end, the doc poked 3 times into my back with no success... Had to go for GA....but I am persistent so my baby was delivered at 1plus but I am already awake and asking for my bb at 2plus....

Anyway, I went on total bf straight away.... However, I must say it is one of the most difficult and emotional thing I had done....I spend the next 4 weeks crying everyday.... During confinement, I was almost going into depression....

My ped told me that my bb has mild jaundice during the 2nd day and I insisted on feeding bm only....we were discharged on the 4th day and I was still so keen on bf that I tear my wound ( gynae sew it back as i went to him immediately after seeing so much blood) as I try to feed him on demand but my ds did not poo and I called the ped who told me to go to her the very next day... That was the moment that I understood that he is
dehydrated and need formula... ( I gave water in between feeds but still no poo)

But it's too late... From mild jaundice, it has shot up and he needed to be admitted... I persisted on bf and admit myself with him and made it room in with me as I bf him then top up with fm.... Finally, I brought him home again.... My bm is still very low and I kept getting depressed that I caused my own son to suffer because of my own insistence...

Every week, I bring him to Polyclinic to check his jaundice level... As I took fenugreek and motilium to up my supply, I also pump every 2 hours or latch then pump, I feel very depressed that it is still very low.... Finally, at about 2 weeks, he refused to latch on and wanted the bottle... I worked harder by pumping every 2 hours and feeding him in between....

Finally, my hubby had enough of my emotional breakdowns and my sleepless zombie look and kept on asking me to give up bf... But I refused to listen..... He decide to bring me to a LC for help.... Her advice is to cut all formula and feed every 2 hours.... I explained to her that my boy had jaundice and I worry it might worsen his condition but she assured me that it will not so I decided to heed her advice....

Within 2 days, it was his weekly check at polyclinic and I went and his jaundice level has shot up again.... I panic and ran back to the ped.... She told me that my boy could be dehydrated again.... I broke down and once again, worsen him due to my own insistence... I went back to pumping every 2 hourly and did not force him to latch anymore...

Finally, during his 1st month check, the ped told me that my boy has breast milk jaundice but I still continue.... Even with all the medication and regular pumping, my supply is still very low, not even half of his requirement per feeding.... I got so demoralized till my family members were starting to get worried about me.....

I keep on feeling that I am a failure till I realized that there are many women like me.... Simply low supply.... And because there were so many success stories online that I kept bashing myself up for being a failure....

My dh and I reached an agreement to give bm till ds is 6 weeks then I would stop and start to take care of myself.... But I cheated and only stopped now....

Maybe it's god's way of telling me that it's okay.... The day I had planned to stop, my menses came and my already low supply went lower and my boy seems to have a very hard time drinking the ebm for the past few days but has no issues with the formula....

I am just writing this not to encourage or discourage people from bf... But I would say that we ony saw the positive examples and never realized that there were so many mothers who had difficulty....
 

Fiona73

Member
Hi Hapimint, I always told my bf mummies to care for themselves first before attending to baby need. Likewise, you must fulfill your need before your wants. There is always many issue along the way of breast-feeding journey. Is good, now you can understand and willing to open yr heart. Is always best to give breast milk, but it will be even better to have a heathy mummy for the baby in long run. Take care babe.
 

hapimint

Member
Yup... Now that I stopped, my hubby told me that he is glad that his wife is back.... I admit that during the last 2 and half months, my only focus was milk for my boy... I would hide in room, pumping away while others tend to my boy when he cries... Even when my mum told me that he is crying for mummy to carry, I would tell her to let me pump first....

I guess after some time, I finally realised that there are more to motherhood than pumping.... And my marriage is also worth focusing on....
 
Top