How to build up bm supply for storage?

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Gwynne

Member
Dear mummies,

I'm curious as to how to build up bm supply in preparation for returning to work.
Currently, I'm mostly doing direct latching. Even if I tried pumping after a feed, the amount is little like 20-40ml for both sides. And if I pump and not latch, the amount of bm is also just sufficient for my bb. Unless I skip a feed with formula and store the bm expressed out, I don't see how I can build my bm supply.
Any advice? Thanks!
 
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kwokm

New Member
Empty your breast both sides will signal a demand for your body to produce more. Actually 20-40ml is fine for storage. If your bb increase his/her consumption can combine to feed. While u feed the other side will let down. Pump it concurrently. Drink before each feed that helps too. Presevere. It's a learning process. Learn with your baby. It's demand will be your supply. Relax and enjoy this bf journey.
 
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pinky80

New Member
I am facing this problem now too. I latch on demand currently. If I pump after latching, my baby will get very fussy during the next nursing either because there is little milk left after pump or flow is too slow.. I guess my supply is just nice for baby right now and it takes at least 3 hours for my breast to become full again.

I am going back to work next month and I do not know how to start storing milk as I am worry that he will not. Can anyone share your experience?
 
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evaclark51

Member
Include the following in your schedule.
Breastfeeding or pumping on a regular schedule
Drinking plenty of fluids
Eating healthy
Getting plenty of rest
 
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ilovebbdylan

Member
for working mothers, i think it is good to let the baby get use to bottle feeding before u go back to work. or else, they might not be able to adapt to the change and by then will create stress for u.
since all the while latch feed is not a problem, doing exclusive might not be a big problem, with a good dual pump, it will be good. if doing exclusive pump, regular pumping will be able to build up storage gradually.

if baby do not get up in the night for milk, u can also subsitute with pump to get the excess milk.
 
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pinky80

New Member
Mummies, if after bottle feed baby he still wants to latch for comfort, what will you do?

I realize if I let him latch, it will affect the amount of milk I pump out. What should I do?
 
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imadad

New Member
Not sure if other mothers are facing this problem, but if you're just starting out on storing your breast milk, you might encounter this matter one day, so just to give you a heads up.

Last week, my wife and I discovered that our 4mth old son would only drink 50ml (he normally drinks 140ml) and refuse the rest of the milk. He would cry and scream his lungs out when we brought the bottle near to him. Something must be wrong so I tasted the milk. Yucks! I almost puked myself. It tasted strongly like rust and I was surprised he could even bring himself to drink that first 50ml.

We didn't know what was wrong. We had frozen the BM immediately after pumping and we had thawed it in the refrigerator overnight and would be fed to my son within 12 hours. My wife was so heartbroken. We had over 20 frozen bottles of breast milk in storage, potentially all 'rusty'. We couldn't possibly throw away the whole lot.

I did some googling and found out that apparently, an excess of Lipase in the milk can cause a breakdown of fat in the milk which causes a soapy or metallic taste. Lipase is an enzyme that helps baby digest the milk easier. However, the enzyme remains active even in freezing temperatures, so freezing the milk isn't going to help. In fact, the longer it's frozen, the stronger the funky taste is going to be.

I learnt that the way to inactivate the enzyme is to scald it briefly before storing it. I bet every Singaporean parent would be horrified at this, since we've all been taught by pedi's or lactation consultants that overheating the breastmilk will destroy the nutrients. For me, the decision was rather clear. I'd rather have baby drink breastmilk that has lost some nutrients, than for him not to be drinking at all. I also want him to enjoy feeding time, rather than to be hungry and be forced to drink rusty milk.

From my online research (of course, mostly unfounded word-of-mouth from other parents), the scalded breastmilk would lose some nutrients, but still be more beneficial for baby than formula. I also researched other possible methods, such as abstinence of certain foods or vitamins, but nothing conclusive. Vacuum packing the milk before freezing doesn't help either. Scalding the breastmilk seems to be the only way to deactivate the Lipase in the milk. The taste is all that changes apparently. The milk's nutrients and freshness doesn't change. it is NOT spoilt.

Of course, don't start scalding your milk just yet. You might not have the excess Lipase problem to begin with. But just in case you encounter it, you know what's going on.

FYI, we got lucky, we didn't need to throw away all the breastmilk. My son would accept BM that has a light taste of rust. But if the smell is too strong (you'll know the moment you warm it), we managed to cover it up by mixing it with 60ml of formula.
 
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mumy1901

New Member
hi imadad, thanks for the useful tip!

hi pinky80, i am in the exact same siituation! think i am gonna start pumping after every feed to stimulate production. guess even if it is 20ml, it is still something?! i am also hoping that by then, she may have started on semi-solids so that should help as well?

hi Gwynne, did you ever find a solution for the problem?
 
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Gwynne

Member
Hi mumy1901,

In e end I managed to build my milk bank. However this is because my girl started to sleep longer period at night and I'm able to pump and store.
Eventually when my girl started to be on bottle while I work, gradually the supply is more than what she drink. This could also be due to the fact that she was not a big drinker as well ya.
 
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Milk of Love

Member
Hi mummies,
You may consider eating some lactation cookies to boost ur milk supply.. I have 2 kids, and I had bf problems with my 1st child. So was looking for a lot of help / research to ensure my 2nd (now 3.5 months) has enough. Was spending a lot of money on vitamins. Then I found out how lactation cookies can work, and I tried them out. And they did for me. So I've been spending time trying to work out cookies recipes to help other mummies in their breastfeeding journey. And I finally manage to see some results from other mummies as well! You can find out more from Milk Of Love | It's all about Breastmilk.
 
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