Breast Fed Infant Self Weaning

My daughter, who is now 6 months old had an issue with three different formulas that we tried when she was 3 months old. My pediatrician had me put her on Nutramagin, a special formula for infants with colic and for infants with a milk allergy. My daughter took to that formula and hasn't had any other problems with formula. The only draw back to this special formula is that it is so much more expensive than the others. But its worth it. Good luck!

Hi N.,

Yes, there are lots of ways to increase your milk supply. First the basics, make sure you are eating well, plenty of protein and good veges and at least 64 ounces of water a day. Then you can take Brewer's Yeast tablets or powder- the tablets worked WONDERS for me. Other folks swear by Mother' Milk tea and Milk Thistle. Keep that breast milk going as much and as long as you can, its the BEST thing for him, especially since you said he's allergic to milk, it can actually help his body heal from that. I few places online to look for more good info are: www.llli.org, www.mothering.com and www.kellymom.com.

Good luck to you, S.

I agree with the comments above. The only think I would add is try the extra pumping in the morning when your supply is the greatest. The same thing happened to me when my son was about 10 months.

I seem to be having the same issue. I am currently resolving it though. The times when he usually will breastfeed but now doesnt want it. I still pump. You have to continue to pump even if he doesn't want to nurse. Your supply should get better, I'm not trying resort to formula so I do what I have to. While at work I still pump twice in a eight hour work shift.. Hope it helps.

Hi N.,

I think you should keep trying to feed him breastmilk when you're with him. My boy's almost 10 months now and he's also been allergic to formula. He had a massive breakout after 2 sips when he was about 3 months old so he's been exclusively on breastmilk. We started solids at 4 months with the pediatrician's recommendation but he's very happy nursing as well. We've been nursing 4 times a day with 3 meals a day of solids. This week I've brought him down to 3 nursings/day. But I noticed that if I increased a feeding for 2-3 days, my milk supply would go up. You do have to take your vitamins and drink fluids to keep up(at least from my experience).

My boy's been allergic to yoghurts and cheeses as well but in the last week, he's been eating yoghurt just fine without any breakouts. I've been told by another mom that they grow out of it as they approach their first birthday. Maybe your boy will as well.

Good luck!

As long as you're still producing, you should be able to increase. Definitely try adding one more pump session if you can fit it in. It could be after baby is in bed for the night. Also, you could try "power pumping" which is pumping 10 min on, 10 minutes off for a hour. If you do that once a day for a couple of days you should see some results. Even if you don't get much milk, you're sending important signals to your body.
Good luck!

Breastmilk is a definite use it or lose it thing. To keep up your supply, keep pumping. Definitely second best to actual nursing, but as you see desperate times call for desperate measures. It will take time, but your body will get the signal that you're pumping more and increase milk production.

Good luck and God Bless.

the sure way to increase your milk supply is to increase the demand. In other words you will have to nurse him more often. Will your baby nurse more often on your days off work? If this is not possible can you pump yourself on a regular basis? If not, you may have no alternative but to gradually switch from breastmilk to formula. This would be unfortunate because the child should be fed breastmilk for one year to get ALL the benefits of it. How about offering baby your breast just before mealtime? He may feel more full on milk and eat a bit less. This is OK for the first year since there is more nutrition in breastmilk than in solids.
Benefits of breastfeeding: maternal infant-bonding, improved long-term cognitive and motor abilities, protection against Crohn's disease and diabetes and certain allergic conditions. Also breastfeeding is associated with 30% reduction in the prevalence of obesity thru early adolescence. AF

This can happen, it doesn't always. I used mother's milk, or blessed thistle, but all herbal remedies, I got them at Rebecca's Natural. They contain the same ingredients and they really do work, but you have to take it as it says, you can't start and stop or take more or less if you want a consistent volume!! Best of luck and happy holidays!!

I would definitely try extra pumping over a period of a few days to build up your supply or extra nursing sessions. Make sure are drinking lots of water. There are herbal supplements that can help your supply like, fenugreek, blessed thistle, more milk plus. There is a tea out there called mother's milk tea that can help as well. Eating oatmeal is helpful as well. I would consult a lactation consultant or the La Leche League leader for further instructions. You can also get a prescription for Reglan that will increase your supply but that can have side effects like depression and can make you sleepy at first, so that is something to be used with caution. Out of all these things though, I would try to pump and nurse as much as possible first and eat the oatmeal and stay hydrated. If that doesn't work then you can try the other stuff.

When you start feeding anything other than breastmilk weaning has begun. He is probably getting more at the breast than you realize and it is relatively easy to increase your supply. just take a couple of days and hang out and put him to the breast as often as he will go. Rather than running around crazy over the holidays just relax and nurse the baby a lot. It is not normal for a baby to completely wean at 8mo. If he does not have options of formula then he will work to increase your supply. I would judge adequate in take by wet diapers. I would also talk to La Leche League and a good lactation consultant

Definetly pumping more often is going to help. When you do pump you probably won't get much milk, at first, but then you're body will react to the extra need. It's actually better to have him breastfeed more often because your body will react faster, but if that's not a possibility then pump. It could take 4-5 days before your body catches up. Also make sure you drink enough water, your body is going to need the hydration and if it's not getting it it will take it from somewhere.

What is his weight like for his age is it correct? What I mean is is he abnormally hungry. It kindof sounds like that to me! I recently found out that I am gluten intolerant. For years and years I would eat bread, pasta, (anything made from wheat) and oatmeal and could never feel full. Maybe your child has an intolerance to these foods as well as the milk. I would recommend you increase the amount of veggies he eats and also fruit and fish. Also you can give him some nuts that have been ground down in a mini food processor (like the Magic Bullet). Mix the nuts with fruit puree. You can actually add water to the ground nuts to make yuour own 'nut' milk, like almond milk. Try experimenting!

Hope this is useful.