Building up My Milk Supply

Hopefully you will make enough milk, but just an FYI...you can mix breastmilk and formula. Just make sure formula is already made and you are adding warm to warm or cold to cold milk & formula.
Also I know this may be a pain but if you can get up and pump at least once during the night, that is that much more milk. And the morning is always the best time to get a little more than during the day.

Some ideas for making more milk:
frengreek capsules 9 to 15 a day for 2 weeks
blessed thistle capsules 6 to 9 a day for 2 weeks
lots of water
picture or scent of your baby while pumping to stimulate
quiet and relaxing place while pumping, no distractions
oatmeal 3 times a day
no stress...that was my problem :(
Always pump while or after you feed or whenever you can at work. Even if you don't get anything, you are still stimulating. I can get alot if I pump on 1 and feed on the other, but she doesnt like it, so I have stopped.
For storage, freeze in bags and date or refridgerate. Frozen can last up to 3 months. Fridge is only good max 3 days.
Congrats on Bfing 4 months!!!
Take Care!
~S

Pump after feeding her, never before. You can pump every two hours. Do you have any milk frozen? If you don't, start pumping every 2 hours now to save some up. If you do, and if you're already on a schedule, then just pump while at work in the same schedule to build your supply. Once you get into the swing of things you can reduce the pumping sessions during, nurse when you get home 2 or 3 times and pump 1 before bed, nurse again in the am. That should be suffice. Also, Mother's Milk Tea from GNC worked wonders for me when I needed to increase my supply. Good luck

Hi...congrats on your new baby and congrats on breastfeeding while working... I,ve been there,done that tree times around... In reference to increasing milk supply...Oatmeal and tons of water! That usually helped. In reference to pumping... if you havent started start now. I hope you have a good electrical pump. Manual ones dont work as well. P ersonally have used the medela punp in style with double pump. It is a bit expensive but the best investment I have made in my life. I used it with my 3 daughters and it has worked wonders. With my second I had to have surgery and was unable to breastfeed for a month when my baby was 3 months... i had enough milk stored. (I usually pump since day one).
For pumping always do it after the feeding. or an hour after I feed. you play it by ear. If you see you pump and there is nothing coming out try an hour later. (at firs you will see maybe 1/4 or 1/2 an ounce coming out until you star building up supply. Keep on trying, don't give up. Pumping is a 24 hour hard job but it is extremely rewarding! SOmetimes you think no more is coming out and you keep on pumping for 10 to 15 minutes and all of the sudden it statrs coming out. Do this while at home this week. Next week when you star work find a confortable place where oyu can be relaxed (or you will have a hard time letting the milk come out.) Try pumping everu 2 hours and place milk in freezer bags in freezer if you have on at work otherwise take a small cooler and keep it there. (medela pump in style comes with a small black bag that is a cooler. I place the bags in there and hem place them in the freezer so no one sees them or touches them. If not the little cooler comes with an ice pack that you can prefreeze to place the milk in there.
Good luck and let me know if you need anything else!

Hi,
Drink Healthy Nursing Tea by secrets of tea;)

an excellent resource, it even has a 'milk calculator' (do a search) is www.kellymom.com

Also: I've read on 'the boards' to take: fenugreek & blessed thistle
take 3 capsules of each, 3x/day &
don't panic if you smell like syrup!

oatmeal should help too!

Also: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/PumpMoms/
"Description
The PumpMoms Group is a positive, supportive and resourceful environment for moms who want to pump breast milk for their own babies.

Pump activity varies from occasional to full-time use. This group discusses pumping and related topics (ie: lactation problems, supply boosters). We are not a general parenting list."

I went back to work when my baby was 3 months old (only for a couple of weeks and then decided I'd rather stay at home). Before I went back I spoke to my principal about doing it and thought of a private place on campus I could do it. She had no problems. This was my schedule: I fed the baby at 7am (and pumped for the sitter in a bottle if he wouldn't eat), then I pumped at work at 11:00am and 3:00pm. I never lost my milk supply and I would get about 5 ounces each time. The pump I used was the Medela double pump. It costs around $250, but it is worth the investment. I have a friend who bought the medela single pump and she's starting to lose her milk supply. With the single pump you have to take more time to pump. Remember to set aside at least 10 minutes (each side) to pump even if nothing comes out. Another thing to remember is to relax and that will help the milk flow. Good luck!

Hi, it is great that you want to keep on breastfeeding, it is not easy but worthy. I am a stay at home mom but my sister pumped and work for about a year, she rented the big pump, I don't know if they do it here but find out. Maybe la leche league has info on how to rent it.

Good luck, J.

You should have been thinking about this situation weeks ago. Protein and water will produce milk, so make sure you get an adequate ammount. I always fed on one side and pumped the other. I would also drink lots (and I mean almost a gallon or more a day) of water and eat high pritein snacks. I would either attempt to feed or nurse approximately every 2 hours. If my baby was napping and passing the 2 hour mark then I would pump both breasts and just hope she slept another hour. I started this process when my baby was one or two weeks old because I knew I would need to go to work in 4 weeks because my family could not afford the time off. While you are at work, do your best to continue drinking plenty of water, eating protein snacks, and pumping every 2 to 3 hours. Good luck, and next time plan ahead a little better.

Hi R.! I have found a few things that are very helpful in increasing my milk supply: lactation supplements (available at health food stores) and lactation tea (available at most grocery and health food stores). The other thing that has helped me is, if I am trying to increase my supply, I would pump in between breastfeeding. It was inconvenient because when I wasn't nursing I was often pumping, but within 24 hours my milk would increase significantly.

Good luck going back to work! I have been very blessed as I work from home. My sister went back to work though and was able to maintain her supply by pumping throughout the day. Take care!
M.

I pump breastmilk for a friend while also feeding my baby. I find I have lots more milk first thing in the morning. The BEST way is to pump the opposite breast while the child is nursing. You will get the MOST milk this way. But it depends on if you child will allow it. This is TOO distracting for my daughter (only 6wks). So I pump first thing in the morning after she nurses. (I only nurse on one side at a time) THen I pump again at night when she is down for the night. I get between 12-15oz a day.

I pumped between feedings, after I fed my daughter. Basically, the more you are pumping and nursing, you are telling your body to produce more milk. You can freeze breastmilk for storage, target or just about any store has the storage bags you can buy, just make sure you date everything. The most important advice I can give is to stick to a regular pumping schedule at work if you can. I teach Kindergarten, so it was really hard, and I ended up losing my milk supply and not getting much when I pumped. Good Luck!