my 4 m old daughter is exclusivly breast fed, She refuses bottles most of time, I am lucky enough to work at home and my husband is a teacher home for the summer so I am able to continue to nurse. She will take 2oz or so from a bottle under protest if they go to a park or something... but other than that is all mommy all the time....
a few issues
1-she will be going to daycare in the fall, will be about 6 months. how much does a "typical" 6 month old drink in a 9 hour period?
(yes I am transitioning her in slowly to make sure she is not traumatized, and eating..)
2- because she nurses so often in day, my stored milk supply is very low.. i just do not get to pump often, even when i get to pump I get like 2-3oz. I know she is more efficent than a pump and she is good... but anyway to increase what i get when i do pump?
Thank you all....
PUMP PUMP PUMP!! After every nursing session, pump. Even if you are only producing a few extra drops, pump!! Your body will produce as much as is demanded of it. The more you nurse/pump, the more you'll produce.
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I agree with Rachel. Pump after every feeding even if it you don't get much. The more demand the more your body will supply. Also, I was unable to take Fenugreek. My OBGYN prescribed Domperidone. It was kind of expensive; $60 for 30 day supply but it worked great and still cheaper than formula! It got my supply back up after stomach virus when son was 4 months old. I was able to nurse until he was 8 months old when I I chose to wean him. He took bottle or breast though so that was not an issue. Around 6 months old, my son took about 24 oz/day and that is where it peaked as he started solid foods. Good Luck!!!
Fenugreek helped me increase my supply, and it's not too expensive, so I'd say it's worth a shot. And pump the other breast while your daughter is nursing. You don't have to worry about getting yourself to let down since your daughter will do that and (in my experience) you get more out with her nursing on the other side. Throw in an extra pumping session if you need it, even if you don't get much.
When my son was about 6 months old and we started with solids, it helped me out a lot. Before that he was drinking about 20 oz a day at daycare. But the food helped him stay full during the day so he drank a little less, and then he nursed freely at home.
Kellymom says the average 1 to 6 month old drinks 19-30 oz in a full day, then that gradually goes down with the introduction of solids. Here is a link to their calculator to give you an idea of how much she may need. http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkcalc.html
Usually by this late after the birth, pumping is very hard for women. I'd try taking fenugreek with blessed thistle and then pump one side completely while baby is nursing the other side. Stick to one breast per feeding session... that should help :o)
Try to worry more about getting your supply up rather than worrying yourself about how much you need. Worry about that when it's closer to the 2 months mark. Also keep in mind that bottles allow babies to eat more than they need - because it's a free flow nipple, not the kind on your body that makes the baby actually suckle to get what they want.
I know I'm late to the party, but had to add my two cents :) I whole-heartedly agree with those who said to pump one side while nursing the other first thing in the morning. I get tons of milk this way (but if she's not nursing, my let down takes forever and the flow is nowhere near as strong). Do you have a good quality pump? If not, you may want to consider renting a hospital grade pump for the next two months. Finally, remember that your angel may be starting jar food by then (assuming that your day care will do that for you), so you won't have quite so many bottle feedings a day. Good luck~
I'm really late, but noticed you didn't get many responses so thought I'd chime in.
Nursing on one side while pumping on the other does work well, but it's also challenging - I was never good at it, I always felt like a juggler who couldn't keep all the balls in the air. Maybe I'm just not very coordinated, lol!
I agree with those who said supply is highest first thing in the morning. I would pump 1st thing when I got up, before the baby nursed. I found that he could still be satisfied from nursing, because there was plenty of milk left that the pump just wasn't good at getting out because, as you correctly wrote, the baby is much more efficient than even the best the pump. If your baby is fussy and gets frustrated when nursing after pumping, then cut back on how many ounces you pump before you feed her. I was able to build up a really good freezer stash this way.
My boys both took a 4 ounce bottle every 3-4 hours at daycare. I tried to work the timing so that they only needed 2 bottles. I gave myself enough time in the morning to sit on the rocker in the daycare and nurse. That gave the baby time to settle in to the new atmosphere each morning, and also meant that I usually only had to leave 2 bottles instead of 3. Timeline looked like this: nurse at daycare at 8AM, bottle at 11:30ish, bottle around 3, then nurse as soon as we got home, usually around 5:30 (you could even nurse again at daycare as soon as you pick up if baby is hungry). A good daycare will support you in this, and find a comfortable spot for you to nurse.
Also keep in mind that at 6 months, your infant will be trying some solid foods like cereal or baby food, so that will help her go longer between feedings.
Finally, some babies of working moms do refuse to take bottles during the day and guess what - they do just fine. It's called reverse cycling, and there are ways to encourage it if you think that might be better for your baby than trying to force a bottle. My boys did this a mild version of this - they preferred me, and I encouraged it by nursing twice in the morning before dropoff, and every 2 hours in the evening until bed, then (with my 2nd son) nursing during the night. So they continued to get most of their milk from me instead of during daycare hours. I found this to be easier than trying to pump enough to take a ton of milk to daycare (I can't imagine how Crystal S pumped enough to take 20 ounces a day to daycare. That would have been impossible for me. Good for you Crystal!). You can look up reverse cycling at kellymom.com if you want more info.
Good luck!
Use herbs. I use Breastea from http://www.breastea.com and I went from pumping 1/2 ounce to over 5 ounces. If you can overnight pump at least one time.
You've gotten great suggestions. I hope they work for you! For me, I was not able to pump enough (even doing all the good things that have been suggested). I was absolutely devastated to have to add a couple bottles of formula a day. Guess what? He was totally fine. So if you do end up having to supplement, please, please be easy on yourself and don't worry about it. However it goes, she will be fine. Hope you get the nursing experience you want!
