"Low Milk" Breastfeeding Conserns!!!!!!

First, deep breath mom! Is your daughter growing and gaining weight at an appropriate pace? Has wet diapers and poopy ones at least every couple of days? Then she is getting what she needs!

By 4 months your breasts won't feel as full as they did in the early days because your production is stable. And you don't always feel the let-down by this point.

What you pump and what baby gets are very, very different things! Baby is much better and efficient at getting milk out than a pump will ever be.

Feed her on demand. That is the absolute best way to maintain your milk.

Don't watch the clock. Watch her. If she seems satisfied then she is. My daughter was a power nurser. She could nurse from both sides in less than 10 minutes sometimes! And she gained weight like a little champ and was growing and happy.

Breastfed babies are very adept at letting mom know what they want and need.

It does take more than a few days using the supplements but it really sounds like she is doing ok and you are getting stressed.

Again, follow her lead and let her nurse when she wants to. It is not uncommon to nurse more frequently at times. She could be beginning to teethe, she could just need more comfort, etc.

If you are still concerned check to see if there is a local la leche group, a lactation consultant at your local hospital, a birthing center with a breastfeeding educator or a breastfeeding support group where someone can come to you or you and baby go to them and let them see baby nurse.

I nurse mine until 16 months and 20 months respectively so I understand it's easy to stress but as long as she is wet/poopy/growing she is doing fine! Don't let anyone undermine your confidence in your ability to feed baby and finally:

Don't let anyone tell you you need to introduce cereal right now! That will not help your supply!

Have you seen a lactation consultant? They might be able to help and give you some advice. I can tell you from experience that my boys seemed hungry often and I breastfed them every time they acted hungry even if I had just fed them a half hour before. It kept my milk supply strong and they seemed happy. If she's acting hungry feed her as often as she wants, it'll stimulate more milk production.

I want to ask.... Are you making your daughter eat every two hours. Actually to sop the snacking and have her complete a feeding would increase your milk supply more than feeding her every two hours. This is what I think you should do. Wait until your daughter is hungry and feed her. This may be every 3-3 1/2 hours at 4 months old. Once this is established, choose two -three times a day to pump for 15-20 minutes in between these feedings. For example, let's say she wakes at 7AM hungry; feed her then. Let's say she would be due to eat again at 10:30AM; feed her at 7AM then pump at 8:30 then feed her at 10:30. Your milk supply is very great between 9-11AM so make sure you are either pumping or feeding at that time. Your milk supply is lowest between 5:30 & 8PM, so I would only feed during those times as you will be trying to increase a lower amount. Continue all of your additional nutritional herbs you are doing but MOST important make sure you are getting in 8-10 8 ounce glasses of WATER a day. If you can down water 20 minutes before... perfect. Message me and we can go into a bit more detail off post. Hope this helps.

I don't know if anyone asked you this, but did you start your period again? I had a very similar situation when my son was 4 months old. I went from overflowing with milk to zero overnight! It was scary for a few days because he wasn't able to get anything and he was so fussy. I drank the tea and saw a little change, but not much. After reading online it seemed most people experienced this when they go their period back. Two days later I started my period, after two days into my period my milk just came back. It was strange because I didn't experience this when my cycle returned after having my daughter. So, it's true that things happen differently with every kid!
Oh, I also read that this happens to some people each month they get their period while nursing. But it only happened for the first time for me.

How do you know she isn't getting enough? Is she not having poopy and wet diapers? Is she asking to nurse soon after she's finished? Length of time nursing and amount pumped are not good indications of supply.

Do you have any other kids? If not, climb in bed for the weekend, get rest, drink plenty of water and nurse on demand every time she cries. Even if it's every 1/2 hour, the more you nurse, the more milk you produce and the less often she will need to nurse. If you can get by with every couple hours, then pump right after you nurse to tell your body to produce more each session.
If you do that for a couple days and it doesn't help, then you can try fenugreek and blessed thistle - they work better together and you can get a combo pill from places like Wild Oats. 3-4 capsules at each meal. Your sweat and/or urine will probably smell a bit sweet like maple syrup if you are using enough (I know...weird...) If it doesn't help in 3-5 days, it won't, so don't bother taking it longer than that. If it does help, you don't need to keep taking it.
If Fenugreek doesn't help, find domperidone online. You can't get it in the US, you'll have to order it from somewhere else. I think many women get it from Canada or Australia. You can ask your doc about a prescription. It starts with an R, but I don't remember the name right now...Reglan maybe?

Other easy things to try for the next few days...
~Beer. One won't hurt the baby and the brewers yeast helps milk production and alcohol relaxes you so you aren't so worried about making enough. The worst thing for production is stress.
~Oatmeal for breakfast. Not the instant oat meal, but quick oats in the canister or (better) old-fashioned rolled oats. They take forever to cook, but work the best.
~Google "Lactation Cookie Recipe". They are yummy and have all kinds of good stuff in them.

I know this was long...I hope you find it helpful! Have you contacted a La Leche leader or your local chapter? I can get you info on that if you want it. Or, lactation consultants from your hospital?

Here's a helpful website:
http://www.lowmilksupply.org/

Here's about domperidone:
http://www.lowmilksupply.org/domperidone.shtml

I took a prescription called domperidone and it worked WONDERS. I had the exact same concerns as you. I took the mediine the entire duration of nursing which is perfecty safe to do. Feel free to message me if you want more info. :)

What the other moms said, plus talk to a lactation consultant if you're very concerned. They have special scales that can tell you how much your baby is getting. I had to use one for 3 months after I got sick with the shingles just after delivery. I was able to get back on track and nurse my son till he was 2.5 years old. You can get a referral from the hospital or your ob/gyn. good luck!

How much you can pump is no indication of your milk supply. I had lots of milk, but could never pump more than an ounce or two. Please don't put off feeding your daughter if she is hungry. The more you feed, the more milk you will produce. Keep up with the drinking lots of water. You may want to contact a lactation consultant ot the La Leche League.

you need to talk to someone at la leche league or a lact. consultant. IT sounds to me that milk supply may not be an issue.....the pump does not determine how much milk you have. I have breastfeed exc. for 10 months and he is doing great...but when I pump I barely get any milk.
I will share based on my daughters birth and nursing that when a baby stops eating when you believe their is more milk...is the fact her tummy hurts and it can largely be due to something you are eating. We had such a rough time and I have learned so much in the last 8 years as far as how I could have done different, but no one told me.
The first big foods are dairy, soy and wheat! Taking these out made a huge difference! I do not even eat them this time around with my son. You need to keep reaching out to find a way to fix this for you and your daughter...most people will push you to supplement in this world we live in. IF she is thriving, growning etc then all is good, but if it is something you are eating you need to take it out now and hang in there until your milk is free of those allergens.
Please contact me if you have more questions:)
I know this is not easy.

I used Blessed Thistle and it worked really well for me. Is she latching on ok? Even if there is not enough milk, the baby will usually continue to nurse because they enjoy the experience. I wonder if there is something else going on? Like a position or latching issue? My son prefered one breast over the other for months! Contact the La Leche Legue, they can come over and observe and tell you what is going on. Like the others suggested, is she having enough pee and poo diapers? Gaining weight?

My input is probably not what you want to hear, but my daughter never latched on so my supply was always low. So what I did was pump what I could and supplement with formula. She is now 2 and is so healthy and strong. I never thought I'd have to use formula, but it is fine. I tried all the things people mentioned to increase my supply, in addition to drinking some disgusting, chinese herbal soupy concoction that I made daily. All to no avail. I used to stress big time about not being able to give my baby exclusively breast milk, but now that I'm about to have #2, I've learned not to stress.. that they'll grow just fine, and that formula isn't as evil as you'd think. Just something to consider. (I used nutramigen by the way, which is soy and dairy free and easy to digest, and I had my natural docs check it on her and it agreed with her the best of all the formula's.)

See a lactation consultant right away. She'll help you with your specific situation and your investment in her will save you lots of money in formula. She'll not only come up with a great plan for you, but allay some of your fears. First, just because your breasts don't feel full, give a noticeable let down anymore or pump out huge amounts of milk, does NOT mean you are not able to produce enough for your baby! A pump and a baby's mouth work very differently and the pump is certainly not as efficient. Feed her as much as you can and nurse when she tells you to! Let her eat every hour if she needs to. That's perfectly fine. You need to work WITH her, not against her. Your diet should have fat in it. High quality saturated fat. That's what breast milk is. But contact a lactation consultant right away to nip any potential problems in the bud and get you on the right track! I have someone in the Santa Fe area I can recommend if you'd like to message me.

Hi There,

I remember a very similar concern and same scenario at this exact age.

To quote you: "sometime (she) wants to eat every hour but I try to make her wait because I know If I feed her I wont have any in another hour when shell be hungry again.

I recommend: go ahead and sit and let her nurse every hour. That IS her way of stimulating more breast milk. Nursing more frequently, does just that. Don't make her wait. You'll notice a difference in about 3 days, and then all the extra milk will come. And she'll be too full and your breasts will be too full and you won't know what to do, and that fullness will also decrease in about 3 days.

My babies could drain both breasts in about 3 minutes per side by 4 months. And my breast did not feel very full but what I learned is the my breasts were so swollen in the beginning along with nursing. Now there was just milk and no swelling. So maybe you have a power nurser as described below.

If you have tried everything and your child is not gaining weight appropriately, supplement with formula. I had to do that and DS got both until he was 6 months old. The weight gain and wet/soiled diapers are the big indicators of whether or not you're making/she's getting enough, not how often/long she feeds.

I second EVERYTHING that Dori said!

I'll say some of those things again...
-Let your baby decide when to nurse. Don't put her on a schedule--every two hours, if she isn't wanting to nurse, can actually do more harm than good. A good hungry baby at 3 or 4 hours is going to suck more effectively and will also give you more time for your body to respond.
-With that in mind, two things happen at around her age: 1) your body is no longer trying to figure out her body's needs, but has established a good "just in time" and "just enough" level. You simply will never feel engorged or full the way you did the first few months. 2) She gets more leveled out as far as her feeding needs, and her system can hold onto milk longer, no longer going through all she eats in just a couple of hours. This is about the age when moms can actually have someone watch the baby for a few hours and get away, exactly BECAUSE a typical baby can go about 3-4 hours without eating at this point.
-I'm not saying to make her wait 4 hours if she's hungry. There will be ebbs and flows--literally. Just be in tune with what SHE wants. If she asks to nurse, let her, as long or as short as she wants. If she isn't hungry, wait awhile.
-It's NORMAL during growth spurt periods, like at about 4 months or so, for her to increase her demand and for your body to take at least a few days--sometimes more--to respond.
-Don't worry if it takes a little longer.
-Don't stop taking all those great vitamins--they help! Especially the "prenatals" which in my opinion should be labeled "perinatals" because if you needed added nutrition while the baby was much smaller and inside you, you need even more while you are fully supporting a baby who is now too large to be in utero.
-I would add a couple of things to your regimen. A good hoppy organic microbrew beer--a bottle in the evening--can really help. Hops is both very good at helping breastmilk increase AND good at relaxing both you and baby. The alcohol will not be a problem for the baby, unless it is a problem for you.
-Borage leaf is excellent, though often not mentioned. You can grow your own in the summer, but can also find tinctures. If you use the dried leaf, which is wonderful, make a strong water infusion by filling a large jar (gallon jars are great) with the dried leaf, then filling it again with boiling water. Tightly cap and let cool to room temperature. Keep in the refrigerator and drink at least a cup a day.

The first thing you need to do is calm down. Stress of any type will lower your milk supply. For myself, when I get my baby latched on, I relax my shoulders. Take a deep breath, release it slowly and relax. I say in my head, "more milk". I know that it seems that if you feed her often, it seems like she won't get a lot the next feeding, but if she wants to feed every hour, let her. Breastfeeding is a supply and demand cycle. It will take your body a little to adjust, but the best thing for you to do is let the baby decide when to eat. I have 4 boys and the last one is when I was successful breastfeeding. Because instead of a schedule, I let the baby decide when to eat. Sometimes he feeds every hour and sometimes it is every 4 hours.

Don't feed your baby a bottle. Once, I pumped at night and was getting ready for bed when he woke up. I fed him. I'm not saying that it was a restful night. I had him on the breast most of that night, but it worked out better the next night. I don't feed him what I pumped, just put the baby on. If you are concerned, use a Supplemental nurser, but chances are the more you put the baby on, the more milk you will have after a few days.

Your body adjusts to your baby. If you don't feel letdown, it doesn't mean you don't have a letdown, it just means you don't feel it.

At growth spurts, I help my body out by taking herbs and supplements. I use Motherlove's More Milk plus special blend with Goat's rue. Alfalfa is good, fenugreek (will make you smell like maple syrup), fennel also helps. I notice that when I have stomach problems that I don't make a lot of milk. Eat a healthy diet that doesn't upset your stomach.

1. Feed the baby in a quiet and calm spot 2. Relax, tell yourself "more milk" 3. Feed your baby more often, not less for more milk 4. Let the baby stay latched on as long as she wants (check to see if she is teething if she doesn't want to stay latched, sucking may be painful to her gums, use a teething oil to help with that.)

I'm not saying it won't be rough few days, but it will be worth it. How much water do you drink? Drink enough water, I keep a 20 oz bottle near me at all times. When it is time to feed, I drink that up and sometimes drink more.

Healthy nursing tea is an herbal organic tea supplement that helped me when I was producing less breast milk than the baby's requirement.