Not Making Enough Milk for Growing Son

What my parents told me when i wasnt making enough milk was to drink anything with a malt in it. I drank oveltine for awhile and it actually worked. Since i had to stop breast feeding i gainded the weight from it but if you stay feeding you wont have to worry about it. My adivce stick with breast milk as long as you can it really does help!

D., I have heard that drinking one beer a day helps with milk production. The yeast in the beer is suppose to be the key. Also I have done this, pump on one breast when you are feeding him. I do this and get at least three more ounces than when I pump without him on my breast. I don't know if it's his smell, or just seeing him eat, but it really does work. Good luck.

Are you taking an omega 3, 6, 9 supplement? Try pumping more frequently if you can, the more the demand, the more supply. Oh, and during pumping, think about your baby and the love you have with them, look at a cute picture of them and more milk will flow, really. Breathe relaxed, long slow breaths. Helps so much to be in a relaxed, loving state because the breasts are where the heart is! Also just so you know, goat's milk is the closest in composition to human breast milk if you need to supplement his diet while you're still nursing- that is the best choice if you do. I myself had trouble producing enough milk at times too. Goat milk Is easiest for baby to digest, and is produced without antibiotics or growth hormones. Dairy and soy formula is harsh and can be very allergenic. Goat milk is sold at any grocery store near the cream in the dairy section. (Goat milk is fine as is for supplementing, but if you stopped nursing and chose to feed that only, needs to be fortified with vitamins for a more complete formula.) Contact a naturopath, Dr.Farrah Swan in Tempe is my pediatrician, and she can advise you with that if needed. Is very easy. Hope something can help you!

Believe it or not your body will adjust to what your son needs. He may be going through a growth spurt and needs to nurse more. I would let him nurse when he wants and as long as he wants. THis should increase your supply.

I agree about the spurt and think you should breastfeed as much as you can when home and at night to increase your supply. You have done great so far and can definitely continue to supply what your son needs. There are just time when a baby needs to nurse more. Set nursing chedules don't allow for that. Follow his lead as he is telling you what he needs.

Also, I stunk at pumping. Even if I was very full, I couldn't get very much out. That certainly didn't mean my baby wasn't getting milk out. Babies are WAY more efficient than pumps. So don't think your son is only getting a few ounces when he nurses. He's getting way more than you see.

Keep up the herbs and good eating and drinking. Now just nurse more for a spell to let your body do what it naturally will for your baby!

There is not a limit to what women can make! It depends on the woman! I made enough milk, that after my daughter nursed, I would get 6 oz. from each side! I am a SAHM, and was with her all the time, so that could have helped my supply! I hope your body will get use to the change and produce more! Good Luck! I am sorry I don't have any advise on how to help you produce more, you seem to be doing everything I know of!

Ditto about the growth spurt. A lot of mom's start supplimenting or introducing solids around this age b/c they think their children are not getting enough. Nurse on demand and things should ease up. I'd continue doing what you are doing... if you want to boost your supply, consider taking fenugreek... or some other galactagog. www.kellymom.com is an AWESOME site with tons of articles and even some messageboards that should be able to help you out! Good luck!

Hi D.-
Breastmilk last for 3 months in the freezer. I would definitely continute to feed that to your son a little because it IS better for him... but you know, don't feel guilty if you have to supplement with a little formula!! As long as he continues to get some breastmilk, even if only once or twice a day, he'll still be getting all the benefits of breastmilk (the antibodies, emotional security, etc...).

Believe it or not, you may be producing plenty of breastmilk for him. As your son gets older, your breastmilk changes. It becomes thicker, heavier, and more fatty... therefore you may not produce as much, but it's actually more filling. Three ounces every two hours is actually close to what I get a lot of the time and my daughter is 7 months old! Trust me, your probably producing plenty for him! Breastmilk works on a supply and demand system... the more you nurse, the more you will produce. You could also try eating oatmeal every morning. A friend of mine who's a lactation consultant gave me that advice.

If you're still worried you're not producing enough, you could also mix some of your pumped milk with some formula. That's supposed to help them digest the formula and give them a more familiar taste if they don't like the formula.

I hope this helps!

I also would recommend starting solids. I had to start in the evening because that is the first meal my baby started getting too hungry at. I tried rice cereal but she didn't like it so I ended up mixing it with fruit. She gobbled it down after that. I wasn't going to start until six months because i've heard kids can last that long, but it turns out kids give you their own signs when they want to start solids. Mine told me at 4 1/2 months to start, and she was happy after that. So I recommend starting solids because most likely, nothing is wrong wtih your milk supply. Your son has just finally hit the age of solids. :)

I know when I nursed and went back to work I would only pump at the times I knew she would be feeding so if your son eats every two hours then pump if your son does five do five I don't know if that would help cause then you arent pumping so frequently

Hi D.

My first thought is talk to your Doc about starting solids, rice is usually the first thing with breast milk or formula. All my kid (3 of them) were rice at 4 to 41/2 months, and was on to mixing it with applesause or yougert by six months. You still breast feed but just try it a spoon or two one day, then in a week maybe a little more the next week. Hope this helps.

L. Smith

It sounds like you have some really good advice here (I especially liked what Laura D. had to say). Another thing to consider (this is what I did when I went back to school after my daughter was born) is to focus less on when you are nursing and more on how much. My aunt (a Bradley instructor) told me that the most important thing is that you pump as much breast milk during a 24 hour period as your baby is drinking. That means that if he drinks 3 oz. at noon on Weds., then you need to pump 3 oz. by noon on Thurs. There are some positivies and negatives to this. The positive: you do not have to pump 100% of your milk while you are at work. Pump as much as you can while there, but plan to spend a significant amount of time at home pumping as well. The negative: you may spend so much time pumping at home after baby goes to bed that you get little else done. If you would like to go back to breastfeeding exclusively after supplemanting with formula you should pump the same amount of breastmilk as the amount of formula that he drinks. If you don't want to bother with all of that, you might consider breastfeeding part-time (having the sitter feed formula while you're at work, but nursing him while you are at home together at night and in the morning). And, as everyone has already said, a good pump is key (I had the Medela Pump in Style and it was great). Good luck.

I have a three year old and a two year old. After I had my first son and became pregnant with my second two months later my milk supply became low and he wouldn't eat after a while. Apparently they say that being pregnant changes the taste. Anyway I started half and half with formula and breast milk. I would alternate feeding with both. The only thing I would be careful of is that your milk may become even less unless you continue to pump. I always went to my midwife or a lactation specialist and asked what their thoughts were. There are medicines out there that can increase your milk flow. Breast feeding obviously is best but, sometimes not always enough. Good luck to you and I say always do what you feel is best for your baby. P.

Hi D.- I am a postpartum doula and work with a lot of moms with their breastfeeding situations. To answer your question, no there is no limit to how much your body is capable of making. Milk is brought in completely by supply and demand, more demand, more supply. The best way to increase your milk supply is to take 24 hrs and go to bed with your son. Encourage him to nurse as often as possible. He will not get into a habit in only one 24 hr period. Ideally he will nurse many, many times within that 24 hr. period and within another 2-3 days you should see a significant increase in your supply.
If you are pumping more than you are feeding him in person that can have a direct link to how much milk you produce. Even the best pumps can't compare with a babies efficient suck. If you don't already have a very high grade pump than I would get one fast since it sounds like you are pumping a lot. If you need recommendations I would be happy to chat with you, or you can contact a lactation consultant at the hospital you gave birth at.
My other question is how big is he? It is not often but sometimes a 4 1/2 month old who is already a good size may need to start on some baby food. You can talk with your pediatrician about this. In the meantime, take some time off to spend getting your milk supply up, give him the frozen milk you have already and be confident in your ability to make more milk for him. If you would like to chat on the phone please feel free to call me and I can answer more of your questions.
L. D. ###-###-####

He is probably going through a growth spurt. It's all about supply and demand. The more you put him on to feed the more milk your body will produce. When you are at home, try nursing every couple of hours. This will signal your body to make more milk to keep up with his demand. My little ones (I have three), all went through phases where in the evenings they were nursing every hour to hour and a half. This usually lasted for a few days and then they would go back to every 3 to 4 hours, as my body would start making more milk to keep up with them. If you can add an extra time during the day to pump, when you away from him, that would help, too. I hope this helps! Nursing is hard work, but very much worth the effort.

Dawnn C. There is a natural supplement I bought at GNC store to help with your milk supply. They were helpful with me I breastfeed until 10 months, and went back to work fulltime at 5 months, pumping every 4 hours at work on my breaks. I forget the name of the pills right now but like I said ask at the GNC store then you can always buy it anywhere if what to. I also heard that if you pumped every 3-4 hours if your baby needed or not your milk supply would increase. Hope this helps, its the best feeling in the world to know how much you are doing for your little one!!! C. G.

hey, D., you should relax about all of this and know your limitations! it is not a sin to give yourself some liberation by feeding the baby what you CAN of breastmilk and then move over to formula. some moms would pay to do as good as you have.

all i can think to tell you is eat more, pump more and have him try to nurse more frequently... la leche will tell you the same... and its not so much eating more as the other two things... but all that work and you will probably be hungrier. contact the la leche league or your neighborhood hospital's breastfeeding experts and anyone who tells you its time to give up is wrong... when you think your at the end, its your choice, if you need more help, let me know. the vitamin cottage was always my best resource, also.

I agree with what the other ladies have said. There is a lag time from when your son starts eating more and when your milk supply catches up. Unless he had serious problems with weight he will be fine. If you supplement with formula then your milk supply will not catch up. Also, my 7 mo old son is breastfeed exclusively and I still can't get more than 4 oz every 2 1/2 hours. Good luck!

Hi!

My suggestion would be to see a lactation consultant. There is a lot of suport available. Here are a few ideas:

Bosom Buddies has lactation consultants that will come see you at home or work

La Leche League

Health One has lactation groups that meet several times a week

The best advice I can give in the meantime is, don't wait to correct this or turn it around. A lot of the advice you get from other Mom's is not professional advice. There might be an underlying issue that needs to be addressed.

I have more suggestions for other help if you need it. Private message me anytime. I've been in your shoes and with the help of a professional lactation consultant I was able to turn it around.

T.

As far as I have read the frozen breast milk is only good for a month in the freezer so I would start using that quickly. Also-what has helped me tremedously with production and sleeping is to give him a bottle of formula before bed (between 8:30-10). He usually drinks about 6 oz and sleeps for 5-6 hours. It has been a lifesaver. By doing this and him sleeping longer, it helps me engorge more so that I can usually pump 4-5 oz when I get up in the morning. I was scared at first of giving him a bottle let alone formula but it has really helped both of us and he has no problems latching on.I hope this helps!!

Hi D.,
I know there are herbal preperations that can help. I think one is called 'Mothers Milk'. I took fenugreek capsules. For ME, this worked amazingly well. Make sure you are breastfeeding as much as possible. I would avoid the added formula bottle, as this will further diminish your own supply. Night feedings actually help to increase your milk supply. Someone had suggested a beer. I have heard this too. Go for one made with REAL ingredients. Not a coors light, but one made with real wheat, hops and barley grains.
Good luck to you!!!
L.

I wouldn't worry too much, usually it's a matter of supply and demand with nursing. If you haven't already you might consider giving a bit of rice cereal in his night bottle. When both of my girls hit about six weeks they started to get very fuusy in the evening, my mom said "that baby is hungry, feed her cereal!" I resisted alot because I was told not to yet by the Dr. but finnally I gave in to " mother knows best " and what do you know my girls were happy and full and slept through the night at a very early age. The other thing you can do is pump,pump, pump. Pump even at times even when he is asleep and the stimulation will cause more production, and 1 or 2 bottles of formula won't hurt him. Scientist make huge money developing formulas so it must have something good in it. I hope I've been some help.

Good Luck
and
God Bless
D.