I've been working with my LC and I have low milk supply. We have a plan of BF Comping and feeding EBM and pumping with the hopes my supply will pick up in a few weeks.
I can get about 30 - 40mls out when I express which is about half what bubs needs each feed.
Is there anything else I can take to increase my supply? I have bought the Nursing Tea to help.
Have you tried lactation cookies? There's a recipe around BB somewhere, but I'm on my phone so I can't find it for you. They seemed to work pretty well for me, plus they're REALLY yummy
Make sure you are drinking enough water and like TB said- try the cookies, they are super yummmmmm my kids stil ask me to make them once aweek just for them to eat
If AF is coming, that sometimes can decrease you for a few days. keep bub sucking and if you can- express can help build you back up. Hope you can get it back
Fenugreek works well hun. You can buy capsules rather than drinking the tea. My supply wasn't great either but I found with the expressing in between feeds it did boost. It's a pain in the butt to have to express all the time but once it was boosted I had no probs. I think around the 10 week mark things were better and I stopped giving a top up. Good luck, you're doing a great job
Thanks guys, yep got the lactation cookies recipe going to get the ingredients on the weekend The tea isn't too bad just a stong aniseed smell so I hold my nose
Our feed sessions at the moment are bubs on boob for 10-15mins or as long as it takes for her sucking to stop due to no flow. Then top up with EBM and then formula if needed.
Then pump. Only time I don't pump is the early morning feed, when I'm usually had it and just want to go back to bed, but I make sure I have EBM for that feed. If I am awake though I pump.
I'm happy to do it and even if I can only give her some its better than none! thanks for the information on how long it took for you Babyluv, gives me an idea of how long it might take.
I was also gonna say the cookies and fenurgreek tablets. If you're an Asthamtic, stay away from the fenugreek as I have read some research which suggests it can effect it.
Can I just ask why your comping rather than letter your DD finish the feed?
Only reason I ask is because the more baby stimulation to the breast the better. Pump is better than nothing but the best pump is your baby.
And as the others have said, make sure you're drinking enough water. Its heating up now so you could be getting a bit dry.
Becuase she is finished, I've had the LC check and the flow just stops after about 10 - 15mins and she stops sucking or falls asleep and that is on the left side. On the right the flow is so slow she fusses and again has trouble staying awake. I've had her on for hours in the past, however she is just exhausted and still hungry afterwards.
LC thinks this is the best way forward to increase my supply without compromising my daughters health, and from the turn around I've seen since we have been comping I would have to agree.
Yep tried all that. Compresssions keeping her awake the works. Even had DD checked to make sure she is suckling properly. It's all me unfortunalty. Yeah by pumping I mean an hour or 2 later not straight away, sorry.
Congratulations on your little girl!
Sounds like you've had a tricky start to feeding - well done on all your hard work so far!
How often are you feeding now? Does she take both sides each time?
So you feed, top up, then pump an hour or so later (to use for next topup)? Has your LC suggested a supply line to get more milk in while she's at the breast? Another suggestion is doing a topup feed at the breast 30 mins or so after your last feed. More baby time at the breast is more effective stimulation than a pump (but I agree that spendign hours at the breast is not necessarily the best way to do that)
All the best - let us know how you get on
I had low supply with my first and had to comp feed for a few months before getting back to sole breast feeding. I took Motillium, expressed after every feed, topped up. fed whenever bub wanted it.
I also tried the cookies, and took fenugreek and blessed thistle. All this together worked really well. It didn't happen overnight, took about 4 months to get back to a full supply.
With the Motillium, who perscribed it for you? I would be interested in boosting my supply so long as it was ok for bubs
MadB I'm demand feeding now, so between 6 - 8 feeds atm. She does take both sides each time. Yep thats what I'm doing. No she didn't suggest a supply line, what is that? Hmm that might be an idea to put her back on, poor love she loves booby but gets so worn out because the flow stops bah.
Some background is I had to have a Cesearian due to High BP and Cholestasis and bubs was not engaged and it was risky to do an induction (later found out that her cord was really short and wrapped around her neck twice so induction would have resulted in emergancy C/S anyway and that is most likley why she was not engaged too) My milk didn't come in until day 4-5 and it was very low to start with 10mls or something silly? DD loss almost 14% of her body weight and ended up quite jaundice so needed to be comped in hospital to prevent her getting even more dehydrated and unwell. She was also very sleepy due to the jaundice which meant I had to wake to feed. I've been working on my supply ever since then.
Thanks for the help guys. It is hard going but I'm hopeful that I will be able to get my supply going.
You've got a great attitude lolpigs, so with the right support team you should get there
Yes, go back to your LC and ask about motillium, it may be appropriate in this instance (and it's quite safe for babies, many mothers use it long term to keep their supply up).
Is your LC an IBCLC? I'm not dissing her as she may well be fantastic, but do consider always getting 2nd opinions - often different LCs will have different ideas about things and it can take 2 or 3 to hit on the right one for you (that was my experience first time round).
A supply line is a thin tube that your LC can help you set up. it attaches to the breast and means your baby can get a topup from EBM or ABM via the tube while she's sucking at the breast. An LC woudl be able to help you with that and determine whether it's appropriate clinically.
I would suggest aiming for 8 feeds at an absolute minimum in 24 hours. 6 really isn't enough for a young baby - I do appreciate it's hard when they're sleepy & jaundiced though, I'm sure you're already trying very hard.
Important question - do you have lots of help and support at home?
I been struggling with a low supply since DD was born (shes now 8.5 weeks old) but we have gotten through and are still breastfeeding. I tried the fenugreek, it wasnt bad but wasnt great. I decided to go with the breastfeeding support tablets which is a combined mix of fenugreek and bless thistle and it seems to be working really well. I found swapping and changing breasts seem to do wonderful things with my supply. So feed on the right, once she started fussing, switch to left, fussing, switch back to right etc. That might help? good luck! your doing a great job It all gets so much easier as they grow xx
My GP prescribed it for me. I had to tell him what for as he didn't click with the increased lactation side effect of it at first I took 4 tablets a day. Along with 2 capsules of fenugreek and blessed thistle 3 times a day.
I also used a supply line, it was just one of those feeding tubes, one end in the bottle of ebm/formula, the other end into the corner of bubs mouth once he was attached. You can control the flow as well. Hold it higher than your breast to get a faster flow, below your breast to slow the flow so bub has to suck more. This was our method as DS had a weak suck (3 weeks early, c/s). With the supply line, you get the nipple stimulation which will boost your supply. Really worth looking into.
Sounds like you have a great mindset about it all. I won't lie, it was a lot of hard work, long nights, lots of tears but we got it working and was well worth the effort.
My GP prescribed it for me. I had to tell him what for as he didn't click with the increased lactation side effect of it at first I took 4 tablets a day. Along with 2 capsules of fenugreek and blessed thistle 3 times a day.
I also used a supply line, it was just one of those feeding tubes, one end in the bottle of ebm/formula, the other end into the corner of bubs mouth once he was attached. You can control the flow as well. Hold it higher than your breast to get a faster flow, below your breast to slow the flow so bub has to suck more. This was our method as DS had a weak suck (3 weeks early, c/s). With the supply line, you get the nipple stimulation which will boost your supply. Really worth looking into.
Sounds like you have a great mindset about it all. I won't lie, it was a lot of hard work, long nights, lots of tears but we got it working and was well worth the effort.
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