Low Milk Supply

Woohoo! :leap:

Dissapointing news, looks like without the pumping and all the extra work I can't maintain the supply my flow slowed again over the last 24hours and bubs went back to falling asleep after 5 mins on the boob and being starving again after a feed.

I've decided to Keep pumping and feeding EBM, still feed boob and top up with formula as needed. She is far more contented that way and we have had a rough time the last few days.

Thanks for all the support. If it does happen to get my supply to a point where I can exclusivley BF I will, if not at least she is getting everything I can give her.

L x

Sorry to hear you got a bit wobbly there again! Same thing happened to me. I have learnt now to be a little ahead with EBM. This helps keep my supply up and also means I have "spare" BM when the little bloke is having a growth spurt. It took about 6-8 weeks until I totally stopped topping up at one or to feeds a day.
Keep in mind there are advantages to all this. Your bub will now take a bottle if needed and you know really well how to express.
Once things settle you'll be able to confidently leave bub with a babysitter and EBM and have a little time for yourself or work.

I've been exactly where you are now with 2 of my babys. You have done so well to come this far and you have given her such a great start you should be proud of yourself :hug:

hang in there - it was 6 weeks before I had my sleepy munchkin off EBM and back to mostly suck-feeding. Try and avoid the top ups as much as you can - feeding again (even if its only half an hour after you fed) is a better long term option.
Wanting to suck again isn't a very good guide to hunger in tiny babies - it can mean everything from tiredness to hunger to a stuck fart. A much better guide is wet nappies and pooh (at least daily for the first weeks). And a period each day (sometimes for a few hours) of wanting to feed constantly is a babies way of increasing your supply.
hugs.

Yeah I tried it for a week doing that and all I got was a screaming hungry baby and my supply started to dip again not improve. I spoke with my mother today about it and it is the same issue she had as well. So perhaps there is a hereditary problem somewhere? LC dosen't know beucase attachment is fine, Lilly is fine and I'm taking everything I can to improve supply and nadda. Either way this works for us and bubby and me are alot less stressed. I'm not going to give up BF, and I'll give her all I can, I'm just going to stop freaking out about it and putting so much stress on myself.

Thanks for the support through this rough time. :)

It's still really early days lolpigs, so don't could yourself out already :hug:
Hope things improve for you

You may find a copy of "the breastfeeding mother's guide to making more milk" helpful too. And possibly think about adding in a FF bottle a day (before bedtime), rather than topping up each feed - much less washing, etc., and still fixing the overall hungry problem.

I was also wondering if anyone had suggested you try a supply line - that way Lilly can continue to learn suck-feeding and stimulate your supply whilst getting the additional milk she needs too.

And if you need some stories from those who have been there and found their own ways of making it work, have a look here:
https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...ourself-85589/

Well, I have to say I could kiss the community nurse I just saw. After struggling with all this, I saw her today and she looked at feeding and said "I think your supply is fine, bubs may be over fed" as we were talking to her about her grazing issue and her gassy problems and she said they are linked and showed me how to tell. She didn't agree with LC that bubs falling asleep at breast meant low flow she just needed to be woken up.

I've decided to keep taking motilium, she suggest 2 tablets twice a day not one as she advised that wouldnt do to much, and then wean off. If all good in a few weeks we can :D

We have been getting hungry signs from her all the time, but its gas instaed and she showed me how to differentiate. All that hard work has paid off, because we just had our first ever 40min feed with nappy change and back to bed in an hour.... I am fully stoked! Most feeds have been taking an hour and a half and 30mins to settle. I have been exhausted. I have to burp her 6 or so times to keep her active but supply was fine!

:dance: glad I persisted, but love my MCHN right now.

yay, there you go!
Just remember - there will be ups and downs from here, with feeding, sleep, etc, etc, but you'll work through it just like you have here. :D

Hi guys,

Thought I woudl drop by now that I can write about it without getting upset. Unfortunatley it didnt work out. During that week when I got my supply going she was screaming after every feed. Her Colic got worse. Then she was constantly hungry after she drained both breasts again. So I went to just pumping and giving EBM instead. No go, still sreaming after each feed and not satisfied, constant stomach issues screaming fits etc. Pead dismissed/didnt think anything of it, as did CHN. Both just said to persiste with BF. After advice from a friend, tried her for 24 hours on formula only and then reintroduced the EBM to see if something about the BM was causing it. During the 24hours her symptoms all but went away and as soon as I reintroducted EBM, the screaming started again. I'm gutted, but for her happyness have put her on full formula. I can't keep hurting her and noone in the medical profession I've spoken to can help me or cares. I still didnt have enough supply to feed her full time anyway by this stage, and I was on the max dose of Motilium which started to make me sick so had to stop.

I really hate my breasts right now and what we have been through, I know I tried my hardest but it still hurts that a part of me is broken. The difference now with my baby is like night and day. No more screaming fits, difficulting toileting or colic, it all dissapeared. I dont know what the issue was but she made the decision for me.

Thanks for your help and support guys. Appreciate it.

L

Yes what your MCHN said didn't sound right to me at all. We had similar problems.

With Motilium I found out later that you need to have a super duper supply in the first place for it to be of any use!! That was from a lot of googling.