Hi,
After a rough start to BF with DD, I had an easy time for the 19 months I BF her. With DS it has been smooth sailing from the start - apart from slight oversupply and fast letdown issues initially.
I have always had a good supply, so when I heard of a local woman who was looking for breast milk donations, I was all too happy to help out. I still had some frozen milk as I sometimes have to pump for comfort, but never end up giving it to DS. I also want to provide her with continued, regular donations (she's unable to make enough due to a breast reduction surgery she had as a teenager).
I started pumping yesterday (have a tommee tippe manual pump) and was shocked how little milk I got. I used to be able to fill a 250ml bottle relatively quickly. But that was when I felt very full. I had no idea how much my supply had settled.
I found it took forever to trigger a letdown.
I expressed twice today and only got 60ml all up.
I am now a little worried that I might have been in the process of losing my milk. DS has taken to solids so well, that maybe I was overfeeding him with solids and he was not getting enough milk anymore???
That really scares me, as I want to feed DS for some time yet. So maybe it was a good thing that I started pumping again as i caught it before it was too late.
Or maybe I'm just completely overreacting. Which is probablly the case. It's just that I never had to worry about not having enough, so this really caught me off guard.
So, i guess this is what I'm gonna do to increase supply:
Feed often
Express a few times a day
Drink plenty of water
I don't really want to take any supplements unless it is really necessary to sustain my own child.
What an amazing gessture, being prepared to express breastmilk for some-one who can't provide enough for her own baby.
Your body is doing a fabulous job nourishing your baby. The evidence is before you eyes - your baby. However, your body didn't know it was required to feed the whole neighbourhood. It's just feeding your baby, tailoring the amount it makes exactly to your baby's needs. And it was working beautifully. Expressing has made you second guess the situation. Of course you don't need to take supplements to feed your own child - not even anyone else's.
Read this carefully: Milk doesn't *just dry up*
It's a myth.
When your baby removes milk from the breast you make milk.
If you want to express for this other lady, your body will eventually get the message to make more milk. You will also get cannier about when/how to express. You may find it easier to feed her one side and then express the other - so that you baby stimulates your milk ejection reflex. You might find it easier to express after your baby has had a long sleep - when your breasts are fuller.
You are doing a great job, you don't need to drink copious amounts of water and you don't need do anything extra to feed your baby.
Barb, of course you were right. And I kinda knew that. It's the kind of thing I have been telling women all the time. I don't know why i freaked out. It was good to hear the encouragement from you, though.
Jennifer, don't be proud of me. i consider myself lucky that I have only had very minor BFing issues. But I did have some initial issues (like many women) and because of that i never took it for granted. i know how upset I would have been if I hadn't been able to feed.
The real hero is the other lady. She can't make enough milk. There is nothing she can do about that. Most women would have just resigned to giving formula. To reach out and look for BM donors is definitely taking the hard road. So I am very proud of her and more than happy supporting someone who is so determined.
Donating Breastmilk
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