Safely increasing supply while meeting bfing needs of 1 y.o.

[HoneyTree]

Hey, mamas.

I am trying to increase my supply to 24 extra ounces a day over a period of the next four months. I'm presently nursing my 1 y.o., but I have no idea how much milk he gets as I've never pumped and measured. But I can tell you that he "snacks" 4-6 times during the day, but seriously nurses to sleep at the 2X daily naps and at night, and then snacks throughout the night, too.

How many ounces a day can I safely pump to acheive my goal by the end of April while not compromising my 1 y.o.'s supply? What kind of pumping schedule would best facilitate reaching my goal?

TIA for your help.

[HoneyTree]

Bump!

By way of an update, I started yesterday, pumping after 1 y.o. had eaten in the morning, and got 3 oz. Later that afternoon, I got 1 oz. Now this morning, pumping after ds's breakfast, I got about 1/2 oz. Maybe I'm going too fast? Do I want to be pumping more frequently? Only once per day?

My basic question is, how quickly does the body respond to the increased need, in what amount, and what's the most efficient way to pump that extra milk?

[HoneyTree]

OK, I'm just going to keep chattering away here, all by my lonesome!

I read today about increasing your supply and found out about increasing the frequency of pumping, pumping with the baby at the other breast, and expecting about 2-4 oz. per pumping session. So it seems like my initial goal of working up to 24 oz. per day is a little unrealistic, or at least unusual. That said, I'll be eating oatmeal for breakfast for a while and drinking some fenugreek tea! Does anyone know if it's at all likely that I'll be able to pump twice a day and get from 6 to 12 oz. at a time? Can you "train" your body to do something like that?

On kellymom.com, she says the first step to start increasing your supply is to examine your pump. My pump is old and rickety. It makes strange, strained sounds and randomly decreases the speed and sucking. So I guess I need to invest in a new one.

I don't *think* my son has been getting less milk per feeding since I've started pumping, though I'm going only by his lack of signs of frustrations, and that makes me a little nervous.

Still, any advice or anecdotes would be most welcome!

[mambera]

Did you have an oversupply when you first started nursing your LO?

I think the average milk intake for an infant is around 20-30 oz/day. So if your 1 y/o is still getting about that much, and you want an extra 24 oz, that means you are expecting to approximately double your supply.

I think that could be difficult. I think your body sets an upper limit for milk supply in the early days of nursing your LO. So if you initially had a big oversupply, I think it's possible you could bring yourself back to that amount by assiduous pumping. But I doubt you could get *more* than you were making when your LO was small by pumping at this point, without taking domperidone or reglan.

For increasing supply, typically they say you need to pump 8-12x/day, preferably with a hospital-grade pump.

I would try pumping directly after feeds, every time you nurse your son. That minimizes the danger of taking his milk since you are only pumping his leftovers.

[mysticmomma]

why?

[HoneyTree]

Shucks. I don't have an oversupply, and never have, so I doubt I'm going to set any records here.

I'm pumping for my sister, who is pregnant and due at the end of April. She had a double mastectomy in October of 2006. I set her up with a local mama friend of mine who DID have an oversupply and who was more than happy to pump for her, but now my sister's unsure about using my friend's milk since she doesn't know her well.

I had thought I'd be able to pump and get her at least a 6 month supply, but at this rate, it looks like I'd have to work really hard to get her half a month.

This is disappointing.

[SubliminalDarkness]

Originally Posted by HoneyTree

Shucks. I don't have an oversupply, and never have, so I doubt I'm going to set any records here.

I'm pumping for my sister, who is pregnant and due at the end of April. She had a double mastectomy in October of 2006. I set her up with a local mama friend of mine who DID have an oversupply and who was more than happy to pump for her, but now my sister's unsure about using my friend's milk since she doesn't know her well.

I had thought I'd be able to pump and get her at least a 6 month supply, but at this rate, it looks like I'd have to work really hard to get her half a month.

This is disappointing.

Hmm... I'd really work at getting her to reconsider accepting milk from other donors. There are ways to insure that your donor is safe. And certainly, there's no way to know that formula itself is 'safe.' Aside from general formula risks, there've been contaminations and things along those lines....

[HoneyTree]

That would be the most elegant solution, but I have to tread carefully. It's a delicate subject, and our communication isn't stellar. What might I tell her about making sure donor milk is safe? I can personally vouch for this donor's health and well being, but for my sister, I think it's the "weird" factor. But I'd love to be able to just sprinkle into our next conversation a few tidbits to help her reconsider...

[SubliminalDarkness]

I'll try and come back in the morning and post some links as I'm not feeling well and doing that would just put me under right now, lol. But....

The basic idea is that there's nothing 'weird' about another woman's breastmilk. Certainly nothing more 'weird' about feeding a child the "breastmilk" of a cow somewhere you've never met. Actually, a LOT of cows! And that's what formula is. (even soy formula has cow's milk proteins in it).
Donor milk is not unsafe. It's not AS good as the breastmilk of the child's own mother, but given this situation where there is no alternative....
Milkshare would be a good option, as if she were to try to even start off exclusively feeding donor milk, likely one donor wouldn't be sufficient. I have a friend with low supply problems, and at this point her 3 month old has already gotten milk from nine donors.

[GoGoGirl]

Hi mama, I just wanted to say that I really admire what you're trying to do and good luck to you!

I've been pumping to donate since DD was about 2 months old. I didn't have any kind of oversupply either, so I'm guessing I was starting in a similar place (regular supply? ) as you are. I managed to work my supply up to about 10 extra ounces a day at it's highest point. That was in 2 pumping sessions, so maybe 4 oz during the day and 6 at night. Now I'm doing 1 pumping session a day, and getting about 4 oz. When I was making 10 extra oz, I was eating oatmeal, drinking tons of water, and drinking Mother's Milk tea.

I guess my advice would be to do what you can, but try not to put too much pressure on yourself. At one point, I was getting too caught up in the numbers, like how many days it would take me to pump 1 day's worth of milk for the donor baby, or what percentage of the donor baby's needs could I meet. I think it just added unnecessary stress. ANY breastmilk is better than none. You're doing an amazing thing for your sister. Even if you only end up pumping 3 oz a day.

I donated my breastmilk on Milkshare...you can mention to your sister that lots of donors on Milkshare are happy to provide their results from their pregnancy blood work. That might help your sister feel more comfortable.

[mambera]

Yeah, I would strongly urge your sis to reconsider the ook factor on donor milk.

There's also the issue that the composition of your milk changes as your baby ages, so toddler milk is not optimal for a newborn. She'd be better off using at least some milk from a donor with a younger baby.

Ditto the PP on admiration for the OP. Good for you for working so hard for your niece/nephew!

[HoneyTree]

GoGoGirl, I so appreciate that perspective. I'm especially holding on to "do what you can, don't get caught up in the numbers, and any breastmilk is better than no breastmilk." What a gift--thank you.

Mamabera, that was the kicker with this donor I had lined up--her baby was a month old. It would have been good.

SubliminalDarkness, I couldn't agree more. But it's not ME I have to convince! My sister is...not a breastfeeding advocate. She has an older son, now 12, and after bf'ing him for three months, she's not even a breastfeeding fan. She would have been perfectly content to formula feed (her opinion is that "formulas have come a long way"), but I offered the milk and the nutritional benefits at every opportunity until she finally agreed. So I have to proceed slowly and gently. She's touchy, and if I offend her, her likely response will be to tell me to forget the whole thing, that she's going to take care of her own damn baby, etc. This has been our dynamic our whole lives--I come across as pushy and know-it-all to her, she comes across as touchy and stubborn to me.

Mamas, thank you for all your responses. I got 3 oz. this morning, on day 3 of pumping!

[SubliminalDarkness]

Originally Posted by HoneyTree

SubliminalDarkness, I couldn't agree more. But it's not ME I have to convince! My sister is...not a breastfeeding advocate. She has an older son, now 12, and after bf'ing him for three months, she's not even a breastfeeding fan. She would have been perfectly content to formula feed (her opinion is that "formulas have come a long way"), but I offered the milk and the nutritional benefits at every opportunity until she finally agreed. So I have to proceed slowly and gently. She's touchy, and if I offend her, her likely response will be to tell me to forget the whole thing, that she's going to take care of her own damn baby, etc. This has been our dynamic our whole lives--I come across as pushy and know-it-all to her, she comes across as touchy and stubborn to me.

If she had breast cancer, I would make a point of showing her the stats on reducing your child's risk of breast cancer by breastfeeding them. (obviously, she wouldn't be able to "breastfeed," but breastmilk would still have almost the same benefits.

[GoGoGirl]

Oh, and I have a little story about how any breastmilk is better than none.

I have an adult family member who is currently getting chemo for stage 4 cancer. My SIL and I have been pumping for her. We're giving her about 3 oz a day.

Since she's been getting this little bit of breastmilk, she hasn't gotten sick at all. No colds or bugs or anything (in winter!) even though she has a very depressed immune system. Her chemo is also working really well, so well that the doctors are surprised and impressed.

And that's just 3 oz of breastmilk a day! So do what you can mama, and be so so so proud of yourself.

(Oh, and I'm happy to talk about tactical advice on pumping to donate too. If you have any questions PM me!)

[Kwgrlup]

I think you could easily get 10-12 ounces a day. You would need to be wiling to pump several times a day though. I have pumped for my sisters children, while nursing my last two children. I pumped 18-23 ounces a day for her son, and presently pump 12-15 ounces a day for her daughter. I started pumping the day my milk came in though, so my body has been making extra milk from the beginning. Goodluck, I think it is a wonderful reason to pump for your sister....