Low-Milk Supply Tribe - Page 7

[aussiemum]

Whoa! That's very interesting. So, how did domperidone get to be known as a milk supply increasing drug?? And okay, I'm a little clueless sometimes, but how do you get a script for a drug that's not available in your own country?? Can you really just pick what you want off the net & import it???

and this bit from dscokween's link might be of interest to some who are importing.... not that I want to panic anybody, but forewarned is forearmed.....

The Agency also is issuing an Import Alert which alerts FDA field personnel to be on the lookout for attempts to import this drug so that it can be detained and refused admission into the U.S. if appropriate.

[Vixxen]

From what I understand this is is just a proposal from the FDA and it didn't go through. At least that's what another mom told me and she gets her domperidone stateside and recently ordered some with no problem at all. Also my LC told me that this drug has been used many years outside the US with no problems at all. I've come to the conclusion that this is all a control issue with the FDA. They like to have their hands everywhere possible. Dr. Newman wrote an interesting response to the FDA's notice. Here is a link to his response. http://www.breastfeeding.org/article...ridone_jn.html

[myboyz]

This may be too late but I will ask anyhow. My DS is 10months and really doesn't want to nurse. I am new at this so I turned to others and was told he was weaning. I thought it was early but didn't really know what to do. I have sense heard he is on a nursing strike. Here is the problem as it is many folds...My supply is way down as I have been supplimenting more lately. I try to nurse first and then offer food or a sippy after. I wonder if my supply is so low that he get frustrated and that is why he pulls off so much. This has been going on for about 3 months. My husband is not very suppotive in this area at all. He total thinks I should quit. Really it looks mean as I try to get him on and he pushes away and cries. I now understand that they do get distracted and go on strike but for this long? I am not sure, if it isn't to late, if I should try to build up my suplly or not. Part of me feels I could go part-time a few more months. I am not sure how I feel ( for myself) about extended nursing in general and with him like this. I ALSO have almost no one around that supports nursing or extended nursing for that matter. I do not want to regret giving up but it really isn't enjoyable for anyone around.

Thanks for any imput.

[aussiemum]

Well sweetie, that's a tough one, to be honest. My DH was less than supportive of my efforts at nursing our kids- when I am being fair & honest, I think part of it was that he was worried that our kids would be harmed from the FTT. So was I, but I was so desperate to make bf'ing work out that in hindsight I think I was blinded to what my babies actually wanted..... not sure if that makes any sense......

I think I need a bit more detail here, myboyz. Does your DS have low/ no weight gain? Where is he on those dreaded growth charts? Has he changed much? Is he eating solids regularly now, or mostly BM/ formula? Have you tried pumping to see how much BM you get when you pump? (you can also use this expressed milk in a sippy cup, so it doesn't go to waste) I am not a lactation consultant, just going on my own experiences here, (Victorian? DaryLLL?-- help!!) these ladies will no doubt have better advice than I do, but I'm just asking a few questions to try & work out what might be happening with your little one...

I have heard of some babies self-weaning before one year, even if there's no supply problems, so..... This is a tough one... IMO, it's one of those things where you have to search your own heart & try & understand your true & deepest feelings about bf'ing & weaning.... not sure if that makes any sense either..... but I hope it helps a little at least.....

[myboyz]

Thanks for your reply! What is FTT.? He is okay with the growth chart but is hungry more then I realize sometimes, which makes me feel soooo bad. He eats baby food (3 so jars a day plus cheerios) and some formula(12-16oz.) I can not express but a tsp or so. When I had a pump I only got 1-2 oz. I think we are feeding off of each other. I am tense as I know he is going to pull or bite so I don't get much let down and then he gets more frustrated...and on and on.

Thanks!

[aussiemum]

FTT = failure to thrive. My first child was diagnosed with this at about 7 weeks, from memory. It was pretty scary for a while- she didn't actually regain her birthweight until I started supplementing at around 10 weeks. My memory is a little fuzzy, but I think it was three months when she finally reached 8 lbs. (weighed 7lbs 12 oz at birth)

from what you've said so far, it does sound to me like your little fellow is self-weaning. He sounds like he enjoys his solids, so it doesn't surprise me that he's taking a small-ish amount of milk. However, as I said before, I am in no way an expert on this stuff!! So get a second opinion, okay??

okay, now I do also think that tensing up when he nurses is going to give you trouble too. Have you tried putting up a thread on the breastfeeding section of the boards asking if anyone else has had this happen, & what they tried to do to deal with it? I'm willing to brainstorm, but you might find it more useful to get advice first from mamas who've dealt with this personally.

hope that helps a bit more.....

[karenge]

Hey Drema, Sorry I didnt reply sooner. I got a call from my mom at 5 am on thursday saying she had to call 911 b/c my dad couldnt breathe. He has lung cancer, so i hopped the first plane to come from NC down to FL. I have been here almost a week now. I am spending most of my day at the hospital, we are only nursing in the morning b/c thats the only time i am here. MY dh keeps the kids the rest of the day. I didnt even nurse him this moring b/c I was too tired to wake up, dh had to get up with the kids. Now I am full of milk but the baby refuses to nurse We havent been together much the past week, so its understandable, but still sad. We will probably be here for another couple weeks, depending on how things go. At this point my dad is still in the icu. He could get a little better and live a few more months or we could be signing up for hospice care soon I have never cried so much in my life. I would love to keep nursing but under the circumstances I wouldnt be surprised if my milk dried up, from stress, not eating and just plain not nursing. PLease pray for my dad.
I will try to get back on here tomorrow.
thank you
karen

[aussiemum]

Karen---

[Vixxen]

Oh Karen I'm so sorry you have had such a rough time. I hope things get better for you soon. I will definitely pray for you and your family.

[anabean]

sorry to hear about that, karen.

i was wondering if y'all could check this thread i just started http://www.mothering.com/discussions...71#post1822671

and maybe give me some wisdom?

thanks!!

[DetroitMom]

Wow, I never would have guessed there were so many of us! It's great to know I'm not alone. DS no longer uses formula anymore and Enfamil just sent me 2 new cans of formula and coupons. If anyone would like them please pm me.

Kate

[Vixxen]

Do Any of you ladies have experience with any of motherlove.com's products? In particular the More Milk Plus Special Blend? I have ordered and it should be here tomorrow. I'll let you know what kind of results I have with it.

[MomaKat]

Hello,

I'm just coming to terms with the fact that I'm not producing enough milk for my daughter. She will be 6 months old next week, and has been exclusively breast fed (except the few solid foods we have experimented with in the last 2 weeks or so), but has been a very slow gainer (still under 12 lb, born at 7lb 2oz). We have nursed A LOT the last 6 months, and I plan to continue, but am beginning supplementation.

She seems to be developing appropriately, but when offered a bottle with formula the last few days she has been eating ravenously, and she is SO much less fussy and sleeps better (how bad do I feel). I finally saw a LC this week and will go again next week, but would love some tips from some experienced moms.

I'm wondering about what type of formula you all use (or does it matter). I think I will use a soy based formula but want to avoid genetically modified soybeans. The organic formula I bought has brown rice syrup as the first ingredient, isn't that just a fancy way to say sugar?

Also, I believe I need to supplement, but don't want whatever supply I have to dwindle. Is there a schedule I should follow or other tips to keep it up. I'm taking fenugreek, and pumping a lot with the pump I got from the LC, but that will go back next week.

Thanks,
Katie

[Law of Kindness]

Hi!

Hi there! I'm not an expert on any of your questions, but I believe that soy is not recommended unless your child has a milk allergy, it's inferior to milk based formulas. However I am sure vegetarians would argue with me.

That information comes from Dr. Sears BTW. :-)

Also, regarding supplementing.... THere is a lady named Kathy at Ivillage who is a RN and a certified Lactation consultant.

She answers medical type lactation question!!!
http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv...tfeed/?ctx=128

[aussiemum]

I can't remeber now what brand of formula I used, but I did use a cow's milk based formula. So far my kids have shown no signs of ill-effects of dairy.... could just be luck tho. I think it also depends a bit on your DDs genetic background- my understanding is that different racial groups have different tolerances to dairy (don't remember where that's come from, so you'll have to track down sources). Our family ancestry is, as far as we know, predominantly mixed northern European- supposedly one of the groups better able to tolerate dairy.

I'd have to think hard before I decided to use a non-dairy supplement. Have you seen Mothering Mag's recent article on soy? It caused a bit of a fuss in some parts, but it was interesting reading. And we still use soy products at our house, as a part of an omnivorous diet.

[chlobo]

Joining the tribe

So my first foray into breastfeeding has been anything but smooth. For the first 5 months of her life, DD went to a female ped. The entire time the ped was concerned about DD's weight gain, although she never suggested I see a lactation consultant and never went as far as to recommend supplementation or switching to formula. Nevertheless I was in the office of frequent weight checks but she never seemed to alarmed.

At around 5 months I switched pediatricians for a variety of reasons. The new pediatrician was somewhat concerned about the weight so I ended up having to go in to see him a few times. Between months 6 & 7 DD only gained 2 oz. and the doctor recommended that I "up" her consumption of solids, which I did. I also, of my own accord, saught out a new lactation consultant to have the situation checked out. Turns out that I was on the low production end so that DD wasn't getting enough milk. Enter extreme guilt.

So I tried to take measures to do what I could to up production at this late date (rented a hospital grade pump & pumped after every feeding, took herbs, etc). At the same time (and really for a couple of months) DD has been having a terrible time sleeping. She would wake frequently with stomach discomfort and not be able to go back to sleep. The ped. was no help. He merely said everyone has gas.

So I finally went to an allergist (I had already been off dairy and it didn't seem to matter) and he recommended an elimination diet that was pretty severe (no dairy, no gluten, no fun, in fact I can only eat like 8 foods). After about 2 weeks it became clear that DD was having a problem with the herbs I was taking to boost my supply (fenugreek & blessed thistle). So I ditched those (and hence my supply has dipped again). And generally DD is much better. However, every 3 or 4 days she again has trouble sleeping due to excess gas and stomach discomfort. Sometimes its just one night, sometimes its 2 or 3.

I am so discouraged that I've gone through all these hoops and all I have to show for it is guilt that I wasn't producing enough to feed my daughter (and not feeding her enough) and a daughter who just seems like she can't get a good night's sleep. And I'm quite tired of chicken, turkey, melon and bananas. Quite frankly, I'm just plain tired from getting up a lot at night and I'm very depressed.

I'm also quite mad the both pediatricians. Neither even suggested I supplement. And when I went to see the LC she wondered why the first pediatrician hadn't identified the problem earlier and suggested measures to correct it. So I now have all this guilt associated with 1) not being able to produce enough to feed my child and 2) not recognizing that I wasn't and providing an alternative source for her. I'm also frustrated b/c on the elimination diet and I take any of the things that are supposed to help supply. I've ordered some Dom but it is slow in getting here. I hope things improve. I am actually thinking of quitting.

[aussiemum]

Hey chlobo, it sounds like you've had such a rough time of it!!! Oh sweetie....

Now seriously, seriously, take a deep breath. You do not have to quit breastfeeding, okay? It's fine to give yourself a bit of a break, & not feel like you have to give it up all together, okay?

So, how old is your DD now? How much does she weigh? Have you introduced solid foods yet? Is there anything other than gas & difficulty sleeping at night that might indicate allergies, excema, etc., & that might make you concerned about giving her something other than breast milk? Do you think that is primarily caused by the herbs???

Oh dear, I'm sorry to throw so many questions at you, sorry to be so.... clinical sounding - I'm not an LC or anything like that- just been down this slow weight gain track before..... & maybe there is a way thru without throwing it all in together.

I so know what it's like to have one of those days...

[chlobo]

Hi,

Fire away with questions. Nice to know someone is interested, even if its not the peds.

She's 9 months old. Not sure how much she weighs. We have an appt tomorrow to get weighed. We've been giving her solids regularly since 7 months old (per the ped's suggestion). She did start to gain better after we introduced the solids.

We definitely think the herbs caused some of the gassiness. After I went on the elmination diet she got much better so we retried the herbs and she got very gassy again. I do think that we were giving her way too many prunes and that contributed, but the herbs definitely caused a problem.

She also had a rash on her chest that led me to believe it might be allergies. And of course the slow weight gain, which I heard can sometimes be caused by allergies. The allergist thought so also, but that might be because he sees what he wants. To his credit, he did say it may not be allergies but we might see a difference as these things sometimes just clear up on their own.

At this point I've added oatmeal back into my diet. I hope it helps my supply at least a little. I'm waiting on the Dom, which should be here any day. I hope that helps too.

[aussiemum]

Hello. I'm glad to hear the domperidone is on it's way-- from memory of other posts here you may find that it takes a week or so after taking it that you see an increase in supply. In the meantime, have you thought about giving your DD a supplement bottle, if you think it might help her with the fussiness/gassiness? It doesn't have to be forever, just until you can get a boost in supply.....

[Vixxen]

Oh you poor thing....I'm so sorry you have been through such heartache. I truely know how dissappointing it is to not be able to produce enough for your baby. I really hope the domperidone helps and that it arrives soon. If it is any consolation the dom was about the only thing that really helped me. I am on a tincture now called more milk special blend from motherlove.com that seems to be helping too, but from what you have said about the herbs causing your daughter to be gassy I don't think that would be a good route for you to take. Let us know how you are doing! *hugs hugs*