Advice needed for a guilty Mama who is starting to supplement due to work

[VTnurse]

Hi ladies. I have a 3 month old daughter and she has been exclusively breastfed until now. I am also breastfeeding my 22 month old son (1-2 times a day, mostly for comfort). I have returned to work and have been unable to keep up with her demand. I'm now considering supplementing 1-2 bottles a day. I know that this is a slippery slope, but I simply can't pump enough (for several reasons). Please reassure me that I should not feel guilty. I continue to co-sleep, breastfeed on demand, etc when we are together. I only work 20 hours a week. I just feel so guilty everytime I think of giving her formula.

[busymama77]

No advice, really, but to you. I wasn't able to pump enough to keep up with his demand, either, and therefore had to switch completely before returning to work (3 weeks ago). The mix of the two was irritating his digestive system and he was not a happy baby at times. Now, he's 100% FF he's MUCH better - sleeping better, much more relaxed, etc., I just did what was best for him and that's all that matters.

[Megan73]

Don't feel guilty. You have to feed your baby and any amount of BM is better than none.
I would investigate a couple of things, though. Is it possible that your caregiver is overfeeding? Kellymom.com has a great milk calculator to figure out how much your babe needs when you're apart and info about bottle feeding the breastfed babe with paced feeding with a low-flow nipple.
Also, you may be able to increase output with galactogogues. Have you seen the book A Breasfeeding Mother's Guide to Making More Milk? I'd also suggest checking your pump parts thoroughly and trying to squeeze in more pumping sessions if you can. Keep in mind that you really don't need to wash the parts during the day.

[haydn'smommy]

I second everything that Megan said.
I'm a FT WOHM and I have a terribly hard time pumping enough if I don't get some help. I have to take domperidone to be able to pump enough. For me the side effect of that is actually an oversupply, so I end up pumping enough to donate too. Without it, though, my output is only about half what my baby needs.
One thing that helps me get a little more is pumping at night when I'm home. We don't co-sleep anymore so I pump right after I put the baby to bed and then again right before I go to bed. That usually gets me an additional 4oz to help supplement what I get when I pump at work. It also seems to really help my supply during the day (when I miss these sessions I pump about 2-3oz less at work during the day). I also make sure to nurse ALOT when I'm home with baby.

[rlmueller]

Where do i get doperidone

help me too (

[MamaChicken]

BTDT
I didn't pump enough with the twins. I went on Dom and it helped some but not enough so we supplemented until they weaned at 17 mo. So we supp'ed for 15 mo without the horrible consequence I was expecting.

[VTnurse]

Thanks for the great advice. The problem for me is that I simply can't pump much during the day for two reasons. Number one: I also have a 22 month old son. It's HARD breastfeeding, nevermind trying to find time to pump. Number two: I am tandem nursing and seriously have nothing left over. I'm debating weaning him, although he's so not ready. I feel like quitting nursing would make me a better mom, but I know that I will be kicking myself in the butt the first time she gets sick. Ugh... so torn!

[kcstar]

I wasn't tandem at the time, but we did end up supplementing DS with formula. He's still nursing at ~33 months.

Stress just makes things worse, for everybody. IIRC, I think stress can also decrease supply.

I decided that for all of our sanity, DH should feed DS when he's hungry, but watch the time (i.e. DS doesn't need 4 oz of formula when I'll be home in an hour). Usually DS needed about 2 oz of formula per day. We exclusively breastfed 90% of evenings and weekends. (There were occasions, fewer than once per week, where overnight I would get so touched out that DS would get formula for that feeding).

Do what you can. For those of us who don't achieve "perfection" - so what? We do what works for our families.

[DCMama01]

Bringing baby back into your bed temporarily to use you as a paci at night might help your supply.

Don't forget oatmeal and/or barley!

You're an AMAZING mama for tandem nursing!