Which Infant Supplements for Goat's Milk? (I have low milk supply)

[germin8]

I wish I could say I have enough milk for the demands of my DD (1 month old). However, this is not the case and quite a surprise to us that I can only provide 3oz a day! Ugh. Nevertheless, we are working with a lactation consultant and doing "everything"... so, I've had all the best advice and am still working on it. So, on to my question:

During this time we have had to supplement. We are vegan, and formula comes in dairy or soy. We have used both, but have stuck with soy lately. Since I am not a huge fan of soy products (we eat limited amounts...), I am considering goat's milk and raw goat's milk. The pediatrician said to wait until our DD is 6 months before giving her raw goat's milk. So, I am left with evaporated goat's milk, powdered, or just plain pasteurized goat's milk. Since "nobody" sells goat's milk infant formula, we have to make our own...

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/t032401.asp

...unless someone knows otherwise. (Please share.)

What vitamin supplements do I need to add? Is there something like that out on the market we could buy and add? Which goat's milk should I buy - milk, evaporated, or powdered? I figure the less processing the better and want to go with the plainpasteurized goat's milk.

Any thoughts on using raw goat's milk for an infant? We could get raw goat's milk if we buy a share of a goat from a local farm.

[AislinCarys]

How do you know you only produce 3 ounces a day? I'm asking because I had low supply, and we never knew how much I could produce - not enough, at the time! I can't pump, don't get much, but pumping isn't a value on your milk anyway. the only other way I can think of is weighing baby after feeds - which isn't very accurate either, as it is so variable. and of course, it says nothing about supply, just about baby's intake.

We got there in the end, got my supply up, and after 5 months could drop supplementing. And DD is still breastfeeding!

It was hard work, took a lot of scheduled feeds, switch-nursing, extras fed in SNS (no bottles), Fenugreek capsules, (starting when DD was about 3 1/2 months old), for about 6 weeks, Domperidone.

We used donated milk, so I don't know about formula. But I think people I know supplemented with goat milk formula - I think she said that the recommendation from 6 months was because the manufacturers support breastfeeding, or something weird? It might be all wrong, I don't know.

[germin8]

I thought this might turn into a lactation reply...

Ah well, I am glad to hear that your supply went up. Gives me hope... I'm working hard! I pump after every feeding (minus one). I only get ~3oz a day. And, when I use an SNS at the breast, my DD seems to get about 50%-50% of the supplement and breast milk! The only problem is that she gets practically nothing just at the breast (comfort nursing only). So, I am using SNS now (we just found this out yesterday with our lactation consultant appt... weighing before/after)

Donated breastmilk? How does one "qualify"? It costs ALOT to buy it.

I am trying everything - vitamins, more milk plus (fenugreek), goat's rue, domperidone. It's been just over a week... wow, I didn't know I had to wait long for it to kick in!

What was your domperidone dosage? I am using 10mg pills, one pill 3 times a day (I just got started). I hope I don't need to UP the dosage... hmmm.

Thank you for your reply!


So, my question remains: What supplements do we add to make infant formula using goat's milk?

[annettemarie]

If you are looking for non "lactation" answers, this should probably be in the nutrition forum rather than breastfeeding, so I am going to move you there now. Feel free to repost in Breastfeeding or Breastfeeding Challenges if you are looking for info on boosting your supply. Good luck!

[Megan73]

I'm sorry to tell you that most sources say the starting dose for domperidone is three pills, three times a day for a total of 90 mg and some women take up to 160 mg a day. With fenugreek, it's generally advised to take enough capsules so that your sweat smells like maple syrup - really!
Yes, there are recipes for homemade formula on the Internet but I personally would really hesitate to use them, especially with a newborn. We know formula is an inferior substitute for breast milk - and I say that as someone who had to use it - but it's generally safe and nutritionally adequate. There's really no way of knowing if a homemade preparation is missing some vital nutrient and there are so many opportunities for cross-contamination in a home kitchen.
I didn't like having to use formula but I focussed on eliminating bottles and using only a Lact-Aid for supplementing so my baby was exclusively fed at the breast even if he wasn't exclusively fed breastmilk.
Good luck, mama.
ETA: I posted before this was moved, sorry!

[blessedwithboys]

if you pump after feeding and get 3oz, its not correct to say that you "only produce 3 oz per day". you really cant know how much you produce, but you can know if your baby is getting enough by how many wet/dirty dipes you ahve each day.

as for donated milk, try here.

[germin8]

Ah yes, I thought this should be a nutrition post... but that was after I posted. Thanks.

Let me clarify... "I can only pump ~3 oz a day. How much my DD gets at the breast is unknown".

And yes, I am using an SNS... just seems like my DD falls asleep before getting her usual amt.

Back to the goat milk question:

Thanks for the info. Dr. Sears' website mentioned adding a vitamin supplement. Goat's milk would already have some nutrition... but he recommends adding others. So, I was wondering what those were and if I could get those somewhere.

BTW, I did find a UK and New Zealand organic brand of goat's milk formula.

Oh, and thanks for the link on donated milk!

[cristeen]

Yes, there is a brand of goats milk formula in the uk. Pricey to mport, but not a whole lot more than organic formula, really.

Mostly we've done donated milk. Until 7 mos, then switched to dairy formula when we couldnt get more BM.

There tends to be a very strong negative reaction to the suggestion of making your own formula around here. I did it, using the WAPF recipe - i would not use the Sears recipe, it seems woefully inadequate. Ultimately though i found sufficient bm donors to get us past 6 mos, and i had to draw the line at making my own formula when we ran out of bm. It was just far too much for me to handle.

[germin8]

Thanks.

Had to look up WAPF. I'm thankful I came here... great support and source of information.

Also... thanks for the dosage info on the domperidone. I am supposed to "up" the dosage any day now... which would bring me to 80mg. Hmmm, I should really consider it, since I've been hesitant (drugs, blah).

Looks like I got some more research and questions to ask later.

[AislinCarys]

We just asked around, if any of our friends (in the antenatal group, mother's group, potty group etc.) had extra milk - and we got three donors, mothers with oversupply!

For Domperidone, not sure now, check drjacknewman.com

Actually, his pages has most info for low supply!

When you supplement, do you do that at the end of the feed? I had a sleepy babe too, and switch-nursing worked really well for us : Make baby feed actively 10-15 min on one side, and tickle, use a wet cloth etc to keep baby going. When there isn't much swallowing going on, change breast. Same there. Next change, change nappy or potty baby, then back on first breast, and finally on the second breast again. If this takes less than an hour, 2 more changes might be indicated. This brings up supply and ups baby's intake! The SNS should be used on the last breast, i.e., the last 10 min.

My supply was really down, DD lost quite a bit of weight. With this regimen, and taking fenugreek, we got my supply up by a LOT, and could cut down on supplementing to minimal amounts for the first few months.

[germin8]

Yes, I supplement after feed. But as we discovered from the lactation consultation, she wasn't getting even 5mL in 10 minutes. With the SNS, she got ~20mL in 10 minutes (along w/ 27mL from SNS).

Hmmm, WAPF recipe uses ingredients I didn't expect...

Well, I hope the fenugreek works in 6 weeks! That's such a long time so I have to be patient.

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by germin8

Hmmm, WAPF recipe uses ingredients I didn't expect...

Well, I hope the fenugreek works in 6 weeks! That's such a long time so I have to be patient.

you can buy most of the ingredients as a pkg from Radiant Life. I would highly suggest reading the recipe completely first though and really consider how much work it is, and whether you're going to be willing/able to make it every day, keep up with ingredient needs, etc.