How much milk can someone w/ IGT hold?

[germin8]

How much milk can someone w/ IGT hold?

I have a low milk supply and not sure the cause. Could be IGT, could be something else.

But at my peak pumping (3A-5A), I can pump 2 whole oz... I discovered this when our DD did not nurse at the time so I just pumped (she wanted to feed shortly after...) Does this mean I couldn't have IGT since I know my breasts can hold 2 whole ounces?

Just trying to find cause of low milk supply...

[ILoveMyBabyBird]

from what i've read igt varies in severity some women can go on to produce a full amount while others can't produce much more than 50%. I googled an awesome study that may help you understand better.

http://www.sonic.net/~mollyf/igt/

Also have you looked into other factors that may cause problems on the babies side? 2 oz to pump does seem like a lot to me as a pump isn't as efficient as a babies good latch. Hope you figure this out! Supply issues can be frustrating, that is actually how i ended up on this forum 4 years ago, trying to figure out why i can make enough milk. I know for me i worry b/c i have a lot of the characteristics, but the above article is also encouraging as many women went on to have 100% supply even though they did not at first.

Good luck!

[germin8]

Maybe I should ask: How much milk can someone w/ normal breasts and w/ IGT hold?

Interesting read. I read about 75% of it. After reading that, I should be able to supply my DD 100%. Guess I better keep working on it.

[ILoveMyBabyBird]

http://www.lowmilksupply.org/overvie...toragecapacity

80ml is about 2.7 ounces. A lot of how much you pump depends on how long it has been since the last feeding. But once you reach capacity your breasts send a message to your brain to slow milk production, so if you are having supply issues you want to empty them often and after every feeding. I guess what i am saying is if you are trying to build supply, you don't want to reach your storage capacity max. You didn't mention how long you had gone between nursings/pumpings. Also, many women make more milk at night b/c many babies nurse alot at night, does your dd normally nurse a lot at that time?

I can say from personal experience the most i ever pumped was probably about 2 oz, but that was when i went hours w/o nursing/pumping and was getting engorged, and as i mentioned in pp i was only able to produce about 50-60% of ds's needs, which i contribute to possible igt plus many many other factors (bad latch, inexperience, blisters, stress, iv drip in birth, pp bleeding until 12 weeks) I personally think that if I do have some type of igt, I will be able to produce more next time around (hoping for at least 75%) as long as the other above factors are eliminated.

are you having to supplement with formula and how much? And have you considered a baby moon? (where you take a couple days and pretty much do nothing but hold the baby, nurse the baby, lots of skin to skin contact) You have some premade meals and just let the baby nurse often? I did that with ds and i think it helped improve my supply some.

[germin8]

Yup! The most I pumped was the 3-5A time when my DD slept for a long time (she sleeps well at night). I pumped 2 oz. Weeks before I fed her via SNS and then pumped 2 oz. That was probably my max... But, I haven't gotten those numbers again because I slowed down. *wow, this is so much work*

I'm supplementing about 10-15 oz of donated breastmilk. Baby moon? I hadn't heard of that term. I do something like that every now and then... glad to know it can help improve supply.

I appreciate your replies and wealth of information and resources!
Thank you.

[SubliminalDarkness]

I did have low supply, and couldn't pump for anything! In a day, in two pumping sessions, I MIGHT get an ounce and a half. But we were exclusively breastfeeding. Some women just don't respond well to pumping.