Increasing supply to donate questions...

[GoBecGo]

My friend has asked for a few ounces a day for her 8mos babe as she was unable to BF him. I would be really happy to be able to do this!

I would like to give her about 6-8oz/day as that would mean she could put 1oz in each of his bottles (which is what she was doing with her own milk when her supply was dwindling). (initially i'll actually be giving her my freezer stash starting from the earliest date, and replenishing as i go).

I managed to pump 4oz today by pumping each breast about 40mins after each of the 2 first feeds (my DD doesn't eat between midnight and 6-8am then generally just takes one breast for those first 2 feeds, and then both breasts each feed the rest of the day). I just got another half ounce pumping after a long feed/nap.

So to up my supply i'm taking fenugreek (which i had but had only used when my supply seemed to dive - turned out to be AF and i was bursting with milk the day after it came), eating oats and milk-maker cookies, is there anything else i should do? Is 6-8oz/day extra realistic for me to achieve? Does red raspberry leaf tea help with supply? My DD is 14weeks.

I'm kind of kicking myself because i was pumping 5-8oz/day for 2months but then stopped as the (manual) pump was so much hassle and the freezer was getting so full (i have 7litres of EBM out there in the deep freeze!). A friend recently gave me her medela swing, so this is all effortless now.

Any advice would be great.

[lyterae]

I can't give you any advice, but as a low-supply mom I want to say thank-you. A friend of mine donated milk to us and it made it easier to supplement knowing that she was getting breastmilk still.

[GoBecGo]

thanks, i was a low supply mama myself last time, so i know how painful it can be. i think doing this is as healing for me as it is good for the babe.

[GoBecGo]

[GoGoGirl]

How wonderful of you to donate to your friend's baby!!

I donated through milkshare until DD was a little over a year. I think 6-8 ounces might be on the high end of what you might expect to pump, but I do think it's doable. Especially since you already got 4 ounces!! That's really incredible for a mom who's nursing a baby full time. But that said, try not to put too much pressure on yourself. At one point, I was getting too caught up in the numbers, and I think it just added unnecessary stress. ANY breastmilk is better than none. You're doing an amazing thing for your friend! Even if you pump 4 ounces a day, or 2, that is an INCREDIBLE thing for that baby.

I ate a lot of oatmeal and drank tons of water and mother's milk tea to boost my supply. I haven't heard of RRL tea for supply. If you're really trying to boost your supply, you can take a weekend and nurse/pump as often as you possibly can. And with pumping, I found that I could usually have a second let down if I waited long enough, but I almost never had a third.

Another tip I have is to buy extra sets of horns and pump parts (enough to get you through however many sessions you do between dishwasher loads). Or you can just keep the pump parts in the refrigerator between pumpings.

I guess my best advice would be to figure out the best pumping times for yourself. Like for me, my output was great if I pumped in the morning, but I couldn't ever find a way to keep DD happy during a morning pumping session, so I rarely did it. I found that pumping after she went to bed worked best for our family. I usually pumped twice...the first time maybe an hour after she went down, and then again right before I went to bed.

At my highest, I was getting about 10 ounces from those two sessions. Towards the end of the year, though, I was getting more like 2 ounces. It fluctuated during the time I was donating, and I couldn't always figure out why. So again, please try not to stress about the numbers, and just take pride in your body's abilities to produce enough milk for you baby and some extra!

[GoBecGo]

Thanks so much for replying!

Well i decided to pump like crazy for a few days and see what happened, and i managed to get about 6-9oz/day by doing that, but i think DD was definitely having to work a lot harder to get what SHE needed during those days and it relied on me staying in all day (DD1 had some fever so i was home anyway). I bought milk thistle yesterday and we have a ton of oats in now too. As of this morning i decided to just pump first thing because that's when i have an obvious excess.

This morning i fed DD from the left, pumped (4oz) off the right, then when DD came off sleeping i pumped the left (1oz) and then the right again (0.5oz - but i could FEEL there was more there, but the pump wasn't getting it). When DD woke up for another feed i gave her the right and sure enough there was a decent let-down and a good bit of swallowing (then she came off and has puked a little twice since so i think she might have been gorging herself a bit! )

So my plan just now is to just pump as i feed first thing, i can take the whole pump and bottle assembled upstairs in the sterile container so i just roll over and plug it in. I hope this can continue, i was getting SO much from this one pumping in the early days (6-8oz easy, 10 or 12 if i tried) i'm kicking myself for having stopped pumping, but i didn't have anywhere for that milk to go, so it made no sense to pump and dump.

[Quinalla]

That's so great that you are helping your friend and her baby

Sounds like you are doing well and I would just recommend picking a consistent time once or twice a day and pumping every time that day. It will give a consistent signal to your body that you need more milk and it will adjust your supply better. And yeah, some power pumping/nursing occasionally if your supply seems to dip always helps my pumping output (I work full-time and pump at work).

[GoBecGo]

Well, small update...

I now wake, feed DD one side and pump the other, when she comes off satisfied i pump what she has left, and then i pump the first side again for that elusive (but worthwhile) second let-down. The last 2 days i've gotten 7.5oz from just that one session, and i've not pumped other times. First thing works best for us - i'm always in, my supply is good, and it means DD doesn't have to compete with the pump in evenings when my supply can be lower.

I was on a ton of herbs so i'm going to give it a few more days and then slowly reduce them and monitor the effect it has.