Help!

[rimom]

Ok, this may be kind of long...but any support/ideas are appreciated!

My baby is 10 months and I'm exclusively b/f. I had pumped and stored plenty of milk (in a deep freezer)...she needs 2-3 bottles per week while I'm at work (part time). My husband unplugged the freezer and didn't think of it until 6 days later. I had to throw out 35 5-ounce bags of breastmilk NOW, I have no stored milk and can't get much when I pump. It's totally depressing.

I have tried...
*Motherlove more milk plus (I bought it yesterday)
*Fenugreek (been taking 2 pills/3xday for 3 days)
*Eating galactagogue foods like carrots, sweet potato, garlic, almonds, ginger ale...
*Drinking mother's milk tea (before I started the tincture)
*Nursing every 2-3 hours & we co-sleep so I nurse all night too!
*Pumping a few times each day

In 3 days I pumped 3 ounces...miserable.

Question: Is there anything MORE I can do to increase supply? How long til the more milk plus takes affect? How long should I continue with all of this? Is two weeks a reasonable amount of time?

Second Q: At 10 months, can I offer her rice milk, goats milk or some other milk (10 ounces/week) in lieu of breast milk. If I can't pump, do I need to consider formula until she's one?

All ideas are welcomed
Thanks!

[Turquesa]

To answer your first question, yes, keep it up. But you can enhance this process.
I don't think you need to resort to any breastmilk substitutes right away.

This happened to my SIL. The first question: What kind of pump are you using? I would first try to get a hold of a hospital-grade electric pump and do both sides at once. Sometimes these pumps are available for rent. You may want to call around to different hospitals and/or Lactation Consultants. This helped my SIL, at any rate. You want to do everything possible to stimulate the breasts.

Which reminds me….do you co-sleep or bedshare? Night nurse? Additional feedings always help. I’ve heard of some moms taking an entire weekend in their pajamas to nurse and increase milk production in the process. Of course, that’s not much help to hear on a Sunday night….

Are you comfortable starting solids? Does your baby seem ready? IMHO, introducing some healthy fruits and vegetables would be healthier than introducing formula. And it would at least compensate for your lower supply.

What type of job do you work and how many hours? Would it be possible to work a split shift so that you can stop by and feed your baby?

La Leche League Leaders are always available to help by phone or email. Is there one in your area you could contact?

Finally, keep up your fluid intake while you work on building that supply!

I don’t know if I’m much help, but hopefully that’s a start!

[Llyra]

If you're not already pumping with a good double electric pump, I would consider a new pump. If you've been using your pump more than a few months, the soft parts might also need replacing.

Have you tried putting baby to nurse on one breast, and putting the pump on the other breast at the same time? Sometimes when we're not pumping enough, it's because we have a hard time getting a letdown reflex for the pump. I had that problem, with my twins-- clearly, I had plenty of milk, since they were both thriving, but when I pumped, I got almost nothing because I wasn't letting down for the pump. When baby gets a letdown, the letdown happens in both breasts, so if you put the pump on the other side, the pump will get the milk from that side. Then you switch-- you likely won't get much from the side babe's already been on, and babe may yell a bit about the reduced supply on the side already pumped. But if you do this enough times, for a few days or a week, your body will start to act as though you're nursing twins-- and respond by increasing the supply accordingly.