Baby 1 month old, still no milk. Suggestions? Giving up. - Page 2

[thebigfam]

I had no supply at 3 weeks and weaned.  It broke my heart!  SO.... at 4 months  I re lactated.  My dd never got just momma milk but she got a lot of it!  She can do it!  I got Domperidone and it really helpped my supply and I always fed with an SNS.  it was a pain at night but I don't regret it one bit!  I am sure that if I hadn't stopped I would have been able to nurse her with just my milk at some point in time.  every drop helps!  Please encourage her to continue!  She can do it and I bet she would be so happy when it finally works!

Big Momma

[east carolina]

It can be so hard to figure out the problem when it comes to breastfeeding. If only babies could just tell us and breasts were transparent. I just want to chime in with my own experience having never found out why I just never had enough milk. I supplemented first with donated milk, then formula until DS was 10 months. I always breastfed and fed on demand, and continued to breastfeed on demand until just very recently, since my son is 5 and 3/4 and is just about done.

I was at the absolute rock bottom when I couldn't breastfeed fully, but I found a way to accept my special breastfeeding relationship with my son and my dream of child-led weaning came true in the end.

I hope your daughter finds a way to fully breastfeed and let me tell you how wonderful it is that you are supportive. My mom wasn't.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

[mimerim]

This story is so similar to mine that I had to register just to reply to this. Someone I know sent me the link to this thread because it is so similar to what I've been through.

My baby is 3 months old tomorrow. I have been determined to get a full milk supply since day one. At first, I had no milk. Nothing, not even steam when I would pump. I was a basketcase. I nursed my first baby for 18 months with no problems whatsoever. With this birth, I lost a lot of blood. I've seen doctor after doctor after LC, and no one can find one determining factor that can explain my low milk supply. They can all blame the blood loss though.

I've been doing everything Peaches5 listed. I pump as much as I can, but when I was on maternity leave with a newborn and a two year old, some days I could only get one pumping in. But I DID nurse my baby every single time he was hungry. Then gave him a bottle. At first, I got nothing from the pump. Then I got drops. I got drops for weeks. Months actually. Now I can say I am actually getting whole ounces. I'm back at work now (since last week), and yesterday I pumped two times for 15 minutes each and brought home THREE OUNCES. It is such an accomplishment. I am so proud of those three ounces, I kept opening the fridge just to look at them. The day before, I brought home 2.5.

So what I'm saying is, don't give up. It can happen. It is so gradual, and such a slow buildup, that it won't be noticed day to day, even week to week. But basically, in three months, I went from nothing to 1-2 ounces in one feeding/pumping. Any amount of breastmilk you can give your baby is worth it.

I tried Reglan but it was not good for me. It made me sleep all day. I was able to get ahold of an off label drug called domperidone which I take every day. I'm not sure if the domperidone has helped me, or if my milk is just building on its own. Domperidone is a lot safer than Reglan and you can stay on it for a long time.

I've had a wonderful support system, complete with a group of donors who have supplied me with enough milk so that my baby has never needed to take formula. Breastmilk donation is a wonderful thing. I owe everything to the women who have been feeding my baby. It has kept me from giving up.

Just think: I nursed my first baby for 18 months. So if it takes 6 months for me to get a full supply to nurse this time, that's 12 months of nursing I wouldn't have had.

It can happen! It is happening for me, and I think it is sheer stubbornness from me that has made it happen! :)

[mimerim]

I need to add that one LC I saw told me my baby has a weak suck. I'm convinced that he never learned to suck hard because my milk didn't come in when it should have. As my milk comes in, I have noticed that he is learning to suck harder and harder from me. He sucks much harder now than he did a month ago. As the milk builds, the baby will learn. He was simply not getting rewarded for suckling before. Now that he is, he's learning to do it. The LC also told me not to use an SNS because he will get rewarded with milk from the SNS if he uses a weak suck. I hope this helps your daughter. Tell her it happened for me. One month vs. three months is nothing in the life of a mother and child. If it takes 6 months or even a year, that is still such a short time when compared to the rest of our lives.

[mimerim]

I just skimmed the rest of the thread and have one more thing to add. I rented a hospital grade pump, a Medela Symphony.  Later, I was told by the lactation consultant that it was a good thing I did this. A regular pump will not build a supply. A hospital grade pump will. So if the baby has a weak suck, and the milk supply is low so the baby doesn't learn to suck, it is crucial to have a hospital grade pump taking place of the baby to do the work of getting the milk to come in.