How can I increase my low (from lack of nursing enough) supply to be more abundant?

[Snapdragon]

I am so depressed about this right now - ds is only 13 months and my supply seems to be drying up. And it is my own fault. And I really want to fix it- but I don't know if it is too late?

I have a few threads started on various issues of bf challenges I am having right now- but I am so distraught over this aspect that I wanted its own thread.

Ds just woke up for a nightly feeding and I had like no milk to feed him. It was horrible! I fed him some other things. I have been pumping a lot today trying to increase my supply- it is only my second day of consistant pumping, and each time I pump I ponly get an ounce or a little more than. I had just pumped an ounce about 1/2 hr to an hr before he woke up- so I gave him that (and then some food) after our failed breastfeeding attempt. He latched on but the milk was just not flowing.

It is all cause by my many months of little breastfeeding. I had gotten down to once or twice a day.  My breasts used to FILL up with milk- but now they never do. so sad. I went through this whole hting where I really stopped enjoying bf-ing ds since about 11 months, and I did it still but with lots of anxiety. Anyway- I wish I had started pumping or something back when my supply was higher.

So what can I do to increase my supply?Once it is gone, is it gone? Or can it re establish? I still have milk- it just flows so slowly- today I pumped a total of 4 ounces in 4 sittings, and nursed ds only once in the morning-- but even that was only a little.

even when I was doing once a day or twice a day for a while, I still seemed to have plenty of milk. It is the last 2 weeks or so where I really want to start nursing him more again- I am really realizing how important it is for him and for me, and now I bleeping can't! It was so depressing tonight to have ds wake up hungry and not be able to feed him from my breast.

so what do I do? Lots of pumping? I want to try to increase nursings but we have such trouble now. I am waiting for ds's next waking- probably in the morning, but my breasts just feel deflated and empty. I don't know what changed in the last 2 weeks- well, I guess one thing is that in the last 2 wks I have been expressing my milk as much as I can. wither pumping (as of last 2 days) or just hand expressing. Because I was feeling so bad about how little I am nursing, I wanted ds to have any breast milk tha I could express. But ,maybe that is actually taking away the milk that he would otherwise nursE? the more I think about it the more I see the time frame of me epressing, and the lack of my breasts feeling full of milk, to be the same. So do I stop pumping and expressing and save the milk for him to nurse? or does theoretically the pumping increase my supply? I thought that was how it worked.

Please advise me!! I am so sad right now and I really need to know if and how to bring my supply back up to re establish nursing with my baby.  He is only 13 months and I want to nurse him. This is such a challenge for me right now.

[Snapdragon]

Also, another problem I need help with in all this is that now my baby is having a terrible latch.  He has 8 teeth and I think it is confusing his latch. 2 of his teeth are coming down right now. But he latches on really shallow, and the sucking feels bad- not the relaxed good feeling of a proper latch. But I am scared to re latch him because of the teeth thing- like I am scared to push my nipple in farther.  When we have the bad latch I just switch sides- one side seems to be less sensative for me.  So how do I teach good latch to a 1 yr old with teeth?! I think if we had a good latch I could nurse him so much better and longer and that would help my supply. but because it is so uncomfortable I give up easily and then when I get frustrated, ds gets frustrated because he hasn't nursed long enough for the milk to let down, and then he just stops and we both get sad! Help me fix this! When he is latching on I am also sort of timid about it. I am so frustrated with my stupid fears of biting- it is totally ruining my breastfeeding. It is not the biting juts the teeth on the nipple at all and the bad latch and the low supply :( thanks for any advice- I really need it! I am so eager to fix this.

[Juise]

Yes! You definitely can reestablish your supply. Pumping will definitely help, even if you are not getting much milk from the pump, it will still help to stimulate more supply. Some people just don't work well with pumps (myself included,) and will not get much milk even when there is an ample supply. If you think you are draining your supply before he nurses, try to pump just after he has nursed, just after he has fallen asleep, just after he has eaten, etc. It is very hard to deal with biting, you're doing a good job. Try the best you can not to show him your reluctance or fear, they will pick up on that and it can make them hesitant to nurse.

If he is getting frustrated and giving up before the let down, you can pump a little bit before nursing him, just enough to get the let down, so that he is instantly rewarded.

There are lots of things you can take to help your supply, too. First and foremost make sure you are drinking lots of water. Capsulized fenugreek helps me the most. Beer also helps. Mother's milk tea. Oatmeal. There are lots more, someone else might have some more suggestions.

I'm not sure if biting is still an issue, but you should try your best to not react if he does. I realize this is a lot easier said than done, but a strong reaction to a bite will stop some babies from nursing at all. If he bites down and doesn't let go, you are supposed to pull his face into your breast to get him to de-latch himself. Some babies need to relearn their latch with every tooth. I struggled with DD1 for a long time, like you said, it wasn't so much the biting as the ever present teeth. She would sort of half clench her jaw and it did not feel good. She was a bit older and I could explain to her the problem, and she seemed to understand, but not how to fix it. I tried to have her practice sucking on her finger so that she couldn't feel her teeth, but it didn't seem to help. She just eventually stopped. I hate to say it, but it took months. Nursing laying side by side in bed helped, she didn't clamp down as much.

Good luck, if you just keep at it, you can do it. Here are some links that may help:

When Baby Bites (Includes a section near the bottom, "Not really biting, but scraping teeth or indentations")

Increasing Low Milk Supply (Near the bottom)

Herbal Remedies for Increasing Milk Supply

[Snapdragon]

thank you! the more I think about it the more I realize that it is not biting that is the issue, but a bad latch. He has a shallow latch that feels like all teeth! so he is not actually biting but it is so uncomfortable to nurse- so it starts my cycle. I just poured through the lll website forum and got a tip I am gonna try about latching- if I can figure it out. I feel like if I can get him to latch deeply and comfortably, I can relax into it.  But right now he latches so shallow it feels like he is gnawing on my nipple- ouch! But I don't know how to change the latch with all the teeth. when he had not teeth yet it was easy to adjust the latch. but the teeth make it difficult. this advice said something like:  hold the breast with thumb on top and two fingers below, when latching on push in w- index finger to bottom of breast which makes the nipple aim down, and supposedly this helps create a deeper latch. I hope so! I really want to get it going again. I would be so happy to nurse ds till he is 3 or so as long as we can get it comfortable. I really need to fix this.

[Snapdragon]

Juise- I just read those links you posted- the one about the teeth scaping said the same suggestion that I mentioned.  they also said to make sure the baby's head is tilted back- I have no idea- I can't picture which way his head is tilted, but I will look into that. I just get so stressed when he latches on, anticipating the scraping gnawing feeling- so I kind of just hold my breath and plunge the nipple in! It is not fun. I REALLY want to have it be that I gently guide it in, knowing he will get a good latch. poor little guy- and poor mama. We bth need to fix this. I like nursing a lot when his latch is good and he is gulping it. I just need to figure out how to do that w= 4 top and 4 bottom teeth.

any other detailed latching tips?

[zensven42]

Don't forget that more demand equals more supply when it comes to breastmilk. Since the baby is more efficient at removing milk from the breast, I suggest you nurse, nurse, nurse. Offer the breast often. I would suggest following the advice of an above poster and only pumping after the baby has eaten so you don't stay in the cycle of pumping and then bottle feeding. The more you can feed directly from the breast, the better your supply will be.

[Snapdragon]

thanks.

So I want to share about how this morning went and get more advice! It is all about the bad latch! At least I am figuring out the source of why I don't nurse more often. Especially on the right side! I tried those 2 techniques as best as I could- but it wasn't that effective yet. I tired angling the nipple down, and making sure his head was not tilted forward.  But the latch was still pretty shallow :( And the session still ended before I wanted to in terms of ho much milk he got. So I am trying to figure out how to get him to latch deeper- at one point I just got too scared to latch back on the right side :( ugh! He accidentally bit once while latching on, and then the latch was shallow. I ried pumping after the session and only got a tiny bit.

Advice? Do I just power through i even with the bad latch? or is there a way to get it comfortable for me? It is so weird, theoretically I get it all but in the moment it is challenging to keep going when the latch hurts.

[zensven42]

Power through does not sound like  good way to go about it. I would talk to a lactation consultant before things get much worse if the bad latch is making it too difficult to nurse. Otherwise you will keep injuring your breasts and your supply will get worse if you can't nurse because of pain. 

[adelle]

They have said it. Breast milk production follows the law of supply and demand,. If the baby feeds more, the more milk you need to produce. When you feel that you are not producing enough to feed your baby, try to nurse him more. Keep on nursing or pumping. This way, your breast will be stimulated to produce milk. Also you can try to consult a doctor if you need a galactagogue such as  fenugreek, blessed thistle, and alfalfa. just remember that any galactagogue will be most effective in increasing milk supply when combined with an increased nursing frequency.

================

Rosemarie

mother to Aidrielle (2 months old)

mumpreneur

Mumpreneurs Marketing Makeover Competition

[Juise]

Sorry, I can't help much on the latch, either. Nothing I've tried has seemed to change anything with mine, they've just eventually learned, but I don't think that was the best way to go about it. If seeing a lactation consultant is an option, I would go for that. If not, do you have a local La Leche League? I would talk to them and see if they might be able to give you some in-person help.

[Snapdragon]

I have like 4 threads on this cause I was freaking out about it- but I am happy ot say today was much better! I relaxed into it, my flow was much more! I actually flet my breats filling up, and ds had a better latch! yay- and the one time I pumped- I didn't actually measure it I just expressed into a cup- but there was more and it looked richer! yay@ I think my determination is starting to work. thanks so much for everyones help- it really helps! I may just copy this reply to my other tow active threads

[Snapdragon]

2 months later from when I started this thread- update. I finally decided tonight that I am going to rent a hospital grade pump to try to bring my supply back up. My supply is feeling lower than even before. My baby is almost 15 months and we are dwon to one nursing first thing in the morning and that is it. I ahve been trying to hand express in the day but the amount that is coming out is smaller and smaller. I was feeding him some cows milk regularly for a month or so but now I see it is giving him an upset stomach. I really want to increase nursing and increase my supply! We do fine with the first morning session but he won't even accept my offers of other sessions at this point! He just declines it. I think it is because my supply isn't so flowing right now and I am most relaxed first thing in the morning and now it is habit- so he accepts that one. Anyway- so I am feeling eager to not let my milk totally go away! It is way too sad for me to not lactate and not nurse my 15 month old! I feel like on one level I kind of needed to experinece for myself why I want to nurse him longer, because I was feeling at some point that he was okay to stop nursing after one. but I see that the cows milk upsets his belly- and how good for him the breast milk is- and I think I just need a really good pump and to pump a lot- and I really really hope that this will bring my supply up. then when my milk is flowing again (if it works) then I think it will be easier to start nursing more. So that is my plan! I am trying to fix it if I can. Since it is my first time with this I am sort of hit or missing it all-  I didn't know the extent to which my supply would drop but it feels like something I would like to fix if I can. I had started thinking I would just try to nurse more but as I mentioned, he just won't right now. I called the local hospital and they said they do rent them and to call back in the morning to order one! I will update with how it goes. any bettyer pumps to look for? Are they pretty easy to figure out how to use?

[Snapdragon]

okay! I got the electric breast pump today from the hospital. And I got the fenugreek capsules. I have pumped once and am about to take the 2nd dosage of fenugreek. the first pumping was very depressing- very small amount :( but I am happy to be finally being proactive about it. I am going to pump as regularly as I can and take the amount of fenugreek I have read is right for this sort of thing so I hope something works. I am also going to try to increase my liquid intake.

[Snapdragon]

I want to write about this process somewhere so I will just do it here. Another disappointing pumping session. So my plan is to pump as often as I can and take fenugreek and increase liquids.  Is there anything else I can do? Will pumping really bring a supply from super low to more abundant? I still nurse ds once in the mornings but I am not sure how much milk he receives. As I said, I offer to nurse a few times a day but he just doesn't want to. I know if I can get my supply back up that I and the baby will both be more comfortable with nursing. I really hope I can bring it back! Do you guys think I can, from not even being able to pump an ounce- to having more milk. Does it work like that or does it only stay if you maintain it. Like, is it gone for me, or can it re establish?

[Snapdragon]

update- the pumping is working! :) I have been still just nursing once in the morning. but then I pump 4 or 5 times each day. And now in this last session I pumped 4 times as much per session as I did when I started just last week! I am so happy I found something that works for me to be able to keep my supply up and give ds more breast milk. The fenugreek also helped- I actually only took it a few days and stopped because it made me feel a little sick. I am going to take some tomorrow but in less am't than when it made me sick. But I think the pumping is the most important help. I am so relieved!

[Snapdragon]

I haven't nursed him in 5 days- kind of weird. I was in a great flow where we had one good nursing session in the mornig first thing, then I pumped about 5 ounces throughout the day to give him in a cup. Now I am pumping too little- and not nursed in 5 days- I try in the morning but get weird about it- anyway, I sometimes feel ready to be done but I think I want to keep nursing once a day so I Am going to try again tomorrow. As long as I have the nursing session,I have good puming sucess but if I don't nurse then pumping alone is not enough to keep my suppy happening.

[lunabin]

I"m a bit late to this conversation, but thought I'd add my experience.  I exclusively pumped for a year, and towards the end when my dd was consuming less milk (closer to 20-25 oz) I would occasionally have to "power pump."

This essentially means pumping much more and telling your body that your demand is greater then is actually is.  I would basically pump every three hours for at least 20 minutes a session (even if nothing is coming out) and even in the middle of the night - for 2-3 days.  My usual pump schedule was usually only 3x's a day and I would get "low" about once a month.  This would fix my supply very quickly.  Of course if you're still breastfeeding, you want to pump after you feed your baby, not before.  

[Snapdragon]

Thanks for the advice! I did actually nurse him again this mornign for the first time in 5 days- so that was good! I still pumped way low today- I want to pump for 15 minutes every three hrs but I can't seem to get to it- gonna keep trying!

[flower97]

My daughter is only 6 months, and I am feeling like I am starting to let her down. I have decided to do the power pumping where I pump every 3 hours if she is not nursing. The only way I will skip a 3 hour time, is if I know she will be waking up in the next hour to nurse and then I will pump one side while nursing her from the other (my dh calls it a pump and feed) Good luck to you! 

[goodygumdrops]

The best way of increasing your milk supply is by removing milk from your breast.  Breastfeeding only once a day is not enough to build a supply.  We usually recommend that a mom pump every two hours during the day and every four hours at night if you are not going to be nursing.  It's really important that you pump during day and the night on a consistent schedule. 

OP, I could be wrong but it seems like you are a little ambivalent about breastfeeding your toddler.  Toddlers can be very distracted and may not seem like they want to nurse..that's why so many mom's believe their babes are self weaning around that age.  You may want to try to establish a nursing routine, like always going in the bedroom or having a special blanket when your nursing...something to help establish a consistency with your breastfeeding relationship.  You might also benefit by joining a moms group that focus on mom's with older nurslings.  Sometimes LLL will have toddler groups.  

I would offer breastfeeding constantly...every hour just offer it and see if your babe will increase the amount of times you nurse. 

Anyway, good luck one this.  It's awesome that you were able to rent a pump.  I would add a minute or two of hand expression and massage before every pump and nurse session.  Research shows that you can more than double your output by hand expressing and breast compressions during and through pumping and breastfeeding.