help! need to increase supply

[njbeachgirl]

I stupidly let my milk supply dwindle by replacing a lot of feedings with formula... in an exhausted new mom moment of desperation I thought I would switch my 1 mo baby to bottles .... now after a couple of days I know that is NOT what I want to do!!

I have been alternating between formula and breast and doing all formula feedings at night : can anyone with experience help me get my supply back to where it will be enough for baby, and we can say goodbye to formula once and for all? I feel so guilty

Please don't flame me I feel bad enough as it is.

edited to add: this has been going on for maybe 3 or 4 days. I have still been pumping to relieve engorgement and get maybe 2 ounces out of each breast-- so I definitely have not dried up or anything-- but I feel I have probably wacked things out enough so I don't have enough for baby!

[alegna]

Okay- first step- ditch the bottles NOW. Go to www.kellymom.com for other feeding methods. Use a syringe, finger feeding, cup feeding, sns or lact aid for supplements. Get rid of the bottles. BEST if you get an sns or lact aid. Also at kellymom there are instructions somewhere for getting rid of supplements. Follow them. Plan to spend the next week or two doing nothing but nursing. ALWAYS nurse before supplementing. Pump when you supplement.

good luck!

-Angela

[rowansmomCT]

I understand the newmom desperation feeling. We all feel tired and exhausted. I'm glad to see that you don't want to bottle feed. most mos start bottles and love it for some reason or another or baby won't go back to breast after taking a bottle.

Is there a reason that you formula feed all night? Does DH help feed? Do you nurse lying down or feel comfortable doing so? Have you tried co-sleeping or rooming in with baby? (meaning having baby's crib or basiinet near your bed?

This will help in watching the baby's cues for feediing on demand.

our milk supply is based on demand. So I agree with above poster that you should definately pump if you supplement. Also it is a very goood idea to check out kellymom.com and promom.com

If you can, in the next 2-3 or more days. spend the day in bed with baby. anytime DC acts hungry (is rooting or crying out of hunger) put DC to breast. If DC is too used to the instant flow of milk from a bottle this may be a lttle frustrating at first. But if you stay calm and loving and gently coax DC too eat, then DC will relax and eventually be totally dependent on you again.

This 3-4 rest in bed will do a fe things, 1. you will get rest 2. you will bond very strongly with you child 3. your supply will increase 4.. you will be on the road to successfully weaning DC from bottles

quick story:
My DS had jaundice and was under the lights. I was extremely anemic after birth. in order to keep supply and not go to formula we did use bottles on him at 2 days old. my husband and mother fed him the bottle while he was under the lights,a nd for about 3-4 feedings a day we took him out of the lights and him and i snuggled and nursed. I also spent at least 3 days in bed with him after the lights to get us to nursing all the time.

He never had trouble going from breast to bottle,a nd we used bottles especially when traveling in the car down south when he was 2 months and 4 months old. he's now a year, all bottles are put away, no pacifiers, and he still nurses 6-7 times a day and then all night long.

some babies can go between bottle and breast, some can't and the danger is mothers supply can dwindle if you do not pump when he has a bottle feeding. I pumped or nursed every two hours for the first 4 months of his life. so whether he was eating or not I was pumping and that helped my supply recover from the bottles at birth

I hope you have success in this, and please keep us posted on your endeavors

[alegna]

Do I read correctly that you've only added formula and bottles for 3 days? If so, your supply will bounce back quickly.

good luck!

-Angela

[Amris]

I know it sounds overly simple... but let baby eat often, and just stop giving the bottle.

It'll take a day, MAX two unless you're extremely peculiar, and your supply will bounce right up. Granted, it may be an aggravating two days, but by the third day, you'll find baby getting right back into routine and the feedings will slow back down to normal.

But if you are committed, you'll just need to hang in there for a day or perhaps 2.

[njbeachgirl]

Angela- there has been formula or expressed milk supplementation prior to the 3 days but only very occaasionally.

rowansmomCT- I can't seem to get comfortable/ get dd to latch well lying down. Any tips? She sleeps in a cosleeper attached to the bed but I find myself getting up to nurse so we can get a good nursing session in.

Thanks so much for the tips. Please keep them coming.

[alegna]

If it's only been a regular thing for 3 days, I would stop it cold turkey. Go to bed with baby and nurse like crazy. Eat oatmeal. Drink plenty of water. Drink mother's milk tea. Nurse nurse nurse nurse nurse.

-Angela

[rowansmomCT]

It took me a while to get used to nursing on my side. you just have to fiddle with it. maybe use pillows or prop your arm up. as long as you can get comforatable and get her latched on riight you should be fine. also until you can get used to it, you can nurse sitting in bed and then maybe just lay her doown next to you or if your more comforatbale back in the co-sleeper

hope things go well

[2 in August]

If you can't nurse laying down, you could try what I do. I co-sleep with ds, but not in bed. I just don't feel safe with it since we have a small bed and dh and I are rather big. Also we don't have a head board so I'm worried about that too. Anyway, what I do is sleep in the reclining end of our couch. I put my feet up and a big pillow on my lap so that he's always up close to my chest. We usually fall asleep together while he is nursing and the pillow keeps him were he needs to be so I don't worry about dropping him. When he starts to wake up, I gently flip him to the other side, latch him on and we both fall back to sleep. My dh misses me and now that ds is 5.5 mo he does sleep in his amby or bed a for a few hours a few times a week so I try to make it to bed for a few hours then, but it has really helped get me past the too tired to move and want to get up to nurse phase. Unfortunately I do have to supp for other reasons, but he never gets a bottle at night because we sleep this way.

[_betsy_]

I would ditch the bottles for now (even the EBM), and ditch the formula all together.

Put baby to the breast, and often. Within a couple days baby will get your supply right back to where you need it to be.