Need Help for Friend - Low Milk Supply

[teafairy]

My friend has a 3 month old. She had to go back to work, has been back for 1 week and her milk is beginning to dry up. She is very sad and willing to try almost anything, as she is hoping to bf for the first year at least.
Any tips?

[njbeachgirl]

is she pumping while away from baby??

[MaryJaneLouise]

Here's info on pumping & low supply in general:

Pumping

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/p..._decrease.html

Low Supply

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/low-supply.html

[teafairy]

She is pumping, has been since the beginning. He takes a bottle and breast fine, no confusion there. I don't know if she pumps during the work day.

[njbeachgirl]

If she is working 8-hour days she absolutely needs to pump, or effectively hand express, every 2-3 hours throughout the day to maintain a good supply. Basically she should pump for every missed feeding (usually about every 2 hours).

She shouldn't have a problem with supply if she is doing that, unless there is some other issue.

HTH!

[bjorker]

There are lots of things she can do, or at least try and do. I'll try and come back when I have more time to give more resources, though the kellymom links from MaryJaneLouise will get you/her started.

- The pumping thing that was already mentioned. Definitely has to be done during the work day. As often as possible, really. And on both sides, each time pumping.
- Herbs - all kinds, and in different combos, can help. If interested, I'll come back with more links about that.
- Oatmeal - though I think you really have to eat a lot.
- Is she getting enough sleep between the infant and going back full-time to her job? Stress + lack of sleep can really effect supply for some.
- Drug: Reglan - Can only take for a limited amt of time (2 weeks, I think?) and helps to boost supply. Has some potentially nasty side-affects, including bad mental ones. The upside is that it's regulated in the U.S. and therefor can be prescribed by a doctor/paid for by insurance.
- Drug: Domperidone. This is the one I took. It's very similar to Reglan, without all the nasty side affects. It's not regulated in the U.S., so it has to be purchased online and sent from overseas. There are various "reasons" for it being unregulated, though honestly I think it is because of Reglan's manufacturer not wanting the competition. It can be taken as long as needed, with very rare/minimal side affects, and NOT the mental ones that Reglan can cause, because it doesn't cross the blood/brain barrier like Reglan does. This was the ONLY thing that worked for me, when I had bad supply problems. I do recommend it, but it has to be paid for out-of-pocket (actually there is one exception for this, which would take awhile to explain... and a brush-up on my memory...) and has the possibility of being declined in customs. Never happened to me, though, and I hear that the company will refund the cost if that does happen. It's not all that expensive, though, really. Especially when compared to the alternative of formula costs. You can search MDC with keywords "reglan" or "domperidone" and read more about those two.

Also: She might want to consider getting her thyroid checked. This one is based off of personal experience, because I think that may have been the problem with my supply. If her thyroid is low, that can cause low supply. Doesn't quite sound like the problem here, though, but something to consider.

I am curious to know what exactly makes her think her supply is low. That's not always so easy to tell. Knowing that might help to "diagnose" the problem, too.

HTH - anything in particular you want to know more about, and I'm sure I can find more links and explain better. Since it's only been about a week since her supply has started to decline, I'm pretty sure if she gets right on it, she should be able to get it back just fine if she takes the necessary steps. I'd say the first thing to check is that she is pumping at least every 2 hours while she's gone. That right there would be the quickest way to lose supply while being gone for over 8 hours. Though she probably was at least a little bit, because otherwise I think that would really start hurting to go all that time without pumping.