never thought it would be me asking about increasing supply

I had such a great supply for so long. No more... My supply has been in the dumps for weeks now - first it was job stress, combined with getting sick, and maybe not drinking enough water, having my period. But I can't get it back up. I've been taking fenugreek by the handfulls, eating oatmeal every day, lots of water.

We've been hitting the freezer stash hard. And that's been fine - we had tons. They get bottles 4 days a week when I work. And lately Callie has been refusing to nurse in public, she's just way too distracted, so I've had to give her a few bottles when we've been out around other people (or should I not do that - am I contributing to the problem??).

I'm pretty religious about keeping track of what we use and what I pump. At our current rate of usage I've figured out that I need to pump at least 65 ounces a week in order to keep them in breast milk in their bottles through one year. But the last few weeks I haven't even pumped that much. So far today I've only gotten 8 ounces - 6 weeks ago I was averaging 30 - 40 ounces a day! We're not going to make it to a year of exclusively breast milk if I can't increase my pumping supply.

So I will honestly say that I haven't paid much attention to the posts in the past about how to increase supply, because it never applied to me. I was thinking about calling my OB and asking for a prescription. But will they prescribe something to you at this late stage? Or will they just tell me that I've nursed long enough and not to worry about it? What should I do?

But the other part of it is that they seem ok on the weekends when I am just nursing and not pumping. Is it possible that my boobs have just decided to not respond to the pump? but they don't feel nearly as full as they used to. I know some people say they never felt full - but I always did. I used to wake up in the morning very full, and I'd feel full in the afternoon if I hadn't nursed/pumped enough - but not any more.

thanks in advance for your advice moms!

 

Hi Lisa!
Can you tell us your exact pumping schedule (when and for how long) on the days you work and how much you average a pump? How many bottles to do they get and how much are in them? On those days how much do you bf?
Have you had any vacation time this summer? How did they do just nursing then?

For the nursing in public, I would personally not do a bottle, for me that was what made bfing easier! I would try and find a private place, even a car if I had to so they would not get distracted. If all else fails they could have a little water from a sippy or some cheerios when we are out, then they would jsut nurse for longer when we got to a place that they would.

I know my pumping amounts starting going down around this age also, maybe a little closer to 10 months. I know I started getting worried and I was counting down to when they were 12 months and I could relax some! I also made sure to always pump after they went to bed to help get more.

We'll figure it out!!!

 

Thanks Kristi.

ok - so the babies get milk at (approximately) 7am, 9am, 1pm, 5pm and 8 pm. On friday, saturday and sunday I nurse all those feedings. Monday - thursday they get bottles instead of nursng at the 9, 1 and 5 feedings. Generally these are 5 oz bottles, sometimes they don't drink it all, sometimes more - but on average they each get 15 ounces a day in bottles over 3 ffedings.

When I am at work I try to stick to the same schedule - so I pump at around 9:30am, 1pm and 4:30pm. I still nurse at 7am and 8 pm on those days. I always pump for at least 20 minutes, usually more. Back in May I was getting 13 - 17 ounces at the 9am pumping session, and then 5 - 8 ounces at 1:00 and 4:00. Today I pumped 4.5 ounces at 9:30 and 3.5 ounces at 1:30. Last week was similar.

I've had some long weekends where we just nurse 100%, and they seem to do fine. They always seem satisfied after nursing. I've got some time off work coming up - the second half of July, so I'm hoping to just nurse that whole time.

also - editing to add: I tandem nurse most of the time if we are at home.

 

Have you changed the membranes on your valves (the white things)? Can you take the pump in and make sure the suction is working correctly (this was part of my problem)?

Could you pump right after nursing at the 7am bfing session? Can you pump after they nurse at 8 Pm? These may only need to be temporary so don't get disheartened about having to pump so much, give it 10 days of doing this and see how it has worked.

The fact they are satisfied, this is a recent change and such a dramatic one makes me think it is pump related. But no matter what the time off in July I bet will great for your supply....and you and the babies :a_smil09:

 

ah, good idea. I think I have some spare membranes, so I will try changing those when I get home. And I will call the store where I bought the pump - I think they can check the suction.

I don't think I could manage to pump after the 7am - it's chaotic getting their breakfast ready and trying to get me ready for work. I don't know. I could try. But I probably could pump after I put them to bed at 8. I'll give that a try this week.

 

Hi Lisa,

I'm not sure when your period started or if it coincided with this, but when I got mine my supply took a major nose-dive for about two weeks and then slowly came back.

Best wishes!

 

I HATE pumping! And I have not been pumping as well these past couple weeks either. I used to get 12oz in my morning sitting, now I am lucky to get 6oz.
This is probably a dumb question, I have never changed the membranes, why is that important?

Lisa, hope you can get your supply back up!

 

Lactate Support is a supplement I swear by. It's made by Gia Herbs. For me it works much better than just fenugreek alone and you don't get the maple syrup smell.

 

QUOTE(cohlee @ Jul 7 2008, 08:09 PM) [snapback]864795[/snapback]
This is probably a dumb question, I have never changed the membranes, why is that important?


They are made of a sort of flimsy plastic and over the course of washing/cleaning they get worn and get small tears that can affect pumping. If you pump on a fairly regular basis it is recommended to change then every 3 months.

 

I definitely recommend changing the membranes on your pump to start. My supply seemed to fall a few months ago and it was so discouraging. I changed the membranes and voila! It was the pump the whole time.

 

Ok - I had the pump checked last night and they said the suction was working just fine. She said it's not uncommon to see a drop in supply at this age.

I pumped this morning and only got 4 ounces. !

I picked up some more fenugreek - this time trying a tincture instead of capsules. I also got a different lactation blend capsule that has a bunch of other stuff in it as well.

I do have my period right now, but it's not the first time. I've had it since they were four months old (end of January). But this whole supply drop started at the beginning of June - I had my period, and then I went on that business trip and was just pumping for 3 days and then I got a nasty cold for a week + and then I had a bunch of stress at work - so it's been multiple things compounding on each other and the supply is just not coming back.

 

My supply always seemed to take a dip when my period was happening. :hug99: I don't have anything to add to this that others haven't said already. I hope the fenugreek helps!