Help! Need more milk!

green33eyez

hi ladies! Need some advice.. I started off strong, great milk supply, almost too much.. I wasn't able to start pumping until this past Monday per my lactation consultant. Finally started pumping, and now I feel like my milk supply is gone down a lot. What's normal to pump in what time frame? What can I do to get more milk? I've beed drinking mothers milk tea since yesterday but it doesn't seem to be doing much.
Part of my panic is that I go back to work on the 6th and I'm worried I won't have enough in supply or back up.
Any advice is appreciated.

danibii

I'm no expert but the first few times I pumped I didn't yield very much at all.

saric83

How much are you pumping now?  I've been exclusively pumping for four weeks, and it definitely took a bit of time to get my supply up.  

Looking back at my app, in the first week, I pumped an average of nine times per day (15-30 minutes) and got a total of 568ml (about 19 ounces).  But in the last week, I've averaged pumping five times per day (30 minutes each time) and got a total of 885ml (about 30 ounces).  

I drank the tea, did lactation cookies (not sure if they made much of a difference, but they were yummy ), did power pumping sessions (20 minutes on - 10 minute break - 10 minutes on - 10 minute break - 10 minutes on) a few days a week, increased sessions every few days of doing at least 10 or 11, and I drink a TON of water. 

hollybear4

Have you tried fenugreek and blessed thistle? They're herbal pills (all natural) that help with lactation. My midwife recommended this when it looked like my LO wasn't gaining enough. He ten gained a pound in 3 days.... So I donno if it had anything to do with it but it's worth a try. Also, there's no normal amount that gets pumped, everyone is different. I pumped once a day in the morning after I feed DS and I sometimes get 10 oz total from both breasts. Everyone had a different storage capacity so you may just have a small storage space which means you need to pump more often.

jessmaydvm

Make sure your flanges are the right size for you...after that, Brewer's yeast tablets, oatmeal, and at least 8-10 pumping sessions per day helped my supply jump up.

jakobaby

I agree with the above pp about the flanges. Also, I've had some experience with the pump because my son had a tongue tie and I needed to give myself a break to heal. He was given pumped bottles for about two weeks. We started back to bf slowly, letting him eat until it got painful and then I would top him off with a bottle of an ounce or so.
I noticed that it's hard for the mind and body to let go of the milk for a machine. Try letting your baby suckle just a bit and then pump. You will get a lot more out. Try stimulating your nipples yourself, thinking about feeding your baby, having sex, thinking of sex etc. Anything to get the oxytocin flowing.

agilber3

Correct nipple shields and non alcoholic beer help with my extra supply. I breastfeed though and pump after to fully express all my milk. It's nice to have a stash so hubby or grandmas can feed baby!

MrsWhiteToBe

If I get worried about my supply I usually drink either schöfferhofer or stiegel radler. They're beers, but they only have like 2% alcohol. Plus they're grapefruit flavored so they're delicious. I know most people say that if you're ok to drive you're ok to BF, and it's nearly impossible to get drunk off these beers. I drank one the other night and by the time I needed to feed her again I had clown boobs because they were so full.

jessicazimmer

I'm taking fenugreek and it's helping! More than the tea or cookies did for sure.

hollybear4

I'm so glad! I know it helped me!