Keep trying? Give up?

Brandi81012

hello,
I have a question for you ladies who frequent this board! I am a momma of 2 darling little girls. The youngest will be 6 weeks old tomorrow. I gave up fighting my low supply after 2 weeks with DD1.

I have been struggling with very low supply since DD2 was born. My milk didn't come in until almost 7 days, we struggled with jaundice then with weight gain. We didn't get back up to birth weight until 4 weeks. To get her back up to birth weight we had to supplement with 1.5 oz of formula. Even taking supplements and lactation cookies my milk has not increased one bit. Starting fenugreek at 1 week, along with more milk plus, Brewers yeast. I am struggling with when do I stop nursing? Pumping? I am just sad because DD2 is a good nurser with a good latch I am just the problem. What would you do? When would you just give up the struggle with trying to increase your supply? 
I don't know what to do.

nackie

I had similar problems with my supply.  Took us until 3.5 weeks to get back to birth weight and the jaundice didn't got away until we started supplementing.  I had to supplement with formula and pump for 20 min after every nursing session until DS was 3 months old.  I'm still pumping after every session to keep my supply up since I'm back at work now, but I did eventually get to the point where we don't need formula anymore.  It's still a struggle to pump enough for daycare bottles though.
It's possible if you really want it, but it was a ton of work and I probably would have enjoyed my maternity leave more if I had just decided to go with formula.  It really depends on how important it is to you to continue to BF.

Brandi81012

Thanks for your response.

janat1717

Took us 4 months to battle back from a very poor start that caused low supply. It was crazy hard and sucked big time but we are going strong now with no end in sight at 11 mo. I pumped after he nursed every time and tried All the supplements. I think Goats Rue, Moringa and Oatmeal helped. I only had little increases, nothing dramatic and exciting which made it extra tough to stick it out 

Conky3000

I hated pumping with twins so didn't even try this time. I started supplementing before coming home from hospital after a c section (again) for my singleton this time because she was losing too much weight and I didn't want to hesitate like I did the first time around. She's now two months old and has not,increased her formula intake in over a month...In fact, it seems to be decreasing. I don't feel like I'm making enough milk, it doesn't seem like I'm making any more now than I was a month ago, but she's growing well and peeing and pooping so she's getting something from me. Anyway, the best thing I can say is to put baby on the breast as often as possible, even if you think she's not hungry and only wants comfort sucking. I know this can be hard, but I do it as much as I can when I can. At the very least it's prevented my supply from worsening and at best it's increased a bit (time will tell if she's really going off the formula without any ill effects or not).

i know a lot of people suggest pumping after nursing, but I found pumping so stressful and disheartening (seeing how little came out) that I didn't think it was worth it. That's just me.

All of that being said, there is nothing wrong with formula and bottle feeding so do not feel guilty if breastfeeding doesn't work out. All that matters is that baby is fed and is healthy. Don't let anyone guilt or pressure you into thinking anything else. Breastfeeding is great, but in the long run it doesn't really matter much.

good luck and congrats on your daughters!

Wering

I've been fighting low milk supply since 2 months (baby is now 9 months). We've had to supplement on and off, and I've completed 3 rounds of Reglan. Find a lactation consultant who can help you develop a plan to fight it. Supplementation is NOT the enemy, but make sure you're pumping every time you feed the baby with the formula. You need to "place the order" for more milk or else your body will continue to believe your baby got what it needed. 

You need to decide how important it is to you. Is the stress of continuing worth it? For me? Absolutely. For others - no. Evaluate your goals, decide what is most important, and go from there.

My opinion? If you have any ounce of fight left in you, fight.

SmrBrd2012

To me, it would depend on how much you're producing. Even a little bit is beneficial and it also offsets crazy formula prices. However, I agree that only you can really know when it is time. If it's too much and it's stressing you out to the point of no longer being enjoyable or worth it, then you shouldn't feel bad about formula feeding. I struggled with low supply. It started to improve a little after a lip/tongue tie was taken care of and I tried supplementing with everything under the sun but it was a battle every day. I decided to let it go at 9 months when I was only producing about an .5-1oz per pumping session (every 3 hours). It was just no longer worth the time and frustration to me. Fed is best. La Leche League is a great resource if you do want to keep going.