Sudden drop in supply.

stardust317

I'm a FTM with a 3 week old. We've had latch issues so I'm almost exclusively pumping and I was making plenty of milk up until about 72 hours ago. I was pumping about 4 oz at w time, and able to freeze some. Now I'm Pumping 2 oz in a good session, and am struggling to keep up with LO's needs. Any suggestions?

heathlyn9

How often & how long are you pumping? Are you drinking enough water? It could always be stress related. I know I pump significantly less when I am worried about not pumping enough. It seems to have a spiraling effect...

stardust317

I'm pumping every time she eats for 20-25 minutes. I'm trying to drink enough water, but could probably stand to drink more.

JenJune3

If your baby is 3 weeks old you are probably just getting over being engorged. At first your body overproduces because it doesn't know how much you need. If you are EPing and need to pump more I would recommend pumping more often, every 90 minutes to 2 hours even if she's eating every 3 hours. I couldn't tell by your response if you are pumping after nursing or pumping after bottle feeding her, but if you are nursing then getting 2 oz that's really good for a 3 week old!

stardust317

She only nurses once or twice a day. So I'm pumping mostly after bottle feeding her.

heathlyn9

Maybe try a few power pumping sessions? Pump for 10-20 mins. then take a 10 min. break then pump again for 10 min. & then another 10 min. break. Repeat for 1 hour total time.  I do it when I need to increase my supply. Also, I eat oatmeal daily as well. I went from pumping 16oz daily to anywhere between 24-28oz. Hang in there momma, persistence is key!

daisyterp

Ditto the PPs, also make sure you are still getting plenty of skin to skin even if you are bottle-feeding, skin-to-skin contact w/ the baby helps milk supply. Taking a bath w/ your baby can be nice. Also I would keep trying w/ the latching on, the baby will always get more milk than the pump.