Help- friend having trouble letting down while pumping all of a sudden

KelliLynee

Hi ladies,

A friend of mine has a 4 month old baby girl & has been back to work for about 6 weeks. Until now she has had no issues pumping, but Friday and again today she is having a really hard time letting down. On Friday she tried multiple times but wasn't successful until way into the afternoon. She chalked it up as a fluke and expected that things would be back to normal this morning, but again she is not having a let down at all. Her DD nursed fine over the weekend, and this morning she pumped on one side and got a good amount (after her DD nursed on the other side, or maybe at the same time, I'm not sure...)

Anyways, I shared the tips that worked for me when I was pumping at work, to relax (not do work) look at a picture or video of her baby and just focus on relaxing. I also told her to try to think of her DD nursing, thing of the whole process and try to focus just on that.

She said that she has been trying this with no luck. Is there anything else I can tell her? She doesn't think its a supply issue or a pump issue (though it is a borrowed pump, it seems to be functioning perfectly).

Thanks for any help you can give!

PepperStick

Double post!

PepperStick

Does she massage while pumping. When I pumped for DD I had to massage my breasts or I would get close to nothing. I would massage the left, then the right, and go back and fourth. I got the most doing it that way.

Also, is she pumping for a decent length of time? 

MrsCodeMonkey

Has she tried changing the speed on the pump? You're supposed to start on high speed and then lower it. Just a thought. I'm guessing that perhaps the work stress is getting in the way, but how can you force yourself to relax? Could she play a video of her LO? 

kitkat145

Lurking...

Could she try packing LOs pjs from the night before and smelling them while pumping? Also, cover up the horns/bottles so she's not focused on how much is coming out. Is she using a pump that requires parts to be changed (ie Medela PISA needs the white membranes replaced)?

Jen&Len

I went through this with DD.  I think it just became a mental block every time I had to pump because I would get all anxious thinking about letting down even though I tried to relax.  THe thing that worked best for me was to manually stimulate the nipples for a minute or so until you feel the "tingle" and then pump.  It worked every time.