breastfeeding help

Azwildkat

I delivered twin boys at 36 weeks, and we were fortunate to not have a NICU stay. I wanted to exclusively breastfeed, but the boys were unable to effectively latch and suck from birth-I was told this was normal due to their small size and preemie status and have used formula. They were also tongue tied, we had this fixed about 1 week ago, but they still have difficulty latching at 1 month of age despite the nipple shield. Since then, I have been pumping with the hospital grade medela pump, taking the mother love supplement, had a home lactation consult and still only get at most 30 cc combined per pump session. I have to go back to work in about 1 month, so any help people can send my way to really ramp up my supply so I can achieve my EP goal would be great!

JenLC99

Babies won't transfer as much milk with a nipple shield as they will at the breast, and a pump is not as effective as a baby who is nursing well, so building a full supply with a pump requires a lot of work.  Have you tried domperidone?  It has to be compounded in this country, but if you have a compounding pharmacy near you then your OB should be able to write you a prescription.  You can also buy it from Canada.  Your local LLL should be able to help you find out how to get it if you want to go that route.  I did and I do think it helped boost my supply.  Also try power pumping in the evening; that is where you use a pump to simulate cluster feeding and for an hour you pump "ten minutes on-ten minutes off" for the entire hour. Be sure that you pump for a full five minutes after your last letdown, but don't pump for longer than twenty minutes at a time because it can do permanent damage to your breasts.  Also make sure you drink to thirst, about 8 oz of water every time you pump, but again don't go crazy on the water because it can have the opposite effect.  

srbmvp

I would look into domperidone as well, it saved me when I relactated with my first son. You can order it without a prescription from inhousepharmacy.biz, but it takes about 3 weeks to arrive.

In addition to the suggestions from PP, have you tried a supplemental nursing system (SNS)? It's the tube thing that you attach to your nipple, and the baby takes both your nipple and the end of the tube into their mouths. They get milk or formula from the tube while nursing, so it can encourage them to latch while giving your breast the stimulation it needs to produce milk.

The SNS helped me get DS1 to latch after about 3 months of not BFing at all, and he went on to BF until he was 16 months old and we found out we were having twins. If you can, get with an LC and they can show you how to use it.

Good luck!