Help Low Supply

Krisnralph

My DS is 6 months old and I have been having trouble the last couple of months when I am pumping at work to just get enough milk for him at daycare. At daycare he take a 4oz bottle every 4 hours but when he gets at home he wants to nurse every hour to two hours. He is still not sleeping through the night. He is waking up about every 1 1/2 to 2 hours to nurse. I think that I don't have enough milk to get him full before he goes back to sleep. My pedritrition had me start him on baby food at 4 months because he was underweight. Iwas told yesterday that I need to feed him 6 oz bottles at DC. I am hardly getting 12 oz to send to DC for the next day. I have been using Fenugreek for over a month and I did see a little pick up but not much as I am only getting 10-12 oz. I don't pump at home because I nurse on demand and I am afraid that with him nursing so much I won't have anything for him if I pump. I don't want to give him formula if i don't have to, but I don't want to be under feeding him either. Thank you for any advice.

jlsimon56

1.  Don't do 6oz.  His 4oz bottles should be fine.  He's already only eating every 4 hours.  My LO took a 4oz bottle like every 2 hours.  They wanted to give her more to stretch out her eating times, but I refused.  Rarely does a baby take more than 4oz per bottle.  If you do go up, do it in 0.5oz increments.  Your daycare seems to be thinking of formula.

2.  Baby food has less calories than BM.  If your pedi wants your LO to gain more weight, you should be giving more BM - not filling his belly with baby food and having him want less BM.  At 6mo, your supply is about supply and demand, not as much about hormones.  If your LO is full on baby food, he won't nurse as well (hence the night waking).  Always give BM before baby food. 

3.  Consider pumping once before you go to bed.  I did this and was able to get an additional ounce or two, which was sometimes all I needed to get through the next day.

4.  Try to nurse your LO a lot once you get him from daycare.  I nursed my LO at 4, 5:30, and 7:30.  Get him nice and full.  This may take a few days though, for your body to adjust to increased demand at this time of day. 

5.  For me, the 6mo mark was the worst.  The biggest growth spurt and the highest intake of BM.  My LO always took three 4oz bottles at daycare, and I always sent a fourth "extra" bottle.  When she hit 6mo, she always took that extra bottle.  And STILL nursed just as often, if not more often.  Once I got through the 6mo mark, everything was smooth sailing.  So hang in there!!

bigmamaisback

It will get better just hang in there! My lactation consultant told me to use at least two herbs if not more. They work better that way. Add on another product. I'm using Breastea from https://www.breastea.com and it has increased my milk supply. Also try pumping the breast he's not using while he's breastfeeding. My lactation consultant worked wonders for me. You could always call up to the hospital where you delivered and talk to one.

jlsimon56

bigmamaisback:

It will get better just hang in there! My lactation consultant told me to use at least two herbs if not more. They work better that way. Add on another product. I'm using Breastea from https://www.breastea.com and it has increased my milk supply. Also try pumping the breast he's not using while he's breastfeeding. My lactation consultant worked wonders for me. You could always call up to the hospital where you delivered and talk to one.

Do you work for breastea?  You have posted about them a lot.  No big deal if you just like their product, but if you do work for them....posting like this is against TOU and you'll get banned.  Just looking out.  :-)