How many of you were not able to to breastfeed?

Happeewife · September 2009

If so, why? Do lactation consultants really make a difference because I have spoken to friends who say they just can't produce enough milk. What is a lactation consultant going to to do in this case.

msabol2077 · September 2009

I was able to bf but I had to stop around 5mo bc of supply issues. I really would have liked to for a lot longer. I contacted a LC she helped out a little but I don't think anyone could have really helped with my situation.

AngieandTony · September 2009

i can only speak for myself, but having a lactation consultant was key for me in the beginning. she came to my house (tony bartered computer help in exchange for free lc services) and she evaluated my latch, she weighed max before and after feeding and she gave me lots of support and advice. she came over twice. i had a lot of issues with oversupply and she was key in getting me to continue.

CA2006 · September 2009

LC's will give you tips to help increase milk production and solve latch problems, etc. They are experts that can help you try every little thing possible if you are committed to BFing.

KatieRL1979 · September 2009

First off, it depends on how they think they "know" they weren't producing enough. If the baby is growing fine then they are producing enough. When babies want to feed all the time it's the mom's first thought that it must be a problem with their supply.... If the pediatrician tells them the baby isn't growing properly then they probably are having an issue but I think that is actually the minority. It's mostly just us paranoid mothers, especially first time moms. I know I was paranoid about it!

Garnetbaby09 · September 2009

I wan't able to due to supply issues. No amount of Fernugreek or tea was going to help with that. But now we are happily FF and life is good.

KatieRL1979 · September 2009

And in my case my periods started up only 2 months after baby so my supply started dropping, especially after I went back to work. We had to start supplementing about two months after I went back to work. A month after that we were on 100% formula.

SportyChic24 · September 2009

I couldn't, but I didn't have the chance at first. I was so out of it when I finally woke up from the c-section the only thing I could say was when can I see my baby. After that I fell asleep again, so of course the hospital gave her a bottle. I tried pumping, didn't work too well, I really did not have anything. I kept trying and trying and nothing for weeks. So I just said forget it, maybe I gave up to soon but my baby was hungry.

emiliemadison · September 2009

This may get some flames, but here goes:

It is VERY rare that a woman is medically unable to produce enough milk to sufficiently BF her child. Like, less than 3% of women.

That said, BF is all about supply and demand. The more you nurse, the more milk you will produce. The opposite holds true. That's why with healthy mothers and infants, supplimenting with formula *can* actually cause the mother's milk supply to decrease- because your body isnt getting the signal to make as much milk as is needed. So for the vast majority of women, yes, they will absolutely make enough milk. Or, in simpler terms, they will produce as much milk as they tell their body they need (baby nurses 5x/day, the body will produce enough milk for 5 feedings a day etc).

There are ways to increase supply even if supply is low. And this is one of the great things a LC can assist with.

Obviously, there are plenty of women who try BF and dont like it or decide formula is the right choice for them. That's fine! BF can be very difficult on many levels- physically, time wise, and emotionally. Especially when you cant actually *see* how much milk your baby is getting, it's easy to worry about whether or not you're making enough milk. But, again, a LC can help you figure that out.

The number of wet/dirty diapers, weight gain, and also weighing the baby before and after a nursing session will help determine if you're making enough. Pumping is NOT an accurate measure of how much milk you're making or how much the baby is getting. Babies are much more effective at getting milk out than pumps are.

HTH.

MrsL.inMarch · September 2009

We had tongue issues, latch issues, weight gain issues, my supply was never that great and my period started at exactly 8 weeks pp, every month my supply was cut in half. I tried fenugreek, power pumping, MMP and nothing helped. He was also having allergic reactions to something I was eating. I cut out peanuts, milk, all other dairy, chocolate, anything spicy, wheat and he was still having issues. We switched to formula at 5 months and he's happy as a clam.

Garnetbaby09 · September 2009

emiliemadison:

This may get some flames, but here goes:

It is VERY rare that a woman is medically unable to produce enough milk to sufficiently BF her child. Like, less than 3% of women.

That said, BF is all about supply and demand. The more you nurse, the more milk you will produce. The opposite holds true. That's why with healthy mothers and infants, supplimenting with formula *can* actually cause the mother's milk supply to decrease- because your body isnt getting the signal to make as much milk as is needed. So for the vast majority of women, yes, they will absolutely make enough milk. Or, in simpler terms, they will produce as much milk as they tell their body they need (baby nurses 5x/day, the body will produce enough milk for 5 feedings a day etc).

There are ways to increase supply even if supply is low. And this is one of the great things a LC can assist with.

Obviously, there are plenty of women who try BF and dont like it or decide formula is the right choice for them. That's fine! BF can be very difficult on many levels- physically, time wise, and emotionally. Especially when you cant actually *see* how much milk your baby is getting, it's easy to worry about whether or not you're making enough milk. But, again, a LC can help you figure that out.

The number of wet/dirty diapers, weight gain, and also weighing the baby before and after a nursing session will help determine if you're making enough. Pumping is NOT an accurate measure of how much milk you're making or how much the baby is getting. Babies are much more effective at getting milk out than pumps are.

HTH.

I am NOT touching this post with a ten foot pole. Yikes. ::exiting post::

britti<3 · September 2009

I had major supply issues that I didn't even realize until we went to the 1month appointment. I ebf the first month and she was 2lbs below her discharge weight. I went to an LC, took everything I could for supply help and she still wasn't getting enough. I felt like crap because I was basically starving my child and started supplementing. I pump now but am slowly stopping. I can't pump enough in a day to give her but half of what she eats in a day.

laur1120 · September 2009

I wasn't. DD couldn't latch right. I saw LCs about 5 times and they couldn't figure it out either. she wasn't gaining weight either- she was not back at birth weight at 2.5 weeks old so that was a problem. I EP'd for a while but I hated it so my supply suffered. I went to totally FFing at 3 months.

Fish4Fun · September 2009

emiliemadison:
This may get some flames, but here goes:
It is VERY rare that a woman is medically unable to produce enough milk to sufficiently BF her child. Like, less than 3% of women.

I agree with you for the most part, but my guess is that the percentage of women unable to EBF successfully for legitimate medical reasons is rising due to the increase in successful premature births and other medical conditions that once would have proven fatal for mother and/or baby.

But yes, I agree that most women are quitting mainly for reasons other than medical necessity.

ncbelle · September 2009

emiliemadison:
This may get some flames, but here goes:
It is VERY rare that a woman is medically unable to produce enough milk to sufficiently BF her child. Like, less than 3% of women.
That said, BF is all about supply and demand. The more you nurse, the more milk you will produce. The opposite holds true. That's why with healthy mothers and infants, supplimenting with formula *can* actually cause the mother's milk supply to decrease- because your body isnt getting the signal to make as much milk as is needed. So for the vast majority of women, yes, they will absolutely make enough milk. Or, in simpler terms, they will produce as much milk as they tell their body they need (baby nurses 5x/day, the body will produce enough milk for 5 feedings a day etc).
There are ways to increase supply even if supply is low. And this is one of the great things a LC can assist with.
Obviously, there are plenty of women who try BF and dont like it or decide formula is the right choice for them. That's fine! BF can be very difficult on many levels- physically, time wise, and emotionally. Especially when you cant actually *see* how much milk your baby is getting, it's easy to worry about whether or not you're making enough milk. But, again, a LC can help you figure that out.
The number of wet/dirty diapers, weight gain, and also weighing the baby before and after a nursing session will help determine if you're making enough. Pumping is NOT an accurate measure of how much milk you're making or how much the baby is getting. Babies are much more effective at getting milk out than pumps are.
HTH.

I would agree with this. I would add that BFing is certainly easier for some women than for others which certainly factors into whether they feel like they can/could be successful or have enough milk, etc.

Many women struggle with breastfeeding because we do a terrible job in our society of educating women about how to breastfed. How many of us actually saw a mother nurse before we did it ourselves?? LCs can help educate women and help them through many common problems.

Of course there are a small minority of women who physically can't BF for whatever reason. There are other women who decide that FF is a better fit for their family for whatever reason - and of course that's totally fine.

emiliemadison · September 2009

Garnetbaby09:
emiliemadison:

This may get some flames, but here goes:

It is VERY rare that a woman is medically unable to produce enough milk to sufficiently BF her child. Like, less than 3% of women.

That said, BF is all about supply and demand. The more you nurse, the more milk you will produce. The opposite holds true. That's why with healthy mothers and infants, supplimenting with formula *can* actually cause the mother's milk supply to decrease- because your body isnt getting the signal to make as much milk as is needed. So for the vast majority of women, yes, they will absolutely make enough milk. Or, in simpler terms, they will produce as much milk as they tell their body they need (baby nurses 5x/day, the body will produce enough milk for 5 feedings a day etc).

There are ways to increase supply even if supply is low. And this is one of the great things a LC can assist with.

Obviously, there are plenty of women who try BF and dont like it or decide formula is the right choice for them. That's fine! BF can be very difficult on many levels- physically, time wise, and emotionally. Especially when you cant actually *see* how much milk your baby is getting, it's easy to worry about whether or not you're making enough milk. But, again, a LC can help you figure that out.

The number of wet/dirty diapers, weight gain, and also weighing the baby before and after a nursing session will help determine if you're making enough. Pumping is NOT an accurate measure of how much milk you're making or how much the baby is getting. Babies are much more effective at getting milk out than pumps are.

HTH.

I am NOT touching this post with a ten foot pole. Yikes. ::exiting post::

What I wrote is just the basic biology of BF. Obviously there are OTHER circumstances that would inhibit BF and I didnt bother going into those. But yes, the fact remains that it's still very rare for a woman to be unable to produce enough milk. I should have followed this up with "under ideal circumstances". Not all of us HAVE ideal circumstances. I said it might get some flames, which is too bad. There is SO much misinformation and so many misconceptions about BF that it's a very sensitive topic, especially with women who tried it and it just didnt work for them- for whatever reason.

laur1120 · September 2009

Fish4Fun:
emiliemadison:

This may get some flames, but here goes:

It is VERY rare that a woman is medically unable to produce enough milk to sufficiently BF her child. Like, less than 3% of women.

I agree with you for the most part, but my guess is that the percentage of women unable to EBF successfully for legitimate medical reasons is rising due to the increase in successful premature births and other medical conditions that once would have proven fatal for mother and/or baby.

But yes, I agree that most women are quitting mainly for reasons other than medical necessity.

I agree with this too. And yes since my baby couldn't latch right- it was not effective in telling my body to produce more milk. I never ever was engorged. And then having to rely on a pump (which working moms have to)- you aren't going to produce enough milk cause it's not the same as putting the baby on the boob so yes supply will suffer.

Geekchick921 · September 2009

Emilie, I agree with you in theory. At FIRST, I would think that most women, barring prior breast surgery, medications, or some other medical reasons, produce enough milk. That said, the demands work, home, and other stressors put on women these days can make maintaining that supply difficult, even impossible.

I BFAR for 6+ months. At that point, my supply was really starting to suck. On days I had to work I didn't get to pump as often as I would have liked. I was taking fenugreek for awhile then was on Reglan for about 2 months. It worked for awhile, but its effectiveness was gradually decreasing and it was making me miserable so I stopped taking it. She was slowly dropping in the percentiles in her weight and had a crappy nap schedule during the day because she liked to constantly nurse in a half-awake state. I transitioned to formula around 7 months and it's working well. I really don't think my supply issues had to do with my reduction, as I had plenty of milk at first. I think I got spoiled and offered bottles of EBM too often during the night and when we were out before my supply regulated (when my cup runneth over) that affected it, then work and school and everything else kept wheedling it down as well. Is it my fault? Pretty much, but live and learn. I still did great for awhile regardless.

TrinaKay · September 2009

I was able to breastfeed for a few months. When DD was 2 months old I got a 24 hour stomach bug and couldn't nurse her because I was vomiting every 30 minutes. Luckilly, I had pumped milk, but when I was sick I didn't pump. My supply tanked, but I was able to get it back up with Reglan and Fenugreek. That was bump number one. Then I started getting really bad headaches, at first I thought I wasn't eating/drinking enough and so I upped my intake, but that didn't help at all. Finally my doctor and my LC diaganosed me with 'lactation headaches' as soon as I weaned DD I was better. We happily FF now, for me it was more important to be able to spend time with my DD and not be miserable from pain.

So- I COULD breastfeed, but I guess I chose not to.

laur1120 · September 2009

Oh and I think alot of LCs aren't the best either. I know mine weren't and when they couldn't figure it out- they gave me formula cause obviously they were concerned about my DD gaining weight. They didn't want me to use a nipple shield and in hindsight I think that really would have helped me. owell- live and learn I guess.

mrskadams · September 2009

[I wasn't able to bf. I had a breast reduction, so I produced some milk, but not a ton of it. Also, I had serious blood pressure issues. Two weeks after I had DD, they put me on a ton of meds, so I had to stop. I was so unbelievably sad.

emiliemadison · September 2009

Geekchick921:
Emilie, I agree with you in theory. At FIRST, I would think that most women, barring prior breast surgery, medications, or some other medical reasons, produce enough milk. That said, the demands work, home, and other stressors put on women these days can make maintaining that supply difficult, even impossible.

I followed up in a response that I should have said originally that most women can produce enough milk "under ideal circumstances", which clearly, not everyone has. And no, that is NO ONE'S fault. It's life.

Sam78 · September 2009

My milk never came in, fenugreek did nothing, pumping did nothing (most I got from the pump was .5 oz). I saw a LC 2 weeks after Alyssa was born and she got something like 2 oz total from both breasts after nursing for an hour each side. I have no idea why I had no supply, but formula it was.

Mrs.State746 · September 2009

I have one flat and one inverted nipple...that can sure throw a wrench in the process. I used nipple shields and did ok the first couple of days. Then my nipples started bleeding, and DS would just trash back and forth at the nipple. THEN I got mastitis 4 times in a matter of 2 weeks (2 times in each breast) I started just pumping and it was going ok, but the first round of antibiotics didn't work, and the second wasn't approved for breast feeding plus I had an allergic reaction to it. Which didn't surprise me because I am allergic to a TON of antibiotics which made it hard enough for them to get me some.

SO in all it was painful for me, emotionally, mentally and physically. I went into PPD because of it and felt like a failure. I did my best and my NP told me I should just wean all together because being happy makes the baby happy. Thank god for her and my counselor.

WifeofaMarine · September 2009

I was able to BF, but stopped EBFing at 6 weeks because DS had HORRIBLE gas. I mean, he would scream in pain ALL day long. His sensitive tummy just couldn't handle it, no matter how I altered my diet to cut out dairy, spicy foods, etc. The pedi. suggested adding in formula. His tummy did so much better on formula. At first I felt like I had failed my son, since my original goal was to EBF until he was a year old, however, then I gave myself a reality check that I was doing what was best for my son and formula was not a bad thing. We started doing a BF/formula combo. He gets mostly formula because doing the combo tanked my supply, but he still BFs several times a day, though getting mostly formula. I would've loved to have been able to EBF for a year, but, it just didn't work for DS.

Geekchick921 · September 2009

emiliemadison:
Geekchick921:

Emilie, I agree with you in theory. At FIRST, I would think that most women, barring prior breast surgery, medications, or some other medical reasons, produce enough milk. That said, the demands work, home, and other stressors put on women these days can make maintaining that supply difficult, even impossible.

I followed up in a response that I should have said originally that most women can produce enough milk "under ideal circumstances", which clearly, not everyone has. And no, that is NO ONE'S fault. It's life.

Yeah, I saw the F/U post after I posted. I know you weren't trying to insult anyone or anything. Smile

Chloe77 · September 2009

emiliemadison:

This may get some flames, but here goes:

It is VERY rare that a woman is medically unable to produce enough milk to sufficiently BF her child. Like, less than 3% of women.

That said, BF is all about supply and demand. The more you nurse, the more milk you will produce. The opposite holds true. That's why with healthy mothers and infants, supplimenting with formula *can* actually cause the mother's milk supply to decrease- because your body isnt getting the signal to make as much milk as is needed. So for the vast majority of women, yes, they will absolutely make enough milk. Or, in simpler terms, they will produce as much milk as they tell their body they need (baby nurses 5x/day, the body will produce enough milk for 5 feedings a day etc).

There are ways to increase supply even if supply is low. And this is one of the great things a LC can assist with.

Obviously, there are plenty of women who try BF and dont like it or decide formula is the right choice for them. That's fine! BF can be very difficult on many levels- physically, time wise, and emotionally. Especially when you cant actually *see* how much milk your baby is getting, it's easy to worry about whether or not you're making enough milk. But, again, a LC can help you figure that out.

The number of wet/dirty diapers, weight gain, and also weighing the baby before and after a nursing session will help determine if you're making enough. Pumping is NOT an accurate measure of how much milk you're making or how much the baby is getting. Babies are much more effective at getting milk out than pumps are.

HTH.

I keep writing responses to your post, re-reading them, and realizing that I sound obnoxious and rude. All I can say to this is :-(.

SWMcFarland · September 2009

I had a preemie in the NICU and tried. I pumped and got colostrum for the first day, which was very exciting to me (I was stuck on mag and couldn't go see her so I at least felt like I was going something for her!). However, she was under the bili lights for the entire duration of her NICU stay (13 days) so we only had 30 mins. max every 3 hours to get her fed. She had a required "intake" amount so I pumped and pumped like crazy. I never got anything. LC's tried to help, NICU nurses tried to help, DH, my mom, everyone. But nada. We tried putting her to the breast and she didn't change a bit in weight before vs. after. She scarfed her bottle of formula though.

Unfortunately, I fall in that very small percentage. I never experienced engorgement, leaking, any of it. It actually makes me very sad, as I sometimes feel I have failed my daughter on so many ways and this just adds to it.

Miss.Modular · September 2009

emiliemadison:
This may get some flames, but here goes:
It is VERY rare that a woman is medically unable to produce enough milk to sufficiently BF her child. Like, less than 3% of women.
That said, BF is all about supply and demand. The more you nurse, the more milk you will produce. The opposite holds true. That's why with healthy mothers and infants, supplimenting with formula *can* actually cause the mother's milk supply to decrease- because your body isnt getting the signal to make as much milk as is needed. So for the vast majority of women, yes, they will absolutely make enough milk. Or, in simpler terms, they will produce as much milk as they tell their body they need (baby nurses 5x/day, the body will produce enough milk for 5 feedings a day etc).
There are ways to increase supply even if supply is low. And this is one of the great things a LC can assist with.
Obviously, there are plenty of women who try BF and dont like it or decide formula is the right choice for them. That's fine! BF can be very difficult on many levels- physically, time wise, and emotionally. Especially when you cant actually *see* how much milk your baby is getting, it's easy to worry about whether or not you're making enough milk. But, again, a LC can help you figure that out.
The number of wet/dirty diapers, weight gain, and also weighing the baby before and after a nursing session will help determine if you're making enough. Pumping is NOT an accurate measure of how much milk you're making or how much the baby is getting. Babies are much more effective at getting milk out than pumps are.
HTH.

this x 1000

DG1 · September 2009

I basically wasn't. No supply. We suspect DS had (has) a tongue tie, but no one would really take that seriously.

I tried to pump, but a 30 minute pumping session (with a double electric pump) would yield about a half ounce of breastmilk. I'd pump several times/day for 3-4 days just to get enough for one feeding. I continued this for two months and tried everything I could think of - fenugreek, visits to the LC, etc.

An LC can help if it's a common issue. But mine seemed to just give the same stock advice they gave everyone. I didn't feel like they paid any attention to what OUR problems were. DS would latch on just fine, but he wouldn't stay latched (probably because he wasn't getting any milk), but they talked to us like latching was the issue (because I guess it's the most common problem they see).

iris427 · September 2009

Sometimes people aren't producing enough because they are not feeding baby on demand or pumping enough. ?Sometimes they think they aren't producing enough, but they are misinterpreting things and their baby is actually getting plenty of milk. ?A LC can help with these things and many other problems.

Also, if you aren't producing enough, there are some things that you can do to help--you aren't just SOL. ?You can look at your diet and fluid intake, you can try medications, herbal treatments, etc.

Even if you weren't producing enough to EBF and still wanted to mix BM and formula, an LC can help with that too.?

DG1 · September 2009

Miss.Modular:
emiliemadison:
This may get some flames, but here goes:
It is VERY rare that a woman is medically unable to produce enough milk to sufficiently BF her child. Like, less than 3% of women.
That said, BF is all about supply and demand. The more you nurse, the more milk you will produce. The opposite holds true. That's why with healthy mothers and infants, supplimenting with formula *can* actually cause the mother's milk supply to decrease- because your body isnt getting the signal to make as much milk as is needed. So for the vast majority of women, yes, they will absolutely make enough milk. Or, in simpler terms, they will produce as much milk as they tell their body they need (baby nurses 5x/day, the body will produce enough milk for 5 feedings a day etc).
There are ways to increase supply even if supply is low. And this is one of the great things a LC can assist with.
Obviously, there are plenty of women who try BF and dont like it or decide formula is the right choice for them. That's fine! BF can be very difficult on many levels- physically, time wise, and emotionally. Especially when you cant actually *see* how much milk your baby is getting, it's easy to worry about whether or not you're making enough milk. But, again, a LC can help you figure that out.
The number of wet/dirty diapers, weight gain, and also weighing the baby before and after a nursing session will help determine if you're making enough. Pumping is NOT an accurate measure of how much milk you're making or how much the baby is getting. Babies are much more effective at getting milk out than pumps are.
HTH.
this x 1000

So fascinating. I find that it's mostly the people who had zero problems who believe this to be true. I have a friend who had zero problems and she truly doesn't believe that I tried everything, because if I had, then surely I could have successfully BF-ed. She's pretty mean about it, actually, and is very judgy about *anyone* who doesn't BF unless they have a serious medical condition that prevents it (like they're on epilepsy meds or something).

I spent HUNDREDS of dollars on a pump and pump parts, nipple shields, fenugreek and other herbs, LC consultations, and pediatrician copays (we had to go liek 5 times in the first 4 weeks for weight checks because he wasn't gaining). I would nurse him, then FF him, then pump, then wash the pump, nap for 15 minutes, and start that all over again.

And I still get guilt trips. So yeah, I get a little defensive about it. I dare anyone to name something I didn't try. And what do I have to show for it? A super happy healthy baby, that's what!

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