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Does a little bit of BM make a difference?

Jen0204Jen0204 member
in Breastfeeding

I have tried everything that I (and lactation consultants and my friend who is a LLL leader) can think of to increase my supply and no matter how frequently or infrequently I pump I get between 11-12 ounces a day (I exclusively pump, the girls never took well to breastfeeding). I was going to stop pumping but I can't bring myself to do it when I'm getting enough for two bottles each per day. My new plan - since I go back to work soon - is to pump first thing in the morning, at lunch, when I get home, and right before bed and then the girls get whatever I pump in those four sessions. I'm going to stop paying for the teas, supplements, and domperidone since they've had no effect on my supply and just see how I do with those four pumps a day (I'm going to keep renting the hospital grade pump).

Before I commit to that plan, though, I wanted to ask if that small amount of breastmilk will be beneficial to them. Is 5-6 ounces a day (per baby) enough to give them any of the benefits from breastmilk? If it is I'll keep pumping, but if not then I'm not going to spend $80/month on a pump so that I don't feel guilty, especially since that's more money then I'm saving on formula since I produce so little. 

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Re: Does a little bit of BM make a difference?

  • JBtheDog20JBtheDog20
    Every little bit does make a big difference also. It might help you to know that when itscones to situations like yours that your BM will actually become "condensed". So your lo's could still be getting a lot of the wonderful aspects of bfing even though a full supply might be a challenge. 
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  • tokenhosertokenhoser member

    There are benefits. from kellymom about partial breastfeeding:

    • Disease, allergy-prevention, immunological benefits
      Research has shown that the benefits of breastfeeding are generally dose-related: the more breastmilk, the greater the benefit. But even 50 ml of breastmilk per day (or less - there is little research on this) will help to keep your baby healthier than if he received none at all. In fact, the immunities in mom's milk have been shown to increase in concentration as the quantity of milk decreases.
    • Nutritional benefits
      There are components of mother's milk which cannot be duplicated - even a small quantity of these can be invaluable to your baby.

    It's up to you how long you can continue pumping - do it if you don't feel it's overwhelming, stop if it's totally too much to manage. 50 ml is less than 2 oz, so you are definitely giving your babies a boost with 5 or 6 oz a day.

     

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  • lanboblanbob member
    There is a benefit of LO getting some bm as pp say. Have you tried anise seed? It really helped me up my supply. You boil it like a tea I add a little honey. Funegreek and mothers milk tea didn't help me.
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  • sunandsandsunandsand
    I think its absolutely beneficial. I EP'd with my son and tried every supplement and like you, I got about 12 oz per day. He was NEVER sick and I pumped for 9 months. Have you called around on the pump? At one point I rented a hospital grade from a LC but it was only $40. For $80 you might as well buy an electric
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  • Jen0204Jen0204 member

    imagesunandsand:
    I think its absolutely beneficial. I EP'd with my son and tried every supplement and like you, I got about 12 oz per day. He was NEVER sick and I pumped for 9 months. Have you called around on the pump? At one point I rented a hospital grade from a LC but it was only $40. For $80 you might as well buy an electric

    I called around, unfortunately everywhere is the same price (I live in a high cost of living area). I have an Ameda Purely Yours pump, but it doesn't work on me. I went 10 hours the other day without pumping, used the Ameda at my parents and got 2 ounces, went home and used the hospital grade pump an hour and a half later and got another 4 ounces. Normally pumping an hour and a half later would get me maybe an ounce. I wish the Ameda would work, it would make the decision to continue pumping so much easier since cost wouldn't be a factor!

    Thanks everyone for the information. I'll try the anise seed. Where is the best place to get that? 

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