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Breastfeeding
how to increase volume of milk?
Hi all,
First time on the breastfeeding board. Our little Norah came 3 and a half weeks early and I am having such a hard time increasing the amount of milk I can produce. We have a lactation consultant and she's helping. But need more suggestions please! I'm pumping every 2-3 hours around the clock. I have used the nipple creams and hydrogel pads to repair my nipples. I'm using a hospital grade breast pump. Just started taking "more milk plus" tonight.
What happened was her birth was a traumatic 28 hours of labor with 6 hours of pushing and then an emergency csection. She had high billyrubin and needed to go in the incubator for a few days. At that point, I wasn't producing anything and she was sick- so I was supplementing with formula so she would gain weight and get better. Finally after a week and a half, she has started to gain weight. I have been pumping this whole time. So, she's getting breastmilk and formula. And, she prefers breastmilk to formula. I know I can get her to latch on again if I could just make more milk- since day one I haven't made enough. Any suggestions would be helpful and appreciated! Megan
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Re: how to increase volume of milk?
IUI#2 Femara/Ovidrel (cd 5-9) = BFN
IUI#3 Femara/Ovidrel (cd 3-7) = BFP!
beta #1 11/23 = 270, P4 = 75
beta #2 11/28 = 2055
Our daughter E was born 7/29/2012!
Surprise, our 2nd daughter P was born 5/22/14!
You are such a dedicated mommy...pumping round the clock is so hard! Keep up the great work. My LO was born 12 weeks early and I had to exclusively pump the 84 days he spent in the hospital. I had ever issue you could have with my breasts...including low supply. Because he was so premature they wanted me to stay away from supplements at first. They put me on regular (a medication intended for reflux issues. It worked for me at the time. But it is not something you can stay on for long periods I think it's about a month. It increased my supply about 15-20%.
When my LO came home in sept. it was my goal to be a successful breastfeeder. The drs told me he may never exclusively breastfeed. It was a very long hard road and I talked with as many people as possible. What ended up working for me was constant skin to skin...we were this way for about 8-10 hours a day. I took the more milk plus and special blend and they did not work as well for me as the straight fenugreek and blessed thistle. I am still taking these supplements as well as drinking the mothers milk tea. We have been successfully breast feeding for about 4 months now. There are times when I just don't produce enough especially as he gets bigger so he does get some bottles.
Continue to put your LO to breast as often as possible and keep up with the supplements. You could also take LO to a lactation specialist to be weighed before and after feeding to see what she is getting. That really helped me because it was a lot more than I thought. I know this may sound strange but talk to her...tell her how important it is to you both and ask her for help ( I have a lot of very holistic friends...but it also worked for me).
talk to as many people as you can and keep up the fantastic work!!!! Your LO is so lucky to have such a strong devoted mommy! Hope this helps
In a addition to all the great tips the ladies above have given, taking Fenugreek and Malt beverages help increasing the milk supply. I am also taking Lecithin to prevent plugged dock.
Good luck!!