How did you dry your milk supply?

KMW08 · December 2014

I've been battling low milk supply since day one. I have tried everything to increase it without much success. The max I was getting was 1-1.5oz every 4hrs. I then went to pumping every 6hrs with the same results and now I'm trying every 8hrs. I've also cut down on pumping time, instead of 20mins I do 10.

I've noticed at the 6-8hr range I have some leakage (mostly from the lower producing breast too--go figure...stupid tit

)

Any advice or tips on drying up your supply? I go back to work Jan 20th, so I'm trying to dry up before then as IMO it won't be worth my time or effort to continue pumping for such a minimal amount.

porterlove525 · December 2014

I haven't weaned yet so I have no advice there, but I do ask if you are really set to stop BFing? Are you strictly pumping or nursing as well. Getting 1-1.5oz in a pumping session is actually completely normal and your LO is only a couple weeks old, no? (Sorry I'm mobile as I'm up with my LO). At this point baby isn't taking much milk. Is that your net after nursing? Is LO losing weight?

To give you the other option, I have always struggled to pump more than 3oz ever (from both breasts, total), with 1.5oz being average for a very, very, long time. My LO is gone from me for about 10hrs a day and the most I've ever pumped in that span is 9oz total. My son has been fed exclusively with breast milk since birth and is off the charts for height and is always in the 75th percent for weight and he'll be 8 months next week. My son goes to daycare with just over 2oz in his bottles (3 bottles). I pump every 3hrs, as you shouldn't go longer to maintain supply. I send him to daycare with what I pumped the day before, nothing more and nurse morning and night. So maybe you don't have to give up?

ETA: I should add, I mean no judgement or malice if you just prefer to switch to formula, I just know I struggled with BFing and supply so I like to offer my experience and highly recommend working with an LC if you'd like to try and continue, even if you supplement

BootsOrHearts · December 2014

I went down from pumping 9 times per day, dropping one pumping session for 1-2 weeks, so went to 8 for a week or two, then 7, etc. Eventually I was just doing 2 per day then I went to 1 for a couple days then went to every other day, after about a week I just stopped and that was that. No leaking or engorgement or whatever. And it was about 2 months later my nipples finally healed up. The pumping was really hard on them and they were constantly scabbed over and bruised. :-(

I had trouble with supply too and the only way I could get it up was pumping with a hospital grade pump, pumping 10-12 times/day and doing aggressive breast compressions. And then I had to keep doing the compressions every time I pumped, like the whole time I was pumping. It was a pain. But it sounds like you're just ready to move on and that's ok too. For me it was a huge relief to pack up the pump and be done with it.

Wifey xo · December 2014

Just a small thing to add would be avoid any stimulation to your breasts/ nipples including shower water running on them, ect. I know this because my milk came in after I lost my twins, and my OB told me to keep a bra on and avoid any stimulation. Sorry it did not work out for you. I breast fed my son for 4 months, and then my milk just vanished on me. I supplemented from the beginning, and just transitioned to exclusively formula. Good luck!

Mom2anAngel2 · December 2014

I quit cold turkey. I would just express enough for comfort when needed. Over a few weeks into longer needed to express, but I continued to "leak" for a month or so (nothing a nursing pad couldn't handle).

poohbear033 · December 2014

I struggled with BF big time. I dropped all the night sessions cold turkey and then dropped each daytime session one at a time every 4 days. I would say 10 days after I stopped was when my milk mostly went away. Good luck.

KMW08 · December 2014

@porterlove525‌ I've been EPing, latch issues + low supply left us both frustrated. He had lost 13% birthweight, started supplementing with formula. John passed his birthweight at his 2wk check. He's 3wks today and I'd say pushing 9lbs if not a bit over.

When I was pumping every 2hrs, I was lucky to get 5-7ml every 2hrs. Spacing it out I get a bit more. Right now at every 6-8hrs I get 1.5-2oz each pumping session, so maybe 6oz total in 24hrs.

The LCs agreed that I was doing everything I could to try & bring my supply up. I'm not sure if I'll quit pumping just yet, but I'm going to space it out, see how twice a day goes. For sure I'll most likely give up BM when I go back to work -- I work 11s and am gone closer to 12.5hrs on work days.

twotexans · December 2014

For me, M gradually dropped nursing sessions. I had to supplement for weight issues when she hit 7 months, despite trying everything. By the time she was done, I was down to one or two sessions a day. It took about a week for me to get past the discomfort period, and then maybe another 2 weeks to dry up completely.

I would suggest spacing your daily sessions out a little more at first, and then dropping your night sessions. After the night sessions are gone, start dropping your day sessions one at a time.

Junebug060609 · December 2014

Mine actually dried up on its own. DS very gradually cut back on nursing due to teething. Before I knew it, he was waking at night and we couldn't figure out why...until DH, on a hunch, tried a pouch of food. I tried to save the sinking ship for a bit (was only getting an ounce a session versus four plus when things were good), but ended up throwing in the towel. Once the towel was thrown I only pumped just enough to relieve discomfort (once). In a few days discomfort was gone totally, but it took until I got pregnant again a few months later (with my second loss, not dd) for it to dry up totally.

Eta: DS was 11 months, so I never made my one year goal. He got my freezer stash and formula until one year.

KMW08 · December 2014

Thanks for all the advice ladies, I really appreciate it :-*

I might do an experiment today, i know I'm getting more BM in my spaced out pumps, for giggles I might try some closer times and see if I still get less or if I get more. I'm not expecting any miracles though.

@eme520‌ Thanks for those kind words! I'm not upset with myself about BM, lil man was what I really wanted and as long as he's doing well, momma is happy! I do have a question, is there a thing as too many wet diapers? I swear he pees every couple of hours, 10-15wet diapers a day and 2-4dirty ones a day. Everything online just says this means he's hydrated.

Wifey xo · December 2014

We went through about 13 a day at that stage.

KMW08 · December 2014

Wifey xo said:
We went through about 13 a day at that stage.

This makes me feel so much better!

MickeyM04 · December 2014

Hi! I've been absent on this board for awhile.

We are weaning now and it freaking sucks. My boobs can't take a hint. Same thing with DS. I dropped a feeding/pumping every 5 days for about 4-5 weeks and I ended up with mastitis. This time, I dropped one pump session from work at 4 months. Then at just over 6 months I dropped a second pump session. Around the same time she started STTN about 3 nights a week, so I dropped the MOTN feeding too. Now at 7 months I am down to 1.5 feedings a day. I nurse at bedtime and in the morning I pump for 3 minutes and then stop. I am horribly uncomfortable already and am refusing to pump at work because I haven't pumped at work in over 2 weeks and on principle I just don't want to do it. Meanwhile I feel like I have knives in my boob.

I'll share with you what I have been researching but which apparently doesn't work for me:

1. Cabbage leaves - actually do help a lot with pain/clogs/engorgement. Have not reduced my supply though.

2. Antihistamines. Am pretty sure these don't really work but I am taking them because really, can it hurt?

3. Peppermint, sage tea, parsley, herbal type stuff - am 99% convinced when I resort to this stuff that it won't work if the freaking antihistamines won't work, but again, I'm just sharing what I've read.

Makes me feel good reading everyone else saying that there's a week or so of discomfort. I feel like this will never end, and also like it shouldn't hurt so much if I'm still feeding once a day even, but apparently this is pretty normal. GAH.

twotexans · December 2014

MickeyM04 said:

Hi! I've been absent on this board for awhile.

We are weaning now and it freaking sucks. My boobs can't take a hint. Same thing with DS. I dropped a feeding/pumping every 5 days for about 4-5 weeks and I ended up with mastitis. This time, I dropped one pump session from work at 4 months. Then at just over 6 months I dropped a second pump session. Around the same time she started STTN about 3 nights a week, so I dropped the MOTN feeding too. Now at 7 months I am down to 1.5 feedings a day. I nurse at bedtime and in the morning I pump for 3 minutes and then stop. I am horribly uncomfortable already and am refusing to pump at work because I haven't pumped at work in over 2 weeks and on principle I just don't want to do it. Meanwhile I feel like I have knives in my boob.

I'll share with you what I have been researching but which apparently doesn't work for me:
1. Cabbage leaves - actually do help a lot with pain/clogs/engorgement. Have not reduced my supply though.
2. Antihistamines. Am pretty sure these don't really work but I am taking them because really, can it hurt?
3. Peppermint, sage tea, parsley, herbal type stuff - am 99% convinced when I resort to this stuff that it won't work if the freaking antihistamines won't work, but again, I'm just sharing what I've read.

Makes me feel good reading everyone else saying that there's a week or so of discomfort. I feel like this will never end, and also like it shouldn't hurt so much if I'm still feeding once a day even, but apparently this is pretty normal. GAH.

Do you have a manual hand pump? I used that for a couple of minutes when it got really bad. It was just enough to relieve the pressure, and wasn't as stimulating as an electric pump.

MickeyM04 · December 2014

I think I do have a hand pump somewhere but I actually don't know how to use it!! Is that horrible? I wonder if there's a video somewhere....

ball.and.chain · December 2014

By the time I stopped, I was EP but only twice a day bc we had given up on bfing and I could only manage to pump twice a day while taking care of B. I was giving him 1 bottle (4 oz) of bm a day and the rest was formula.

I hadn't planned on stopping but we were going away for a long weekend and I realized I really didn't want to bring the pump, so I just didn't. The first day I was pretty sore and I hand-expressed some into a bottle before bed to relieve some pressure. The next day I felt a little better but also hand-expressed a couple of times. By the third day I wasn't really in pain at all. I did wear nursing pads for about a week but probably didn't need to.

KMW08 · December 2014

MickeyM04 said:
I think I do have a hand pump somewhere but I actually don't know how to use it!! Is that horrible? I wonder if there's a video somewhere....

I bet there's a youtube video! This makes me giggle. I didn't even know that I had a manual hand pump until yesterday when I was gathering everything and boxing what I'm not using. The pump I got came with the bare basics, but the hospital sent me home with the extra accessories along with the ones I used while there. Apparently there was a manual conversion handle in the accessories!

twotexans · December 2014

KMW08 said:

I think I do have a hand pump somewhere but I actually don't know how to use it!! Is that horrible? I wonder if there's a video somewhere....
I bet there's a youtube video! This makes me giggle. I didn't even know that I had a manual hand pump until yesterday when I was gathering everything and boxing what I'm not using. The pump I got came with the bare basics, but the hospital sent me home with the extra accessories along with the ones I used while there. Apparently there was a manual conversion handle in the accessories!

I had two sets of parts for the medical grade pumps, with two manual handles. I always left one in my car, for emergency situations. The one time I actually needed it, I didn't move it into my new car. I had to go buy another, so I've got 3 manual pumps floating around here.

princezjk · December 2014

I know some others have mentioned cabbage leaves, but FWIW I had used them after my angel with much success. My sister who had used them successfully after her two children was the one to recommend them to me. I also found wearing sports bras helped. Hope your able to dry yourself up with minimal discomfort and leakage.

BTW - My lazy boob is always leaking, too. Boogles my mind.

porterlove525 · December 2014

So many hugs @KMW08‌! What a struggle. BFing is so insanely hard and everyone is right in that you have to do what works for you and your LO. You are already going above and beyond and are an amazing mom >:D<

KMW08 · December 2014

@Qfrump‌

How did you dry your milk supply?

Re: How did you dry your milk supply?

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