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August 2015 Moms
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Supplementing after feedings

ashlisearsashlisears member
in August 2015 Moms
DD is 4 weeks old and noticed at her ped appointment that she had not gained any weight. She did great gaining back birth weight at the 2 week appointment but stalled on her weight after that. The dr suggested I supplement after each feeding with 1 oz of formula. I wanted SO badly so exclusively breastfeed but I know I need to do what's best for her nutrition wise. I can tell a huge difference in her sleep patterns and fussiness when we supplement so I do think she was not getting enough.

I am worried that this is going to negatively affect my supply and I will not be able to breastfeed much longer. Does anyone have any success stories of continuing to breastfeed in the long run while supplementing?

I am also pumping after every feed, increasing water and calorie intake, and drinking mothers milk tea.

Thanks!!
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Re: Supplementing after feedings

  • SashaDenn25SashaDenn25 member
    Make sure your diet is good too. I notice I get less engorged overnight on days I eat bad!! In days I do protein, veggies, and good complex carbs Ill get super engorged at night and usually have to pump if she sleeps past 4 hours. Also, some have had success with power pumping to mimic cluster feeding to try to make your body produce more.
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  • buckleykbuckleyk member
    Why not supplement with pumped breast milk instead of formula? We had a similar problem and that's what I started doing. She gained 1.5 ounces in a day.

    You could also talk to a LC and see if they have advice on how to help LO get more on their own.
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  • ashlisearsashlisears member
    Thanks for the replies! I have been seeing an LC for the last three weeks. It started out as a horrible latch with severe nipple damage and now it seems the latch has affected my supply, so I don't even pump enough after feedings to satisfy her. I get not even half an oz :(
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  • SaratiffSaratiff member
    Have you tried motherslove More Milk Special Blend? We had the bad latch issues. She took the top layer of my nipple off and it got infected so I had to start exclusively pumping. Now in back to exclusively breastfeeding. I took the more milk special blend and rented a hospital grade pump. I now feed her and have 30 oz of breastmilk in the freeZer. The supplement is like 40$ a month but it's still cheaper than formula. Let me know if you need anything. Good luck mamma!
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  • candicejeff2013candicejeff2013 member
    I think you're doing great. Let her feed from you first then supplement if needed! For instance my supply is bad in the evening so I'm trying this same thing. But I give her everything I've got first to help build supply, then bottle, then comfort nurse if she wants.
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  • ChanelLovesBChanelLovesB member
    @Saratiff what's your feeding/
    Pumping routine ?
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  • ashlisearsashlisears member
    @candicejeff2013 this is exactly what I'm doing! I'm hoping that we can get back to breastfeeding exclusively. I've been working with the LC and she thinks my daughter might be a 'lazy nurser'. She's getting all the let down but doesn't want to actually work for the rest, so we are just keeping after it and hopefully we won't have to supplement for too long! I am pumping after every feeding as well in hopes of upping my supply.
    @Saratiff looking those things up now!
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  • buckleykbuckleyk member
    You could also try "power pumping" to build up your supply. “Power pumping” simulates cluster feeding. For example, you would pump for 10 min and rest for 10 min for an hour.
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  • SaratiffSaratiff member
    @ChanelLovesB when I was exclusively pumping i was pumping every 2 hours with power pumps for an hour one in the morning and one time in the afternoon. So I would pump 10 min on and 10min off for an hour total. And I would still pump every two hours at night even when she was sleeping.

    So now that I am breastfeeding for every feed I pump every two hours at night no matter if she sleeps through or not and when she does wake up to eat I pump after. Then after her 7am feed I pump after that feed also. Then I pump after two more feeds during the day depending on when I have time or if she had a lazy feed.

    Then I eat oatmeal for breakfast with flaxseed (two tablespoons) i make sure I eat at least three meals a day. And try and drink as much water as I can. I also make lactation cookies with flaxseed and Brewers yeast. I just started drinking mothers milk tea. Basically anything that someone says might increase supply I try it.

    But the motherslove more milk special blend is amazing. They give it to women who are adopting a baby so they can breast feed. I take two caps three times a day which the bottle says to do if you weigh more than 175. I weigh less than that now but I still take the two caps.
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  • kettlekittenkettlekitten member
    It may just be that you only need to supplement for a short time and once she plumps up a bit she will get stronger and better at nursing.

    You can also get a prescription for motilium from your dr to increase your supply, if nothing else works. I'm trying that now as I had been busting my butt with everything else to no avail.
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  • kettlekittenkettlekitten member
    And I don't know how you girls do the two hourly pumping thing at night. I just could not do that! Hard enough doing that in the daytime (which I try to do). Makes me feel like I'm not dedicated enough... ;)
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  • SaratiffSaratiff member
    I forgot to mention always pumped when I got out of the shower and I use the lasinoh 3:1 pearls I would keep hearing them up In between feelings because the heat helps loosen up the milk and increased production.
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  • JenLovesDesignJenLovesDesign member
    I had a preemie and i need to supplimemt every feeding, so I add 1 tsp of 22 calorie formula to 150ml of breast milk to increase the calories to 22 instead of the 19 that is standard with breast milk. This should help pack on some pounds.
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