Extremely low milk supply

shrsri · January 2016

hi. My daughter is now 4 weeks old and Iv been supplementing since day 5 due to low milk supply. Iv tried everything - Brewers yeast, nursing vacation, oatmeal, metaclopromide, fluids. Nothing seems to work and I have never pumped more than a few drops. The baby still likes to be on the breast and I'm nursing her for long hours but have to supplement her 6 times a day.
Has anyone gone through this. Can u tell me if its worth still BFing her the few drops or should I just switch to formula entirely. Thanks for any help !!

ChrissyD1203 · January 2016

Did you talk to a lactation consultant or your pedetrician about whether it is worth it? Do you happen to have thyroid issues or PCOS? I thought the MilkMakers lactation cookies were good.

kmo8986 · January 2016

With my first I ended up needing to supplement, and I felt so overwhelmed by pumping, nursing, giving a bottle but I felt like I SHOULD be breastfeeding so I had a lot of guilt over it. The day I decided to just switch to formula since he was mostly getting formula anyway, I felt so relieved. I am by no means encouraging you to give up breast feeding if you want to make it work, just sharing my experience, and support that breast feeding doesn't always work out like we planned and that is ok! Feeding your baby is the most important.

shrsri · January 2016

@ChrissyD1203 I do not have PCOS or thyroid. My lactation consultant is extremely positive and is encouraging me to not give up. But the effort is completely wearing me down and gotten me depressed. I'm just unable to enjoy my baby because of this running through my head the whole day

@kmo8986
I just feel like if it eventually increase it may be worth it.

teachmegs817 · January 2016

Have you tried cluster pumping? 10 minutes on, 10 minutes off for a total of 1 hour? My LC swore that would tell my body to jumpstart production. I never had to do it, but have heard a lot of other ladies have success with it.

I've also had friends in your situation, that no matter what they tried, their supply never came in like they had hoped. From what they've said, as much as they didn't want to give in, the anxiety/stress/frustration it caused them, the baby, and sometimes SO, they stopped and started formula. Once they did, they realized they should have done it sooner, but were happy to know they didn't just throw in the towel on a quick whim. They did what they could, and there was no sense in beating themselves up about it anymore. The number one thing was that their baby was healthy, gaining weight, and satisfied from whatever source of food they were getting.

Good luck!!

Achae · January 2016

shrsri said:

hi. My daughter is now 4 weeks old and Iv been supplementing since day 5 due to low milk supply. Iv tried everything - Brewers yeast, nursing vacation, oatmeal, metaclopromide, fluids. Nothing seems to work and I have never pumped more than a few drops. The baby still likes to be on the breast and I'm nursing her for long hours but have to supplement her 6 times a day. Has anyone gone through this. Can u tell me if its worth still BFing her the few drops or should I just switch to formula entirely. Thanks for any help !!

Can you still put baby to the breast but stop pumping? If I wasn't pumping a lot I'd personally give up but since you say baby still likes to nurse from you why deny her? Even if its just comfort suckling and doesn't produce much you both still get benefits

You'd still have to make bottles and give formula but IMO pumping is the worst!

SummerOH · January 2016

Examine your reasons for continuing to torture yourself. Is it pressure from family and other moms? Because "it's what's best?" Formula is fine. It's slightly (slightly!) less desirable than milk, but it's not poison. Your baby will still thrive. My husband and his brothers, as well as my own brother, were raised on formula (decades ago, too, not the fancy stuff today) and are all exceedingly bright attorneys, pharmacists, and a doctor. They adore their moms and are all healthier than my sister and I, who were EBF til 2. I know it's anecdotal, so I suggest you research the actual studies on breastmilk benefits. When other socioeconomic factors were controlled, namely by comparing differences between EBF and FF siblings, the benefits have been shown to be FAR exaggerated. In fact, surprisingly, asthma rates are HIGHER in the EBF babies - which I have also seen in my family. It's only when other factors aren't controlled, like parental education level, race, income, age of parents, etc, that differences are seen.

So all that rambling means...do what is best for you. Being stressed out and depressed and not being able to enjoy the days you will never get back is not what's best. Some women have a bad supply. Fortunately we have very good alternatives to feed our babies. I nursed my older 2 to 8 and 15 months and may not with this one if it's like last time - bad supply, tried everything under the sun, stressed, allowed myself to let the sanctimommies make me feel bad. I don't even enjoy it, how can you when it's all stress and work and guilt?

I want to see all the lactivists 5 years from now. It will be interesting to see if their kids eat all organic, never watch TV, go to the best private schools, etc. We do the best we can as parents. And that is nearly always just fine!

Sorry for the novel. I just hate seeing moms beat themselves up over what is such a trivial thing at the end of the day (no, really, it is).

karynste19 · January 2016

SummerOH said:
Examine your reasons for continuing to torture yourself. Is it pressure from family and other moms? Because "it's what's best?" Formula is fine. It's slightly (slightly!) less desirable than milk, but it's not poison. Your baby will still thrive. My husband and his brothers, as well as my own brother, were raised on formula (decades ago, too, not the fancy stuff today) and are all exceedingly bright attorneys, pharmacists, and a doctor. They adore their moms and are all healthier than my sister and I, who were EBF til 2. I know it's anecdotal, so I suggest you research the actual studies on breastmilk benefits. When other socioeconomic factors were controlled, namely by comparing differences between EBF and FF siblings, the benefits have been shown to be FAR exaggerated. In fact, surprisingly, asthma rates are HIGHER in the EBF babies - which I have also seen in my family. It's only when other factors aren't controlled, like parental education level, race, income, age of parents, etc, that differences are seen.

So all that rambling means...do what is best for you. Being stressed out and depressed and not being able to enjoy the days you will never get back is not what's best. Some women have a bad supply. Fortunately we have very good alternatives to feed our babies. I nursed my older 2 to 8 and 15 months and may not with this one if it's like last time - bad supply, tried everything under the sun, stressed, allowed myself to let the sanctimommies make me feel bad. I don't even enjoy it, how can you when it's all stress and work and guilt?

I want to see all the lactivists 5 years from now. It will be interesting to see if their kids eat all organic, never watch TV, go to the best private schools, etc. We do the best we can as parents. And that is nearly always just fine!

Sorry for the novel. I just hate seeing moms beat themselves up over what is such a trivial thing at the end of the day (no, really, it is).

As someone who is also struggling with milk supply, I truly appreciate your response. Thank you!

OP best of luck with increasing your supply. Please don't pressure yourself too much!

BarrettJ89 · January 2016

@SummerOH - amen. Thank you for that!

@kmo8986 - your situation sounds almost the same as mine. I tried everything with my son. He had such a lazy latch (plus, he wanted instant gratification) that it really didn't help me body get the hint. I had no choice but to supplement. I tried pumping, but responded poorly, like OP I only got drops. I continued to try by putting him to breast for 10 weeks. Once I made the decision to stop, I never even went through a "drying up" phase. Made me feel beret to know that there really wasn't anything there! Now my son is 13 months old, incredibly smart, handsome, healthy, and huge! At his one year check up, he had gained exactly 20 lbs since birth, and grown 10 inches in height! Breastfeeding is going a little better with DD, but this time, I refuse to beat myself up if it doesn't work out!

shrsri · January 2016

@SummerOH - thank you for that. Hearing that makes me feel loads better.

Mommyduclos · January 2016

I didn't read all the other replies but wanted to say that how much you can pump is not a good indicator of supply. I am on my third breast fed baby, have never had supply issues, but can't pump to save my life. I'm not totally sure if that's all you were going off of but just because you are pumping "drops" doesn't mean your baby isn't getting ounces.

Mommyduclos · January 2016

I hope my response isn't taken the wrong way after writing it I realized it could be read differently than I meant it. Anyways, I know some women definitely do have low milk supply and if that is you then by all means do what you need to do and don't feel an ounce of guilt, but baby wanting to constantly nurse and not responding to a pump are not indicators of low supply, the only way you can really tell is weight gain and diaper output. And even a very full baby may drink a bottle if offered because it's reflexive to suck and swallow. Anyways I just want you to make sure you actually do have low milk supply and aren't worrying over very common misconceptions about milk supply, that cause many women to assume their supply is low when it is actually fine.

MississippiCatfish · January 2016

Trust your gut, Mama! You are doing such a good job. Sounds like you're doing so much to take care of that little life. Trust your instincts, and if it's time to stop, that's a-ok.

scornwell717 · January 2016

If it makes you feel any better, my milk supply never even came in! I was waiting and waiting for that "engorged" feeling that women get but nope- never got it. I tried pumping and only got less than an ounce out of each boob. I had to give up breastfeeding within a week because she had lost an entire pound in 4 days. I felt like a misfit toy! I was so upset because of this whole "breast is best" bullshit and it stressed me out so bad.
However, when I saw that the formula was doing wonderful things for my baby (less crying, sleeping better, weight gain, and POOP!) it made me realize that I shouldn't feel guilty for not breast feeding.
I was formula fed since day one, never even had colostrum, and I turned out just as smart and healthy as the rest

shrsri · January 2016

@scornwell717 thabks so much for saying that. Reading these replies make me feel much better.
I am now BFing with what little I have and Giving a full dose of formula after. Feeling much better after Iv given up on thoughts of EBF. She is gaining weight well and that's all I care for now !!

shrsri · January 2016

Mommyduclos said:

I hope my response isn't taken the wrong way after writing it I realized it could be read differently than I meant it. Anyways, I know some women definitely do have low milk supply and if that is you then by all means do what you need to do and don't feel an ounce of guilt, but baby wanting to constantly nurse and not responding to a pump are not indicators of low supply, the only way you can really tell is weight gain and diaper output. And even a very full baby may drink a bottle if offered because it's reflexive to suck and swallow. Anyways I just want you to make sure you actually do have low milk supply and aren't worrying over very common misconceptions about milk supply, that cause many women to assume their supply is low when it is actually fine.

I wanted to so badly believe that I didn't have a supply but my daughter went a day without peeing and lost 11% of birth weight. My hospital never even bothered to tell me that I have to see atleast 4 wet nappies a day. It's only very late I realized that I was starving her

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