My supply is tanking

[isabel]

I'm so frustrated and sad about this. DS is only 4.5 months. I wanted to EBF for a full year.

I'm making a concerted effort to bring it back up. Oatmeal twice a day, flax, lots of brewer's yeast. I'm power pumping every night this week and pumping in the morning after he eats. I'm also drinking tons of water.

In the meantime, talk to me about formula, because I think I'm fighting a losing battle. How do you guys combo feed?

[isabel]

Aug 18, 2015 10:49:07 GMT -5 @astrid said:

Motherlove more milk plus has actually helped my supply noticeably, the liquid with a little orange juice like a shot. I noticed a drop in supply around 4 months, but it did level off.

Off to Amazon!

Eta: do you think it matters if I get capsules instead of liquid?

[noodleoo]

I'm sorry, that sucks.

I'm afraid this might happen to me. How do you know? I'm EBF right now and I have no concept of how much DD eats. I suck at pumping too.

[pinotgrig]

I'm sorry - that's a frustrating feeling.

Are you eating and drinking enough? Ice cream did wonders for my output. Others swear by Gatorade or dark beer.

Any chase your period is coming? That's a notorious culprit for dips in supply.

[Velar Fricative]

I'm sorry. I had similar issues and started supplementing at 5 months. The anticipation was far worse than the reality though. She did just fine with combo-feeding. I did want to go to a year even with the combo-feeding but I suddenly lost my supply at 8.5 months so it didn't happen.

Here's what I tried to no avail, but I think I'm a weirdo because the stuff on this list seems to work well for others here:

-More water
-More food
-More dairy/fatty foods
-Mothers Love More Milk Plus
-Fenugreek
-Oatmeal
-Power pumping
-More sleep (her sleep went to shit around the time my supply was tanking, so this was much easier said than done)
-Pumping the other boob when she was nursing right before daycare dropoff
-Guinness beer

[Deleted]

Are you open to trying Domperidone?

Honestly, that's the most likely to have a significant effect.

[spankswife]

DS is 4 mos tomorrow and I've noticed a dip this week too. Salmon and ice cream (Ben & Jerry's w/ the soy lecithin) seem to help me.

However we combo feed bc I'm short a few ozs a day. I pump at work (3x) so after a bm bottle or a nursing session, if he's still hungry we offer 2 oz of formula, and he usually takes 1-2. Sometimes if we are out and its more practical I'll offer 4oz of formula in lieu of nursing. That usually helps me bc then I can nurse later without supplementing, so it works nicely.

We use Enfamil (regular) and have no issues. It had the most DHA when DD was born, so it's sort of just habit, not sure if it still has the "most."

[mpc]

My period started around that time which hurt my supply. Also, any time I tried to diet I saw a dip in my milk.

We when we started formula, I just sent it to daycare and continued to nurse when we were together. It worked itself out.

[Marmee]

Any chance your thyroid is screwed up? I'm fairly certain that is why I was only able to EBF 4mo & combo feed another 4 with DD3. I successfully BF DD2 past a year & DD4 past 2yrs. I didn't find out I had hypothyroidism until DD3 was almost a year & BFing had stopped.

[Ashley&Scott]

Make sure you're eating enough protein (& plenty of calories in general). Try changing the membranes on your pump. Massage while you pump. Pump every 2-3 hours if possible while you're away from the baby.

[felicity]

I was stressed and emotional about supplementing too around 4 months. I just wasn't able to pump enough during the day while I was working. I tested out a little Enfamil one weekend, DS took it no problem, and that was that. I send whatever I pump the day before to my mom's and then he gets formula after that. Once he started taking formula it was so freeing and liberating, and it was a huge stress relief not to have to worry that he wouldn't be getting enough milk. Plus, I can leave on the weekends now for a few hours without having to worry about pumping

I'm not pushing combo feeding, but just know you aren't a failure if it's what you end up needing to do.

[stackingtens]

Aug 18, 2015 10:58:58 GMT -5 @tokenhoser said:

Are you open to trying Domperidone?

Honestly, that's the most likely to have a significant effect.

This was a lifesaver for me.

[isabel]

Sorry for the late replies. I got busy at work.

noodleoo- The primary thing I've noticed is how much less I'm able to pump lately. I'm also having a realllly hard time letting down with the pump. It takes about 5 minutes before I'm even seeing anything come out, longer to get a really good stream going. Also, DS seems frustrated when feeding and I've been having to give him an ounce or so after he nurses to make him happy.

@littlemoxie- Yes, still pumping twice at work. The problem is that it take me close to 40 minutes from the time I leave my desk to the time I get back and I just don't feel comfortable doing that a third time everyday. I could try pumping on the way to work, but the car adaptor is soooo weak. I got the one I was supposed to for my PISA (9 volt, I think), but it doesn't seem to work well at all. Yesterday, I picked up a pumping session after DS ate in the morning before I left for work and I'm going to power pump for an hour every night this week.

@tokenhoser- Tell me more about it. It's a prescription, yes?

@pennypie and felicity- Thank you for your stories. It makes me feel better to know you've both had success and feel better now that the transition is over. Lessel, that's almost the exact disparity I'm experiencing. DS is taking 3-4 5oz bottles while I'm at work and I'm only pumping 10-14oz as well. Usually on the lower end lately.

Thank you all for the commiseration and supply tips. I'm definitely going to get a couple of supplements and really focus on trying to bring my supply back up. If I'm not seeing good results by next week, I'll start to seriously consider combo-feeding. I know it's not the end of the world, but I'm just feeling kind of sad about it.

[Deleted]

Would you consider getting a Spectra pump? Mine is fabulous plugged in the wall. There are adapters but haven't personally tried yet.

Brewer's yeast?

What is your baby's sleep like at night and do you pump in the evenings?

[Deleted]

And to add, I'm all for you adding formula if you want to. Pumping is the pits and if you feel good about formula, that's way easier.

For me, I EP and it's kind of all or nothing--I feel like shit if I don't pump and pumping to make me physically feel okay (breasts not painful) is enough to feed my son. I do not love it or do it to be a martyr.

[Deleted]

I meant to reply isabel.

Domperidone is Rx in the States and Canada, but not elsewhere in the world. You can either get an Rx and have it filled at a compounding pharmacy, or you can order from inhousepharmacy.vu/. (If it says you need a Rx, you can check the box that you'll send it in and I've heard they ship anyway).

More info from a doctor here:
www.breastfeedinginc.ca/content.php?pagename=doc-DGS

I'm not going to tell you that you NEED to do this. It's just an option - if your supply was previously enough, and it isn't right now, this is probably the most effective way to bump it several oz.

[laurack]

Allowing myself to supplement with my son took a huge weight off of me. I never had to with my daughter so I felt great guilt when I couldn't pump enough to meet my sons demands. Like you, I pumped only twice during the work day but couldn't see myself going a third time as the lactation room was all the way across the building and down 11 floors

Anyway, by 6 months I'd run through my sizeable stash and had no choice so I purchased a can of formula. It was awesome

Nothing changed when I started using formula because all I did was supplement a bottle at daycare (6oz), my supply didn't drop further and our breast feeding relationship didn't suffer.

Good luck, I'm sorry. It can seem so emotional when you are contemplating it, but once it was done it didn't bother me at all. I just felt relieved that I didn't have to try to fit in extra pumps in the AM, before bed etc. etc. trying desperately to eke out another ounce.

[leeluu]

I have a similar pumping to eating ratio. DD eats 4 5oz bottles at daycare. I pump about 4oz/session. I pump three times at work, and wake up in the MOTN, which produces around 7oz. My
MOTN sessions on the weekends help to fill any gaps from weekday sessions. Doing this I get just enough for her needs.

I think around 6 months I will drop a daytime session and supplement. Not sure when I will drop the MOTN - somewhere between 6 and 8 months. It sucks waking up but I don't want to drop that session as I get so much milk (comparatively) from it.

[residentdj]

Hi,

I decided to come out of lurkdom because I saw this thread and wanted to offer advice. Take it for what it's worth because there was also some great advice given already too.

My LO was born at 29 weeks, so for the first 2 months of her life, I had to exclusively pump. Due to the nature of the delivery, I always struggled with the supply from day 1 - luckily she got enough milk while in the NICU since her belly was so tiny, but when she got out, I couldn't keep up and had to supplement with formula. It killed me to do it, but I didn't have any other choice. In the end, rather than go into why the breast feeding didn't work out as I hoped it would, I wound up exclusively pumping around the clock for a year. I had to do it around the clock just to maintain the little supply I had - pumping anywhere from 13-16 ounces a day. The supply always dipped when I got my period, btw.

I know about the 2 medications that are supposed to help increase supply. I opted to not go that route due to potential side effects that could be permanent. It wasn't worth the risk for me. What I did do though was eat a shitload of supplements. Fenugreek, blessed thistle, and Brewers yeast (I had both tablet form and also powder for putting into oatmeal and lactation 'booby bites' that I made to chow down on). And also the prenatal vitamins and drinking the Earth Mama Lactation tea. I tried other cheaper lactation teas but none of them seemed to help. All of the supplements and teas I got through Amazon as it was the cheapest option. I ate the supplements, and a lot of them, like 3-4 times a day too and it helped. I also made sure to eat plenty, drink lots and lots of water, cut out coffee as caffeine dries up milk....forget about dieting for now - you need calories to make milk. And if you are drinking coffee or anything else with caffeine, I strongly advise cutting it out for now.

There was also a support group through the NICU that I was going to and the lactation consultant was amazing. She said that after you feed the baby, pump for like 15 minutes. You might not get a lot of milk out, but it will signal to your body to make more milk. And freeze whatever you pump out so you can have a freezer stash going. She also said a lot of moms think they aren't making enough milk when in fact they are. The baby takes what they need and the body regulates itself based on that. If the baby seems hungry all of the time, it could be a growth spurt (cluster feeding/signaling to your body to make more milk).

My daughter is now 14 months old and while I've stopped pumping, she actually is still getting some milk because I did manage to have some freezer stash....she only gets like 4 ounces a day, and it will all be gone in another 3 weeks, but it's more for the antibodies in the milk rather than nourishment since she eats solids now.

Sorry for the long post, but hope this helps. Just know that what you are doing for your baby is the best thing. If you have to supplement, don't beat yourself up over it. It's hard but any milk your baby gets from you is good. Oh, one last thing too...if you do supplement, do not mix the formula with the breast milk. The formula will compromise any of the good stuff that is in the breast milk so keep them separate.