Questions for supply boosters.

[ssmjlm]

A hoppy beer?


ETA: I meant to type more, but I guess I hit post too soon.

Don't stress yourself out with trying to pump enough.  I freaked out when E went to 18oz a day and I have a huge freezer stash.  I have rules of pumping 3x a day max and none on the weekends.  I'll only pump more if I'm at work late or something happens on the weekend and she takes a bottle.

I did see some increase with oatmeal, but like you can only choke it down in small spurts.  I'm going to try some baked oatmeal with yeast and see if that's easier to swallow, literally.

Hugs, I told DH I feel like the pump measures my motherhood by the ounce sometimes.

[Velar Fricative]

Just chiming in to say I'm in a similar boat, but without the sickness and without having to supplement yet since I only returned to work on Thursday. The good news for you is that if your illness is affecting your supply, there's hope that your supply will increase back to its usual level naturally once you shake it off. Good luck, hope you see an increase soon!

[soozy87]

I feel you. My kid is eating upwards of 32 oz./day. I EP most of the time because he is not a fan of nursing. I am constantly struggling to keep up with him. We started formula as needed about a month ago. I am still having to tell myself that it is okay to give him what he needs. It helps him grow and he is doing well no matter what he is eating.

I feel like it is my job to produce enough for him to eat and when I can't that I am failing him. But I am not, he is growing and he is happy (most of the time) and I am doing my best.

I have tried everything to increase my supply. When we first got home from the hospital I was producing enough that I was freezing it, but I have now used all of that and long for those days to return. I have pretty much accepted that they will never come back and am just giving him as much BM as I can.

I have rented a hospital grade pump and started taking Fenugreek as well. Other things I have tried, oatmeal, lactation cookies, pumping more often, drinking water all the time, a manual pump.

Just do your best and know that as long as the baby gets fed she is okay. And that you have not failed.

[lolo]

Whole foods has a multi grain instant oatmeal with flax seed (and no sugar in it). I'm not trying to increase my supply, but I do usually have that with blueberries, a tiny bit of brown sugar, cinnamon, and sliced almonds a couple of times a week.

[AmyRI]

When my supply took a nose dive after a stomach bug when DS was little, I used fenugreek and extra pumping sessions for a week to get my supply back up. It's fine if you don't want to add pumping sessions and I can't blame you, but I do think that if you want to get your supply back up to where it was that it might be necessary in the short term. Once it's back, then go back to the normal schedule.

16 oz is in the realm of normal. If it's a growth spurt, it'll likely go back down, but she might just always want more.

If you're happy, she's happy, and she's fed - you're golden.

[AmyRI]

Jan 6, 2014 10:57:54 GMT -5 swizz said:

Jan 6, 2014 10:51:32 GMT -5 AmyRI said:

When my supply took a nose dive after a stomach bug when DS was little, I used fenugreek and extra pumping sessions for a week to get my supply back up. It's fine if you don't want to add pumping sessions and I can't blame you, but I do think that if you want to get your supply back up to where it was that it might be necessary in the short term. Once it's back, then go back to the normal schedule.

16 oz is in the realm of normal. If it's a growth spurt, it'll likely go back down, but she might just always want more.

If you're happy, she's happy, and she's fed - you're golden.

Realistically, what would increased pump sessions look like? I'm thinking that many a manual at home would help make this not so annoying. I feel like I'm always washing pump parts and then I'm terrified I'm going to forget something in my pump bag for work when I pull things out at night. 

I get up around 6:30 and leave the house by 7. I pump at work 8, 11, 2, then get home around 4:30. I nurse on demand until she goes to bed at 7ish and I try to be in bed by 9. 

Right now, I'm pumping at work the three times, and then once around 8:30. I'm not sure when to add in more? Maybe in the morning when I get up? I'm just not getting enough sleep to feel okay giving up sleep for pumping. 

I got up 15 minutes early and added a session while I got ready in the morning, and pumped right before bed, in addition to the 3 times I normally pumped during the day. The morning one wasn't so bad because I was already standing still in the bathroom while I put contacts in, brushed teeth, and did my makeup. Before bed sucked, but I dealt with it because it was only for a few days. On the weekend days that week, I pumped 2-3 times extra when I normally avoided pumping on weekends.

But, I was over the illness fully at that point. It was a nasty 24 hour stomach bug for me, and I wasn't in need of sleep to heal. I agree that your sleep is more important at this point than a few ounces of formula. I was just trying to be honest that I don't think your supply will go back up to where it was without creating more demand.

[mcfelix]

My only suggestion is to make sure you are drinking a LOT of water. That makes a big difference in my supply.

Eta - I pump 5-6x per day to try and keep up. I hate pumping!!! But I'm trying to keep at it as long as possible. We'll see how long I can make it...

[halfpint]

I take a Motherlove More Milk Special Blend supplement, I'm not sure it does anything, but I'm scared to stop.

I will say, I started pumping with a rental Medela Symphony. And it's life changing. I have my fingers crossed that this continues, but I normally could get maybe 3-4 oz in the morning - with this I'm getting 6-8. Today is my first day using it at work, and I would often struggle to get 2 oz, 3 if I was super lucky. I easily got 4 with my first work pump today.

We did get some formula to supplement. It helped me to think of it as adding to his diet rather than replacing anything.

Good luck, it's so hard...I totally relate to the measuring motherhood by the ounce. I live and die by the pump most days.

[Velar Fricative]

halfpint - How heavy is the Symphony? Portability is huge for me but I suppose I could lug it to work on Monday morning and then take it home Friday evening to avoid schlepping it twice a day every day (I take public transportation to/from work).

[mcfelix]

swizz - I would consider 100 a lot. That's about what I drink on a day I'm being diligent.

Also I make oatmeal choc chip lactation cookies by using a regular recipe and just adding brewers yeast and flaxseed. And blend the oats in a food processor so they don't taste as oat-y texture wise.

[halfpint]

Jan 6, 2014 12:50:36 GMT -5 swizz said:

Jan 6, 2014 12:40:53 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

halfpint - How heavy is the Symphony? Portability is huge for me but I suppose I could lug it to work on Monday morning and then take it home Friday evening to avoid schlepping it twice a day every day (I take public transportation to/from work).

I rented one right after C was born when my milk didn't come in, and it's pretty dang heavy. I wouldn't want to commute with it daily. It came in a big hard plastic case.

Yeah, it has a big clunky case.  I don't actually think it's that heavy, it's just awkward.  If I were going to rent it for a while and were commuting via public transport, I'd probably get this - www.medelabreastfeedingus.com/products/99/symphony-and-lactina-rental-kit-black-nylon

I drive, so it's not a huge hassle to take it with me.

[halfpint]

Jan 6, 2014 13:00:00 GMT -5 swizz said:

Jan 6, 2014 12:57:28 GMT -5 halfpint said:

Yeah, it has a big clunky case.  I don't actually think it's that heavy, it's just awkward.  If I were going to rent it for a while and were commuting via public transport, I'd probably get this - www.medelabreastfeedingus.com/products/99/symphony-and-lactina-rental-kit-black-nylon

I drive, so it's not a huge hassle to take it with me.

Maybe, I just remember it LOOKING really heavy. 

Are you renting it from a hospital or BRU? I just called BRU and it's $75/month, but I remember it being significantly cheaper from the hospital. I'm wondering if I'm still eligible to rent from the hospital? I'd assume yes?

It does look heavy, it's that stupid case.  

I'm renting it from our closest pharmacy for $60/month.  Have you been working with an LC?  If you have time to go in, they actually hooked me up to their Symphony to see if it made a difference in what I was getting.  Because I didn't have my own Symphony parts, they gave me a collection kit and didn't charge me for it - maybe I just had a really nice LC

I would assume you can rent from the hospital anytime!

[sent]

Jan 6, 2014 13:00:00 GMT -5 swizz said:

Maybe, I just remember it LOOKING really heavy. 

Are you renting it from a hospital or BRU? I just called BRU and it's $75/month, but I remember it being significantly cheaper from the hospital. I'm wondering if I'm still eligible to rent from the hospital? I'd assume yes?

You can check on the Medela website for other places that will rent the breast pump.  My hospital only had 2 available to rent so realistically they had 0.  Both BRUs here that I checked didn't have any when I asked on Dec. 22nd and Dec. 24th.  They said they are returned/renewed at the end/beginning of each month so to check back.  The LC directed me to the Medela website and I found more rental suppliers on there, but I also gave up looking for now.

[suburbanzookeeper]

I saw bigger differences in output when I was adding heat to the flanges (these fit well: www.lansinoh.com/products/therapearl-3-in-1-breast-therapy) and making sure I was getting enough protein & calories. Whenever I cut back, I notice a big dip.

These are my favorite lactation cookies. I make pretty decent modifications to the mix-ins but the base with cooked steel cut oats is awesome. spinachandskittles.com/2012/10/28/steel-cut-oatmeal-pumpkin-lactation-cookies/

[litasail]

My only other suggestion is to power pump once a day for three days. Every time I can bring myself to do this, I see a big increase. It just sucks so much to do it. I usually do two hours on the first day, then one each of the next two days. 20 mins on, 10 off, 10 on, 10 off, etc.

[morgie44]

For me, it made a huge difference to pump in the morning. My husband would bottle feed my daughter, and I would pump. I would get 8-10 oz in the morning session, and my daughter would only drink 4 or 5 from the bottle, so I would have a net gain every morning. I was pretty much EP during the week (only nursing once when we got home and once before she went to bed), and then nursing on the weekends.

When my supply really started dipping, power pumping helped me a lot, as did the occasional beer. I would power pump the last hour I was going to be awake and just settled in the living room with the DVR and it wasn't that bad.

[thejackpot]

I started using Motherlove More Milk Special blend and it has helped. Maybe something you want to try.

[litasail]

Jan 6, 2014 13:55:40 GMT -5 pennypenny said:

Jan 6, 2014 13:51:22 GMT -5 litasail said:

My only other suggestion is to power pump once a day for three days. Every time I can bring myself to do this, I see a big increase. It just sucks so much to do it. I usually do two hours on the first day, then one each of the next two days. 20 mins on, 10 off, 10 on, 10 off, etc.

Do you start with 20 minutes on if you are doing it right after a feeding? I really need to be more diligent about power pumping. I do notice a difference when I do it.

Hmmm, I've only done it since I've been back at work, so I haven't actually done it while also feeding DS. My lactation room is just an extra office, so I'm able to sit at the desk, pump and work while letting the pump do its thing.

[Deleted]

I had a permanent supply decrease after the stomach flu a few weeks ago but here's what I've heard: (take with a grain of salt as I had an oversupply and am not willing to do any of these things)

-pumpin pals flanges since you have mentioned that you have nips on the smaller side could help your response to the pump (I think @tokenhoser has mentioned this)
-change your membranes - even if it's only been a week
- add in dairy and calcium supplements (I avoid it because DS doesn't respond well but noticed that it makes a big difference in supply)
- are you getting enough fat/calories? Especially breakfast?
- using a professional grade pump always gave me more than my PISA

Good luck and remember if you have to supplement ITS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD. Honestly I think sleep during this time period is way more important than adding pumping sessions. I understand, believe me, the intense draw to EBF but it's not worth your sanity. I know you know this but really KNOW this- give yourself permission to supplement. The FMW is insanely stressful as is. Cora will get plenty of benefit from your milk. You do NOT need to kill yourself or be a slave to the pump.