As most of you know Penelope and I were gifted with the breastfeeding equivalent of the perfect storm.
It took us five months to be able to get Penelope to latch on and nurse. And it was and is only comfort nursing, but I am extremely grateful for that. By the time she was 10 months old and and gotten as efficient as she ever would, she was getting about 1-3 ounces directly from me, mostly at night, when she nursed in her sleep.
She is 27 months now and my milk is all but dried up now (I can still hand express a few drops, but it ain’t feeding a small village anymore that is for sure), but she still loves her nuh-nuhs.
I get asked a lot by readers, about what they can do to increase their milk supply. It is not a quick answer, so a full post is the way to go.
Before I launch into how I increased my milk supply I want to make a couple of points. A lot of women think they have low milk supply when they really don’t. Please check out these sites here and here for more information about how to tell if you supply is truly low.
So while I appreciate those posts, because new mothers do tend to overreact, protecting your supply is very serious business. If you get lazy and non chalant about it, your supply will drop. So not only was I trying to increase my supply in the beginning, later, I was diligently, protecting my supply.
Very few women can not make enough milk. But it does happen and should be treated as real issue and given respect. I can’t tell you how many times I mentally poo-poo mother’s I worked with that said they didn’t make enough milk. But let me tell you, our breastfeeding experience humbled my a*$ and now when I a mother says that to me, I know it’s true.
On a good point, it is totally possible to increase your supply. Even if you think you have tried everything. If you are making even one little, itty bitty drop of milk, it can be increased.
I don’t want to tell you this to brag, but only to inspire, but I went from having to have a couple of women donate milk to me, because I was not able to pump more than what Penelope was drinking and had no back up, to filling an entire 7 cubic foot deep freezer of milk and being able to donate to several babies myself.
In the end, I pumped till Penelope was a little over 18 months old. I pumped for a total of 1550 hours, which is a full 65 days.
I pumped over 15 thousand ounces, that is over 120 gallons.
So my friends, anything is possible.
When I first started pumping I was pumping half ounce each breast each time I pumped. By the time I was pumping 4 times a day, I was pumping 18 ounces in one sitting the first pump of the day and 12 ounces at each additional pump session.
Here is what I suggest to increase your supply. These are all things I personally did and the results I saw from them. And since I was pumping, I could track my results very accurately. If you are nursing and pumping, the pump is not accurate, but if you are an exclusive pumper, you body gets trained very quickly into thinking that the pump is the baby, so me tracking my output from pumping was reliable.
I could probably ace the IBCLC exam after everything I have learned through this journey, but alas I am not a breastfeeding professional. It is always best to seek out an IBCLC when you are having breastfeeding problems.
- Lactuca Virosa. This is a homeopathic remedy that works really good. Way better than Mother’s Milk tea. It was the first remedy I tried and saw increase within 24 hours. This alone gave me an additional ounce each breast.
- Mother’s Milk tea and pills. I took a pill or drank a glass of tea at least once a day, I think it was probably two the three times a day in the very beginning. I always taking this in conjunction with other things, so I don’t know how well it performs on its own, but I sort of viewed it as my baseline standard. As long as I was pumping or nursing, I would drink that tea.
- Sprouted Fenugreek. Lots of women take fenugreek herbs, but don’t see a big increase or having trouble digesting it. I experimented with sprouting it and eating it with meals and salads and saw a big increase. I saw an increase of 1.5 ounces the very next time I pumped. Blessed Thistle, and alphalfa are other herbs to try as well.
- Domperidone. Or as I affectionally call it, DomP. This is a prescription drug I highly, highly recommend. If you have tried everything, and can afford it, this is your big guns. It is not FDA approved for increasing milk supply, but let me tell you it works. I took this for several months in the beginning. I probably didn’t need to take it, but I was such a nervous wreck that Penelope would some how have an enormous spike in her intake and I wouldn’t be able to keep up. It was normal, irrational, new mother fear. You can get a prescription from an open minded Dr and get at a local, compounding pharmacy or you can buyt it online.
- Good Nutrition. The better I ate, the better my supply and fattier my milk was. If your iron is low, this can effect your supply. So eating red meat, prunes, spinach and cooking with a cast iron skillet are all good ways to increase your iron stores. Also, stay hydrated, it takes liquid to make liquid.
- Oatmeal. There is not any scientific evidence about oatmeal increasing milk supply, but it is an old wives tale. Some think it works because it increases iron stores. I did see an increase when I started eating oatmeal for breakfast. I would eat it with blueberries and a side of bacon. I used packaged/instant at first and then started soaking my oatmeal overnight in water and a little whey to make them easier to digest. You can also get oatmeal in some yummy lacation cookies, these cookies also have brewer’s yeast which is also known to help.
- Sleep. A couple of nights, before Penelope started nursing at 5 months, my husband would do an entire night shift and I would sleep upstairs to get some rest. I figured well, I better take advantage of this whole bottle thing and get some rest. It literally happened all of three times, but boy was my milk supply better the next day! And I wasn’t pumping in the middle of the night anymore by this point, so it’s not like it was just an increase from being extra full from not pumping. With rest, your body has more energy to make more milk, period.
- Pump like Crazy. That was the golden advice given to me in the first week of Penelope’s life. I still think back to the day my friend dropped off the book Making More Milk, a recipe for Lactation Cookies and handwritten note that said just that. She said the receptors for making milk in your brain are made within the first two weeks of your baby’s life. The more you pump in those early weeks, the better chance you have at protecting your supply for the long haul. Increase your pump session time. I found that for me, the standard 15 to 20 minutes of double pumping, was not enough. I started pumping 3o to 40 minutes, and later over an hour as I dropped pumps, to keep my total time pumping even. This worked for me, in part because I have larger boobs and I needed that time to fully empty and thus send the messages to my brain to make more milk.
Once last note, if I had to do it all over again, I would have pumped less. Even if it meant having to supplement with a bit of homemade formula. I look back and think about all those hours I pumped and how much life I missed out on, and how bitter it made me while I was in the middle of it. I would have been easier on myself and given myself more of a break. I would have not tried to be so damn perfect.
So if at the end of the day, if you have done everything you could, or as much as you can and or as much as you are willing, be kind to yourself. Any amount of breast milk is a gift to your child.
If you have any questions or any other tips on how to increase milk supply leave me a comment below!
Or on Facebook!
I really like this post and I understand that your experience was challenging from the beginning. Nonetheless, a LOT of women with babies who do not have any problem latching start to compulsively worry about their supply. We need to trust our bodies. If the baby is latching properly just feed on demand. No time clock, no limits. Just feed on the demand. It is the most efficient way to keep up your supply. When pumping is a necessity because of latching issues or because mom goes back to work then we do have to worry a lot more. Simply because the pump is not as efficient. Therefore, your tips are great!! But I just get a lot of women worrying about supply issues when they do not really have to and it just adds stress which DOES affect their supply.
Totally agree!
I completely agree about worrying too much about your supply. I failed at breastfeeding my son because I worried too much about him not getting enough because I couldn’t answer the pediatrician’s questions about how much he was getting (they were very against breastfeeding). Another important thing when dealing with supply issues is having a supportive and knowledgeable pediatrician, who has studied breastfeeding. Pediatricians aren’t required to take courses on breastfeeding, which I think is crazy because they are cutting our half of their knowledge about children. Great article!
I agree, Pediatricians need way more education in the breastfeeding department.
I was really interested in the Lactuca Virosa you mentioned, but when I started researching into it, I have to admit even the Wikipedia entry is scary- it’s “similar to opium” and can have a sedative affect on baby?? What is your experience with this???
I never had any drug like effects from taking it. Neither did my daughter.
Stephanie took it in its homeopathic form, which is a highly diluted remedy. That makes a difference in its opium-like sedative effect that you mention.
Oh, how I wish I’d read this post when I was in the midst of beating myself up for not being able to let down while pumping. Still, I made it a year (though I supplemented with organic formula), and I have to say I’m damned proud of myself. Pumping is no easy task. Good for you for sticking with it!
I’m proud of you too, good work!
1) http://mobimotherhood.org has a list of all the foods, herbs, pills and techniques that can help increase supply, as well as information about many other issues, such as tongue tie, using a supplemental feeder, sensory issues, hormone regulation, special needs kids, etc. It is also a resource for emotional support and has several online discussion groups.
2) Motherfood is the book that MOBI was based on, the author helps run the website. It is *invaluable* to mothers in general, but much more so for any woman who struggles to keep supply up – the author details how she struggled with insufficient glandular tissue (a very real, and very devastating issue that more woman than you would think are dealing with, including myself) but was able to use a special diet to build breast tissue during a subsequent pregnancy and support her supply with continued herb use. It’s similar to WAPF in that her research is based on many cultures across the world, of course focusing on whole, nutrient dense foods.
I haven’t read that book (which looks amazing), but I LOVE that site. I remember I cried when I first found it. Thanks reminding me.
Great post! I am 28 weeks pregnant with my third child and my other 2 are older (6 & 9). I struggled with low supply with both of them, but your info gives me hope! I’m curious about what kind of pump you used. I think I still have my old one, but surely there is new technology since then.
I used a Medela Pump in Style. Everyone says you get better output with a rented medical grade one from the hospital, but I did fine with a Medela Pump in Style.
Great post! Just curious…about how many ounces did Penelope drink from the bottle per feeding? Did you ever see any increase?
Per feeding changed a little as she got older. As a newborn, she was only taking in 1 to 2 ounces a feeding. Gradually it increased to 4 ounces a feeding. But she never went past 24 ounces in a 24 hour period, her whole first year. I think feeding her liquid egg yolk, instead of cereal, as her first food, helped keep her full and she never required more milk.
Thanks for the post! It definitely is enlightening. My aunt is a Lactation Consultant, and here are a few things she told me to do:
1– eat oatmeal. I also ate it for breakfast and I think it worked.
2– cluster pumping– this is a 6 day event. The first day, you pump for 10 mins, off for 10 mins, pump for 10, off for 10, continuing the cycle for 1 hr. Do it around the same time each day for 3 days straight. Days 4, 5, and 6, you do that hour long pump fest 2 times a day, morning and evening. I noticed a difference by day 2.
**Rest– I also did a day where I went to bed early instead of staying up until 1-2 am to pump, and I’ll tell ya, the rest did me and my milk supply a LOT of good.
**If anyone is having any issues, you can also seek out a LC. They may also have ideas for you too. They are there to support you and help!
I only breastfed for about 6 weeks with my daughter, and now my son is almost 8 months old and still goin strong. Most days he gets just breasts in the morning and I pump throughout the day, its been crazy busy around the house lately and I can keep a better eye on my milk supply this way. It also puts my mind at ease because I know exactly what I’m producing and when its low or high.
Great advice, thanks!
Great post
I struggled with BOTH of my girls even though they were both great latchers, no tongue tie, nursed on demand. I dried up by 6 weeks with my first born and ended up finding WAPF a month later and started making her formula 
She is healthy as any other kid – only been sick 2 times and she is 3! I was more educated with my second born on MY nutrition so I ate way better than with my first but I STILL struggled with barely a supply. I supplemented with homemade formula, pumped every 2-3 hours even getting myself up in the middle of the night if she wasn’t up to pump. I took a great supplement my lactation lady suggested. By the time she was 2 months I FINALLY was making enough to feed her myself for pretty much a whole day and then she was all BM by the end of that month. I worked my butt off pumping and eating…I looked at it like my job. My family though I was crazy. I was SO jealous of handfulls of friends of mine that nursed SO easily and ATE LIKE CRAP. Why was it so easy for them?! But I worked and worked and I was able to feed her 
I recently heard of Insuffiecient Glandular Syndrome – have you heard of it? When I read of it – it sounds just like me but it is not well known about. I follow The Crunchy Convert on FB and she openly talks about her IGS and breast milk supply. I’m hoping to learn more before we decide to have another baby 
Thanks so much for sharing. I do know about IGS, I read about it in that book I mentioned Making More Milk. I know what you mean about being jealous, its so hard not to let the jealously consume you.
Hi Renee, I think you’re referring to Insufficient Glandular Tissue, it’s not a syndrome but a physical condition. I highly recommend the book Motherfood if you want to learn more before having another baby. There is also a support group on Facebook dedicated to women dealing with chronic low supply and IGT, with some very knowledgeable and kind ladies: https://www.facebook.com/groups/316544128361585/
Thank you so much! I will!
Thank you for this post! I found your blog through pinterest and I am now following you through facebook. My son is almost 8 months old and I am still nursing… I have to pump at work (which is no fun). I am hoping to make it a year. I am super jealous of your freezer, I have NEVER been able to pump enough not to have to get him formula. Oh well, at least he is getting something.
That’s what I tell myself.
Thanks!
Thank you so much for your posts on breastfeeding/pumping, they have helped more than you will ever know! I found your site about 2 weeks ago (from pinterest about crock pot freezer meals!) on a day I was going to stop pumping (@ 6 weeks), thanks to your story and some of your links, I am pumping now! It sure is a full time job, but I am trying to keep it going. I have been to 5 LC with no luck getting the back on the breast, but we are still trying! The LCs have not been helpful with the pumping aspect, so again I say “thank you” for the support. I was wondering what type of bags you use to freeze your milk? Some days I have a little extra I would love to freeze to freeze for the days I am having to supplement. I will also be trying some of your tips to increase my supply (fingers crossed).
That is so awesome Amy! Go you! Some of the best advice I ever received was to never quit pumping on your worst day. Always keep going one more day, sleep on it and see you feel the next day. That kept me going when I so wanted to quit. Let me know if you have any questions, I would be happy to help in anyway I can.
I use freezer bags made by Lansinoh, they are easy to find at most supermarkets, targets, walmarts, etc. I have never had a drop leak from them!
I agree, it is a great post. I wish I had known a few more resources when my lil’ one was born. My boy was born with cleft lip and palate and was never able to suck – so it was up me to and a pump to make sure he got what he needed. That being said, he still only got half mommy milk and half formula. Looking back, I would have pumped and pumped more in the beginning, and then not worried so much later. That probably would have boosted my supply.
But It got to the point where even though I was pumping 5-10 times per day, 20-40 min per session I could still only produce half of what he needed. It seems a waste of much needed relax-time now.
I set aside a stash of milk for his pre-op and post-op food and am glad I could do that, but I think I should have tried to relax more – because even if you have to supplement with formula, it is OK, and you can make sure to give your babies other kinds of good foods when they get older.
Thanks so much Laura. I am apart of online support group for women who exclusively pump and a LOT of the women there have babies with cleft lips and palates, I have learned so much from them. Lots of love to you.
Thanks.
Right back at you. And now I know who to ask if our next baby has similar issues.
I had problems with all three of my babies, the last one I tried all the herbs and such. Just two months before I became pregnant with my fourth child I discovered I had celiacs disease and the lack of nutrient absorption to my body was probably the reason for the whole low milk supply. We shall see…I have five more months left in this pregnancy. Already though I can feel a change in my breast from the lat three pregnancies
That is very interesting, thanks so much for sharing. Wishing you the best with this pregnancy and baby!!
This post is a God send. Thank you so much. In the beginning did you pump at night? If so, did you continue pumping at night, how often did you pump in the beginning? I’m exclusively pumping for my little one and I could use all the help I can get!!!
In the very beginning I pumped twice a night, basically I was pumping every 2 hours in 12 hour period for the first 6 weeks. I was trying to mimic newborn behavior as much as possible. I would also do cluster pump sessions in the evening, pumping every 20 minutes for 2 hours. As she got older I dropped pumps. I can’t remember when but I think by the time she was 3 or 4 months old I had dropped all my middle of the night pumps and pumped right before bed and first thing when I got up. Let me know if you need anything else. Best of luck!
Fantastic post. I struggled through breastfeeding (and pumping once I went back to work) and made it 5 months before I gave up. I got discouraged with myself early on because my daughter was not gaining weight (honestly, she’d got a week or two without gaining an ounce). It also took my daughter almost 6 weeks to get back to her birth weight (but I’m fairly certain there were other problems in play there as well). I thought I had tried everything I could to up my supply, but I had not. I also had a friend who is a pharmacist discouraging every supplement I tried (he’d say “It’s not safe” or “It hasn’t been proven to work” etc. etc.). THEN I went back to work and would pump 4 times a day and get so little breast milk and became even more discouraged. Finally, after pumping 4x in a work day, and getting less than 1 total ounce between both breasts, I was just done. I gave up. I had never been more disappointed in myself – I had wanted to make it 12 months, and at 5 months, I was closer to not even starting than I was to my goal. I heard the word “failure” in my head every time I made a bottle of formula.
I’m a lot more at peace about the whole thing now. I realize now that I was never a failure, and that I did the best I could at the time. My daughter was fed, regardless of whether it was formula or breast milk. My daughter is 13 months and and is happy and healthy – and that’s the best thing. I won’t lie though, if we have another kid, knowing all of the experiences I went through before – pregnancy (HEARTBURN), delivery, and everything else, the idea of going through breastfeeding trials and tribulations gives me the most anxiety about any of that. I plan to be better prepared next time. This is a post I will definitely come back to in the future.
(Sorry if I rambled. I realized once I started typing that telling my story, for the first time to anyone, was pretty darn cathartic.)
Thank you so much for sharing your story. I am beyond thrilled that this blog is a place women feel safe enough to share their stories. It sounds like you encountered many “boobie traps” as the Best for Babes foundation calls them. And you are right, you did the best you could with the information and resources you had available to you, so be kind to yourself. lots of love.
Wow, this was my life 2 years ago!! I couldn’t effectively breastfeed with my first child (lots of booby traps) and I so ended up exclusively pumping for 13.5 months!! I didn’t end up with such a freezer full by the time I was done, only a couple of bags, but I read all over the internet about how to exclusively pump and try to get the most out of my pumping sessions. I totally know what you mean about feeling like you could be an LC after such an experience! Thanks for sharing your info!
And one more thing — I just had my 2nd child 4 months ago and our nursing experience has been completely different. For one, he was a bigger baby; secondly, I saw an LC right away and wasn’t separated from him after birth for a LONG time; and thirdly, after all I had been through with my 1st, I knew my body could make milk and I wasn’t embarrassed to ask for help or questions like I had been. I got super discouraged early on with my 1st and sort of gave up (although pumping for over a year is hardly “giving up”) so I was determined to make it work this time and it did!
So glad to hear you had a better experience with your 2nd and didn’t have any booby traps the second time around.
Thank you for this post! I stopped pumping at 11.5 months. In the end I was getting barely an ounce or two 3x a day. The time that it took for that little milk was frustrating especially when baby was wanting so much more. Looking back, I think I was selfishly tired of always pumping!!
On another note, did you have a pump that you loved? I bought a pump from a friend and wished I had a brand new one that worked at full strength. For the next baby I would like to be better prepared!
I used a Medela Pump in Style. And ps. that is why I stopped at 18 months too. I was just done. I needed more time for myself.
I would suggest trying different pumps if possible – I have an avent that works awesome for me, but my Medela swing that I had with my first didn’t work very well, and the hospital grade medela I tried was no better. I think the cups that medela makes just don’t fit me as well. (I will mention that several of the nurses I spoke to LOVED specific medelas – one loved her pump in style but not the hospital grade one, another loved the hospital grade but not her pump in style.) I tink it all depends on the person.
Oh good point! I totally agree. I also bought bigger and angled flanges from a different company and that made a huge difference in my comfort level. And the more relaxed and comfortable you are while pumping the more milk you get!
Thanks for the article! It always made me want to be ugly to people I knew that talked about their freezers full of milk & how they had so much stored milk–I struggled with my first and ended up having to supplement formula but made it to 8months of being able to give him some breast milk everyday! I’m now trying to nurse twins & had high hopes that i would produce more milk this go around but needless to say I had same problem. I took fenugreek, blessed thistle, moringa, and ate lactation cookies. One of the biggest instant increase I noticed was drinking one beer at night–seemed like 10minutes later I would feel full & babies seemed more satisfied. However I do not like beer but finished off the 8pack over few weeks. When started back to work babies were eating 3-4oz from bottle & I was only pumping maybe 2 oz! Pumping at work q4hrs gives me 3-5oz each time–the babies however eat around 40oz while I’m gone total! I started solely pumping just prior to going to work because seemed boys were never satisfied after nursing–when I discovered how much I was pumping in comparison to how much they were requiring in bottle! I was told solely pumping wouldn’t produce as much milk as babies nursing by several people so now I’m worried I’ve messed up my supply!
My pleasure, I hope some of these help you! There are a couple of other tips for exclusive pumpers to increase supply. Like pumping for several minutes after your last drop (use olive oil, if you nipples start to hurt), use hand compressions as you pump to get more milk out, pump longer and in closer intervals for a couple of days, they are call power pump sessions and for like 48 hours you would pump every 20 minutes for 20 minutes. Good luck!
Thank you so much for your posts on pumping. My 2 month old has always been a difficult nurser, and we just returned today from nearly 2 weeks in the PICU due to respiratory problems. He wouldn’t nurse at all while we were in the hospital, so I have been pumping the whole time, and I hate it! My nipples are bruised, and he just today latched on again for the first time, although to my dismay it seems he has picked up his old problem habits. After reading your posts, I feel like I can conquer this problem. In fact, while we were at the hospital trying to get him to latch, I kept telling my husband “It’s OK – the boob is a happy place,” as I bottle fed him while he was snuggled on top of the boob. I am going to read every last post you have, as each one gives me motivation not to give up!
This is such a great comment! I wish I could have been a fly on the wall to witness you telling your husband that the boob is a happy place! I am rooting for you in Florida! Let me know if you need anything.
Thank-you for this post. When I had my daughter and she wouldn’t latch on, I felt like a failure. I pumped exclusively with her for 7 months (and had a huge supply in the freezer, like you), but could not find ANY info or literature about other women like me. My second daughter was a better latcher, but created scabs from sucking so hard, so, again, I pumped for 9 months with her. I wish I had read this earlier, 2 years ago when I’d had my daughter.
Thank you so much for commenting, so that other women know that they are not alone.
I was an EPer for 17 months. I did many of the things you suggest, and while I didn’t have a freezer FULL at the end of that journey, I did have roughly 600oz which I was so proud of considering that I never had to give my daughter formula (not that there’s anything wrong with it, it just wasn’t something I wanted to do), and only had to use a few bags of donated BM the first week that I was EPing. My problem was never low supply, but rather UNDIAGNOSED Raynaud’s Syndrome. I was ‘diagnosed’ with having thrush pretty much non-stop for the first 11-12 weeks of my daughter’s life. But after trying EVERY homeopathic remedy, medical treatment, a COMPLETE diet change, etc and NOTHING helped I finally gave up on nursing after a particularly bad night where I was screaming and crying while my daughter was latched on, I was sweating profusely, shaking uncontrollably and unintentionally squeezing my poor girl’s little head. I was in SO MUCH pain and it just wasn’t worth it. Because of having a fairly traumatic c-section birth I REFUSED to ‘fail’ at breastfeeding too, so I decided right then and there that I WOULD pump exclusively, and I did. I’m so proud of myself, but looking back I don’t know how I did it. It scares the CRAP out of me to think that I might have to do it again when I have another baby. Granted, I’ve done lots of research on Raynauds and have found a medicine that Dr. Jack Newman recommends to treat it. So, I’m hopeful that if I have that caliber of pain the next time around, that I will be able to get the rx I need, and it’ll work so I can nurse direct from the tap. While I didn’t have ‘low’ supply, I was CONSTANTLY stressed about my supply and was practically drowning in the amount of water I’d drink every day, fenugreek i took, oatmeal I ate, etc etc. HUGE kudos to you for doing it for so long! I know first hand how difficult it can be (and lonely!), and I give huge props to anyone who sticks it out.
Thank you so much for sharing, I had never heard of Raynaud’s Syndrome before. I just looked it up and I think you would really benefit from taking Protandim. If you click on the ad button on the left hand side it will tell you all about it. It would work in conjunction with the medicine Dr. Newman recommends.
I heard about Domperidone in my New Mom’s Group and asked my OB/GYN about it because I really wanted to take it. She YELLED at me that I was NOT to take it at all. She emphasized the risk of heart attack and said “absolutely not”.
Oh my gosh, I am so sorry. That is not cool. There is so much misinformation out there, and MD’s are sadly some of the most uninformed.
I am breastfeeding my 5 month old and he seems satisfied when I am home with him and feed him, but I also work 3 days a week and I can’t pump as much as he drinks at daycare. The extra supply I had is quickly being used. I would like to try the lactuca virosa and I was wondering what dose/how often you used it? I can’t seem to find a recommended dose for increasing supply. Thanks for your blog, you are an inspiration to all moms!
I can not remember the dosage, let me talk to the IBCLC that recommended it to me and I will get back to you. And so glad you like my blog!
Wow, I cannot believe anyone struggled as much as I have. I’m nursing my 4th child as I type this and she’s going to be 11 months in two days. It’s been a struggle with her as well but not nearly as much a struggle as with my third child. My third child had a weak suck and I lost my milk supply after 2 months. I was too naive back then to seek help right away as my first two children were nursing champions and I figured I was a breast feeding professional by the time the third baby came around. What a surprise and horrible disappointment that turned out to be. I pumped for two months, around the clock every 2 hours for 20 minutes at each session, sometimes longer in my desperate need to increase my milk. Each breast gave me drops at each session and the teas, blessed thistle, oatmeal, water, fenugreek was my daily consumption. Nothing worked. I can relate to the feeling of bitterness and now regret for putting so much into my desperate need to increase my milk because as I look back now, I lost two months of my baby’s life. It is still a blur even 5 years later. Of course I had no choice but to supplement with formula and as many mother’s know, the more you supplement, the less you make anyway and since I wasn’t making much anyway, it was just all a nightmare all the way around. This time around with baby #4, my maternal instincts combined with my vivid memories from the ordeal with my third child prompted me to seek help from a certified lactation consultant when my baby was only 3 1/2 weeks old. Since we owned a scale to monitor her siblings weight, my husband and I began weighing our infant every day. The first week after her birth when the scale barely moved or not at all, I knew something was wrong and the lactation consultant affirmed that indeed my baby was not taking enough from me. Supply was not an issue (yet) but I knew from experience it could be until we could identify why my baby wasn’t taking enough. So, I began pumping after every nursing session, switch nursing her three times on each side, taking an herb called Goat’s Rue to increase and maintain my supply, eating oatmeal, breast compression. I vowed not to make myself a slave to the pump, not to lose out on life with my infant. Since she’s the last baby, I truly wanted to savor each day…but I wanted to breast feed very badly. My lactation consultant introduced me to a supplemental device called SNS (Supplemental Nursing System). I supplemented initially with 1 oz at each nursing session only after I switched nurse 3 times because my baby was only taking about 3 oz from me by the time she was 6 weeks old and by then she was officially diagnosed with a weak suck. The difference between she and her brother before her was that she was taking just enough where her sibling was hardly taking any. That is why I lost my milk with my third child and why I haven’t lost my milk with this one. I envy those women who can pump large amounts of milk at each session. With me, with this baby, I’ve been able to pump 3-4 oz at the first of the morning pump but pump much less throughout the day and I have three other children to care for so I cannot afford the time to be a slave to anything. Some days I worry she isn’t getting enough from me so I’ll supplement her to see if she wants anything “extra” but when she refuses that reassures me that she is fine. I weigh her once a week now instead of daily and the pediatrician says she’s just a petite little girl, not to worry. My lactation consultant referred me to a speech therapist to have my baby’s mouth looked at. No tongue tie, everything checked out fine except her lingual frenulum was a little tight but not tight enough to require surgery. Speech therapist said it would stretch with age, showed us some exercises to help stretch it “naturally,” and sent me on my way. Most of the time I think my baby is just lazy, plain and simple. She likes the breast, thinks it is a comfy place to hang out. That is what my lactation consultant said too. In any case, I’m not giving up on breast feeding any time soon. I have my rented hospital grade breast pump sitting on my kitchen table like it’s a part of the family. I pump to ensure my milk supply doesn’t disappear but I have to admit that it’s coming up on one year of pumping and I’m getting tired of doing it. It’s becoming a chore I don’t enjoy so some days I don’t pump and then I feel guilty for not doing it. It’s a crazy cycle! But I’m still breast feeding and at the end of the day, that is all that matters to me.
Thanks so much for sharing your story! I hope everything gets easier for you, very soon! Be sure to read all my other breastfeeding/pumping posts, there is lots of good information and resources in them.
Hi there. I have family that is on Dom in Canada and swear by it too. What online websites do you know about? Some of them seem shady. Any ideas would be great.
I was thankfully able to get mine from a compounding pharmacy. I am not sure about the online retailers, but you are right, some of them are shady. Let me do some research and get back to you.
Thanks. My doctor says that it is very hard to get a compounding pharmacy to fill it anymore bc any dr writing a script for it nowadays (and the compounding pharmacy then has to report it to the FDA) then gets a call from the FDA. So dr’s are unwilling to do it. This was what other dr’s had told my primary care physician. My ob told me that she used to prescribe it but hasn’t since 2004. She thinks the inability to use this med for bf’ing is mostly about our litigious society and dr’s afraid to put even a hair on their toe close to the line. Canada doesn’t have the tort system we do. If you find out more info on the websites pls letvme know.
I was getting it at compounding pharmacy in 2010, so there are some that still do it.
Excellent post! Found you from Pinterest. I am a mama with way too much milk that pumped to donate. There is one resource I would love to reccommend from Mama Rose’s Naturals called Nursing Mama ( http://mamarosesnaturals.com/product.asp?SKU=181195000959 ) .
Other ideas for pumping mama’s is to have a blanket or piece of clothing their baby has worn and smell it when you are pumping. It signals something in your brain and is proven to help you let down more milk. Also, DO NOT watch the amount of milk in the bottle. (There are some mama’s that love watching but most! find the pumping to be stressful and then get stressed when they see not as much as they want coming out.)
Good point! In the beginning of pumping I would watch every. single. drop that came out. Finally I started browsing the web and stopped paying attention and I swear that got me more milk! It also got me into blogging! If I had to look at my Facebook news feed one more time I was going to stab someone, then I started blogging to keep me busy while pumping!
Thank you for the great post! I look forward to your answer on the Lactuca dosage / how often. I ordered some already but am not sure how much / often to take it, especially as it is 200c potency.
A bit off subject but I want to recommend a tincture I have taken multiple times to heal mastitis – its amazing and I know give it as a gift to all pregnant friends! It’s called Happy Ducts and is made by Wishgarden – hard to find in stores but can get online. It usually takes 1-2 ounces per mastitis bout to clear it (plus nursing, rest and warm compresses). It has been the most effective way for me to avoid antibiotics and I always make sure I have some on hand.
I am an IBCLC and this is good advice! Great post!
That is wonderful to hear! Thank you!!
Ahh this was my life 2yrs ago as well! I wish this information would’ve been available then. I may have made it longer than 5m
I am now nursing a 2w old preemie with success but am concerned I will run into the same issues again. I have a question….You mentioned alfalfa. Do you by chance know if that’s in its sprouted form or powder? It’s also known to help with allergies & mine are severe but all allergy meds deplete my supply so I’m very interested in the possibility of killing 2 birds with 1 stone!!! Thanks for your info!!
I don’t think I mentioned alfalfa, but I did sprout fenugreek seeds and eat them and saw a good increase from eating fenugreek sprouted verus powder in pill form. Best of luck! Let me know if you need anything else.
Thanks for sharing your story!! I just had my 4th, and while she nursed better than the other 3, it was still a major struggle. I did have to work thru alot of guilt over having to supplement, but with the schedules of my other kids ( 17, 9, 6) I simply couldn’t devote serious time to pumping exclusively. I just wanted to share an fyi about freezing breast milk. My sister also had a baby close to the same time as I did, and BF. She had worked her supply up to storing quite a bit of milk, but found that when she thawed it out, it seemed to have spoiled. What she didn’t know is that some moms have a protein in their milk that causes it to separate when frozen. It isn’t spoiled, but has a very nasty taste, as the fat separates. Her little one refused to drink it, and she had to throw a whole freezer full out. All she had to do was heat it up slightly before freezing it to prevent the separation. She had worked closely with a LC with both this one and her last child, with many issues worked thru, but this was never mentioned. She has been so discouraged, as she overcame so many obstacles to increase her supply, and had almost 3 mos. of milk stored up, planning to wean soon. But now, she isn’t sure what to do. I guess this is rare, but should be mentioned, as it has a simple fix. Just check your milk a few days after freezing, to make sure that doesn’t happen. Some separation normally occurs, but this affected the smell and taste of the milk.
Thanks for bringing it up. I have heard of that, it has something to do with a lipase imbalance right?
Just found your site. Enjoying it alot so far. I am a new mom of a 14 week old named Charlotte. We had a terrible time at the beginning with nursing. She lost over a pound in her first 4 days of life. 7lb 4oz to 5lb 15oz. Long story short it started rough, but I was determined not to give my little lady any formula. So I pumped and nursed round the clock. I slept maybe 3 hours a day. I am back to work now,
noticing that my supply has dropped in half recently. Went from 24 oz a day pumped at work alone, plus another 9-10 at the end of the night, to 12 oz at work a 4 at night. So finding this has been encouraging. My method this week was pump more and finially today Friday, I got 17 oz at work! We will see how tonight goes. I am excited to see what the lactation cookies do as well as the supplements. Charlotte’s a hoss and eats 20 oz a day at day care, plus nurses AM and PM from me. But, I have to make sure I keep storing enough milk to feed her while I am at work. So, thanks for the additional sites, tips, help, and recipes. I look forward to exploring your site more.
So glad you found it helpful. And glad you are here, welcome!