Low supply due to slow build up of milk

On Apr 23, 4:51 pm, "Me Myself and I"
wrote:
I gave an indicator of what *I* pumped per side per 3 hours when my baby was
in the NICU. The amounts were that given to me by NICU staff. 25ml each
side every 3 hours for the first week, 50ml each side for the second week,
then 100ml each side from then on till I was fully BF'ing.

I have seen *so* many women come onto to support boards desparate
because they're "only" getting 2 oz per side (60mls) despite pumping
for 30-60 minutes. They are convinced they have a supply problem and
have to give up BF because they're drying up, since they don't get the
huge amounts someone suggested they _should_ be able to get. I think
it's important to remind women that it's perfectly normal to get only
1-2 ozs, and that the amount can - and does - vary from session to
session.

200 mls per pump session is _A LOT_. While my DD surely takes more at
the breast than the bottle, she only takes 3 oz (90mls) MAX when she
eats from the bottle now, at 9 months (and has never taken more except
during one week). To pump 200 mls would suggest a baby is taking more
than 2x that much at 3 weeks old in each session, or more, since very
few people can pump as much as a baby can actually extract by nursing.
Nothing wrong with it if you can do it, but it's not, IMO, a realistic
standard for other women to gauge their own production.

It's great you were able to get so much. In my 3 weeks of EP while DD
was in NICU, I rarely got more than 60mls/breast, pumping every 3 hrs
and that took awhile. Yet, according to the nurses I was a 'milk
machine' because I had so much milk there, compared to the other NICU
moms. I may very well have been on the low side of average, but it was
certainly enough. So I think one must be cautious when they suggest a
woman should be able to pump much more if they just leave themselves
attached to the pump longer. When you're an overwhelmed new mom, the
last thing you need to do is to hook yourself to a pump 24/7 for a few
more drops.


I didn't say she
HAD to pump that amount, merely that you should aim to get the same amount
at each sitting. I then stated if she was pumping as well as feeding and
was pumping afterwards to increase supply she might want to pump 1 oz each
side. My entire point was to be consistent.

Hmm. I've had a different experience and IIRC, what I've read on
Kellymom and in LLL materials is that it's more typical to get varying
amounts throughout the day. When I was EP'ing initially, my output
varied a lot. Maybe beyond 3 weeks with EP'ing it could have become
more consistent, but it didn't then, and certainly with nursing +
pumping it's all over the place.