Help with supply

Hi everyone! I used to post in here when I was breastfeeding my first
daughter (Hope). I quit posting but would frequent back and read. Anyway,
I breastfed Hope for 1 year and 2 weeks. I had to stop because my doctor
changed my antidepressants while I was pregnant with my second daughter
(Rebekah). So anyway, Hope never had formula. She was exclusively
breastfed until she was 8 months old when we started solids. anyway,
Rebekah is 2 months old now and is breastfed also. However the past three
nights she will drain me and still be hungry so we will give her some
formula (sample from the hospital), and she drinks about 2 ounces of it and
then goes on to sleep. I'm doing everything I can think of to increase my
supply, I take fenugreek, I drink LOTS of water, I pump after every feeding
and I'm not getting anything out then.


What can I do to increase my milk supply?? Please help, I HATE giving her
formula! I feel that I have failed as a mother to her because I produced
just fine for Hope but not for her. It really has caused a lot of
depression on top of ppd and my regular depression and I really need some
help.


Erin
Wife to Dave - 3/23/01
Mommy to Hope - 11/4/01
Mommy to Rebekah - 5/20/03

I feel that I have failed as a mother to her because I produced
just fine for Hope but not for her.

First of all, you have NOT failed as a mother!
And there is no reason to believe that there is anything wrong with your
supply.
How is she feeding during the day? Getting enough? Satisfied?
If she is, there is no reason to think that you sudddenly don't have enough at
night.

She could be going through a growth spurt. She just just be fussy/cranky for
some reason unrelated to hunger.
If you can, just keep nursing her at night. If she loses patience with one
breast, switch her back to the other. Keep going until she falls back to
sleep.
And if she's fussing and crying and won't nurse and you have to give her a
little formula -- it's not the end of the world. Just put her back on the
breast for the next feeding. (You haven't compromised your supply, becuase she
wasn't nursing anyway, right?)

This will pass. You are doing wonderfully.



Naomi
CAPPA Certified Lactation Educator

(either remove spamblock or change address to to e-mail
reply.)

"Dave" wrote in message
...
What can I do to increase my milk supply?? Please help, I HATE giving her
formula! I feel that I have failed as a mother to her because I produced
just fine for Hope but not for her. It really has caused a lot of
depression on top of ppd and my regular depression and I really need some
help.

Erin, you have done exactly the right thing by posting here. If your baby is
nursing and nursing and nursing and still seems to be hungry, she is most
likely going through a growth spurt. She needs to nurse a lot more because
she's hungrier, true, but if you just let her nurse all she wants, your milk
supply should naturally increase until it's enough for her. Your body knows
what it's doing. The best thing you can do to increase supply is to nurse
more!

As long as you stop feeding her formula right now, then your body should be
able to catch up with her demand in just a few days. If you DO keep feeding
her formula, then your body won't know she's asking for more, and won't
start making the extra milk she needs. Get a good book and prepare to settle
yourself for some marathon nursing. (We used to joke about DD's 7pm-to-10pm
feeding).

Other things you can do to increase your milk supply are making sure you're
getting enough sleep (easy to say and hard to do with another little one, I
know) and eating oatmeal. You already have the fenugreek and water going for
you.

It'll generally blows over in a week or so, and then she should go back to a
less frequent nursing pattern. I hope you're taking good care of yourself,
too, with your ppd. *Hugs* and best wishes. Please keep us posted.

--Andrea

Dave wrote:

Rebekah is 2 months old now and is breastfed also.

My Caterpillar turned 2 months old today!

she will drain me and still be hungry so we will give her some
formula (sample from the hospital), and she drinks about 2 ounces of it and
then goes on to sleep.

Is she refusing to nurse? If not, just let her nurse,
switching sides as often as needed to keep both of you
comfortable. (I get uncomfortable nursing when I feel
empty, even when she's happy and presumably getting milk.)
She'll get a trickle, and it'll tell your body to make more
milk.

I'd ditch the bottle unless she's yelling in hunger, won't
latch, and a finger or pacifier to suck won't soothe her.
Not only are you telling your body not to make those 2
ounces of milk, but you're telling her that she doesn't need
to work hard to build your supply; she can just fuss until
she gets an easy bottle.

Caterpillar, who goes 2-3 hours between daytime feedings,
and is capable of going 6 at night, likes to nurse every 45
minutes in the evenings. So we nurse and play and nurse and
bath and nurse and diaper change and nurse and nurse and
nurse and sleep.

I pump after every feeding
and I'm not getting anything out then.

I can't get anything then, either, and my supply is fine.
So don't use that as a gauge. I can get quite a bit pumping
before a feeding, and if I time things wrong and she's
hungry 15 minutes later, she can get a lot more (at least
judging by continued interest and occasional gulping).
Phoebe

I had a similar problem. As long as you are pumping every time
you give formula I don't see a problem. I supplemented for about the
1st 2 monthes and didn't "lose my milk". After he had nursed a good
long time (over an hour) and was still really hungry, I would give
him some formula and pump for 5min each breast. It was about 3oz/day.

I was eventually able to get my supply up. Fenugreek didn't seem to
do anything. Make sure you are drinking a lot of water and protein
and supposedly oatmeal helps.

The thing I wish I knew about the 1st 2 months is Reglan, when I went
in
for my 7wk checkup and mentioned my problem, the Dr prescribed
it. I had just been able to catch up with my baby's needs, but
couldn't make enough extra to store for when I went back to work.
After a couple of days, I started making a _lot_ more milk. The
treatment was for ~1 wk. and I was making extra milk for a couple of
months.

I feel glad I didn't make my baby go hungry because I don't think it
would
have helped my milk come in faster. He was already nursing 2hrs per
stretch and still extremely hungry. I have always had low hormonal
response (missed periods,etc), when they would check my thyroid it
would be "normal" but very close to the low border. And I did gain a
lot of weight, there was a recent
study that overweight nursing mothers sometimes don't make enough
prolactin.

Anyway, if you have already tried the normal things - water, protein,
sleep,
nursing,pumping etc and still not making enough - ask your Dr.


don't think my body was making enough prolactin naturally.

Hi,

My dd was born just 2 days before yours. That behavior is the story
of our bf relationship. I have had more days where my dd acted that
way at night than not. I did have supply issues, and I have given her
a bit of formula (had to at first with poor weight gain and
dehydration), but we are back on fine track now.

Since this is just the last 3 days it is probably a growth spurt that
will pass, and you should just let her nurse as much as she wants.
You can try to listen for swallowing and switch breasts right after
she finishes a swallowing spell to keep the milk flowing more.

If it's just nighttime feeding and fussiness it might not be a growth
spurt though, but just general fussiness that happens to babies in the
evening and she could be cluster feeding then to go longer asleep at
night. In that case you might want to try what worked for me for
awhile. I used to let my dd cluster feed from whenever she started
until 11pm, and then put her in the swing which would knock her out.
You could pick an earlier time. I am a night owl, so that time works
for me.

You could also try to pump some milk in the morning and feed it to her
at night. I have done this and given it to my baby if she did not
fall asleep in the swing at 11 PM.

What I do now that the swing no longer works is that as it approaches
bedtime I nurse her laying down in bed until she falls asleep. Then I
go away, but often have to come back. I keep coming back and nursing
her until she falls asleep. I was really close to getting some EBM to
feed her tonight because she just kept wanting more, but she finally
stayed asleep at 11:15.

KC
Caitlin 12/29/99
Jessica 5/18/03

"Dave" wrote in message ...
Hi everyone! I used to post in here when I was breastfeeding my first
daughter (Hope). I quit posting but would frequent back and read. Anyway,
I breastfed Hope for 1 year and 2 weeks. I had to stop because my doctor
changed my antidepressants while I was pregnant with my second daughter
(Rebekah). So anyway, Hope never had formula. She was exclusively
breastfed until she was 8 months old when we started solids. anyway,
Rebekah is 2 months old now and is breastfed also. However the past three
nights she will drain me and still be hungry so we will give her some
formula (sample from the hospital), and she drinks about 2 ounces of it and
then goes on to sleep. I'm doing everything I can think of to increase my
supply, I take fenugreek, I drink LOTS of water, I pump after every feeding
and I'm not getting anything out then.


What can I do to increase my milk supply?? Please help, I HATE giving her
formula! I feel that I have failed as a mother to her because I produced
just fine for Hope but not for her. It really has caused a lot of
depression on top of ppd and my regular depression and I really need some
help.


Erin
Wife to Dave - 3/23/01
Mommy to Hope - 11/4/01
Mommy to Rebekah - 5/20/03