Relactation

[Romily]

I just wondered if anyone had successfully relactated after a break in feeding?

I have not fed for 6 weeks and and my milk has almost gone however I have a hospital pump and I am working to get my supply back up to return to some degree of BF and wanted to know if anyone else had done the same.

[Romily]

Anyone?

[stargirl1701]

Yes. I did. I had an 8 week break. How can I help?

[Romily]

Thank you for replying :-) I was just hoping to hear what others had done to successfully relactate and to see if there were an hints and tips to help.

[stargirl1701]

Well, I hired a Medela Symphony from the NCT. I pumped for approx 10 minutes 12 times in 24 hours including 3 overnight sessions. I laid out 12 sweets at 8am and I ate one each time I pumped. It helped me keep track and provided an incentive.

I looked at a photo of DD while pumping and smelled an item of her clothes. I listened to a relaxation track of music I got on iTunes for bf.

I popped DD in a sling skin to skin as much as possible. I co-slept with her skin to skin. I had a bath with her every evening. I used an SNS to feed her formula as well as stimulate the breast - I had to use nipple shields to get a latch.

We never returned to ebf but it gave me pleasant memories of bf after a truly hellish start. She mostly wanted to nurse in the mornings and evenings - she wasn't interested during the day.

[Romily]

Thank you so much for your post.

I have managed to increase my supply from almost nothing to a few oz a day however my DS is reluctant to latch so I will be trying a daily bath and the sling skin to skin approach to see fi that helps.

Just a couple of feeds a day would be ideal.

[stargirl1701]

I did also drink a bf tea I got in the local health food shop. You can use domperidome (sp?) to increase supply.

I found the Infant Feeding Specialist at the hospital where I gave birth really helpful. I got her details from the midwife unit. Maybe try that for RL help? I also used the LLL helpline extensively.