Can I get my breast milk back

[ardvark]

My DD is now 12 weeks old and I have lost most of my milk as my DD would not feed properly from me so in desperation I gave her a bottle with expressed milk now my milk supply has dwindled to 60ml is there anyway to get the milk going again. The reason for giving her the bottle is she has a brace fitted as she has deformed hips and its very difficult to hold her in any breast feeding position as I am not able to put any pressure on her or the brace and when I try to bf she cries as the brace is uncomfortable for her in BF positions. Any ideas to keep my milk flowing. I have been to a lactation consultant which did not help really. I live in Switzerland so its difficult to get help that I understand. Just thought someone may have a suggestion on how to keep the milk supply going.

[Tommy]

I'm no expert but I would say that theoly way to keep supply going is to try and get her to latch on and feed her.

My friend fed her DD who was in a hip brace - Icould ask her which position she found most comfortable.

I hope soemone comes along soon who knows a bit more about it

[kiskidee]

how many bottles a day are you giving? you mentioned 'a bottle'. a bottle a day shouldn't cause any probs.

or is it exclusively expressing you are attempting to do.

[NotQuiteCockney]

Can you feed her lying down? Or similar?

Alternatively, if you want to give her expressed milk only, you need to express a lot, like 8 times a day, or something, particularly at night. You could get your supply back up that way, slowly but surely.

[Amberjee]

hi ardvark,

i'm not sure if you are able to put dd to the breast now - is the brace still a problem. the best way to build up your supply again is to put her to the breast as much and as often as possible. but if this is not possible for you, then you would need to express to keep your supply going. i would suggest using a pump and hand expressing as well as the pump works by suction and hand expression works by massaging the milk ducts (a baby latched on will do both). in any event, it would be good to speak to a bf counsellor. its a pity the lactation consultant was no help.

would it be possible for you to call one of the breastfeeding helplines? i'm not sure if the numbers would work from switzerland. if you want, i could try to find out if they have a number you could call from overseas??

Breastfeeding Network 0870 900 8787

NCT Breastfeeding Line 0870 444 8708

La Leche Helpline 0845 120 2918

Leche also have an online help form www.laleche.org.uk/pages/about/helpform_disaclaimer.htm La Leche Help Form

[Amberjee]

La Leche Online Help Form

sorry,

[PrettyCandles]

Can your dd lie comfortably on her back? If so, you can feed her lying down on your bed. You lie next to her, nice if your bodies can touch, but not necessary, and lean over her to bring your upper boob towards her nose. Bring that arm over to the other side of the LO to support your weight. Stroke your nipple over her upper lip to encourage her to open her mouth and take the boob. If she's not used to breastfeeding any more, it make take a bit of practice, and it will probably help to hand-express a few drops onto her lips as you do this.

Get as much skin-to-skin as you can while you do this.

[Amberjee]

yes, i'm thinking a bf counsellor could talk you through all the possible positions for breastfeeding in case there is something that can suit you.

and yes, express as much and as often as you can.

[ardvark]

Thanks for the advice, yes I am trying to exclusively express milk I will keep with it if I can. My other DD had the same condition and I ended up giving up BF when she was 5 months as my back gave out from trying to feed her in difficult positions which was with her flat on her back on my knee with a pillow under her and I would lean over her and put my breast over her face which worked for her but I ended up seeing a chiro for months afterwards I was just trying to avoid the same pain. I will try lying down with dd2 but she is refusing my breast at the moment and prefers the bottle. Luckily I had a lot of milk at the beginning and I have a back log in the freezer. I know it could be time to call it a day on the bf front as it would be easier but the guilt stops me giving up.

[kiskidee]

then you may want to buy this book. It was written by a woman who exclusively expressed for a year. It also discusses the emotional aspects of it. It is very well written.

[Amberjee]

ardvark, that's really heartening to hear. you are doing a wonderful thing for your dd.

and by the way 5 months is wonderful with your other dd, a lot of people don't even make it to that. you've done really well.

here are some links on hand expression which you might want to use in addition to pumping to keep up supply

newborns.stanford.edu/Breastf...xpression.html video of hand expression

www.lactationinstitute.org/MANUALEX.html different technique

[PrettyCandles]

Look further at the Expressyourself site that Kiskidee linked. It was set up by a mum whose LOs were born with cleft palates and were therefore bottlefed ebm until their defects were repaired. The mum then taught them to breastfeed, so she may have some pointers on how to get teh baby to move from bottle to breast.

Ardvark, have you ever given yourself a pat on the back for your amazing achievements? Please do so! You have absolutely no need to feel guilty, whether you continue expressing or go over to ff. No-one could fault you for what you have done so far, or demand or expect more of you. Bfing can be hard enough without added challenges!

[Elasticwoman]

I second Amberjee and also ask, are you using an electric pump? Many mothers find them easier than hand expressing.