To ask help in restarting breastmilk supply

[BunsOfAnarchy]

Shameless post here for traffic. Also im new to Motherhood and BFing so please be easy on me, im by far no expert on feeding in the slightest!

Quick background-
Baby is 4 months/ 19weeks and EBF plus 4×.30ml bottle top ups due to previous TT and weight gain issues ( all sorted now so i wanna be back to EBF)

Last week went away for 1 night and husband gave baby formula and pace fed as per my instruction. I took my manual pump with me and pumped during day and evening.

So last couple days ive found baby seems to fuss at breast and i compress and shes fine then starts crying as though theres nothing left. Breasts do feel emptier too.

I need to increase supply again and im wondering the best way to do it?

I have a manual pump and an electric medela, i find the manual one would extricate more milk when used.

Do i just pump as much as poss for next few day between feeds? Any other pointers?

Thank you for reading this far and id really appreciate some advice x

Skin to skin let baby feed as much as wanted for a couple of days and lots of Netflix. Eat lots of oats too and keep hydrated.

Just because your breasts feel emptier/softer doesn't necessarily mean you have less milk. Could just be your supply is more regulated now. But as PP said, feed as much as baby wants, especially at night.

Maybe baby is fussing as they're teething? Maybe find something helpful here:

kellymom.com/hot-topics/fussy-while-nursing/

Oh i didnt think about teething...we have assumed she is teething the past few weeks from the endless amounts of dribble and her new tendency to bite and chomp things....especially her feet!

I have alwayd demand fed but she just seems unsatisfied and angry and keeps pulling off. Its like barely a 3 min feed at times!

it's normal around this age to have a growth spurt and sleep regression as well as teething so its likely to be a coincidence.

eat and drink plenty, feed lots and put your feet up you're doing brilliantly x

If you feel like the supply is not there I would pump betweeen feeds this is what I did to get my supply going when I stopped feeding dd and day when she was a month ( thought it was what I wanted but I wasn’t so started bf her again) and that got it going again and I am still bf her now as well as ds

My DD is the same age and I was having some trouble with my supply but since I’ve been on a strict feeding schedule of every 2 hours during the day (still working on a night schedule that works for us) my supply has increased a huge amount, it is difficult to feed a fussy baby but after 2-3 days you should see an increase of supply

I’m going to keep going like this for a week and then start pumping after every feed and increase the gap between each feed to maintain the supply, my DD has upper lip tie and I think maybe a tongue tie so she can’t empty the breast as well as other babies can so I have to put in extra work to maintain my supply

Keep trying and you’ll get there :)

I have started to increase my supply by pumping the opposite breast while feeding. After a couple of days I have one breast that fills up with milk very few hours.
Also, if no one has mentioned so far, laceration cookies are great. I've just made a batch of no bake lactation bites too. Waiting to see how that goes

laceration cookies are great

Mmmm, delicious laceration...

😂 can you tell I have a young baby?

Get some Fenugreek supplements from Holland & Barrett

When my milk regulated my boobs were like saggy pancakes. There was still loads of milk though!

Oh ill defo try the lactation cookies! Must grab a recipe.

I have some fenugreek capsules stashed away which ill restart. I never knew if they made a difference but ill start up on them again and see.

Cheers ladies!x

Pump and feed often. Be careful with Fenugreek, they make your skin smell and the taste of your milk change. It's used alot in Indian cooking and is a very very strong scent. I used them when I tried to increase my supply, and my son stopped feeding I think because he hated the taste! People also kept telling me I smelled bad! it's was so true!

Do you know what, my urine actually smelt funny when I took Fenugreek.

wee smelt of Fenugreek

Didn't affect either DD feeding though.

Fenugreek can also have the opposite affect on supply. Be cautious.

Drink lots of water
Skin to skin
Feed on demand
Netflix
Trust your body and your baby

Fennel tea helped to kick start my milk supply after it started to dwindle.

It is harder work for baby to get milk from the breast than from the bottle. It might just be impatience! When I switched to bottles in the daytime I found DC was very impatient and tried kneading me

Lots and lots of water plus power pumping.

DS1 had dairy intolerance so we were using oat milk at the time I was BFing DS2 and my supply seemed much higher than first time to the extent where I had to sleep on towels and use breast pads constantly for 5 monthd.

Regular meals and frequent drink especially during night feeds. Cold drinks can help milk let down.
Putting the baby on the breast often during day and night and actually resting during feeds and catching up on rest when baby sleeps don't over do it. Nursing is taxing on the body and exhaustion is not good on supply.
Also letting baby get past the foremilk and onto the hind milk the more hind milk drained the more milk seems to be producted. You can tell they reach it when the sucking becomes more slow and long opposited to quick and shallow this can also help with winding the baby and colicy belly. It is easy to switch breasts too quickly even with breast pumps give each breast time to drain. Breast pumps are not indicative of supply even electric ones dont have the power to drain a breast like a baby it mimics the process but it is not the same it is hard to gauge supply that way. I am not sure about nipple confusion but the fussying at the breast can be due to this from what I have read. Allow time for good latch and look into different holds and positions to help baby calm at feeding. Teething and growth sperts can play a part.

Milky drinks with a small amount nutmeg are popular where I come from as well as coconut water. Also a boost in natural iron and B12 levels can boost supply its common for us to eat offal and drink bone broths and mutton or beef marrow or supplements for pregnant and lactating mums if that is too much. Rest when you can milk supply can be affected by exhaustion. I did drink Guinness punch once a mix of milkshake, nutmeg and Guinness when I was nursing at Christmas one small glass and during the night feed my milk was chucking out so much baby was struggling against the flow. I know alcohol is not recommend due to dehydration and small amount passed on in milk and I only had one but it did have a instant effect and baby was fine. Also second what others have said soft breasts are not indicative of supply, your body is just adapting to producing milk after the initial engorgement. You are doing great best of luck hard I know but try not to stress too much peace and relaxation is helpful during nursing and relaxed body and mind helps let down and latch.