Expressing to increase milk supply - any advice appreciated please

[heidipi]

Quick summary - I have an almost 4 week old baby and had problems with my milk supply in the first 10 days (she dropped nearly 10% of weight, not many wet nappies, only pale dry pellet-type poos etc) so I opted to ff to increase her weight, and in the meantime I tried to increase my supply with lots of skin to skin, putting her to the breast every 3 hours (though she didn't really get anything and we both cried a lot - grim) expressing every 2-3 hours and taking a tonic from a medical herbalist. Also had good help from an NCT counsellor and 2 fab midwives. All this really helped (especially the herbs, would thoroughly recommend), her weight is no longer a worry and I'm now mainly bfing, but can't seem to get my supply to quite meet demand. She latches well and doesn't seem confused between nipple and bottle - actually she did really well to switch back to mainly bfing after a week on the bottle (I know, she's so clever )

My question is really about expressing - I've been pumping after every feed, and get about 40-50 ml in 20 mins (not much, I know but I was hoping the stimulation would help increase my milk). But as I feed her every 3 hours, and it takes around 75 mins, by the time I've changed and settled her then expressed, there's only about an hour til the next feed which doesn't seem to be long enough to reload! E.g at today's 11am feed, I'd expressed an hour previously, she didn't seem to get enough and continued rooting after switching sides several times so I gave her the 50 ml I'd expressed beforehand. Surely I may as well just have left it in the breast and saved us both the hassle?!

I'm not just trying to avoid hassle, honest, but I do want to find the best way to make this work. Would I be better off feeding her more direct from the breast and expressing less frequently?

Sorry for rambling post - I'm confused! Thanks in advance for any advice.

Could you try expressing off the other side while she is feeding? It can be tricky getting the hang of it but it's definatley a good way to increase supply. You can also mimic the suckling pattern while doing it this way (pausing the pump when she pauses and changing between short and long sucks/pumps). It should also help baby get a little more milk due to the simultaneous let down reflex. If you express while feeding you could then try feeding every 2 or 2.5 hours since you don't have to spend time between feeds pumping and that should increase your milk supply even more. HTH.

Can I be nosy and ask what herbs you're taking? Have you tried any herbal tearrs?

herbal teas

Hi - thanks for the reply, I've heard about expressing while feeding and I will give it a try but I feel like I will need an extra pair of hands! At the moment I use both to hold her/my boob while feeding so not sure how I'd hold the expressing thing on my other one. But I will give it a try, thanks.

I can't remember the exact herbal concoction but I'll look it up and post again - it definitely includes raspberry leaf and blessed milk thistle, plus 3 others I think. I'm also drinking rasp leaf tea.

Thanks again.

10% weight loss is more than average - it's the point at which HCPs start to worry. Anything less than 10% is considered ok though.

Could you feed her any more frequently directly? The baby will be more efficient than the pump and three hourly isn't all that often for a 4 week old.

Hi again - thanks so much for all the replies, I haven't expressed after every feed today and instead have tried keeping feeds shorter but more frequent, which feels easier so I'll continue that and see how it goes.

I did have a go at expressing while feeding on the other side, can't juggle it all at the moment but wil try again at a later date when we're better at bfing and she can hold her head up better.

Yes if she'd dropped 10% we'd have ended up back in Hosp I think, plus she'd have been under 6lb at that point which is why we went for formula.

Anyway, thanks for the help ladies - I think we'll get there, but if not will maintain mostly bf and try not to stress about it.

Putting your baby to the breast whenever she is hungry and letting her remove milk to requirement is what will determine an adequate supply.

Just so you know too that your breasts are never 'empty'. Think of the milk supply as like a river, not a pond. It doesn't run out. Your breasts will make milk as she feeds. It may be slower and she may find it frustrating especially if used to the fast flow of a teat but it's these feeds that tell your body to make more.

Don't limit your baby's time at the breast. Allow unfettered access, switch sides as many times as she likes.

You're doing brilliantly after a tough start.

asphyxia forgot to come back with the herb info - the tincture I got contains fennel seed, raspberry leaf, vervain, borage, nettle leaf and goats rue. I was wrong about blessed milk thistle.

I was quite sceptical but desperate to try anything and the change overnight was really noticeable - I went from expressing only a few tiny drops to an amount I could feed her, and from there to actually bfing.

Hope that's useful.

unpure thanks for that too. Apart from all the useful tips, all these replies are so reassuring.