Expressing at work and supply

[Taranta]

Been reading the various threads on expressing at work, but still have a few questions and am looking for a bit of advice as Im concerned about my supply tailing off...

I'm working three days a week so on those days I am able to express once at some point in the middle of the day which he then has the next day as a post-lunchtime nap feed. First month i was managing 6-7oz (good going for me as ive never been a huge milk producer) but now its 4 maybe 5oz if Im lucky. I use a manual pump which i find way better than electric which only got me 2-3oz, but i know its still not as good as DSs ability to get the milk out. i dont know what to do to improve my supply, and wonder if its likely to continue to dwindle? I really need to be able to continue this til DS is 2yo, as hes not able to take normal formula (cows milk protein allergy) and I am his only supply!

By the way, on days Im not working he might have a couple more feeds, but it doesnt seem to be boosting my supply. Hes also begun to wake less at night (3 times down to once) so thats hitting my supply too i think...

Any long-term pumpers at work have any tips, or experience of this? Have tried the usual remedies, which dont seem to be doing much...

Thanks in advance

I also expressed at work for 3 days a week, and found the amount I produced started to dwindle from about 9 months as DD started to eat more solid food. You don't say how old your DS is but could this be the explanation - more solids/less milk?

BTW, an older baby eating a lot of solids when you're at work, and being BF at all other times, probably doesn't need to have formula/cow's milk at all. A good varied diet + breastmilk is just fine!

Otherwise, the most effective way to increase supply is to have more pumping sessions at work - do you think it might be possible to squeeze another one in?

Thanks zoobmeister - DS is 1yo, not a brilliant eater by an large, but gets on ok dairy-free. Work is a bit frenetic but i could do another session, though have no sterilising equipment so presume it would be okay to just pack up in my glamorous tupperware and reuse a few hours later...? Did you express for a long time? Months? Thanks!

I used to do a couple of pumping sessions at work. I either washed out the equipment with some soap and water (although I didn't sterilise every day at home anyway) or just stick it all in the fridge and then reuse like that (my midwife recommends that).

I found my supply dropped off as the solids picked up and I stopped pumping altogether at around 9 months, just fed before and after work (i worked full-time from 5 months). DS is still bf now at 18mo so if you're happy with his diet and quantity he's eating I would be tempted to drop the pumping.

Yeah I didn't have sterilising equipment either, so I used to wash my kit in hot soapy water between sessions. That seemed to work fine. I kept expressing from when DD was 6 months to 11 months - by then the amounts I was getting were so small I reckoned it wasn't worth the hassle. I never bothered trying to replace those EBM feeds with cow's milk/formula, she just had more solids and lots and lots of real BFs every morning, evening, days off, weekends, nighttimes etc :-)

I work three days per week and don't bother to express at all. He's now just turned 11 months and I've been back at work since 9 months. He is quite happy with food and juice when I am away. He makes up for it on day's off and in the evenings / overnight. My supply has adapted to it and I don't have any problems with my boobs when away from him either.