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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Boosting supply for expressing??

13 replies

Jugs30 · 28/07/2012 11:22

Hi all

New here but really need some advice. My 5th baby was born 7 weeks ago at 31+3 and did really well, she was home at 19 days fully breast fed. But once she got home her weight plateaued and after 4 weeks being home she's only put on 4 oz :( her latch is fine and she feeds often, but a bf counsellor thinks her suck is weak, proved by how long she takes to drink 35ml of expressed milk from a bottle :(
I think we've cracked the sucking and got a great medela teat which has helped her get 50ml down in just 10 mins! But my problem now is supply :( I'm pumping every 3 hours, taking mother love herbal stuff (gross!) and now been prescribed domperidone. And I'm still struggling to get 40ml every time from both breasts combined :( luckily I have a stash in the freezer from when she was in hospital but that's not going to last for ever. I just can't seem to get my supply up :(
I'm really starting to panic now as I want her back on the breast ASAP or at very least continue on expressed feeds, but I need my supply to increase. I've fed my older 4 with no problems (last 3 all prem) so this has thrown me. I've never had supply issues. I'm eating porridge, drinking plenty.... What else can I try????

Thanks for sticking with that novel!!
Jen :)

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TeaandHobnobs · 28/07/2012 12:56

Hi, I hope someone more knowledgable will be along soon but didn't want you to go unanswered.

Have you started on the domperidone already? If so, I believe you can get the dose increased. I assume you are still putting DD to the breast, as stimulation is from her should help keep things going.

I guess pumping more often isn't really an option with 3 other children Confused Are you doing at least one expressing session in the early hours of the morning?

The only other thing I can suggest, which is easier said than done! is to relax. If you can relax your shoulders and try and ignore the pump while you are expressing (maybe by covering it with a muslin?), that can sometimes help to release more. And lots of breast compression / massage as you are expressing.

I really hope someone can help you get breastfeeding established.

PacificDogwood · 28/07/2012 13:08

Aw, sympathies, I was were you are 8 years ago (DS2, delivered at 31+4, in SCBU for 5 weeks, never actually got him on the breast so exclusively expressed for about 5 months).

First off, it sounds like the two of you are doing great Smile, she is afterall gaining weight.
Secondly, how much milk you gain when expressing says very little about your actual supply. Lots of woman just don't get big yields from expressing, but do absolutely fine when feeding a baby.

Your LO is still v young and tiny (I presume) so if you stick with it, things are likely to improve with time.

In the meantime, focus your efforts on encouraging let-down:
As Teaandhobnobs said, try and relax (easier said than done, I know) - a 'babymoon' can be really good if you can manage that. Take to your bad with DD, snooze, cuddle, read, watch the telly or whatever with lots of skin to skin contact and very frequent feeding.
Express from one breast whilst feeding from the other IYKWIM - it requires lots of cushions/practive/the arms of an octopus, but it was the only thing that gave me increased yields with DS3 (a whole other story).

I also found a photo/worn baby grow to sniff usefull to trigger a let-down.

Breast massage (medium strokes from outside of breast to nipple, all round the circumference of the breast) helpful before an expression session.
Also, warm get pad in bra before expressing seemed to help.

Express at night time, ideally twice.

I took the same supplement as you and found it helped more than Domperidone, but responses are of course different from personn to person.

Remember it is milk removal that stimulates milk production.

Sorry, 'tis a bit of a ramble.
Have a look at Kellymom website as well - full of good advice, equally my personal 'hero' Dr Jack Newman.

PacificDogwood · 28/07/2012 13:09

Oh gawd, just remembered: I also tried Brewer's yeast, it tasted disgusting, did nothing and I still heave when I smell a particularly yeasty beer - yuck!

Jugs30 · 28/07/2012 13:42

Thank you :) I'm expressing around midnight and 3 or 4am depending when she wakes. Then throughout the day.
I'm not putting her to the breast at the moment, unless she's still rooting after her 50ml, because the nurse wants her resting and sleeping as much as poss and taking set amounts until her went starts to go up at a decent rate. She's still only 3lb 13oz... Well was on Thursday. I'm waiting for the nurse to arrive any minute for another weigh in. Hopefully we'll see some progress or she's getting her feeding tube back in :(
I'll keep up with the mother milk and frequent expressing then and pray!

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TruthSweet · 28/07/2012 14:37

Jugs - This expressing technique has been shown to get 48% more milk than just pumping so worth a shot.

Also, worth trying as it has been shown to be effective at increasing pumping output is this.

You could combine the two to see if that really boosts your pumping output!

You can also try 'power pumping' aka 'cluster pumping' when you have a spare 40 minutes (she says when you have 5 children!) which is pumping both sides simultaneously for 10 mins, then not pumping for 10 mins (have a shower, read a book, cuddle baby, go for a quick walk, what ever you fancy), then pump both sides simultaneously for 10 mins, then not pumping for 10 mins (again doing what ever you fancy) then pumping both sides simultaneously for 10 mins. It doesn't necessarily increase your output at the time of the cluster pumping but it does tell your body to make more milk (it's mimicking a baby cluster feeding) so it can help increase supply for the future.

Expressing 8-12 times a day is the minimum suggested for maintaining a supply so as much expressing as possible is good. If you don't have time for doing the techniques but can squeeze in a short pumping session then every time you pump helps keep your supply ticking over.

One last tip, but a bizarre one - having a muslin or cloth over the pump shields so you can't see the milk coming out or collecting in the bottles can help too. I found if I looked at the pump shields I stopped making milk, if I covered the pumps (often clipped my bra back up on them to keep them in place then pulled my top back down) and read a book/watched a TV programme/internet I got much more. Sounds weird but well worth a whirl!

Jugs30 · 28/07/2012 16:47

Those links are interesting, I'll give them a go!
As it happens my big 3 are at their dad's this weekend and my 20 monther has gone to nanna's to give us a bit of a rest first thing in the morning so I'm going to spend all evening concentrating on this cos I really need to sort it fast!

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lambinapram · 28/07/2012 16:58

Hot water bottle or 'hottie' held on the breasts for a few minutes before pumping helped me.
www.amazon.co.uk/Hotties-Microhottie-Microwave-Water-Bottle/dp/B000TAP5ZG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343490884&sr=8-1

Also quality of the pump - hiring a hospital grade double pump (medela) helped me produce a lot more.

Jugs30 · 28/07/2012 22:23

They just don't seem to be filling up :/ I used to feel th letdown and the breast would get firmer as it got full and needed to feed but it's hey just feel empty all the time now :( I just expressed 3 times over 2 hours, both sides and only got 60ml :/ nothing I'm trying seems to give me more milk, at this rate I'll run out before I can get her back to the breast :(

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TeaandHobnobs · 28/07/2012 22:41

Give it a couple of days - the things you are trying right now to increase supply may cause an effect then. You are telling your body to make more milk, but it doesn't happen instantly.

Maybe try doing some relaxation exercises before you start, see if that helps at all?

I really feel for you, I remember breaking down in tears in the night when DS was still in SCBU because I couldn't get anything out with the pump, but once I took some deep breaths and tried to release the stress, the milk started to flow a bit better.

Your breasts might not feel full because you are now 7 weeks in, and your supply may have just adjusted to what is being demanded.

TruthSweet · 28/07/2012 23:19

Feeling 'full' isn't a sign you have milk, it's a sign you have too MUCH milk, in established lactation you don't feel full, unless you go a very long time without bfing. But it is still early days (7 weeks in?) so your supply could be settling down to make what has previously been required.

Or you could be getting stressed and inhibiting the let down reflex (oxytocin is a very shy hormone and flees when adrenaline shows it's face), relaxation, massage (could your OH give you a back rub? or you massage baby?), lots of skin to skin with baby, bathing with baby will all help oxytocin be produced. Panicking and frantically pumping while staring at the pumps willing the milk to come out just won't help (speaking from personal experience).

60mls is good btw! How did the weigh-in go?

Are you doing the breast massage before and the hand expressing post pumping? How long are you pumping for - timed pumping or pumping until no more milk comes out? Have you tried continuing to pump even if there is no milk coming out whatsoever for a few minutes?

Jugs30 · 29/07/2012 01:03

She's gained 140g since Thursday!!! She was only gaining 20g in 6 days! Big difference. However she's taking 400ml a day now and I'm expressing 200ml :( I'm trying not to panic but ya know....

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PacificDogwood · 29/07/2012 08:46

Wha-hey to good weight gain, well done, her and you Smile!

Every word you write chimes with me as you sound exactely how I felt at the time. I was very conscious of the fact that it me who was keeping this baby alive and in hindsight I wonder how much of that stress made me produce less or least be able to express less? Could this be a factor for you too?

Take confidence from the fact that you have done it all before, you know your body can do it, you know you can do it.

My DS was a similar size to your DD, but needed longer in hospital. I only ever made a half-hearted attempt to get him on the breast and in the end mix-fed, and he is of course absolutely fine.

At the time it was all fraught and soul-destroying. Be kind to yourself and just think one feed at a time ahead.
She'll get bigger and stronger and will become better at the whole feeding thing - she will!

Jugs30 · 29/07/2012 09:48

I'm sure stress isn't helping, although i seem to have fixed the weight issue, I now have the pumping enough issue!
Kids eh??

This morning's yield is up form 20-30ml to 45ml so it's getting better :)

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