Expressed milk supply

[greenemerald]

Looking for advice! DS was born prematurely. I'm unable to offer the breast as due to a condition he has (only just been discharged from SCBU) his feeds are closely monitored, so I express and then offer this in a bottle.

At first was I was expressing around 120ml each time however recently I barely manage to get 50ml. His feeds are much more than this so have had to get some prescripted formula for the time being to combi feed.

I'd really like to get my supply back! Any tips from anyone thats also expressed and what worked for supply issues?

I expressed for 4 months as dc3 was premature. Here’s what worked for me:

Hospital grade pump. They’re not cheap to rent but cheaper than formula and well worth it. I never got much when I switched to a normal one.

Pumping bra (I got a gift but you can make one by cutting holes in an old bra, or adding Velcro) so I could pump for longer and when doing other stuff.

Try to recreate baby as much as possible. Hold baby close or picture when expressing. Do it while you give the bottle maybe.

For a few days try expressing every 2 hours for 1/2 hour (this is where the bra is useful). Babies go through periods of cluster feeding where you feel like it’s constant. Binge watch tv and do skin to skin and eat chocolate!

Express at night when you’re sleeping/dozing. I would do this without sterilising and then chuck the milk. Seems like a massive waste but if I got up to sterilise then I struggled to get back to sleep. My other dc fed every 2 to 3 hours at night so I tried to recreate this to get my supply up.

Don’t beat yourself up. It is hard to express long term and a lot of it is down to luck/genetics not skill. Plus stress depletes your supply more. A bottle of breast milk once a day has most of the benefits in terms of health if I understand rightly. You’re doing a great job to have got this far.

Hi OP,
Allah's the previous poster dais you are doing great . All the excellent advice above and few more things i hope will help you:-

1. Fenugreek tablets or powder- u can get it from holland and Barrett n that helped me a lot. I used to have fenugreek n fennel powder in warm water half an hour befor every feed / pumping session n that helped.
2. Oats
3. Brewers yeast you can make cookies with it.
4. Mothers tea i think it's called. It's very pricey so i got the dried leaves n used it with a tea/ coffee filter. I can send u pics order links if u need but most importantly pumping as much as possible n try to pump once at night.. n try not to worry too much or push yourself too hard.

ALL * that the previous poster said

I agree with the pp that said fenugreek and oats. I make flapjacks with both including walnuts and chia seeds. There's also looking at a photo your baby while expressing. I find avocados also to help.

By the way, I found the first time, beer did help (and my supply was low). Second time it didn't do anything but the second time my supply was higher.

Are you eating and drinking plenty? When I was expressing my supply went right down if I didn't drink enough or if my food intake went down for a couple of days. Drinking had a more immediate effect.

Basically you need to empty the breasts frequently to tell your body to make more milk. Ay leatd 8 x in 24h plus 1 of these needs to be during the night. Double hospital pump (Sepctra S1 is great and around d £150) pumping bra and drink as much water as you can stomach. It is v hard work so don't bet yourself up.if you cant8get enough to feed him, very very few people can express enough to feed a baby if they can't bf directly.

Good luck, you are doing amazing.

Apologies for typos!