Please help me make more milk!!!

[PumpingPauper]

So I'm trying to up supply. Damn sure I run out or it's inconsistent. Have tried oatmeal, drinking more, skin to skin F All works. I'm trying to pump/express as much as possible but it's dire because baby who is 6wks just won't sleep in the day and needs constant attention, feeding, nappy, rocking, cuddling which obviously I love (apart from the nappies!). I cram in a power pump if I get the chance but that's it.
How do I pump more when baby is so hands on?!

Can I ask why you think your supply isn't sufficient? That will help us answer!

As above - why do you think it’s not enough? And why express if you think it’s not enough? If baby is hungry then feeding them more will create more milk than expressing. I don’t think it’s a great tool for increasing milk supply, I just started doing it as DS wouldn’t latch initially and then to share feeds. From what I’m aware of more feeding makes more milk.

Feeding as much as possible is the best way to up supply, I think.

I did drink plenty of chocolate oat milk too though, using milk supply as an excuse

Baby was given formula in hospital on day one and we've been stuck topping up since. Weight gain issues mean we can't just remove formula. Baby refuses breast usually late afternoon/evening sometimes in middle of the day. She screams after sucking for a minute or two and when I pump to check immediately after there's no milk. I get milk from pumping at all other times but no more than 20/30ml.
The lactation consultant said to express to drive up supply.

As above- feeding more will make more, but why do you feel you have low supply? Do you have concerns over baby's nappy output and weight gain?
Pumping output is not indicative of supply as baby is far more efficient at removing milk than a pump can be.
Generally though- if you are pumping so someone else can feed baby, then it's important that you pump whilst baby is having that bottle feed as this tells your body that the feed is needed and not missed.
The Kelly Mom website is an excellent resource for breastfeeding, and has really great pumping advice.

Plenty of rest too. So lie down with baby as much as possible. Try to leave all unnecessary work and focus on rest for a few days

The nurse is wrong. Pumping/expressing doesn’t increase supply. It only maintains supply and if not a high quality hospital grade pump, can actually decrease supply.

The only way to increase supply is through actual breastfeeding and also allowing the infant to suckle at the breast for comfort even when not feeding. It is the suckling both during feeding and comfort that signals the body to increase milk supply.

Oatmeal, fenugreek tea, and drinking plenty of fluids can help keep your supply up. I used to drink a glass of water or cup of tea during each breastfeeding session.

Baby refuses breast usually late afternoon/evening sometimes in middle of the day. She screams after sucking for a minute or two and when I pump to check immediately after there's no milk.

Has she been checked for tongue tie? How is her latch on? This sounds like she is failing to trigger you letdown reflex and usually that is due to either tongue tie or poor latching. Can you visit a lactation consultant? Contact La Leche League? You need to get you and her examined while breastfeeding...it is not uncommon for new mothers to be discharged and their babies have an undiagnosed tongue tie.

I continued to combi feed and it worked out well for us - I just want to throw that out there in case it makes you feel better about it. But one of my friends who EBF very successfully could barely get any milk out from pumping. I didn’t have enough for DS but could express up to 120 ml, she might have got about 10 or 20 ml but definitely had more milk than me. So I’m not convinced that expressing will help.
I used to also be able to express more at night. Night feeds are also really important for building up supply.
They have those great pumps now that you just stick on somehow and you don’t need to do anything - is that financially an option? I wish I’d had that! At first I was expressing with a bloody hand pump, I think my wrists still haven’t fully recovered 🤦‍♀️

I found that expressing in the middle of the night if baby didn’t feed really helped my supply. Good luck.

@PlanDeRaccordement she doesn't have tongue tie, it was checked immediately after birth via cesarean in the recovery ward. She suckles fine all through the night feeds, most mornings and early afternoons, if she had tongue tie she'd scream at every feed.
Latch is fine according to HV.
I've got a Spectra, so hospital quality.

Yes mine had tongue tie. As @Plan says that’s definitely worth looking into if it’s not been done already. Don’t let anyone fob you off on that, some medical professionals can be a bit crap about it.

Good advice above re letdown and getting a consultant to watch while you feed. Letdown was something I thought too reading your post. I had to hand express to get the milk out for a while, as my letdown was so slow. Best of luck with everything, it can be very stressful getting breastfeeding to work if you are having issues.

@Watchingthetelly how do you get a faster let down then?

You may be able to get domperidone from the doctor and /or fenugreek which makes you smell of curried maple syrup
Most of all relax, drink loads, rest, and feed.

Call la leche league and find your nearest breastfeeding support clinic. If your near Oxford I can recommend one

Pumping can absolutely establish and increase supply contrary to a PP. I exclusively pumped for a couple of weeks from my baby’s birth using hospital pump for first two days then a double electric Lansinoh one at home and ended up with a really good supply. I wasn’t able to directly breastfeed my baby for several weeks, so it can be done. Can you pump for 10 mins after each feed? Or do a power pump while she’s sleeping (appreciate this is so so hard when all you want to do while she sleeps is sleep too). As another PP suggested, if you can squeeze in feeds or pumps between 1am and 4am that’s when your prolactin levels are at their highest and it will stimulate supply. I had to pump around the clock to do it and set alarms several times a night while my husband bottle fed her... appreciate this must be a million times harder when you are also trying to feed her at the breast and settle her in the day as you mentioned though. A hands free pumping bra helped me enormously in fitting it into my day. Something like the Elvie that sits in your bra could help? Good luck, I hope it works out for you x

Just saw you had the spectra, me too, are you doing any special type of pumping routine or just chucking it on the strongest setting that’s comfortable?

I ask because when I started I did the latter and actually it was the worst thing to do, literally nothing would come out. I found a routine online where it mimics the baby’s suckling throughout a whole feed, where you’re constantly adjusting settings and found it started pouring out of me.

I’ll see if I can find it give me a little
Bit. It’s essentially switching between massage setting and normal and increasing the suction from 1 periodically.

I think it was one like this but I then adjusted once I got confident.

It always, without fail, produced more milk than just chucking it on and leaving it.

@FTEngineerM thank you so much. I'm not sure I have the same model as you, I've got a Spectra Dew.. And it's just got a circular dial from min to max and that's it. Yours sounded a lot better.... I opted for the cheaper version
La Leche league haven't been useful, my local one justify told me everything that I've already read online tbh.
I asked the GP for Domperidone but they said they'd have to ask their seniors or their hospital...
This skin to skin thing I just don't get.. We try it but she gets so aggy... She's more alert now and wants to sit in my lap facing me and have me talk or sing to her or play with a rattle, she gets bored lying on my chest... It's like she's several weeks older than her actual age
I had a nursing holiday and this did Jack shit!!!!!

@PumpingPauper I literally hand expressed into my baby's mouth while latched, squeezing my breast with my whole hand. It's a bit of a blur but I think I did that for a week or two and then my letdown caught up. I ended up combi feeding and felt like shit about it (despite having had a critically ill baby and a pretty horrendous experience). The combi feeding in reflection was fine and I wish I hadn't heard myself up so much about it. I had to exclusively pump for weeks while my baby was in hospital and I know my supply was fine from that, my baby was just very hungry and I couldn't keep up. It's a fucking nightmare feeling so responsible to provide everything to keep your child alive and feeling like you are failing at that so sending serious love to you right now

I am probably out of date then on pumping not increasing supply. That was the case when I had mine my but youngest is now 17 and so I think breast pumps have massively improved since my breastfeeding days! It’s nice to hear that you can use them to establish and increase supply today.

Rest and feed. If at all possible, do little else. It will happen.

Switch feeding and breast compressions. This is what helped me get baby past its birth weight after a few weeks of trying. Switch feeding can help up supply I believe. Breast compressions brings down a let down.
Also I was told in hospital that my son's mild posterior TT wouldn't effect feeding. Absolute rubbish. We struggled for 4 weeks and then got it assessed and snipped. It's not been easy but it has made a difference.

I had a doctor suggest vegetable soups would help, and plenty of leafy greens - I think the idea was to get plenty of fluids and vitamins in so that my body had all it needed to recover and feed baby.

Just to echo PP that pumping can absolutely establish and increase supply. DD had quite a severe tongue tie and I pumped exclusively until 6 weeks when she had it snipped. Increased supply from 0 to over a litre per day. I used a double spectra and pumped religiously 7 times per day - 6/7 am, 10am, 1/2 pm, 5pm, 8 pm, 12 am, 3 am. Massaging breasts while pumping and taking little breaks, then pumping a little more definitely helped. If you can't get much out do play around with the settings, and consider getting smaller/larger flanges - depending on the size of your nipples the standard size may not work that well for you. Kellymom is a good website for all things breastfeeding related. Good luck OP!