Pumping supply suddenly dropping :(

[hopingforapeainapod]

Hi all, have been combo feeding my 10 week old a mixture of expressed breastmilk and formula due to latching issues. Previously I was managing to do about 50/50; I would normally pump about 150-200ml in the morning and then 60-80ml at other points in the day. Anyway over the last two weeks I seem to have been producing less and less - now with a morning power pump I can only get 80ml and during the day I’m getting about 30-40ml max - baby is a hungry boy as well and now regularly takes 160/180ml a bottle so I now feel like I am hardly giving him any breast milk :(

Any suggestions on how I can improve this?

A few other things to note:

• I had stopped pumping overnight as baby is sleeping longer. I tried to add this back in for a few nights but didn’t see any difference so stopped again, but should I have persevered longer?
• I have been using my portable pump rather than my hospital grade one much more, and as I only have one only do one side at a time - can that make a difference?
• one boob has always produced less but now sometimes it produces as little as 10ml in 20 minutes… if it produced as much as the other boob I wouldn’t have a problem…

I just feel really defeated. The whole breastfeeding journey was a nightmare to begin with and when I finally admitted it wasn’t working I told myself I would try to give him as much breast milk as possible for at least 3 or 4 months and then stop the pumping, but now it doesn’t seem worth being hooked to a pump 5 times a day to produce such little output :(

Are you eating and drinking plenty. I exclusively pumped and could see a very noticeable impact on supply if I ate less or had a busy day and didn't drink as much as usual.

I exclusively pumped for my DD and noticed a drop before getting my first period. It picked back up after my period so that could be a factor?

Frequent removal is important- long periods without pumping e.g. overnight sends the message to your body to reduce supply. If you can increase the sessions your body should respond, might take some time though.

Definitely quality of pump can make a difference.

Have you had any support to try to get baby latching? Can be so much easier. They can also look at the fit of the pump for you, another thing that can help.

Personally, I would call it a day with expressing. I know how hard it is to make that decision before you feel ready to, I was in your situation myself and its gut wrenching isn't it but honestly; I don't believe the steps you'll need to take to try and increase your supply are worth it. You've done really well to get to 10 weeks, your baby will have had all the benefit of colostrum and breastmilk in the first few weeks if life but what he doesn't need now is you hooked to a pump every 2 hours, you exhausted because your waking up at night again to express, you missing out on cuddles because you need to express and for your mental health- you not enjoying this precious time with him as much. I promise by the time he's a toddler none of this seems anywhere near as important as it does right now.

I believe expressing one side at a time can impact how much you express rather than both at the same time.

Have you also checked you are using the right size flange? The standard size sold with pumps is not right for every woman and you can order a device to measure yourself - using the wrong size can impact production.

Search for Olivia lactation consultant on Instagram - she often has useful advice including for expressing milk

Hi there it's a midwife with infant feeding experience. Firstly well done for persevering so far, it sounds like you had a really difficult journey. Every drop of breast milk counts, you don't need to aim for 50/50. Saying this, the standard advice we give in infant feeding groups is to pump 8 times in 24 hours, avoid gaps of more than 5 hours and pump at least once between midnight and 6 am when hormone levels are the highest. I do appreciate that pumping 8 times in 24 hours as well as looking after the baby is unbelievably hard work. Which is why pumping breast milk and feeding from a bottle often leads to milk supply problem a few weeks/couple of months later. You are certainly not alone in this situation. Is there an infant feeding group nearby you could pop over for advice? A standard consultation is usually around half an hour. It would be difficult to carry it over mumsnet. Alternatively try some national breastfeeding support helplines. They are run by trained volunteers so some calls never get answered as not enough volunteers on duty that day. However it might be worth a try. I hope it helps

This - I took brewers yeast too which definitely helped,

a good quality pump makes a the difference and you have to really persevere with pumping an be really disciplined

it is really stresssful but don’t give up

Firstly you are doing amazingly!! Pumping is so hard! Ive heard it takes 3 days to build supply back up so maybe preserve with the night pumps. I was pumping and bottle feeding for weeks before my son managed to latch and slowly we moved to exclusively breastfeeding, I cut down pumping sessions slowly and the last one left is the middle of the night one because that's supposed to be the most important for supply. Also hospital grade pumps are definitely more efficient than portable. Portable are great if you are out for the day but if at home it's good to sit and pump with your main pump.