Please help me, my milk suppy has dried up and don't know what to do

[helenlouisey]

I had a prem baby, and had to express to begin with, been trying to get my baby to feed off me but recently found he has a tongue tie which has been corrected, however unless my breasts are engorged and milk is free flowing he just won't feed off me. So for past three days have stopped expressing and let him feed, both of us have bad colds and he won't feed off me so have been expressing, and my milk supply just isn't there, I think having not regularly expressed over the past three days has caused it to decrease. I am completely distraut and don't know what to do. I have been expressing as often as possible today, and in the last 40 min session I only produced 30ml. Please help, what can I do?

Don't panic yet. It can be really hard to express at the beginning before your supply is well established (10wks +). Your LO will probably be getting more milk when he feeds directly from your breast.

How old is he?

What is his weight and how is he gaining? (I assume your are exclusively BFing).

If I don't get another chance to post this evening, am sure someone else will be able to help - but look at www.kellymom.com for great advice, and do call the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers, La Leche League, or your local hospital's BF counsellor for further advice.

HTH.

I agree with the not panicking

But it is not neceesarily true that the baby will always get more than the pump - this depends on the baby and his effectveness at sucking. Prem babies are not that great at feeding - which is why expressing is so important. Milk production is not something that turns off like a tap, though, and you can bring it back with frequent expressing - the three day gap may have made a difference, but it will not be permanent.

You need to express at least 8 x in 24 hours inc at night. Go from breast to breast at each expressing session - good luck

I'm sure I can't add anything of any use, but I found when I was expressing way back when DS was a baby, I used to get varying amounts during the day. In the morning, first thing, I'd get around 120ml but later in the day as little as 30ml. Some days I wouldn't get the 120ml in the morning either.

helenloiusey

I agree with tiktok, but also want to sympathise - my dd was prem and I had constant anxieties about supply. I always expressed (for a variety of reasons) and found that after about 4 months it was hard for me to express much at all. However, nothing inhibits your letdown like worrying that you have no milk.......so when expressing try to let go of this (I used to count to 100 and think of waterfalls.....well it seemed to work!) Bear in mind also that each expressing session will stimulate your breasts, and that little and often (eg 20 mins every 3 hrs) might help more than marathon sessions.

I found that fenugreek (more milk plus capsules, to be precise) along with expressing regularly really helped.

I had the same prob with my dd although not prem. I found i was panicking about drying up (was expressing as she couldn't feed)and so got a tub of formula. Just knowing it was there made me less stressed and baby less stressed, and if i couldn't provide enough milk i gave 1 formula a day to top her up, and had a very happy baby that soon started to gain weight and sleep for more than an hour. Do not feel like you have failed if you cant breastfeed.

I would have to agree with ib. The more milk plus range is brilliant

Helenlouisy. How's it going?

Yeah fenugreek is great but expressing is not always a good indicator of milk supply. Belive in yourself,you are doing so well.