Increasing supply when expressing - help!

[pinkypanther]

DS was born just over two weeks ago. For various reasons I struggled to breastfeed him. The main problem was his tongue tie which is hopefully being sorted out soon. In the meantime I am expressing for him and topping up with formula when necessary (probably 2/3 breast milk to 1/3 formula).

I am desperate to breastfeed and am hoping, after his tongue tie is sorted out, to get him back on the breast.

However, in the meantime, I would like to get rid of the formula top ups. However he is a very hungry baby and I can't express enough to meet his needs at the moment (approximately 800ml - 900ml milk per day - I am expressing only about 500ml).

Does anyone have any tips as to how I can increase my supply when expressing? I am using a Medela Swing, approximately every 2 - 3 hours.

Many thanks

Pinky

hi pinky
congrats on your new DS

well done for persevering with the bf and expressing- must be hard work.

here's a link that may give you some ideas.

www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/pumping_decrease.html

hope you get the tongue tie sorted soon!

I had problems with milk supply while trying to feed a dairy intolerent baby and tried lots of things which in combination seemed to have worked. I saw a Homeopath who also recommended some essential oils.

This herbal remedy really worked (when I stopped using it for a few days my milk supply went down). Though I would not recommend the goats rue by the same people, really horrible taste and side effect of increasing breast size (quite spectacularly!!)

Mama Tea also has some of the same herbs in, fennel, fennugreek and licorice and this one tastes nice too.

Good Luck and don't be too hard on yourself if he does need some formula, expressing is hard work.

Thank you both for the helpful links! The kellymom site is great and I ust need to work out whether there's a Waitrose near me which stocks the tea (though I see you can order it online as well...)

Hi Pink. I expressed for ten months for my DD1. The key for me was expressing at night I think - I express before I went to bed, at 1am and at 4/5am. I expressed every two hours like clock-work during the day to get my supply going before I fell back to every three hours after 3/4 months or so. Also I went through several pumps before I found one that suited me. Am I right in thinking the Medela Swing is a single pump? You need an electric double pump if you're really going to get your supply up in my opinion. I would recommend that you hire a double electric Medela Pump from somewhere - I think www.expresseyourselfmums.co.uk either hire them out or they have links to places that do. It cost me about £30 a month but was worth every penny. Plus it saves lots of time.