Low milk supply

[Rose03]

Hi all, I’m feeling really low because my baby wouldn’t latch on and losing weight which meant I had to formula feed. I have tried latching her on but she just can’t do it. I feel I’m unable to realistically express 8 times and try to at least 2/3. My milk supply is become next to nothing which is making me really upset as I really do want to give her breast milk too. When I express it’s for like 40mins nd I hardly even get half an ounce. Has anyone got any tips on how to increase it or gone through something similar. Just feeling deflated and sad 😔

Oh bless you, that’s difficult. How old is your baby? How was your delivery and what support are you getting with feeding? Has a midwife or health visitor watched you feeding and given any advice? Are you eating and drinking plenty, getting lots of rest? Do you have a partner or family supporting you?

expressing doesn’t work for everyone

Is there a breastfeeding group near you you can go to

Both mine lost weight and I had to supplement but I continued bf

I was told to bf first at least every 3 hours and then give a set amount of formula, the hospital told me it should be 30 ml It will be different for your baby

To increase supply drink loads and then even more fluids, eat plenty, whatever you fancy. Get plenty of rest, chill on sofa or in bed and watch tv and feed. The tricky bit is the middle of the night feeds are best for increasing supply, just when you want it be resting but these feeds are important

Have you got a Hakka type pump which collects let down? As these work really well at collecting milk from the side you are not feeding from

There’s a lot going on here and you really need to get proper breastfeeding support at this point to turn it around.

With a small baby, you often need a hospital grade pump to get your supply up at first. You need to pump at night as well as during the day.

It is worth trying to latch your baby on with a nipple shield. This is like a bottle and can work to get them from bottle to breast. Sometimes HVs are negative about them but I have seen it work successfully and it’s definitely worth a shot.

Do loads of skin to skin with baby, which will help you produce more milk and help you appreciate all the lovely baby cuddles too. But really you do need to work with some support.

Ah this must be very difficult for you.

In my area we have infant feeding teams / lactation specialist midwives and health visitors so might be worth asking if your area has these teams to help?

Mine loaned me a hospital grade pump long term and its made such a difference.

Also advised a hot compress before pumping and something called power pumping where you pump for 20 mins, take a break for 5 mins for a drink and massage and then go back on the pumps for another 10.

They also told me that my supply wont drop as long as I dont go over 6 hours without pumping.

Also Im sure you've heard this but the more you fixate on the amount in the pump the more stress hormones you are releasing. I was told to cover pump bottles with socks so you can't see what youre getting and that research shows this can make a big difference.

My GP also offered medication to increase my supply when im having my period as it drops for me around this time, so might be worth exploring if this is an option?

Best of luck to you.

She’s now 10weeks old. I felt at least before is get 2ounces then it’s slowing down to under half an ounce after 40min if pumping. I have had HV, midwife and some volunteer BF support staff to try and help with baby latching on but she did a few times then she just can’t- she’ll just suck on my nipple.

i have the medela maxi double electric pump so it is a good one but still doesn’t seem to work. I think my let down is very slow and hardly works as milk coming out is hardly anything. Can I realistically increase my supply is what I think to myself?

Im not sure how helpful this is but I had the medela with my first and didnt get more than 2 oz and then using an nhs grade one this time around and saw a huge increase. Ita not that the medela wasnt a good pump it just didnt seem to work for me. Maybe ask you midwife if you can loan on of theirs to try it?

And if not maybe measure your nipples to make sure you have the right size flanges if you havent already?

The only other thing I havent said that does make a difference for me is my water intake.

I really do wish you lots of luck.

Hi @Rose03 This sounds really similar to what I went through last year with my son. I just couldn't get my supply up enough, he lost a lot of weight, I thought he was latching OK but turned out he wasn't etc.

I saw a lactation consultant who was absolutely wonderful... it was through the NHS at a breastfeeding support hub. Do you have anything like that near you?

Honestly I found that with the midwives and health visitors, whilst mostly well intentioned, some of them had a lot of opinions and some weren't even up to date with the latest info/ advice. They are not feeding specialists.

The lactation consultant showed me some good positions, helped me with pumping (both practically and emotionally - 8 times a day is bananas but it's what is needed to up supply).

Ultimately, because my husband was back at work and I didn't have enough support with the baby, I just couldn't pump regulary enough to get my supply up. 8 times a day was completely unrealistic for me - I couldn't put my baby down for long enough without him crying. I managed 5-6, whilst completely running myself into the ground, but it wasn't enough.

Eventually, I was able to accept that I just couldn't do it - I had a lot of emotional support from the lactation consultant - she really got me through it.

I always saw myself as that mum who would be breastfeeding until 2 years old but it just wasn't to be. It hit me more than I thought it would - it's really hard with all the feelings around it and they are so strong. It was the one thing abut having a baby that I didn't think would be hard, so it hit me like a train.

However, I now have an almost 1-year-old who has been exclusively formula fed since around 12 weeks, he's a very healthy and happy boy, and I'm at peace with the fact that I did as much as I could for him.

The key thing for me was emotional support almost more than the practical side. I really recommend looking up any local breastfeeding hubs if you have them where you live. But ask for a referral to a lactation consultant, not just the support staff.

Also be kind to yourself - you are not a person not a milk machine and if things don't work out your baby will still be OK xxx

Congrats on your new arrival, and I'm sorry to hear your feeding journey isn't what you wanted.

Has she been thoroughly assessed for tongue and lip tie by an expert? If you're checking at home, is she able to move her tongue up and down, and follow your finger side to to side?

Re supply, flange size makes a huge difference! Pump spray can help too, and heat packs. I had to be sitting down, relaxed and thinking of baby to get any decent output. Even then, pumping wasn't as effective for me as direct feeding.

For direct feeding, have you tried a weighted feed to see how much they're getting? Where you weigh before and after.

Did the BF help advise why she can't latch? Does she have any stiffness in her neck or body that could be impacting? More common from assisted deliveries. Was she preemie or on the smaller side? Mouth size can impact.

For latching on, mine were terrible and literally had to have the boob stuffed in the mouth. My second was combi fed and developed a bottle preference, so for a good while I had to feed him while he was asleep / sleepy while we overcame that.

Do you use a soother, and if so would you be willing to swap that for being a human soother for a while? Literally lying with your baby boob in mouth while they sleep bumps supply a lot.

Pumping regularly is a must as well. If you dont have time to sit connected to the medela, the momcozy in bra pump used to get me 1-2 oz in about 35 min. Not a lot, but helps.

To echo what @wrinklycactus said though, your baby will thrive no matter how you feed them. ❤️ Your enjoyment of your motherhood journey matters too, so make sure to prioritize that as well.

You are doing amazing if you have been pumping for 10 weeks! Your baby will have got lots of breastfeeding benefits already. Whatever the feeding outcome, your baby is going to thrive 💕

This is not medical advice.

Drink water. Every time you sit down, drink a pint of water.

Eat good food. Lots of protein, red meat if you can possibly afford it. Oats, dried figs are also good.

Many women take Blessed Thistle. It gave me migraines.

I took fenugreek. You can get capsules in Australia and I took 8 per day. You are supposed to take enough fenugreek that your urine smells like maple syrup but I never got that. I then just took fenugreek seeds, 1 large teaspoon four times per day.

Fenugreek made me make milk. It took a few days to work but work it did. I had my first let down at 7 weeks pp. DD by that point was combination fed so it took a few weeks to wean her off the formula but we got there and I fed until she refused at nearly 3.

Pumping doesn't work for everyone, I never got much but baby was getting enough. Do you have a local breastfeeding 'cafe' or similar? Do you have the money for a private lactation consultant? Likely if you can get some specialised support to help the latch, you then need to get baby on the breast very frequently to increase your supply. Babies are far more efficient than a pump, once the latch is sorted. Definitely drink as much as possible, try and eat as well as you can (I know hard when you have a new baby), boost your oxytocin with whatever makes you happy.

Thankyou all for your support and kind words. I do feel that my BF journey would have been easier and baby would easily latch on but I need to also think that maybe I need to mentally prepare myself for the idea that she’ll be fully BF.

I did the reviews and thought the double electric pump would be better but half the time the milk just leaks through. I have bought the flanges but don’t real think it works. So I feel I have done what I can but still not able to get much.

I really don’t drink much which I knkw I will actively try too and see if it helps with the amount xx

Also I wanted to ask, even if my supply is really low (feel like it’s next to nothing ) shall I still keep trying to express in hope that it may slightly increase?

At 10 weeks, it's extremely unlikely to increase your supply and manage to breastfeed. Just move on. Formula is perfectly good. It's excellent stuff. Don't waste precious time with your baby being upset over breastfeeding.

You probably should have had some help at the very start. Maybe it would have worked out. Maybe not.

Everyone's vision of having babies was very different before they had them. Things just don't go to plan, quite often.

Your baby will genuinely be totally fine on formula.

It absolutely could increase with the right steps. Whether that's what you want or not is the main question, and either answer will have your baby be happy & loved.

I do want this even if I did it for the next couple of months and then at least I’ll be happy knowing I did try at least and not regret anything.

I understand maybe I should have done more earlier on but I was happy getting at least 2ounces so I knew she was getting something as I’ve got a toddler aswell so hard to manage everything. It dad sadden me alot when the milk was depleting and I think that just made me feel worse and guilty that I didn’t giver her more.

Well done for finding time to pump with a toddler too! Even 1-2oz offer so many antibodies, it's incredible what our bodies can do. I would say take pressure off it if you continue; wearable pumps on occasion even if they decrease output, and focus less on the oz.

If you can do a late night pump, that's when you should get the most. Between 12&3 used to get me 5-6oz, daytime hours 0.5-2oz.

& oats / fenugreek / yeast all really help. A lactation consultant told my friend to have a beer, and her milk went way up. 😆 Sourdough bread is meant to work, and if not it's a nice treat!

Honestly, try fenugreek. https://www.healthline.com/health/breastfeeding/fenugreek-breastfeeding#safety-for-baby