Expressing milk for prem baby - poor milk supply

[ladylush]

Had dd 10 weeks early 2 weeks ago. Having problems with my milk supply. Can only produce half of her daily requirement of milk. Has anyone got any tips on how to improve milk supply?
I express 7 times a day and once at night. I've tried looking at a photo of dd when I express (makes no difference), drinking lots of water, alternating breasts when I express, fenugreek (only since yesterday), cotside expressing, skin to skin contact. The most I express is 50ml and often it's less (20ml).

I bought some domperidone otc on friday and milk supply has improved a lot. Getting 20-30 ml more each time. For the first time, I was asked to freeze some of the milk I brought in
Worzsel - I will email you as would be grateful for the ones you no longer need. By the way, how long did you take them for? I am taking 10mg three times a day and I read somewhere that when used to boost milk supply they should not be taken for more than 5 days as they cease to be effective after that. But I have also heard that Domperidone only works while you take it - so not sure which advice is right.

Btw, dd is now over 4lbs She is putting on about 6-8 oz a week. Also she completed 3 of her bottles during the night so making fab progress. I'm hoping they can take the NG tube out soon and then it will be a matter of days before she comes home.

How strange, i was just popping in to see if you'd replied !

Congratulations on being able to freeze some, its satusfying isn't it.

Hows your DD ? any more news on her coming home ?

I'll pop the domp in the post later

I took them for about 6 weeks all together and they worked wonders for me. I was pumping 40ml to start with and eventually ended up with massive over supply, a litre a day sometimes. i've still got some in the freezer i realy should throw away and hes 32 weeks!

When ds was discharged fully bf my poor boobs didn't know what had hit them, i was so engorged for days it was agony so be carefull to wean yourself off gently

I took various dosages, i think i started on 10mg twice a day but found it didnt work so started taking 4 a day.. when it settles i just took 2.

Fennel tea helps apparently.

ahhh x posts !

6 or 8 oz a weeks is brilliant weight gain.

George was 4lb4 when we escaped.

you don't need to throw away 'liquid gold' from the freezer.....if it's stored in small enough portions then you can defrost it and use when you start weaning instead of using water or formula

George - I emailed you. Let me know if I got the right email address and I will mail you again.
Fennel tea - someone else recommended that to me recently. I will look out for it. Thanks

oops lost some of that post....
started with hello and hope yoyu don't mind me joining in to your chat?
i had my dd at 33 weeks nearly 9 years ago and i really didn't have the support or encouragememt to bf her so gave up when she was classed as failure to thrive but i had loads of milk in the freezer...
dd was later diagnosed with a milk allergy!

ladylush- hang on in there it is nearly the end of the summer holidays(well over half way!) and then when your eldest child is at school you will have the time to establish bf so don't give in yet...
when i had dc2 i was determined to bf and thanks to mn support i did in fact he was 2 when he had his last bed time feed

good luck x

jenbot and help - thanks for the advice

chatee - thanks I am not giving up on bf but I want her to have the bottle while she is in hospital. She did well bf when I visited yesteray, so that gave me hope. When she is home I would like to do a combination of bf and bottle as until she is a good weight I would like to know exactly what she is getting iyswim - whereas with ds I never worried as though he fed frequently (always on the breast) he was a big baby and was gaining weight on the right centile. I've heard that nipple shields are good for babies who use a bottle.

hi there - really feel for you, it's a hard hard time. but it does end!!! when you say you're drinking lots of water, how much do you mean? my flow started to drop off and I upped my intake to over 3 litres a day which helped. I know it's impossible advice when you have another child, but everytime i did too much, teh flow dropped, so you need to rest if at all possible. hope you manage it.

helsbels - thanks I am drinking about 2 litres a day of water and other drinks (juice, hot drinks) I could try and increase it but the problem is that I don't have much of an appetite at the moment and water makes me feel full up. Rest is hard with a full on expressing schedule but since starting the domperidone I am feeling a lot better. I have dropped the night time one so that I can get some rest. When dd comes home I will start it again as she is on 3 hrly feeds and I will be up anyway. Right now, I need to grab rest when I can.

Hi Ladylush

Glad to hear your suply seems to be getting better. I know it's hard but the night expressing if you can keep it up is crucial to maintaining your supply. Your prolactin levels are higher in the early hours which means more milk is produced. I always looked at it as I will have to do it when she is home and screaming for a feed [Grin] so dutifully set my alarm for 2am each night. After a while wasn't that bad as I got used to it and the oxcytocin makes you feel sleepy so easily went back off.

WRT Nippleshields - they have a limited benefit in a limited number of circumstances but on the whole they are not a good idea. They can reduce your supply as you are not getting as much skin to skin.

WRT bottles - can your hospital not cup feed? This is far better when trying to establish BF as it uses the same facial and tongue muscles as BF and no risk of 'nipple confusion'

You are doing amazing and so is DD - great news that she will hopefully be home soon xx

Hi MHIS I usually express about 1am anyway and it is almost 2am by the time I get to bed so I don't want to get up again at 4 or 5am as by the time I get back to sleep it is time to get up again. Dh gets up at 6am which usually disturbs me. I'm used to going to bed late so this routine is the best one for me at the moment. dd is on target for discharge end of this week or early next week (on 4 hrly feeds - just needs to consistently finish her bottle)so I want to grab that chance of some decent sleep before she comes home. I was almost at the point of breakdown from lack of sleep - 3 weeks of no sleep at the hospital then a relentless 2 hr expressing schedule and frequent trips to the hospital and sitting in a hot hospital room all day. I'm not being greedy - it's just a necessity at the moment. I have a 5 yr old to look after as well and he needs a sane mummy
Re cup feeding - they only do this if mum can establish bf before baby goes home. I can't because I can't be at the hospital enough due to ds being on school holidays. That's why I opted for bottle feeding (though it is 3/4 my milk, 1/4 formula)coupled with the fact that the nurses admitted that bottle fed babies go home much sooner. Music to my ears Like I said, I will try to establish bf when she comes home and if it doesn't work out I will continue to express so that she at least has breast milk even if not directly from the source.

hi again, glad to hear it is getting better. don't worry about not managing to get your baby onto the breast after the bottle. My son had the bottle in special care unit and did manage to get onto the breast afterwards, so it is possible. also, i wasn't at the hospital 24/7 either, but they let me try breastfeeding when I was there - we agreed a schedule where I would be there just before a feed and stay until the next one - two breastfeeds a day and the rest by bottle. that worked great for me, don't know if you can manage with your schedule?

helbels - not consistently and that's why I'd rather not combine the two whilst she is in hospital. At the moment she isn't even finishing her bottles as she gets sleepy. She falls asleep even faster on the breast, so another reason not to start bf in earnest whilst she is at SCBU. We want her home ASAP. Her poor brother hasn't even met her yet and she's 4 weeks old.

dd is home. We are so happy

YAY Well done to you both xx Enjoy x

Thanks

thanks

Hi everyone

My baby is 4 months old now and im bf, but i introduced formula as i went away for one day. and gave him formula every now and then when i could not bf. however i cant seem to get enough milk to express and my baby is not putting on enough weight. The health visitor said that monitor him for a week by feeding every hour and from what i have read to express after every feed. When my mum kept telling me i wasnt getting enough milk - i would not believe her as I heard you only make what your baby needs.

anyway i dont think i have enough and need to make more- -

Heidipi Please can you tell me what the tincture was?? I heard that fenugreek ( which explains why my mum kept giving me everything made from this in early days) and milk thistle helps- - but which on blessed thistle or milk thistle- - I also read that there is no evidence to say that it makes more and they dont know how safe it is.

Does anyone know about this but any remedies will be welcome= = can i have the name and where i can get it from ?? thanks

any help appreciated.

oh also i only get a few drops when i express too- - - only get a full medela bottle when ive not fed him a whole day - -from both boobs- thats like 5oz - yet another frind can get loads??

I try with my hand it and seems to come out but stops with the pump and i have to change position for a bit , even then i get 1 oz at the most sometimes

Please tell me what i can do = herbal wise!

Hi Jules,

Try posting in the breast and bottle feeding section in a new post, there are lots of knowledgeable people over there and you will probably get more responses than on this old thread.

From what I understand you will make milk on demand. It may be that if you have been using formula your supply has reduced a little bit, and the way to get it back is to feed feed feed, and feed some more. SO try to avoid any formula for a few days at least and let your LO feed as much as he likes. Babies are better at getting milk out than pumps so don't worry about what you can express.

I have heard that fenugreek and fennel tea can help supply.

Why is your HV worried? Has your son dropped down the centile charts?

Jules - hope you got a reply in the breast and bottle feeding section. Some great advice there. Congrats on your lo and hope things are better for you now.

An update for anyone who was on this thread before:
dd is now 18 months. I bf til she was 10 and a half months She refused the bottle once we got bf going at 10 weeks - which caused it's own problems! Though strange to think like that - when I was so worried about my supply! The domperidone did the trick. I kept it going for quite a while and when I stopped my supply dropped quite drastically so I had to start it again. She's still petite (between 2nd and 9th centile) but on the 75th centile for height - actual rather than corrected.
I really appreciate all the helpful advice and support I received on this thread. It really helped me to stay sane