Milk supply and nursing strike! Help!

Noella - posted on 03/25/2009

Anytime i felt guitly at first too but i look at Jack a healthy happy 3 year old now and know i did what was best for him

Goodluck

Hanna - posted on 03/25/2009

forgot to add -- my son refuses to latch on (big baby, was given formula right away at the hospital and was eating a lot right away, so by the time my milk came in on the 3rd day, he would not put nipple in his mouth). i pump and bottle feed him. now he's a month old and i still don't have enough milk for him because he eats about 4-5 oz every 2-3 hours, while i produce that every 3-4 hours. now i am eating & drinking everything i possibly can to help with that, however i still have to give him at least 1-2 bottles of formula.

give him as much milk as you have and the rest supplement with formula. also, your son is almost 3 months old, at which point you can start introducing "solids" into his diet (cereal and stuff like that), so maybe you can get some of that into his diet so you won't need as much milk and then if it comes back, then great, if not, you can switch him to solids & formula. he had your milk when it was most important to him to build up his immunity level and get those essential nutrients in right away, that's all that counts. from here on out, you'll start introducing regular food into his diet anyway, so you can do formula.

one thing i do have to tell you is that when u give both milk and formula together, you do have a bit more colic than usual, however, your son is almost 3 months, so hopefully he won't have those problems :) good luck to you!

Hanna - posted on 03/25/2009

Well it may have something to do with a few things: 1. you might have a blockage, in which case your breast will be engorged and there will be a knot that won't go away after you pump or your breast won't feel completely empty after you pump (i.e. they'll still be a bit firm). you need to do warm compress before and after you pump/feed and while you're pumping/nursing, gently massage all around the breast slowly directing the milk towards your nipple. if you have a knot, then that area you definitely should massage a bit longer and a bit firmer -- that can lead to mastitis if you won't unclog it (it might be a bit unpleasant on ur boob to massage & shake it out, but beats the other alternative). and make sure you pump until you get all the milk out even if it comes out drop by drop, keep doing it -- give it a rest for a minute or two if it starts to hurt and then come back to it. what worked for me and i still do it to this day is use a single pump and alternate breasts that way they get a bit of a rest and the letdown is better.

2. you might not be drinking enough liquid -- try fennel tea, water, juice, milk (if your baby is not lactose intolerant) -- basically anything to stimulate milk production.

3. it might be due to stress -- if you got upset or had an argument or anything of the sort, that might decrease your milk production drastically, so try to relax and pump more frequently, drink more water and keep breastfeeding the baby as much as possible -- it's much easier to regulate milk supply with the baby nursing than with a pump.

4. you might not be getting enough rest -- milk production takes a lot of energy out of you, so if you have a fussy baby and u're not getting enough rest or you're doing too much, your body will limit milk production as a defense mechanism, so try to take it easy a bit -- to hell with laundry and cleaning the house, focus on your baby and his well-being, everything else can wait.

the following foods have proven to increase milk production: fennel/fennel seed tea (also helps to keep the colic down), ginger (stimulates the letdown of the milk), dill or dill seed (as a tea), pepper mint, oatmeal, black tea with milk, dark beer (like guinness), in europe dark beer is offered at the hospitals to help women start producing milk, fennugreek (you can buy it in wholefoods or any healthy food stores that carries natural supplements) -- it's sold as a tea or as a supplement, many women swear by it because it helps with milk production within a few days.

so try and see what works for you. good luck and i hope your milk supply comes back to normal.

Erika - posted on 03/25/2009

I am loading up on water now and hoping for a good nights sleep tonight. Noella, you are right, I am dealing with a guilty conscience over the thought of giving up. I was hoping to breast feed for atleast 6 months. But, your post made me feel a little better about the idea that perhaps we have reached a breaking point and we would both be happier if I stopped forcing it. Thanks for the support!

Jaclyn - posted on 03/25/2009

Sounds like you may have a blockage issue, try gentle massage and a hot compress?

Noella - posted on 03/25/2009

Ok before I ask yes I know Breast is best BUT are you attached to the idea of it more than it makes sense to continue doing it for the first two weeks with my son I tryed and tryed and tryed!! We had some serious attachment issues and it just wasnt working one avo my other half got home from work and found us both sitting there crying trying desbrately to make it happen he ended up soothing us both to sleep and then went out got bottles, formular and dinner and i woke to him feeding our son his first bottle and i swear to god Jack our son never ever looked back he was getting fuller which lead to him sleeping longer and gaining weight and by 3 months he was sleeping threw the nite. I know we all have breat is best driven into us but sometimes its not and at 12 weeks you have given him a great start with antibodies dont feel guilty if you need to turn to the bottle now

Heather - posted on 03/25/2009

hmmm, sounds like you need to get a good nights sleep, that always helps me. Before you go to sleep drink a litre of water, you should feel like they'r'e gonna pop when u wake up