Breast milk drying up.

Henta - posted on 06/21/2009

Mix: 1,5L water, 1,5L apple/all berries/grape juice, 1sachet Hydrol/Rehydrate and 30-45ml Black Thorn berry Elixir. Store in fridge, drink in 24hours. Worked for me!! Drink lots of fluids DAILY and relax before every BF session!!

Melanie - posted on 06/21/2009

I second the Fenugreek. I used it with my seond son...three capsules, three times a day. I was able to pump 24 extra bags of milk over a couple of month in preparation for a marriage retreat we were going on. There are no side effects and it's been used for centuries. You can google it for more info. GNC sells it. Good luck and contrats on continuing to breast feed your baby!!

Tamara - posted on 06/21/2009

How do you know your supply is drying up? Is your little guy peeing and pooing plenty? Is he meeting milestones?

Marti - posted on 06/20/2009

oh and also - try goats milk. it's closer to breast milk than cows milk and an easier protein to digest. my son eats goats milk goats yogurt and goats cheese.

Marti - posted on 06/20/2009

My son is 11 months old and my milk production has gone to crap. I finally lost 2 pounds - I need to lose 15 - and that was when my milk started to go south. It seems like I have to either stay heavy and breastfeed or lose weight and lose my milk. Any ideas?

Vanessa - posted on 06/20/2009

i drink the fenugreek tea. once a day. the box of tea that i bought says to drink it 2-3 times a day to increase milk supply. i have found that once a day works perfectly for me. it worked almost instantaneously...it also stops working as soon as you stop drinking it... i hope you find something that works for you! good luck!

Virginia - posted on 06/20/2009

Same as when you need to produce more, pump often and alot... that will stimulate. Your milk shouldn't be drying up if it is still needed. Try liquid Fenugreek and Blessed Thistle, 3 times a day, 20 drops, you can get it from the pharmacy. I was also told that calcium stimulates calcium, so drink more milk yourself, and water!

Natasha - posted on 06/20/2009

I am having that same problem. My son is 9 mos old, and loves to nurse, he has never taken a bottle, or formula--he just refuses to. I noticed my milk slowing down and I now drink this tea from Traditional Medicines called Mother's Milk. Their teas always work as good as a medicine for me. You may want to try that.

Annie - posted on 06/19/2009

I don't know if this helps or not, but here goes...
I am 57 years old. Both my girls are now adults (27 & 23) and I breast-fed them both until they were 2 almost 3. I never had any problems with my milk drying up and I never had a schedule. I breast-fed them as infants more (it helps to breastfeed often so that you do not experience sore breasts) and as they became toddlers they sometimes breast-fed as a comfort more than for a feeding. (It was a great way to make me relax too..I still sometimes miss it!). The human body is something in that it knows just how much milk to produce. If you are not feeding as often, your milk production will slow. I agree that maybe you need to breast-feed more. But then everyone is different, aren't they?
I also did not breast-feed out of both breasts! I used my right breast more and I didn't even look lopsided. All things compensated! I hope that everything works out for you. Just do what you think is right and you'll be fine. I don't think there is a standard right or wrong way! As you can see by the picture, they both turned out fine!

Marie - posted on 06/19/2009

Quoting Carly:

Relax, the more you stress the less milk you will get. Do you have enough to feed her? When she starts eating solids you are supposed to produce less because she doesn't need as much, at 10 months my son nurse early morning, morning nap, afternoon nap and bed time, and sometimes once through the night, usually one of the nap feeds was a few sips. As long as she is pooping and peeing lots she will be fine but if you are worried see your doctor. If you are wanting to sneek in more boob make cream soups for lunch with your milk milk all her cereal with boob. Now that my son is down to 2 or 3 feeds a day (1 year) my boobs never feel hard or uncomfortable, and my let down is mild but I can hear him slurp when he nurses.

Hey Carly - do you have any cream soup recipes we can make with BM? Or are you talking "campbell's cream of mushroom soup" type cream soups?

Recipes please! :)

Marie - posted on 06/19/2009

Sorry to hear! I went through the exact same thing at 10 months!



Lisa - I did some of what you have suggested (good points!) - remove solids for a few days until your supply increases, but for me that didn't last. I also moved my nursing location to the room beside his crib. We installed a blackout shade, and I tell everyone in the house to be quiet upstairs while I'm nursing until I either get him to bed, or until he's finished and ready to go play.



I started Fenugreek and Brewer's Yeast. That worked for about a month. By the time was at 11.5 months, my supply was low enough that baby would fuss at the breast. I always nursed before giving him solids - usually about an hour before.



Some advice I'd read (probably on here), was this: About 10 minutes after baby has finished a feed, pump for an extra 10 to 15 minutes to signal your body to increase your supply. Nurse before solid foods (always).



My boy indicated he wasn't ready to stop nursing so we haven't weaned yet. Just stopping feeds naturally - he is now 13 months, and nurses up to 5 times a day (on the days I'm not working (4.5 days out of 7) - on the other 2.5 days daddy gives him pumped BM and cereal, and bottled baby food for dinner.



Now that baby is 13 months old, and I had the BM supply issues, I started domperidone to keep my supply up until he's ready to stop nursing. We're gradually increasing his solids intake a little at a time. (now since the last 2 days he's slept through the night, I'm engorged in the morning and the first 3oz are all foremilk - I hand express to releive the pressure and remove some foremilk about 30 minutes before feed time).



Best wishes! :) I'm sure you'll be back up to supply in no time! :)

Chelsea - posted on 06/18/2009

Take shatavari (it's an over the counter herb capsule) 1 pill 4 times a day. My lactation consultant recommended this for me when I was having this issue. I also refused to use formula so I gave my daughter nutrient dense foods such as egg yolk, whole milk yogurt and cheese. The shatavari should start working in 2-3 days. This is completely safe and as I said was given to me by my lactation consultant who is board certified. The only side effect it can have is a little bit of GI distress such as gas. It didn't have this effect on me.

Carly - posted on 06/18/2009

Relax, the more you stress the less milk you will get. Do you have enough to feed her? When she starts eating solids you are supposed to produce less because she doesn't need as much, at 10 months my son nurse early morning, morning nap, afternoon nap and bed time, and sometimes once through the night, usually one of the nap feeds was a few sips. As long as she is pooping and peeing lots she will be fine but if you are worried see your doctor. If you are wanting to sneek in more boob make cream soups for lunch with your milk milk all her cereal with boob. Now that my son is down to 2 or 3 feeds a day (1 year) my boobs never feel hard or uncomfortable, and my let down is mild but I can hear him slurp when he nurses.

Minnie - posted on 06/18/2009

Cut down drastically on solids. They're filling her up (I am assuming she is on solids). Try to reduce distractions when you nurse her- nurse lying down in bed with the room dark and quiet. Make nursing a priority. Don't offer solids before or in place of a breastmilk feeding. Wake her to nurse during the night.



OK, here's the deal. You shouldn't have to pump. If you cut out all solids (which are for practice only until at least 12 months) what will your daughter do? She's going to want to nurse more of course. She will nurse frequently to increase your supply. She's not going to starve, she'll just have to have more nursing sessions to meet her caloric requirements, And then in a weeks's time or so, when your supply has increased to meet her needs once again, she will be able to get a lot more milk in one session.



And just in case you're worried about the solids issue, she is NOT going to starve on only your milk. Your milk is not water, it's full of fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and carbohydrates. She'll be able to get all the fluids she needs through it as well.



So, cut out solids, she'll begin nursing more frequently again, and you won't even have time to pump. No reason to pump at all. Just put baby to breast, she's far more efficient at stimulating your breasts to make more milk.



And then once you're making more milk, you can begin to reintroduce solids, but only after a breastmilk feeding, and not in place of one. Breastfeeding is supply and demand. You're only going to make it if she's taking it.

Michele - posted on 06/18/2009

there is a website called kellymom.com that is amazing for nursing mothers. my milk also started to dry up, but now my daughter will be 1 in a few weeks. my daughter would like drink formula either so i tried to give her milk, but she would not drink it cold so i would warm it up a bit and then she would drink it. if you don't want your supply to go away pump alot and between nursing especially at night, like every three hours.

Kacey - posted on 06/18/2009

Drink Lots of water, there are also supplements you can take to try to increase your milk supply such as phenugreek. Also try pumping between feedings about a 1/2 hour after nursing, this will 'trick' your body into thinking you need more since breastmilk is made by supply & demand. Try seeing a lactation consultant. Try visiting this site, it may help you! http://milkworks.org/

Shirlene - posted on 06/18/2009

Wow, I am sorry! The only thing I've heard is that the doctor may be able to give you pills for that, or just keep offering the breast to her. Are you eating the right foods? It could be that you're not getting enough. Best of luck!