questions about pumping, please help!!!

Carrie Owens - posted on 11/19/2009

Drink LOTS and LOTS of water. Basiclly you know youve had enough water when you are peeing every 15 minutes and the olor is clear (no color). That will help increase milk production. Sounds like you are pumping often enough. Every 2 hours, try going 20 minutes rather than 15.

Christine - posted on 11/19/2009

Thanks everyone!

Patty - posted on 11/19/2009

you need to rest a little in between pumping... it takes between 2 and 4 hours for your breast to fill back up...and don't pump longer than 15-20 min at a time anaything longer can have the opposite effect. also, try eating old fashion oatmeal an hour before 3 of the sessions (space them out). You can also try fenugreek. These are all things I did. I did not breastfeed from the beginning. I decided 6 weeks after the baby was born that I really wanted to do it... well, after 6 wks of a bottle I could not get DD to latch so resorted to pumping. I went from nothing (literally, there was 1 or 2 droplets at each session). Within 6 weeks I was making about 4 ounces. I never needed more than 4 ounces of breast milk for her. She had expressed milk for about half her bottle and would be content with 4 ounces. She would almost never drink more than 3 ounces of formula and that was up until we weened her from the bottle all together! Don't assume becasue you are not making 8 ounces each time that it is not enough... Let your little one tell you when it is enough. Too many people force feed there babies because they are crying. You will know when it's a hunger cry. Remember that when a baby feels the need to suckle or have oral stimulation, a bottle will appease them but all that does is stretch there stomachs for nothing causing them to need more and more food...

Sanaz - posted on 11/19/2009

Quoting Christine:

wow, that might work. She also does the same thing, shakes her head with the nipple in her mouth but refuses to latch on. I sucessfully got her to take the right breast lastnight for about 30 min but when I tried again this morning she would have nothing o do with it again. IS this normal for them to go through "latching" sages or is it more of her being frustrated?

I think my son was like that. He would latch on for one feeding, but if he got too hungry (from sleeping too long, for instance), then he wouldn't want to latch on anymore. He wanted the food quickly and didn't want to work for it. 

Audrey - posted on 11/18/2009

I agree with Chelsea S. and also your local hospital should have a support group for breastfeeding moms, so I would call there and do it pretty quickly so you can get her back to breastfeeding!!

Jemma - posted on 11/18/2009

You can get something called fenugreek from a health food store - this is a natural way to boost your milk supply. Also, I found holding my daughter whilst expressing helped. I don't always get a massive amount of milk but it makes it nicer and you relax more which also helps. Also try offering your little one the breast - i know it may be hard or frustrating when they wont take it, but when one side is being stimulated the other side also lets the milk down. Early hours of the morning are also another good time.

Teresa - posted on 11/18/2009

I found that taking fenugreek capsules helped a lot. I got it at a vitamin store after the LC recommended it. She also recommended taking Mother Love More Milk Plus which helped a great deal too (motherlove.com). My LO is a year now and for about 7months of that year he was either exclusively BF with expressed milk in a bottle after I went back to work. After about 4 months I had to take the supplements to keep up with his demand, but it worked out great for us. Good luck.

Christine - posted on 11/17/2009

wow, that might work. She also does the same thing, shakes her head with the nipple in her mouth but refuses to latch on. I sucessfully got her to take the right breast lastnight for about 30 min but when I tried again this morning she would have nothing o do with it again. IS this normal for them to go through "latching" sages or is it more of her being frustrated?

Sanaz - posted on 11/16/2009

I had a lot of trouble getting my son to latch on to my breast. He would shake his head from side to side with his mouth open and my nipple in it, but he would not latch on. He was used to a bottle, because the nurses gave him bottles so I could sleep at night while in the hospital. Anyway, we figured out this "trick" that really worked. When he would get worked up and not latch on, we would put a bottle in his mouth, let him suck for a little until he calmed down, then I would quickly switch the bottle for my breast. It worked. My son is almost 10 months old and I am still breastfeeding. You HAVE to put the baby to the breast. I am also a terrible pumper. I have to pump 2-3 times to get enough milk for one feeding. That's just how much I pump, though. I know he gets enough when I nurse him.

Kathy - posted on 11/16/2009

Go to their website and contact them:

www.lli.org



I live in Fort Worth, Texas and the hospital downtown has a brestfeeding resource center. I agree with what Chelsea S. said 100%. Get help ASAP if you feel like you need it. I have a 6 month old that is excusively BF. Things were really bumpy in the beginning and I got help from the resource center at my hospital.

Christine - posted on 11/16/2009

Thanks for the help everyone! How do I go about contacting a Lactation Consultant in my area?

April - posted on 11/16/2009

i saw another post in a previous conversation where one mother taped a syringe to her breast and when her baby opened his mouth, she would squirt milk into it. then he got the idea that there was milk in her breasts and went for the boob. she did this a few times. i don't know if that would help or not. you may also want to try to put your nipple on her upper lip to activate her suckle reflex. another suggestion is to see a lactation consultant so the LC can help you work with your baby. nursing is a learning process for both mom and baby...many people think it comes natural to all babies at birth, but it doesn't always.

Christine - posted on 11/16/2009

shes so used to a bottle, she is having ahrd time latching, thats why ive been pumping. Can you guys help me with latching on?

Nicole - posted on 11/16/2009

Quoting Nicole:

Are you just pumping? Have you tried to her to latch on to the breast?

I asked these questions before seeing Chelsea's post.  I agree totally with what she said.   Good luck!

Nicole - posted on 11/16/2009

Are you just pumping? Have you tried to her to latch on to the breast?

Chelsea - posted on 11/16/2009

I would like to offer you some information. The reason that you are not getting more milk is because breastfeeding is supply and demand. You are not uping your demand for milk so your body is not producing more milk. Pumps are not as efficent as babies at extracting or demanding milk. Ideally you would put the baby to your breast often. I would suggest that you start now putting your baby to the breast. This way you will produce enough over time as your baby demands more milk, you will have the most wonderful bonding time, and your baby will get all of the benefits of breastfeeding (your body will make antibodies to anything your baby comes in contact with if you put your baby to breast). If you stop using bottles all together you will get your milk up much faster and you will not have to fight the bottle to breast battle. Babies often prefer to use a bottle because the flow is faster and they don't have to such much. You will still have to supplement at first but you should use an SNS. An SNS is a supplemental nursing system. It is a bottle that hangs around your neck and you can put the formula in. It has two small plastic flexible tubes that go from the bottle and are taped onto your breast so that the tip of the tube hangs over the nipple a bit. The flow can be stopped or started from the bottle. The bottle can be hung below the breasts so that the baby has to work harder to get the formula. This is an ideal system because everytime you put the baby to breast whether using the SNS or not your breasts are being told to make more milk. Here is a link to the SNS and you can call and order it directly from this company:



http://www.medelabreastfeedingus.com/pro...



I strongly encourage you to get rid of the bottles ASAP and going to the SNS. This will drastically improve your supply and it will increase the benefits of breastfeeding for your daughter.



There are also many things you can do to increase your supply such as taking herbs. And adding extra pumping sessions. If you are interested in information about different herbs you can use to increase your supply feel free to ask. Good luck! You can exclusively breastfeed your daughter.