Sudden decrease in milk supply

Stephanie - posted on 04/22/2009

Thanks for the advice. I have been pumping every 2 hours for about 20-30min for the past few days, and my supply seems to be working its way back to what I was pumping before.I do get up twice at night usually eveyr 4 hours and pump so I know that that helps too. But it just seems like my daughter is just eating so much right now! I just cant keep up, eating every 2 hours makes it hard to catch up! I've been trying a little oatmeal cereal in her bottle and by spoon and that doesnt seem to help much either, She is about 4 1/2 months so i dont know if shes just going thru a growth spurt or what. I just have to keep thinking that God will always provide and that your body always roduces enough for your baby! Thanks again

Tandi - posted on 04/22/2009

I have heard if you eat oatmeal, garlic, and drink LOTS of water this will help. 4 oz from both breasts combined every two hours is actually a pretty good supply, if you pump through the night as well, my lactation consualtants told me i cant expect much more when that is what i was getting. but if it continues to be a problem, then there are some herbal and medical remidies. a medical one that i had to turn to in the begginning was Domperidone. It worked wonderfully and within 24 hours i saw my supply tripple!

I hope you it all works out for you! and way to go for pumping all this time!!

Angela - posted on 04/21/2009

you could always try a power pump



Power Pumping

The first thing you can try is Power Pumping. This helps to stimulate cluster feeding. Try pumping for 10 minutes, resting for 10 minutes, pumping for 10 minutes, resting for 10 minutes etc Do this for about an hour. Some ladies I have heard of, do it in front of the TV and pump every time the advertisements are on! You won’t see an instant increase, but if you keep it up for a few days, you should start to see an increase!

Stephanie - posted on 04/21/2009

My milk supply was normal as of 3 days ago. I exclusivley pump every 4 hours. We went away a few days ago i felt that my pump was broken ( I have a Medela PS)

but it ended up being that it needed new membranes. So my pump wasnt sucking efficently for about a day an a half. And ever since then i'm lucky to get 4 oz from both breasts combined every 2 hours. My daughter still eats every 2 hours. So its been hard to keep up with her demand of food. I just dont know if my milk is just drying up or if i should continue to pump? I've been pumping every 2 hours for the past 2 days and have not seen much of an increase. Any suggestions?