Help! Not ready to give up nursing!

OhJessie - posted on 04/30/2011

Easiest and perhaps only way to build supply back up is by frequent nursing. Do it at night when you can just lay together and you barely have to wake up.

April - posted on 04/29/2010

pumping doesn't really indicate how good of a supply you have. actually 1 ounce of pumped milk is pretty amazing for most women.

you're doing just fine! supply= demand. you're making enough for her, i promise!!

Marcy - posted on 04/28/2010

Just keep trying. Make sure you only pump 1-2 times per day. HAve your mom call you and put you on the phone with your daughter. Maybe her voice wiill cause a letdown. Also, since she is 10 months if she is eating solids and drinking water if she doesn't have breastmilk while you are at work 1 day per week it will be okay. Just relax. Also, what type of pump are you using?

Jessica - posted on 04/21/2010

It sounds as if you are doing everything you can already - and congrats on the 2 oz Monday! Probably just as you said some stress combined with your daughter having other things going in her life too. I'm sure you'll settle into a new routine soon. Good luck!

Meghan - posted on 04/21/2010

Thank you so much for your suggestions, Jessica O'Connor-Petts!

While at work I drink constantly and eat a couple of snacks during the day. I have one of the more high end pumps (a Madela) and it has done a good job the couple of other times I have had to use it in the past. I did hear that looking at a picture helped your milk so I bring my cell phone in with me that has lots of pictures on it. I even took a video on my phone of her nursing!

I have really tried in the past week to get my supply back up. I think that I just wasn't making enough. Maybe it was the stress of going back in the office and being away from her...not to mention the realization that my supply was down! I have been nursing her on both sides when I am home to give her more milk and to increase my supply. I think it has been working. This past Monday at work, I was able to get 2 ounces while pumping. It took forever but I was so excited!

I might try nursing her in a quieter/darker place. She is very nosy and maybe that contributed to my low supply as well.

I guess I'll just wait it out and see if it gets better. Thank you everyone for your suggestions.

Jessica - posted on 04/21/2010

Meghan -

The day when you are in the office and pumping, are you (1) drinking plenty of water (2) pumping at times when your daughter would normally nurse (3) looking at a photo of her and imagining nursing her (while you are pumping) (4) using a powerful enough pump (what kind of pump are you using by the way?). Those are my immediate thoughts about not getting enough from the pump.



As far as her disinterest, it could be just a phase when she is getting so curious about everything around her that she is easily distracted. I remember for a while around 1 year old, I had to take my son into a darkened room to get him to settle down and nurse, otherwise he just bopped around and wanted to get down and play/explore all the time. It wasn't that he was ready to wean, just that he couldn't relax or concentrate. But he got through that phase and is now 26 months old and still very interested in nursing!



Her disinterest could also be caused by a decrease in your milk supply. You've probably already thought about these things, but are you getting enough nutrition and fluids and rest? Are you overly stressed about things going on in your life? Of course it can become a vicious cycle if you then start getting stressed about her not nursing!!:-)



Overall I wouldn't think that you being away from her one day a week should cause problems in your milk supply or in her interest in nursing. How often has she nursed per day up until now and how often is she nursing now that she is less interested? It's possible that she is just a naturally early weaner, which does not mean that she will wean entirely before she is one, just that maybe she'll cut back to a couple of nursings a day - and then continue with those couple of nursings a day for years! Every child is different.



Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Jessica - posted on 04/15/2010

...this is why i will be delaying solids until 12 months... b/c i'm SO afraid she won't be interested in bf'ing and i will have to give formula!! sorry, i don't have much advice. i really don't know anything about that but i really hope someone comes along and helps!! GL momma

Anneke - posted on 04/15/2010

I heard of teas you can drink to increase supply of milk. Fenugreek.

I also cant get hardly anything out with a pump and gave up on them, I amn stay at home mum to so nursing is easy for me. I really hope others come in here and surgest stuff as I noctied its a bit dead sometimes. I really hope you can bf again, I am 14 months breastfeeding and pregnant and nervous about this milk dry up I have been told about.