How to increase my milk supply?
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My milk supply is low too and find it is slowly increasing at times. I pump, but also combo feed with formula because my breast milk just isn't enough at the moment. She's never satisfied. Can be a little disheartening to see small amounts of breast milk being produced over in the space of an hour or so of pumping between both boobs, but I'm hoping the more I do it, the more the milk will increase, with the goal of reducing formula 🤞🏻 it is so tiring though & have been on the verge of giving up but I keep reminding myself about why I'm doing it. If you're not pumping, then maybe you could try and see if it helps
Was she checked for oral ties? She may just be cluster feeding which is very normal for a newborn, but if she’s not efficient at removing milk it could be due to oral ties. Only about 5% of women actually have low milk supply so it’s probably something that can be fixed!
Yes she was checked for tongue tie and have been told she doesn’t have it. She was previously latching fine and I had no worries other than she was never satisfied after a long feed. However since combination feeding it’s like she’s completely forgotten how to latch and I’m extremely sore. I’m pumping at every opportunity I get. I’m currently getting anywhere between 1-2 oz from my right breast and anything up to 0.5 oz from my left. I’m heartbroken and emotional as my labour was everything that could go wrong went wrong and just feel like my body has massively failed regardless of creating this beautiful human being. I’m really struggling emotionally with it all
She’s nearly 3 weeks old and I’ve been pumping since she was 3 days old.
This is totally normal at your babies age. The baby is feeding so regularly because they have such tiny tummy’s which fill and empty so quickly. By eating they are signaling your body to make more milk. My son was the same I spent the first month with him glued to me either feeding or asleep. My son would sometimes eat for up to an hour especially in the evening. It will get easier ❤️
I’ll just add that my son lost 10% birthweight (he was 10lb10oz) and some midwives told me to give him formula to which I ignored and just kept breastfeeding and after 3 weeks he was back at birthweight. Now 4 months on ive only given formula when I needed some sleep. You do what you feel is best for you because as long as your baby is fed that’s all that matters xx
Hi Jodie. It sounds like you're doing amazing! At 3 weeks baby only takes tiny amounts at a time and feeds frequently. Your pump amounts are as to be expected at this time, please don't panic! The best way to increase milk supply is removing milk. Ideally, baby at breast but frequent pumping also works. If babies latch isn't right, please seek some support. I'll share a link for you to find some local support. You mention combi feeding, are you pace feeding bottles? How many bottles vs breastfeeding is baby having? It would be best if you are able to breastfeed at every opportunity, you can always top up with a little expressed milk after if needed, but replacing feeds with bottles at this age isn't recommended. Ideally you want to establish breastfeeding first.
https://laleche.org.uk/find-lll-support-group/
Theres lots of information on this webpage about early days of breastfeeding https://laleche.org.uk/beginning-breastfeeding/
Feel free to message me if you want some one to one support (I am a breastfeeding counselor) x
My lactation consultant suggested power pumping to increase supply. https://lansinoh.com/blogs/breastfeeding-pumping/power-pumping-how-to-increase-your-milk-supply
@Jodie who was it that assessed her for tongue tie? When I had my daughter a few years ago, 2 midwives, 2 health visitors, a GP and 2 paediatricians all told me she didn't have a tongue tie... Then when I finally got seen by the infant feeding team (who are actually trained to assess for tongue ties!), surprise surprise, she had a tight posterior tongue tie which almost ruined our breastfeeding journey when she was dropping weight centiles from 6-10 weeks. When I had my son a few weeks ago, I insisted that he be seen by the infant feeding team on day 1 and they diagnosed a tie immediately. If her latch is worse since you've been combi feeding, I wonder if she's gotten a bit lazy because they can still easily get milk from a bottle with a poor latch. You could try supplementing her with a system like this: https://amzn.eu/d/2vuYLnK. You tape the really fine tube to your breast and put the other end in a bottle, so when they feed at the breast they are also essentially drinking the bottle through a tiny straw.
(continued from my other comment) The supplemental nursing system would force her to work a bit harder for the top-up milk but also it would mean your breasts are still being stimulated to produce more milk. Like Charlotte said, I'd also suggest getting some in-person support from a local group or the infant feeding team, they can help you get her into a good latch. The most I've managed to get from pumping between both breasts is around 40ml so about 1.5oz - the amount you can pump doesn't necessarily have any relation to how much baby is getting from you!
Try to pump every 2h. It made my milk so stronger I literally leak 24/7 and I ain’t got nipples so baby was having in a bottle, unfortunately he gets sick with my milk for some reason!