4 Month Old Wont Nurse

I went through the same thing with my second. Before I ended up giving up eventually I saw a lactation specialist several times. She recommended phenugreek or fenugreek (4 pills, 4x/day) and goats rue, also 4x/day. After three days it really did increase my milk supply. After I got over my guilt for a few weeks, I gave myself a break and it's actually a lot easier. Good luck!

All is not lost. If you can, have a nursing day, or two. Lay in bed and drink LOTS of water and nurse all day long. Don't offer any supplements. You can also try fenugreek capsules (3, 3 times a day) to start. That is what is in the tea, but this is a more concentrated way of taking it. Also, to increase milk, what I do is after I feed my baby in the morning, I pump for about 2 minutes after I stop releasing milk. Keep doing this. When you pump, you will never get as much as the baby can get, so if you exclusively pump, you will be disappointed in the amount. If these things don't work, talk to your doctor, there is a Rx to increase supply. You can also call a lactation consultant for more suggestions. Please don't give up.

Oh, and you can test how much you are getting with a feeding by calling the doctor's office to have a feeding appointment. They will weigh the baby, you feed, then weigh again (no clothing or diaper changes) to see the weight change.

The biggest thing to understand is bottle feeding is far easier for baby. some babies have no problems switching back and forth while others get lazy. If you need to supplement use the Playtex nurser slow flow nipples (the brown latex ones). They mimic the breast very well.

Please know what you pump and what baby gets are far different things. You have to train your body how to pump and even then it's not a good reflection of what baby can get from the breast. Baby is far more efficient.

If you want to breast feed this baby I would switch the bottles/nipples you are using or ditch the bottles all together if you are a stay at home mom till this gets worked out, and meet with a good lactation consultant. Baby will still need to be supplemented while you are working thru this but you can cup feed or syringe feed until you get baby back to breast and get your supply back up. I cup fed my preemie son to give him his meds when I was teaching him to nurse once I got him home at 6 weeks old so I know it can be done.

Breastfeeding is all supply and demand. The less you put baby to breast (ie the more formula you give) the less your body makes. It's a vicious circle sometimes when you introduce formula.

Please contact your local LaLeche League and they will point you in the right direction.

I think you should contact a lactation consultant. There is not enough milk because she's not nursing, which is one problem that is fixed by nursing, but the "gagging" sounds as though you need more professional advice than most of us can offer, in order to get her to nurse in order to build that supply back up. In the meantime, until you can talk to a lactation consultant, keep trying to nurse her and keep pumping, so you won't lose what little you're making.

And if you do get her to latch and want her to continue nursing, you're probably going to have to cut back a lot or completely on the formula in order to build up the milk supply again--and be prepared for round the clock nursing when you do: that is how the baby builds up the supply....

If you choose not to go that route, or she doesn't figure out latching again, remember, lots of babies do just fine formula....

Great advice from the other ladies but I just wanted to say that you will always get less when you pump then when you actually feed directly from the breast. The pump is not as efficient as the baby and your body also knows the difference as well. The bottle is instant gratification for the baby and when you breastfeed the baby has to wait for the let down. I too would advise you to see a lactation consultant. Good luck.

Mammary PMG worked like a charm, but remember it's demand and supply. If the demand isn't there (because of the formula) there will be no supply.

Please ee a lactation conultant (insurance often pays a portion). She can diagnose the issues and give you a more reliable estimate of the amount of milk she gets. Pumping never produces as much milk as nursing. You need to do what works for you but I want to encourage you not to give up. I had so many problems with nursing and I was able to do it for 13 and 18 months each time. I always had problems at birth and then again around 3-4 motnhs. Lactation consultant saved me both times. And they are far better than the postpartum nurses at the hospital. YOU CAN DO IT!

I had a very similar problem to you - I never once made enough for my son, and he was a lazy eater and not inclined to work very hard to nurse when he knew the bottle was coming afterwards, anyway. I finally had to give up breast-feeding when he was 6 months old, but I fought for 6 months to feed him, and along the way, I learned a couple of tricks.

There are a couple things you can still try. Talk to a nurse or lactation consultant about setting up a system attached to your breast that encourages nursing for formula - you use medical tape to tape a tiny tube to your nipples and the formula flows through it, which reteaches your baby how to latch (the baby will get some breast milk while nursing this way, as well). During this time, you don't use a bottle even for formula feeding (once the baby relearns the latch, you can go back to bottle feeding), but you know your child is getting enough to eat because you aren't just relying on your milk. This really helped me early on (but I'm afraid can't remember what the system was called, I'm sorry) and I would absolutely talk to a doctor about the possibility.

Drink water until you feel like you might float away! Water water water constantly (and make sure you have access to a toilet!). ALWAYS pump directly after nursing your son so that you tell your breasts that you needed more than they provided, and don't stop just because you aren't getting anything.

Although it is somewhat unconventional, my mother recommended that I drink a beer right before nursing or pumping. I'm not much of a beer drinker in general, but after talking to my OB about it, I tried it. For some reason, this encourages let-down (and it really did!) and if you drink it right beforehand (or even during), the alcohol won't reach the bloodstream and milk until after you are finished, so Baby doesn't get any of it. This actually helped a LOT more than I expected.

Finally, my last little bit of advice is, if you have to give up, forgive yourself. I wanted to nurse my son until he was at least a year old, and my heart broke that I couldn't give him that. There was so much guilt that I was failing my son in my most fundamental duty to him, and everywhere I looked, people were telling me I wasn't trying hard enough. Luckily, I had a wonderful OB and a wonderful pediatrician, both of whom helped me see that I had fought every battle that I could and that I am a wonderful mother, and this doesn't change that. My son is beautiful and healthy and I did my best for him. Your daughter will be a wonderful, healthy baby, even if you cannot build up your supply further, and you're a good mother for trying your best. Good luck.

I'm nuring my 5th baby (also four months old) and I nursed all of my others. I don't supplement or pump. I think supplementing and pumping will decrease milk supply. If you exclusively breastfeed, your supply should increase. Your baby will get the hang of it again. The way to tell if your baby is getting enough is to make sure she has plenty of wet diapers, weight gain, contentment (not crying all the time.) Sometimes people will get worried and supplement but I think it makes it worse. Drink plenty of water, eat right and take good vitamins. Good luck and congratulations!!

Hi
Hang in there. She will get enough milk. Your milk/ breast are like supply and demand. Put her on your breast and feed her. Let her stay on both sides as long as she wants. Than after each feeding pump for 15 mins per side. Eventually your milk supply will increase.
Drink a lot of water and I also took supplements called "More Milk Plus". You can buy at Whole Foods.
Good luck!
L.

This may echo some of what you've already heard, but I would definitely not give up! The baby is much more efficient than the pump at getting milk from the breast, so it's entirely possible that a baby could get 5 oz from a breast and a pump might only get 1 oz. What you pump is not a reliable indicator of what she gets.

However, now that you've been supplementing a lot and nursing less, your body IS making less. Milk production is all supply and demand ... the less she nurses, the less you make. However, you CAN increase your supply. Here are some tips: take fenugreek, drink a TON, eat oatmeal, drink beer (or take brewer's yeast). Also, pump every 2 hours, and pump for at least 10 mins on each breast even if nothing's coming out. Pumping (or nursing) when your breasts are empty is what increases supply.

She can re-learn how to nurse from the breast, but I definitely recommend contacting a lactation consultant. They are a huge help! Btw, even if your insurance doesn't cover the LC's fee, if you can start supplementing less, you will save money by buying less formula.