Breast Milk Decreasing - Help!

Drinks lots of water & miso soup helps increase breast milk production (a friend told me that she had 3 to 4 cups a day and it really helped - you can get the packets at the grocery store in the "asian foods" section). My doc told me that at 1 year they can start whole milk. I started my son when he was in his 11th month - mixing it with formula to keep his vitamin intake up. He went onto milk alone once he started to eat a good variety of solid foods.

I would suggest calling a lactation consultant...they are easy to find at most hospitals. When my supply started to drop, I got in touch with one at Providence St. Joe's in Burbank where I delivered and she gave me consultation and suggestions that helped our situation.

For me it was pump every two hours, and be consistent. This kicked my production up a notch, but not a whole lot. Also, she suggested I get a water jug and finish it throughout the day. Keeping hydrated is important to supply and eating well-balanced meals.

I tried so many supplements and none helped me...good Luck!

Deanna

My lactation consultant gave me this advice: Pick ONE entire day where you are able to stay in bed from morning to night (with husband or relative help) and pump every hour on the hour for 7 minutes. Stay in bed relaxing, watch movies, eat in bed, etc. She suggested doing this every 2-3 months to maintain your milk flow. I will be trying it as soon as I have a 'free' day at home. Good luck wish you the best.

Ask your Pediatrician and a Lactation Consultant.

Also, ask your Pediatrician if it is "okay" that he is starting whole milk already.
Then, ask how many ounces he should be drinking, per day, of Breastmilk. Then ask about the whole milk and how many ounces of that, OR, if he should go onto Formula... in light of your decreased breastmilk output.

At this age, my son for example was drinking more than 6 ounces per sitting. That was for breastmilk. Then at about 1 year old he self-weaned and went to Formula.

So, your baby now gets 3 feedings a day, but he sleeps through the night. That may mean that he is fine with the current quantity he is getting. BUT, since your breastmilk output is decreasing... AND since a growth-spurt is coming up (typically at 12 months), you NEED to make sure, he will be getting adequate amounts, still. Because, at growth-spurts... their intake needs INCREASES and they feed more frequently.

Next, how does your son act at the breast? Frustrated? Pulling off? Not getting enough? Or just staying there as a pacifier? This may indicate to you, what HIS needs are....

Next, are you hydrated enough and drinking enough water, to keep milk production consistent? Do you eat well? Are you stressed? Or, it may simply mean that your body is decreasing milk production because your son is decreasing his time at the breast (direct breast nursing is the best way to increase milk production).

Keep trying to pump as well and more frequently. It cant' hurt and may help with your production.

Just some ideas and things you might want to consider.
All the best,
Susan

Hello K.,

at a healthfood store you can find 'mothers milk' tea. also anise seed tea and star anise tea. that will help with increasing your milk supply. lots of good avice here too. good luck!~C.~

Try Healthy Nursing Tea by secrets of tea...!!!

K.,

You didn't mention what type of pump you are using but if it is a Medela try replacing the white membranes with new ones. If that doesn't work, replace your collection kits and tubing. I found that any time I started having a supply dip it was usually because my equipment wasn't working as well as it should. If you've got tiny cracks or any loss of suction, you'll pump significantly less. If that doesn't work, try renting a hospital grade pump to see if that helps. If you are doing what you've always done and not getting the results you've always gotten, I'd definitely explore the possibility of equipment failure. And I'd do a pregnancy test too just to make sure.

You can obviously start giving more cow's milk and all that but it can be a very slippery slope toward weaning. With my second son, he didn't nurse all that much - just a couple of times a day. So once I quit pumping my supply tanked really fast. He was weaned completely within 3 weeks of me stopping pumping. He just wasn't nursing enough to keep my supply up without the extra stimulation of the pump.

:-)T.

As pp's said, pump and nurse as much as you can, and drink lots of water. As for products, I had amazing results with Lactate Support capsules from Gaia Herbs. If you go to http://www.gaiaherbs.com you can type in your zip code and find stores in your area that stock it.

Yes, I would try the additional pumping before bed. Once you get a regular flow, try continuing to pump for up to 5 extra minutes to see if you can stimulate a second let down. In my experience (2 kids & 34 total months of breastfeeding/working full time for 26 of those months), that will help stimulate your milk overall. Also, always double pump whenever you can. Good Luck!

Great job bf. Keep it up as long as you can. Pump and nurse as often as you can for a couple days, EAT and drink alot (every time you pump or nurse) and it will 'return' in a day or two. Also, remember, as they get older, your quanitity will feel like i'ts decreasing because the composition of your milk changes. It's like it gets more condensed/thicker, they aren't taking as large of quantities....

I am in the same exact position! DD is eating 3 meals a day of solid food and just in the last two days she has cut out both night feedings. I just have to keep telling myself that it is up to her as to when to wean and I have given her 10 good months. I started fenugreek but now she has diarrhea (sp?) so I will need to stop that. My oldest is also two and he made it just until his first birthday with nursing. Perhaps your little one is just getting to that age. I wouldn't feel bad about giving milk or maybe a next step formula. You've done a great job making it this far!!!!

Crazy! I'm having this same problem. I don't think it is a supply issue for me because when I nurse my daughter she is always satisfied. I just can't pump as much as I used to. I'm also menstruating for the third time since delivery so I think part of it is hormones and timing (she's ten months now.)

Don't give formula, there is no point now. Ask your pediatrician about whole milk supplement. I have been adding in pumping sessions left and right. I used to pump three times a day and lately it's been five. At her 5pm nursing I pump on the left and feed on the right and then again at 9:30 before I go to bed.

I will also pump over the weekend to build up a small surplus.

I know it is frustrating though and I feel so frustrated with my body, like it is betraying me.

Best of Luck! Hope things start flowing.

The whole milk plus whatever you pump on work days seems like a good alternative - or you could try the old "La Leche League" trick of going to bed with the baby for a weekend and letting him nurse on demand, day and night. Someone has to wait on you and bring you food and drink (you are not allowed to burn calories except in milk making), you just lay around in bed and nap, eat, and drink. This works to build up your milk supply when it is drying up for whatever reason. It would be hard to keep and 11 month old in bed all that time, but you could go to the video store first and get a bunch of new kid videos you've been wanting to see, get library books, puppets, pretend toys, picnic foods, etc. and make it sort of a party. The kid would love the attention, and the extra rest would be good for both of you. If the kid insists on going out at some point, send him for an outing with daddy while you nap or read a novel, and then resume the nursing marathon when he gets back.

There is a lot of good advise here, but as a full-time working mother who nursed for 8 months, let me put in my two cents. If you've tried for several weeks to keep up the milk production and your child is ok to eat some solids and drink milk, then please don't feel guilty about calling it quits after 11 good months. After I returned to work full time when my daughter was 3 months old things went well for about 3 more months, then my production begain to drop. With all the things I tried and the extra pumping I did, my life became all about producing milk and not about spending wonderful time with my daughter. I thought she may miss out if I stopped nursing, but I KNEW she'd miss out if her mom was busy pumping all the time and stressed just thinking about "keeping up production." Feeding time became relaxed like it used to be and I used more of my time to play with her. She's 2 now and suffered no ill effects from switching to formula at 8 months, then to milk at 12. Take in all the advice from these ladies, your pediatrician and even a lactation consultant, but in the end observe your child and listen to your own instincts as a mother.

Pumping isn't as efficient at getting milk out as a baby, so if you nurse extra (take a weekend and nurse every couple of hours), and try to get in an extra nursing session or two a day, your milk should start to increase. As someone else mentioned, eat and drink a lot. You can also cut back on solids when your son is around you so he takes in more breast milk while nursing. Once you get your milk supply strong again, pumping should go better. Check out this site for more tips: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/low-supply.html#increase

oatmeal for breakfast helped me some.
11 months is a long time! don't feel bad if your body is done with milk production.

Hi K.,
I had to travel for work right the week before my daughter turned one, and I wasn't able to pump as frequently as I could at home. I noticed a dramatic drop off in supply at that point (I had been able to pump 3-4 oz per session before, and I've never pumped more than 2 oz per session since). I think your body knows that it's been a year and they are ready for something else to take it's place. I had a stash of breastmilk in the freezer, so I was able to use that up to keep her on breastmilk until 11 1/2 months, and then I switched to giving her whatever I pumped + whole milk.

One doctor's opinion I read said he really thinks fenugreek is most effective only during the first six weeks after birth. I started it up again around 11 months, but I only noticed about a 1 oz increase, and even that wasn't consistent.

I read somewhere that their digestive systems mature at 9 months, so you don't have to worry about giving him whole milk. I think it depends on you - if you want to try adding an extra session at night to build up a stash, go for it. If you want to just give him whatever you pump + whole milk, that's fine too. Don't stress out about it, you've done a great job keeping him on breastmilk this far!

HI! I am in the same boat as you - also a doctor (still in residency - so as you can imagine with my work hours I pump a lot!) I have found garbanzo beans really increase my milk supply (I heard this from someone a while ago and it really has helped). When I eat a lot of hummus I make more milk (plus beano) My baby is 10 months old and I am still nursing him with the hope of continuing until he is at least one years old. My supply waxes and wanes - when I am on a call month my milk goes down as the baby is more efficient than the pump. If you can, the hospital grade pumps seem to do a better job than the one I own - maybe your hospital has an extra one you can use while you are there (lactation consultants love to help nursing Doctors I've noticed) Good luck!

I had this problem also. Make sure to eat and drink plenty...don't be trying to loose too much weight right now. I also tried Fenugreek with no difference so my lacation consultant (was included in my OB's office for free) prescribed something that did help much. For the life of me I can't remember what it was, but any lacation consultant or maybe OB would know what it was. It did have a side effect of making me more tired. Good luck.