Hi, I have a friend in New Zealand that wrote and said she was having trouble in that she was "drying up". She has an infant son.
She was given medication, damperidone, and it came back. But, as soon as she stops the meds, she dries up again and she doesn't want to stay on the med for much longer.
Here is her last note to me...
fenugreek is meant to help but some woman find it doesnt.
I sure know its slowing down, I used to have piles, would pump out 120-160mls every 2 hours. Now I cant seem to pump at all and I am using the same expresser, Avent isis, its an excellent one. plus I dont feel full anymore nor have the warm tingly feeling thats happens every couple of hours nearing a feed. Let down only happens now when Cleveland starts on me, often Id get a letdown when he'd wake up and cry. plus he'll pull away and cry and sure enough no milk left :(
Any ideas?????
Thanks!!
Thanks so much, everyone!! My friend says her baby is nursing now with no problem. Phew!!!!
I'll be sending her a box of Mother's Milk tea as it isn't available in NZ.
She was so impressed by your responses. They were so kind and I thank you so much!!
P.
Please have her consult a lactation consultant ASAP! (I also took fenugreek, and pumped, and did a lit of other things until my milk came in fully w/my 2nd child...when he was 9 weeks old!)
PLEASE tell her that it is 100% normal for her body to regulate itself & to "slow down" production to meet her baby's needs. There's no point in her body over-producing once it figures out how much she NEEDS to produce to feed her child (when a woman first has a baby, her breasts don't know if she's had 1 baby or 5, so it makes plenty to feed an army of babies!).
In addition, it is also 100% normal to not respond to a pump nearly as effectively as you would your own child. No matter how good the pump is, it will NEVER be as effective as baby is!!!
If she really wants to try & increase her supply here's some things she can do:
*nurse on-demand
*nurse more frequently
*pump while nursing
*take Fenugreek, 3 tablets, 3 times a day to start with & increase dosage if necessary until her urine & sweat smell like maple syrup
*co-sleep
*wear her baby in a sling
*eat oatmeal
*have faith in her baby & her body!!!!
If she's really concerned, I really suggest that she talk to a local LLL Leader (they are international--www.LLLI.org, I believe) or a IBCLC Lactation Consultant.
She can also check out www.KellyMom.com for tons of info!
Bottom line, I'm sure everything is perfectly fine. Tell her to keep up the good work & to seek help if she needs it!
I hope that things improve for her so that she can keep nursing successfully!!!!
A.
There is a lactation suport and advice organisation in NZ called La Leche that should be able to help your friend. I think there are ways to build up supply without drugs. I'm not sure what happens to supply after you take drugs.
sorry, the only thing that ever worked for me was drinking a ton of water. but, i can tell you that when the time comes cabbage in the bra will dry you up....sounds crazy but it really works.
i was always curious about reiki, what exactly is it ?
i hope your friend is figuring out the problem. i agree with everyone else about seeing a lactation consultant. one idea is to find a pediatrician that's a certified lactation consultant. that's what we did...turns out she had acid reflux. (pulled away crying from the breast)
just a thought...hope it helps!
I would recommend consulting a lactation expert. Also, mine had me take fenugreek and blessed thistle. Perhaps that combination would work well for your friend.
Remind her that after a while you don't feel full or tingly or let down randomly, but that doesn't mean you don't have milk!
But definitely try the La Leche League.
I was concerned I would have this problem when I went back to work. I used the tea Organic Mother's Milk by Traditional Medicines and it seemed to make a big improvement for me. It's kind of expensive and you have to drink it 3-5 times a day (I drank it 3x's) but it was worth it to me (I only had to return to work for about 5 weeks). I hope your friend finds something that works for her.
Tons of water and consult the international La Leche League.
if she tried domeridone and the milk came back, she is low on the lactation stimulator prolactin because of too much dopamine in her brain.
simply, dopamine inhibits prolactin release, and without prolactin, you won't produce milk.
domperidone is a anti-dompminergic drug which quiets the dopamine receptors/release, thus allowing the prolactin to be released and the milk to flow. there is question about its use and risks in the US, i don't know about New Zealand. have her talk to her doc.
Hi P.!
I don't have any advice for your friend, but I wanted to say "hi" to you. I hope everything's groovy for you. Ella is 9 years old already! I don't know if they give you the e-mail address or not but I'm still ____@____.com care...
J.
Hi P.,
Your friend probably isn't drying up. How old is her baby? Is it between 3-6 weeks? Many women feel that they are loosing their milk at around this time for 2 reasons. One - babies go through growth spurts at 3 weeks and again at 6 weeks. It seems like they aren't "satisfied" and they want to nurse all the time - so many women thing they aren't making enough milk - but it is really the baby sending signals to your body to make more milk. Two - from 0-6 weeks your body is in "over production" mode and makes much more milk than your baby needs. At around 6 weeks, your body and your baby get more "in sync" with each other and your body will stop over producing milk. Many women feel this decrease in production and think they are drying up. Tell her to keep feeding her baby on demand and don't worry about how much she gets with the pump. The pump is not an indicator of how much her baby is getting - the baby is much more efficient at getting the milk out than the pump is. And remember - breast milk is an on-demand process - it is always there and can always be made when the baby demands it. Here are some links to some breastfeeding articles that I wrote which may help her as well. The first is a breastfeeding tips article for new moms: http://www.breastfeedingtips.net and the second is a pumping tips article designed for moms who are going back to work - but even if your friend isn't working, the article has a lot of good tips to help her get better production from her pump: http://www.pumpingtips.com.
J.
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I had the same feelings when my baby was a just a few months old. Actually, in my case it was normal body adjustment. You're not meant to feel 'full' or 'heavy.' Milk shouldn't come gushing out everytime you hear an infant make a noise. Those things happen early on because your body is adjusting to breastfeeding. All those sensations stopped and I panicked. I began fenugreek, milk thistle, and lactation teas. I found the regimen exhausting as some women have to take like 15 fenugreek capsules up to 4 times a day to have effects on breastmilk. I also pumped while at work (nursed in the early mornings and evenings) and found that my body did seem to know when my baby was nursing verses the breast pump taking milk. My production slowed during the day but to battle it I breastfed AND/or pumped almost hourly during the weekend. I made it until my baby was 8 months old (now) and I am currently weaning her (down to one breastfeeding/day) before the next school year begins (I'm a teacher). Oh, La Leche League has a website (I'm not sure what it is...google it) on which you can post questions and a representative replies fairly quickly and VERY personally. I was extremely impressed with the feature and actually got a lot of help from very supportive voluteers.
