Insufficient Milk Production - Seattle,WA

do you have a breast pump? If not, I highly recommend one. Pump immediately after you feed her, and be consistant. I hope it all works out for you.

I pumped milk for both of my daughters for an extended period of time and the fenugreek really helped me. I took a lot of it every day and it was recommended to me by two lactation specialist. I'd definitely give it a try.Good luck!

Hello,

First I want to commend you for breastfeeding and persevereing through the beginning.

I struggled with my first and thought it was because he had a short tongue. I had him nurse 5 min. on each side and then supplemented with Medela's tube system.

On my second, I attempted to be proactive by getting what I thought to be a pediatrician who would clip her frenulum. Unfortunately or fortunately the pediatrician didn't want to do the clipping when it came to it.

I also went to see a lactation consultant the day after we went home. That was where she examined us both and determined that I had hyperplasia. Which means that my breasts didn't develop as they should have. She told me that I would probably not be able to exclusively nurse.

That said I did take fenugreek and drink Mother's Milk Tea. I did see an increase in supply, but it still wasn't enough. Since this was my second, I wasn't going to beat myself up for not nursing. I nursed her and supplemented till 4 months and then went to just the bottle.

I hope what I shared helps. Do what you think is best for you. God bless.

I recently went back to work and started pumping and initially I was getting very little milk from the pump. I was worried that I wasn't making enough at all, even when my son was breastfeeding, but our dr said that he is happy and gaining weight and that babies are much more efficient than the pump. Apparently it can take a while for mom's body to get used to the pump. Even so, I needed to increase my output when pumping since I was at work all day, so I started taking fenugreek, drinking Yogi tea's Nursing Mother tea and pumping A LOT (like every time my son was napping). I did the super frequent pumping for about a week. I'm not sure which part worked, or if they all contributed, but now I am comfortably pumping all the milk he needs for the day at daycare in 2 pumping sessions. Sometimes I even need to some mid-pumping and empty the container because it fills up. And then I breastfeed him in the morning and evenings/nighttime. If he sleeps for longer than normal I will get engorged, but I don't mind because I know the milk is there when he needs it. The Fenugreek makes you smell like maple syrup, a weird side effect, but not altogether unpleasant. Good luck!

Keep her near you skin to skin. Try using a sling around the house and sleeping with her at night. Your body naturally responds to these cues. Also let her feed when ever she wants and for a long as she likes. As long as she is growing at a steady pace you are probably fine.

I used the Mothers Milk tea with great success. ALso, generally keeping up your liquids and eating properly should help to increase your supply. Can you nurse more frequenlty? Do you wear your baby? Keeping her close helps increase production. Skin to skin contact is wonderful and can help. Good luck.

The same thing happend to me. I did try the Fenugreek, and I also started pumping after each feeding to see if I could increase my milk. I unfortunately didn't realize I had a problem until my son showed no weight gain at his 6 month appt. Even though I think the Fenugreek and pumping helped, it wasn't enough so we had to start supplementing--that was hard since he wouldn't take a bottle. I've had friends talk about the Tea, and my advice is to it all. If you can get your body to produce more now, it'll save some grief later!

I've been fortunate here, but a couple friends of mine have had to use fenugreek to up their supply. Any form of it helps whether it's tea, pills, or whatever. Also, your milk supply has probably stabilized now so your breasts may not feel as full even though she's still getting enough. This may happen again around 6 months. Check with your pediatrician next time you go in (or your ob/gyn) but she's probably getting just what she needs if you're feeding on demand! :) Also, if you're pumping, just remember that a baby sucks much more efectively than a pump and she's getting more than you're pumping when she nurses directly.

I've used both fenugreek and mm tea and they did wonders. I've also heard/read that Brewers Yeast and oatmeal also help. Also make sure you are still taking your pre-natals and a B supplement. I see lots of recommendation for dark beer, but the reality is it's just the Bs and the yeast in the beer that helps. :>

Both Fenugreek and the Mother's Milk Tea are good for stimulating milk production. I used the tea, some, and a friend of mine has used both to help her with production. A good dark beer a day is also good :) ...my understanding is that it has minerals and stuff in it that lighter beer doesn't, as well as helping you relax if you're having any trouble with letdown.
Also, keeping fully hydrated will help with your milk production. And about 4 months is when I recall my kids' feeding getting settled so the milk production wasn't all over the place. They'll nurse more frequently when they hit a growth spurt, which will also up your production and then they'll settle back into their routine.

Enjoy!
S.

Hi, I tried both methods; Fenugreek did not work for me, but the Organic Mother's Milk Tea did. Good luck!
-T-

I'm now the mother of an 8 yr old, but I remember very well having insufficient milk production and fenugreek pills worked quite well. Probably pumping milk at work at scheduled intervals would help too to keep your milk supply going. There is a book called Nursing Mother's Companion which has excellent ideas. Also, I highly recommend seeing a professional lactation consultant to measure your milk supply and provide you with tips. I found out from the specialist that my dtr had a high palate and didn't suck that well so I needed to try certain excercises which helped and had her suck on a regular basis from my breast which also increased the milk supply. My dtr nursed thereafter for 2 yrs. Good luck.

J.

The old wives tales I heard were to drink a glass of beer or wine. I would allow myself one in the evening and take about two hours to drink it so that I wouldn't get drunk. And I also would have a glass of water and a snack everytime I nursed. (rice crispy treats loaded with nuts, oats, raisins and other dried fruits) Someone else told me a glass of milk. I have had a very easy time with breast feeding and am still producing at 26 months (time to wean, but she does love her milky so!, she only gets it for nap and bed time now. I know I'm backwards everyone else weans at night first) I also followed Mom's & Grandma's advice to "prime the nipples" before baby was born to toughen them up. It worked for me. My sister-in-law didn't and she was mincemeat. The diffence could be in our girls though, I nursed my neice once because her mom was raw and I was full and mine wasn't taking it all, and my neice was much more aggressive of a sucker than mine. Well, there is some real life experience there! Maybe too real! I think eating and drinking when nursing baby is the key to keep up the supply. Good luck.

I too had this problem. I didn't try any of those products (maybe I should have). I nursed as much as I could for 4 months when he just didn't want to anymore. I still tryed to pump and feed him, but I just didn't have enought. I dont have any real advice, just support. I am sure you are doing the best you can, good luck and dont give up.

How is your daughter's weight gain? Is she healthy and happy? We need more info for why you feel you aren't producing enough milk. that said, here is what I can offer from my own experience.
My kids hated garlic, so I had to eliminate it from my diet while I was nursing.
When my milk first came in my breasts swelled to gargantuan size--like a female character from a video game. I also leaked like a sieve. Once my kids (4 different babies in my life time) regulated their schedule, within a couple of weeks, my breasts resumed a more natural shape, and I didn't leak any more either.

I treated myself daily to a nice dark beer--especially delightful on hot summer days--which my midwives said was good for milk production. Youngs Chocolate Stout is my reigning favorite, or some micro-brew porter. None of my babies were plump and their weight gain was within the healthy range.

I used both the Fenugreek pills and the tea with my first baby since it seemed like I never made enough milk for him, too. The pills seemed to work better than the tea, but I think both are good for increasing the milk supply since they are made of natural ingredients. Also be sure to drink a lot of water and milk since it helps you make more milk. The only problem may be since you work, it may become uncomfortable for you unless you can pump every few hours. I breastfed for 4 months before going back to work and since I am a teacher, I couldn't take breaks to pump. It was very painful to have full breasts, so I stopped breastfeeding at that time. If you can do it, though, more power to you! Good luck!

I tried Healthy Nursing Tea by secrets of tea that`s organic tea and preservatives free. It build up my enough milk supply quickly.Truly Marvelous!!
I`m very happy...

I used Fenugreek and it worked fine. Just know that you'll smell like maple syrup while taking it. I didn't notice the smell at first, but I had cravings for pancakes for the first two weeks I was taking it! LOL! Then I realized it was me (even though I had been "warned"). My husband was glad when I was back to smelling like me, but it helped when I needed it.