Milk Going Away....

You might try More Milk from Motherlove. It has some herbs that help milk production. It was a lifesaver for me when I had trouble getting enough milk for my daughter.

Hello! You can try Mother's Milk Plus, as herbal supplement that can be purchased at Wild Oats or health food store. You can also try Reglan 10 mg, prescribed by your physician (1 pill 3x/day for 10 days, then 2x/day for 7 days, then 1x/day for 7 days). Hope this helps!

Hi, I had the same problem with both of my girls. What really helped me was to visit the Lactician consultant at the hospital. She gave me tons of helpful tips. Most hospitals offer this service too, and it is so helpful. My problem was that I needed to eat more calories, so that my body would produce more milk. I was so busy that I just wasn't eating nearly enough. Also, pumping regularly is always a good idea, the more you pump the more your body knows to produce more. Best of luck to you! :)

K.-30, mother of 2

Hey Julia!

You are awesome to even try! I can't imagine doing it with 3 bundles of joy. I was blessed with a premature baby and have had the hardest time breastfeeding. Try FENUGREEK from GNC or any health food store. It has helped my supply a ton. I do believe that even the smallest amount of breastmilk is better than none because my daughter has not been sick yet. (knock on wood).

There are some other responses/questions previously that gave a lot of great ideas too. You may want to look at those.

Good Luck to you. And happy holidays.

B.

There is an all natural supplement called Fenugreek. My doctors have always told me to try that. Also to drink a beer. I know that sounds funny, but something in it helps produce milk. If anything, your dr. can prescribe something to help with the production of milk...Good Luck...

Congrats on the babies, and for giving them breastmilk. Unfortunatly the it sounds like you body is not responding well to the pump. The babies bottom gums, when latched on properly extract breastmilk very efficiently from the milk sinuses. The pump "cup" is unable to do this. If you could even put your babies to the breast once a day at least, this might help. Now if they have never latched on before or it has been awhile, you might have some difficulty, especially since they are used to a bottle nipple. A lactation consultant or La leche Legue can help. You can also try fenugreek and blessed thistle herbs, they help too. Three babies is a handful, and I commend you on giving them the best milk on earth!! It might take some time, so be patient, it is worth it. Goodluck to you and your babies.

Hi-
Make sure your calorie intake is high enough. You need lots of calories and water to produce enough milk, even for a singleton (ask your doctor how many you should be eating) Also, stress has an adverse effect on nursing as well. Try to decrease your stress (although that may be difficult with new triplets!) Supplementing is tricky thing, too. The more you supplement, the less milk you produce, compunding the need to supplement. I would consult with a lactation specialist. Good Luck~

I breastfed my last three. A few months in, I started having trouble too. Turned out it was the birth control pills! Once I stopped taking them, my supply went back up with some help of herbal supplements.

LOTS OF PROTEIN AND WATER! With my first baby I started to dry up at 7 months, so I drank an herbal tea every day called Mother's Milk (I got it at GNC or Hi Health) and my milk came back full force. There are also stronger concentrations of herbal mixtures that aid milk production (like Fenugreek) you can take that might even be more effective. Try Baby Mother and More on the SE corner of Gilbert and Southern. They have liquid herbs you can take and can refer you to a lactation specialist. Try to eliminate stress from your life (real easy to do with triplets, I'm sure! :), as that can hinder milk production. And if you worry about this too much, it will only make it worse. But I got very stressed when I started drying up because I really wanted to nurse for a year, so I know it's easier said than done.

With my second baby I asked my doctor upfront what I can do to prevent drying up and she said her biggest advice was LOTS of WATER WATER WATER and PROTEIN in my diet. So I eat a whey protein shake every day (bought the powder at Costco) nuts, peanut butter, beans, fish, tofu, and meat. I don't like meat much, so my diet was very deficient with my first baby, but now that I'm aware, I'm very careful and eat high-protein and high-caloric foods since I went underweight last time. I think that's why my body started drying up last time. I've also heard brewer's yeast can help.

Good luck! I was able to produce milk and nurse my first child until he was 1 year old after thinking it might be over at 7 months. I hope you have success as well.

first of all - i tried the herbal tea supplement and my baby was severely colicky till it passed from my system.
it works for some people, but made him scream.
second - what worked for me was sleep.
i was so exhausted from the whole birth expereince that my body was in crisis mode and i didn't know it.
once i was able to have my parents come stay with the baby and i got more than 6 hours sleep in a row, i started making milk like crazy.
i'd imagine with 3, you haven't really been able to rest.
maybe getting some help in and just letting you sleep till you wake up might do the trick.
also - if you can possibly take a warm relaxing shower - with the water massaging your chest, neck, breasts, and underarms before you pump, it won't hurt as much and you'll likely get more milk.
it helps with let down - loosens everything up and helps you relax.
gotta go - baby ready to eat
best of luck
s

Hello Julia,

My only suggestion is pump a lot, your breastmilk works on supply and demand the more you brestfeed or pump the more milk you'll have. You just have to either breast feed which with triplets can be hard so I would just suggest that you start pumping your milk get a good breast pump with lots of suction. I hope that this helps you

I know this sounds funny, but I was always told to have 1-2 beers. I absolutely hate beer, but I tried it and it really works to fill it up. I was told that it is the yeast in the beer and it doesn't hurt the baby. Good luck!

Without directly nursing the babies, your milk supply is very likely to slowly dry up. You don't have to exclusively nurse if you don't want to, but to keep your supply up and running it is necessary that at least one baby is nursing a couple times a day. It seems that your body needs that skin to skin contact and the unique suckling of a living breathing infant to continue to produce milk. An experienced lactation counselor or La leche League Leader can help you get the babies latched on even though they are used to bottles at this point. Also, it helps to have a hospital grade pump when pumping for long periods. There are some herbs and prescription drugs available as well, but they don't work as well without putting the baby to the breast.

Julia-
Call your OB/Gyn and you can get a prescription medication to increase milk production. I used it with my son when I started to dry up. It was a short course of pills and worked like a dream! Good luck to you! I commend you for giving your babies what you can.

Hi Julia,

There is something called fenugreek (an herb) that might help you. I know a few ladies who have found great success with that. I have also used oatmeal with great success in the past. I simply ate oatmeal cookies or instant oatmeal, and it helped get my milk back up. Also, the obvious--drink lots of water and be sure you're getting enough calories. Both of those will affect your milk.

For more tips, I think you might find something helpful on www.kellymom.com, and also check on the lactation/breastfeeding board on Ivillage. Good luck!

Hi! Congrats to you and your family!
I pumped exclusively for my youngest son for 6 months (no breastfeeding either.)
When my supply started to get low due to a few missed pumping sessions I found this message board: http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-ppexcluspump?ice=ivl...
It was super helpful for me. I found (via the message board) that taking "fenugreek" and "blessed thistle" (bought at Hi-Health) can help stimulate your supply. I also read that eating oatmeal is helpful too. The herbs worked for me as well as increasing the amount of times I pumped per day.. no matter what I was getting out of them. After about a week my supply was back to where it was. You just have to be vigilant about pumping (a lot) and it should go back. I know you can also buy a drug that stimulates the supply but it is not FDA approved in the US but is in most other countries. You can buy it online from Canada or New Zealand and I have read great success stories from other women about it. I just prefer to use natural herbs myself and they did work. If you do take the "fenugreek" and "blessed thistle" don't be alarmed when you start to smell like maple syrup. It is a side effect as one of those herbs is used in the making of maple syrup to help it get the sweet smell.. it will just make you think of pancakes all day :-) I also recommend using a hospital grade pump.. or the medela pump in style advanced (which is what I used) as this will make all of the difference in your success.
Good luck to you. I know how trying it was for one baby but three! You are one brave lady :-)
Best regards,
M.
P.S. I completely disagree with Faith below and all the other mommies who are saying that you need to have the baby to the breast at least once a day. You do not have to have the baby to the breast to keep up your supply. My supply was going strong.. I decided to quit after 6 months for personal reasons.. do not let their comments discourage you. Pumping works just as well as breastfeeding.. I have done both! Also.. I do believe breast milk is better than formula but if you can't do it anymore.. don't feel bad about it. Do what is best for you too.. after all you are the rock and your mental and physical health counts just as much. Do not feel guilty! :-)

i was determined to nurse my daughter until at least 6mo, if not a year. i couldnt pump, didnt get a thing out of it, so kudos to you for that!. at the time, i was drinking maybe one or two 20-oz bottles of water a day. when my daughter was about 5mo, my milk supply just suddenly dropped to the point of my almost quitting. like i said, i was determined to go for at least 6months, so i started drinking more water. and to keep track of it, i would make little marks on the dry-erase board on the fridge. every time i drank one full 20-oz bottle of water i would either add a line, or erase one... depending on how i started it. it got to the point where, in a 24 hour period i was drinking about 120 ounces of water. just that, just tripling my water intake in a 2 day period, brought back my milk supply full force. i went from barely nursing at all, do exclusively nursing. she was getting formula too, but after that, she didnt want any... she just wanted, and was getting plenty of, breastmilk. not only did i go past 6mo, i also went past a year. my daughter nursed for the very last time when she was 15 1/2 months old. good luck!

Maybe letting them breastfeed might help. Good luck, M.

Hi, Julia.
You could try taking some herbs that increase milk supply. Traditional medicinals (which you can pick up at Smith's and other big grocery stores, or the natural health stores) sells a Mother's Milk blend that tastes good and works pretty well if you drink at least a quart of it a day. Drink tons of fluids in general. You can also stop by the herb store and get the following herbs:
Fennell tea
Blessed thistle tea (tastes very bitter)
Goat's Rue tincture
Also, you might want to try putting the babies to the breast to nurse once a day. Nothing stimulates milk supply better than a baby (or three!) suckling. Dwindling milk supply is pretty common with moms who are exclusively pumping.
Plus, stay away from decongestants during the cold season, as they dry up more than just your sinuses.
Good luck. And congrats on your commitment to give the babies some breastmilk every day.
love,
M. Singleton
Mom of 2, midwife, and herbalist

Wow triplets, you do have your hands full. :) I have three boys and I breastfed each of them for as long as 18 months. Once in a while, usually every three to four months, I had to feed more often to make my breasts produce more milk. When the babies grow they eat more, which in turn they demand more milk, and the breasts have just not had enough time to catch up.. You need to breastfeed more often so they start to produce more milk. Your breasts seem to had enough from the pump, they don't get enough stimulation. Your babies need to do the work. When you breastfeed it's an incredible bonding with your children if you have never done it. The babies sucking is the best for the breasts. It's not too late to teach them take the nipple. I understand it can be overwhelming, but you already take the time to pump to help your babies for nutritions. Remember thou, don't get stressed out, it's the worst that can happen, anxiety and stress affects the production of the milk and the babies can sense it. So relax and enjoy the closeness of your baby when you breastfeed. Best of luck, J.

Hello. My pediatritian told me that what would help milk production is to drink one hoppy beer a day. She said the yeast and hops help to bring in more milk. I'm not sure how much your into beer, but if you are, it would really help. It helped me. Good luck and congratulations on your triplets! I bet they're beautiful!!

Consider actually nursing your baby. Although pumps are fairly effective at getting milk they are often no match when compared to a baby. Also, make sure you are not trying to do a million other things while pumping or for that matter even one other thing. Sit quietly, if at all possible with triplets, relax! and think about your beautiful babies. This often encourages a better let down. Hope this helps

My grandma told me that there are some foods that you can eat that help with milk production. The only one I can remember is rice. You might google to see if you can find out any of the rest. Sorry I'm not more help I just thought I throw the idea your way and then you could run with it. Good luck!