Pumping Success Vs. Supply/ Demand for New Born BF

I breastfed my twins exclusively, and we ended up making it all the way to 15 months. When I went back to work they were only eight weeks old. My supply diminished quickly, so there were some tricks I did to keep it up. I was given a prescription for Reglan (my lactation consultant said the herb Fenugreek wouldn't be strong enough for me since I was feeding two). I took that for six weeks and it helped. I was told to pump after each nursing session, but I was just too darn exhausted to do it, plus one of my babies always needed me. There just wasn't enough time in the day.

I did do the breast only approach. This is truly the best way to increase your supply. I was able to breastfeed twins, which meant I had to produce enough milk for TWO babies. I was so shocked I was able to do it, but I always fed them from the breast, unless I wasn't home to feed them.

You can find information out there on different websites about what you can do to help keep your supply up. Also, talk with a lactation consultant in the hospital after your baby is born. Share your concerns, and you should get some great advice.

Whatever you do, watch your babies weight closely. It is better to supplement than to have a baby fail to thrive.

First off, I agree with Jen C. Watch for failure to thrive.

I can only offer my experience. I wanted desperately to breastfeed exclusively. At day 10 of life, the lactation consultant bluntly told me that my boy was starving. I began a schedule that was difficult, to say the least. BUT, I am hugely glad I did. Because my supply was low, and my boy not a good nurser due to two MINOR deformities in his mouth, I would get up every two hours, put him to each breast for 20 minutes, then supplement with formula. After I fed his formula to him (via a syringe and my pinkie finger, not a bottle) I then pumped for ten minutes on each side. Then, back to bed for me for an hour and up for the whole thing all over again. He was fully seven weeks old before the pediatrician declared him a well baby. I kept that schedule up for the first three months of his life. Around four months, he suddenly got strong enough to overcome his nursing issues. His pediatrician told me that I was the "most determined to breastfeed woman" he had ever met. He supported us the whole way, and applauded my efforts. My son did still get formula after that because I had to return to work. However, he was only breastfed the rest of the time. I nursed him until he was 18 months. Anyway, the most important thing is to keep your baby to your breast, but don't be anti-formula. This is 21st century USA, and we have the technology to overcome a low milk supply. In the old days a woman with a low supply would go to a wet nurse, or the baby would die. Without supplement, my boy would have died because a wet nurse in out of the question in modern Western society.

My best to you, and I hope you are able to have success as I did.

I didn't have supply issues early on, so I am not able to address that. But I wanted to say that I did pump early, starting at a week. I did that IN ADDITION to all his regular feedings, and froze it for later use. I'm not sure why they would say not to pump at all for at least two weeks if you are trying to boost production. Yes, pumping is definitely less effective than nursing and you will not stimulate your production as much as a feeding. But if you are not pumping instead of a nursing session, it should help you boost production. It is an additional demand that your body should try to keep up with. When my son was older and I did have a drop in supply, I used the pump to add in some extra demand in between feedings. He was older (9 months) and nursing less by that time and it really helped. I kept the pump on even after the milk stopped, just for a couple more minutes. Often I would have another letdown that got a little more milk going. The lactation consultant is the one who told me to do all that. My supply increased after a couple of weeks, and I was able to nurse for over a year after that (and I really thought my milk was gone).

Do you have a lactation consultant that is working with you? There are herbs you can take, and also eating oatmeal everyday can boost your milk too. You probably got all that advice in your other question, sorry. Just don't beat yourself up if you can't do it exclusively. I know your heart is probably set on it, but be willing to cut yourself some slack. Taking that pressure off of yourself might be just what you need to relax and succeed this time. Good luck!

I was also advised NO PUMP until nursing is well established - other than to relieve engorgement.
I truly believe that most women who think the have low supply based on what they pump, really don't. Pump yield is simply not a good indicator of how much you produce. Even in my hayday of pumping, after going back to work, I rarely pumped more than 12 oz in an 8 hour period (3 sessions!) - and guess what - my daughter also drank never more than that!
The pump is also not very good at stimulating milk production, so it's easy to get into a downwards spiral.
My baby was born at 37 weeks and fairly light (not underweight, but small...). She lost a full 10% of her birthweight and took 3 weeks to gain it back. I have to give huge credit to my pediatrician for not freaking out (I certainly was worried sick)! He was extremely knowledgeable and assured me that she was perfectly fine and normal. She was producing plenty of wet diapers, had normal alert phases and it is not uncommon for BF babies to gain at a slightly slower rate. Most curves and are based on formula fed babies.
I was told to feed her on demand and not let her go longer than 4 hours between feedings (I woke her at night a few times). I ended up breastfeeding exclusively for 6 months (I gave little tastes of food after 6 months, but not consistently more for the experience) and total of 19 months. Lots of hard work in the beginning, but in my mind absolutely worth it!
Good luck!

I breastfed my daughter for 14.5 months and had one heck of a time keeping my supply up that long. The first month, I was a milk cow. After that, it fell quickly and it was a battle the entire time to keep it going. The way I kept it going was to eat a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and drink a glass of milk (both wives tales but seemed to help), took 6 Fenegreek capsules a day (two pills three times a day), and pumped after every time I nursed (when I had the energy). On days that my milk seemed to be lower than usual, I would make more of an effort to pump. Of course I barely got anything, but it really helped, too. Since it is all about supply and demand, the more you demand from your body, the more you supply.

The trick however, is not to supplement even though you are pumping. If you supplement, then you aren't demanding any more from your body. Freeze all the milk that you pump and set it aside for when someone else cares for your baby, like if you go back to work, if you have a baby sitter for the evening, or (my personal fave) if your man wakes up with the baby so you can sleep in.

I have never had to use it, but I have been told that there are medications your doctor can prescribe that will help your milk supply. You can always ask about that, too.

Good luck! I hope it works out for you!