Running Out of Breastmilk

J.,
I am in the same situation. I want to bfeed my son for 1 year and would like not to supplement with formula. Can you please pass on the results that you get to me. It would be grately appreciated.

Thanks,
J.

I was told to be sure to pump often when I was breastfeeding, and I went overboard and pumped more often than I needed. I became an overproducer and we easily made it well over the first year. I would pump out what was left after I breastfed and I really feel that was what did it, I worked part time and pumped about as often as you are at work. Good luck. A.

First off, you are amazing! I am very impressed with your stick with it attitude. I hated nursing in the beginning, oh the pain, but it was worth it.

Do you like cookies? http://www.recipezaar.com/192346
These are some tasty oatmeal cookies that helped me lactate.
I also ate a lot of oatmeal too, and found that when I "felt" low, I just needed some water as I was dehydrated. Being good to yourself, water intake, sleep, probably helps the most, but not as much as the nursing itself. I nursed my daughter "on demand" and that seemed to encourage a lot of milk production.

Best of Luck to you in your goals!

Good for you! I would say just take it one day at a time. If the nursing is going well and you are nursing your daughter on demand, you should not have supply problems. If you are really worried, however, you could always pump once a day. Adding a pump not only gives you a supply of bmilk but it also keeps up your supply. Mostly though bfeeding your daughter as much as possible is what will keep your supply strong. You're over the biggest challenges now - you'll be surprised how fast a year goes! Soon you'll be congratulating yourself on avoiding formula and giving your daughter the healthiest start possible.

B.

Jennifer - Kudos to you for all your efforts and sticking with it through all of this! Determination goes a long way and it looks like you have it. Some other supplements that have greatly helped moms keep their supply up include yeast, not baking yeast but nutritional yeast. Several of my moms have to take a nap every day to maintain enough milk. Since you are giving a bottle during the day, does this mean you work and have to express for her then? If you cannot nap, just make sure that you get a full night's sleep every night. It takes about 1000 extra calories a day to make breast milk. Some moms also have found that if they try to lose weight by eating a diet that is too lean that they end up with baby not gaining as much. It is also true that what works for one may not work for another. A healthy, well-nourished, rested mom makes the best milk.

Blessings, C. - retired midwife

i would highly recommend www.llli.org - find the local group near you! they are highly supportive of breastfeeding, and can help with various issues, you might even find other moms in your area who have had the same problems!

good luck!

Hi Jennifer! In response to LD and Jennie's responses, you definitely CAN run out of milk--even if you are NOT supplementing. It can be rare but it IS possible. I am telling you this because if in the event you do have a decrease in milk production I would hate for you (or others) to make you feel like you are at fault.
I think you are on the right track for keeping up milk production. The only other things I can suggest are rye and red rasberry leaf tea. You can also drink Mother's Milk tea which is easier to come by.
I am so happy for you that you are able to exclusively breastfeed even after struggles. I had all the determination in the world but not the milk and I don't want anyone to struggle like I did. I do think you will make your goal but I want you to know that if you do have to supplement in the far far future that you are still the same loving, giving and sacrificing mom that you are now.
Good Job!

Wow I applaude you for your efforts and dedication to breastfeeding. Most people probably would have stopped. I'm glad that you didn't.

Now to answer your question. How much milk you produce is based on supply and demand. The more you feed baby (or pump) the more milk you make. These people who are "running out of milk" are people who are supplementing with formula. Most people don't realize this but feeding formula will decrease milk production, in turn they give more formula which decreases it more. Eventually they are doing all formula and saying what happened. As long as you keep feeding you baby when she is hungery, you should be fine.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/index.html

This is a great, evidence-based website, written by lactation consultants and nurse practitioners, that I found to be the best-ever explanation of how your breasts make milk (and what you can do to encourage them to continue to do so.) It's really all about supply and demand, and it sounds like you're doing a fantastic job at that - it's a big challenge to work away from home and try to breastfeed, especially with all the early challenges you confronted! Good for you!

Honestly, I have never heard of "running out of milk." I did go through a period when I had a dip in supply, but had great luck w/fenugreek and extra pumping. If your supply does dip (which you can sort of monitor, with the pumping), continue to pump for around 5 minutes *after* you stop getting any milk out (and for 5 minutes after you finish bfing when you're with your daughter.) This tells your breasts "baby wants more", and they'll make more. As demand decreases, supply decreases - but as kids get older, they also get more efficient at getting the milk out, so it may seem as though they're not eating as much, when they're actually eating more. (Because you can't SEE what goes into them, breastfeeding can get you caught in some nasty mind games.) Most kids do go through a period (some time between 9-12 mos) when they are so engaged in the world that sitting and looking at your chest for 20 minutes to eat is just not interesting to them any more. But if you can ride it out, most kids will go back to the breast. My son basically got down off my lap at 10 mos and never looked back, so I pumped for two months and gave him bottles in his high chair - which he loved.

Keep on keepin' on, you're doing a great job!

I bfed until my daughter was 13 months, but toward the end I felt like it was more habit than nourishment. The only thing I wish I would have done differently is when my daughter began eating babyfood, I wish I would have nursed her at the beginning of the meal instead of at the end. She loved to eat the food and then would fill up and stopped wanting the breastmilk. So, if I were you, I'd just keep doing what you're doing, but when you introduce foods, just make sure she gets the bmilk first and then the baby food.

One thing that helped me is to pump a lot when my baby was little and I had plenty of milk. By doing this, I built up a good stock in the freezer which helped when my supply dipped. Good luck!

Hey Jennifer, wow! I really admire your perseverance with b-feeding! Great for you for sticking it out!!

I bfed both my daughters, and also had the goal that I would do it for the entire first year (or longer if we all wanted to). Unfortunately both of them decided at about 9 months that they were done. In the case of my older daughter, I got pregnant when she was 5 months old, and I think (only my theory) that the taste of my bmilk changed. Both my girls had bmilk exclusively until they were 6 months, then we supplemented with formula sometimes. They both started solids too at 5 months. Anyway, as I've read, pumping is just never quite as good as the baby, but even so, you should be proud that you are doing it so much at work! I could only ever get two or sometimes three sessions in at work and I know that's part of why my bmilk production went down after going back to work. We are hoping for another baby and I can tell you, my plan is to always pump more after feeding the baby, because I want to have a huge stock of bmilk in the freezer when I go back to work. Maybe you could start doing that - pump after you nurse your daughter, which should also ensure your production will stay strong.

Good luck!!!

Hi J.,

Congrats on your success! I wish I was able to breastfeed a year but my daughter had other plans. She was lactose intolerant due to a very sensitive stomach so I had to stop breastfeeding and use formula... I am happy to say I am glad I did that because a little after a year she is aloud to drink milk with no problems (her stomach just needed more time to develop).

Both my hubby and I had horrible ear infections when little and both of us had tubs put in... I was terrified my daughter would go through the same thing. Well my daughter, who is almost two, has had no ear infections! Hard to believe but true. I am not sure if breast milk will help prevent all stomach problems or ear infections (in fact with ear infects I think breast milk does not help)... but if you made it this far and she is doing well you have nothing to worry about.

About you milk supply from what you have said I don't think you will have anything to worry about. Keep it up and enjoy that special bonding time with your daughter.

You are doing a great job! Congratulations on overcoming all of those early problems. It sounds like you are on the right track with nursing on demand and pumping on demand. I also did that. Be sure to eat a balanced diet and stay hydrated. You might want to look into some nursing clothing which helps when you are out in public. I found really great stuff at motherwear.com. They even have dresses and work outfits. They have a great return policy too if something doesn't fit. Contact Le Leche League in your area too. Good luck!