Trying to Nurse My Baby, Not Sure If It's Working!!

You can take or leave this advice, but it worked for me 39 years ago, drink about 8 ounces of beer. I was not a beer drinker, but I was also at the point of thinking that I would not able to breast feed. The beer worked for me, and I did not have to drink a beer daily just to get my milk flowing. And I will add that I am not an alcoholic.

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Try this it really helped me. So much so I would leak all over the bed at night lol. Solved that by putting a towel under my chest area.

J. - I'm sure it's working! I exclusively breast-fed my baby for the first nine months, and he did fine - yet, I could barely get anything while pumping! As long as you hear him swallowing while nursing, he's getting milk - and as long as he's getting bigger, then he's getting enough!
Some of us just don't pump well. I like to think it's because my boobs are too smart - they know it's not the baby, so they don't put out much milk! The best you can do is get lots of liquid, and as much rest as you can manage - and try to relax about it. (I know, I know, easier said than done - it took me months to accept that he really probably was getting enough - but he kept gaining weight, and peeing and pooping, so clearly he was getting food!)

Fenugreek is very helpful. I would go back to the hospital or see a lactaion specialist to make sure they are laching on right. Nursing is a very HARD thing to do, no one really tells us that, but if you hang it there it can be so wonderful. Good luck, I had a very hard time nursing my first. It took almost two and a half months of going back to the hospital and getting help, but it did pay off!

The best thing to do is get in touch with a local La Leche League leader who can help you trouble shoot. It's not too late to boost your supply, but you are making more than you're able to pump.

Pumping is not an indication of how much milk you are producing. If your baby is gaining enough weight and producing enough wet/poopy diapers, then he/she is getting enough milk. You should get in touch with a lactation consultant or your local La Leche league so that someone can help you determine if you truly have a low milk supply

first of all, big huge kudos to you for sticking with it so long. with my first baby i tried for a couple weeks and had the same troubles you are having. i was also such an emotional basket case about the whole thing my hubby finally convinced me to give up. i was stressing us all out and that wasn't helping the milk supply either. my oldest will be 4 next week and is happy and healthy and has always been off the charts for height and weight even tho she got very little breast milk. with my second baby i had planned to try breastfeeding again but wasn't expecting too much. it worked a little better, but i was still such an emotional wreck that we switched to formula for her also. she is also gaining weight and happy and healthy.
as the other response said, as long as baby is growing and gaining weight then you are doing fine. work with your doc and any lactation specialist you can find.
good luck!
~m

Congrats. Really at that age they are not eating much more then 2 oz at a time. Make sure you are eating well and regularly so you can make milk and remember to take it easy so you don't sour your milk. I did that with my second and had to stop breastfeeding and go to formula because she wasn't gaining weight. If your baby is gaining weight and not showing signs of dehydration you are probably fine. Oh and how often are you pumping? If it is every hour instead of every four you are going to get less milk.

Your baby will get more than you will. Also if you pump in between when he nurses, you will stimulate more milk production. And at six months or so he will have a growth spurt and he will demand more milk. Then you will produce more.

how much fenugreek are you taking? i was taking it to help my supply only to be told by a lactation consultant that i should take like three capsules three times a day. if you can remember to take all those pills, which i couldn't w/twins, it should help. my cousin said it did wonders. speaking with lactation over my months of breastfeeding a few things kept being repeated...
fluids: drink tons of water. this is excellent for your body and for your supply. (the bonus, without the baby pushing on your bladder, now you won't have to pee nearly as often!)
frequency: nurse that baby as often as he wants. this may prove a little more difficult with a toddler, but give it a whirl.
pump in addition: after your baby nurses, break out that annoying machine and pump an additional 5-10 minutes. just to let your body know you need more supply.
don't get discouraged. the more often the better. it may take a little time, but eventually you'll more milk than you know what to do with (fingers-crossed)
good luck!

When I tried to nurse and pump (unsuccessful due to previous breast surgery), the lactation nurse said to establish supply you need to pump for a minimum of 100 minutes per day.

I also recommend a hospital grade pump. It's worth it if you are just using it to establish supply.

I think you need help evaluating this problem. There are a lot of questions: Is your baby healthy? Are you nursing exclusively, or supplementing? Are there suckling problems with the babe? How often are your nursing? etc. etc. I think your best bet would be to talk to a lactation consultant who can help you evaluate the entire range of things, including taking a look at your kid and helping you come up with a plan to make nursing work for you.

J.,

Pumps are not as good as babies are at extracting milk, so it may be that your production is fine and you're just not getting much milk when you pump because the pump is less efficient and/or that your baby has nursed well and you have only made a couple of ounces from the time you nursed him and the time you started to pump.

That said, you should really schedule a visit with a lactation consultant and/or call La Leche League. None of us here can tell you what to do or try with the information you've given here.

If you are having breastfeeding problems it's important to address it sooner rather than later. Even if it turns out that everything is fine, you'll want to know that too.

Generally, if you're not having pain with nursing, he's gaining weight, having lots of wet and poopy diapers he's getting enough milk.

Good Luck!

It took me a month for my supply to come back up after stopping because of bleeding cracked nipples. I took fenugreek, drank TONS or water and anything else I could put my hands on and it still didnt work.
Nurse as MUCH as you can and I also recommend talking to your doctor about Domperidon which is a lactation drug that you can buy from Canadian Pharmacies. it helped my supply in a week and then after a month i went off it and everything 'flowed' smoothly from there on in!!
Pimping is always less effective than BF so the more you can the better! La Leche is always a great resource to see if things are moving along the right direction and i bet that if you keep up with it, your supply will increase as that baby demands more and more! If your baby is gaining weight and is healthy then things are probably going well and there should be no need to worry

it is never too late for milk production. I would highly suggest seeing a lactation consultant or looking up a La Leche League chapter in your area for advice but I learned when I had my son 2 months ago that women who had never even birthed a child can lactate and successfully breastfeed an adopted child. Amazing...My suggestion would be to drop any and all supplements that you are giving your baby and nurse exclusively. The baby will probably want to nurse every hour for a couple days but the near constant stimulation from his sucking is the absolute best way to get your milk flowing...Drink TONS of water and make sure you are eating well...Also keep in mind 2 things...your milk in the morning is usually fattier and a bit more plentiful than later in the day, that's normal. Also, your baby, because his suck is much more efficient and effective than even the best pump on the market, will usually get an ounce more than you are pumping. There are also prescription medications available to help with lactation if it comes to that but you probably won't need it.

ahhh! Don't give up the pumping! You are actually doing just great getting out a couple of ounces so early in the process! As another post mentions, the pump is not (right now) an indication of what you are producing (only if it is your only method of getting milk out, if the baby can't nurse). It takes a while for the body to respond to the pump. And even then, your baby will always get more milk out of each feeding than a pump could. Best wishes and congratulations.

As the other moms have said, if your baby is growing and gaining weight, your milk has come in and your baby is getting enough. I nursed my daugther (now two) to her 1 year birthday and am currently nursing my almost 5 month old. Since you don't see the milk in a measurable jar, its impossible to know how much they are getting or how much they are drinking at a time. As a part-time working mom, I pump at work and the let down is never the same as nursing meaning I know I don't pump as much as I feed my baby naturally.
Can you tell a difference in the fullness of your breasts before and after nursing? Can you hear your baby swallowing? Can you feel the let down? Do you see milk in your babies mouth or on the sides when he's nursing? After nursing, does your baby still act hungry? Does he burp after nursing?
You could always pump for a few minutes after nursing each time to try to increase your milk supply and/or offer him a bottle of breast milk to see if he's still hungry. I've heard of what they call nursing in method in which you stay in bed all day with your baby for about 3 days without a shirt and keep the baby at your breast, feeding them whenever they seem hungry, in attempt to get a mom's milk to come in. Worked like a charm for a friend who's milk didn't come in who tried lots of other things. Also heard more radical ideas such as a beer a day to help with milk supply. (Yeah, not sure if I would try it personally or not but that's what my friends doc told her)
Best of luck! Another option is check with the hospital that you delivered at, Southwest Washington Medical Center has a breastfeeding support group weekly at their family birth center where there is a lactation consultant available for questions. Might be worth the phone call.

The one baby with whom I tried also pumping, I could barely get 1 oz pumped, but all of my babies grew well (with a brief exception not due to milk volume). Pumping is almost always less than nursing (not always as much less as *I* was getting ;), but usually less), so don't get too worried about 'measuring' your capacity by pumping.

If the baby is getting enough nutrition, that is the key thing.

A nursing support group or lactation consultant might be able to suss out problems if your baby isn't getting enough milk (latching-on problems, etc.) ...

I had a similar problem with my first daughter. The important thing is how much she is getting when she nurses.. you can tell by weighing her before and after. There is a place near where I live (Bellingham - Mother Baby Store) that has a scale and a rocker and you can weigh and nurse. It's free. My insurance also paid for one of their nurses to come out and help me.. but in my case we just could not get enough in my daughter, and it was medically confirmed.

I found out later that the breast cups for the pump I was using were the wrong size (although that is unusual...) call the manufacturer and find out how to measure yourself. Fenugreek also did not work for me. By the time I found out about the cup sizes, it was really too late - plus my daughter was not an energetic eater.

Someone mentioned drinking beer - which is really NOT a good idea since it goes right into your breast milk for two hours - but I've heard "brewer's yeast" can help increase milk supply (which is likely what helped the lady who mentioned it).

I ended up having to supplement with formula. I'd nurse her and then give her formula after she'd exhausted my milk. I also continued pumping so my husband could give her as much of my milk as possible while I was at work. Even though I really hadn't wanted to do formula - at least she was still getting the benefits of the breastmilk and we were getting that close snuggle time.

It's a hard thing to deal with emotionally, but things will be okay. *hugs*

With my second, my milk came right in and I was fine - had to nurse her extra often to keep from hurting! So, with your next child, be prepared - but know that things can be different.

MORE fenugreek, I took about 8 pills at once! And TONS of water. If you think you're drinking a lot, well up the water intake anyways...yes, I know you will feel like you are floating away! It took me three children to figure this out and no one...not the lactation nurse or La Leche League told me to drink a ton more water. (go figure)

I have heard oatmeal, a big bowl once a day, will also increase your milk. Have not tried it personally, though.

The best way to find out if the baby is nursing...is he gaining weight? Is he dehydrated? A doctor can help you figure this out. I would be wary of a doctor who wants you to immediately bottle feed, but we did have to resort to this with my first baby as he was not at all interested in eating. My second and third children did fine, no problems breastfeeding, and got enough. We supplemented them with a bottle later on, because I was never a big milk producer. I was just thankful I could breastfeed so easily with them - even if it wasn't a lot of milk, after the problems with son #1!