i am not producing anough breast milk can someone please help?

Question

my baby is almost 6 weeks old and i am having to suplement about 3 to 4 ounces of formula each feeding. i have been working with a lactation consultant and i am on the reglan and taking mothers milk plus and drinking the raspberry leaf tea , also i am pumping but only like once or twice a day. i am only producing about and ounce and a half of breast milk , at least thats what the scales said last time when we weighed her before and after each feeding. does anyone know how much of the tea i should drink? or what else i can do to produce more milk?

Answer 1

Relax...stop fretting. Stress can actually have an effect on your production. I had this problem and eventually I was able to stop giving formula supplements and nurse full time. Also make sure you are drinking lots of water and NO sodas. Limit any caffeine, I always had to have at least one cup of coffee. Good luck and Congratulations!

Answer 2

I had this problem and resolved it with herbal supplements, pumping and an improved latch.

Nurse on demand and BEFORE you offer a bottle.

Pump after every nursing session to increase stimulation. (Even if you get little or nothing, pump for a five or ten minutes.) If you are not nursing regularly, pump every two hours, three at most.

Try Motherlove herbal supplement More Milk Plus. I began producing six ounces (pumping) at a time regularly a few days after starting this and then weaned myself off it. It is available at Whole Foods Market or online.

Let your baby comfort nurse.

I also used Mother's Milk Tea before the other supplement but only boosted me to about 3 ounces a pumping session - I drank 4-5 cups (8 oz.) a day. (At that time it was a great increase consider I was only making about an ounc.)

Eat lactogenic foods. See http://www.mobimotherhood.org/MM/article-diet.aspx
for a list of foods and herbs. I still have a bowl of oatmeal daily - usually in the morning. This site also helped me http://www.mobimotherhood.org/MM/article-issysupply.aspx

Remember whatever you produce pumping, your baby probably gets at least an ounce more when nursing.

Make sure you are having three meals (at least one hot and one that includes a green salad) and three snacks daily.

Relax! When I was trying to do everything and stressing about my supply it actually got lower! (And that still happens!)

I know it is a difficult experience. I felt like a failure and was so depressed, but keep supportive people around you. Stay positive and just remember that either way it turns out, your baby will know you love him/her.

Good luck!

Answer 3

At 6 weeks I am suprised that your baby is drinking so much. My son is 5 months old and only drinks 5 oz of breast milk at a feeding. Talk to your lactation consultant about how much your baby should be averaging at a feeding.
You can take a combination of fenugreek and blessed thistle (3caps. of each 2 to three times per day) for a FEW days to try to increase your milk supply. HOWEVER- I do not know if you can take this along with the reglan. Ask your lactation consultant about that, also!

Answer 4

I've never heard of drinking raspberry leaf tea or taking whatever that mother's milk plus is. It's good you're working with a lactation consultant, but it's probably more your diet than drinking any tea why you're not producing enough milk for your son.

How many of his diapers are you changing a day? If the number between 6-10 diapers a day, he's getting enough breast milk, and you can stop worrying.

I have three boys, and breastfed them all, and my mother kept telling me I wasn't making enough milk for any of them, but I paid no attention to her, because I knew my children, and I knew how much they could stand and how much they could hold. My second son never even had a bottle in his mouth; he didn't like the taste of the rubber nipple, so if his food didn't come from me, he didn't want it.

Check with your doctor and work on your diet, keep feeding that beautiful baby of yours, and stop worrying. Good luck.

Answer 5

drink lots of water and eat oatmeal. pump after ever feeding.. even if you don't get much at first.. you will in time. skin to skin contact helps too. spend as much time possible (in bed preferably) with each other barely dressed. Just the close skin contact will stimulate your milk production. Visit kellymom.com - they are wonderfully helpful. Good luck! You are doing the absolute best thing for your baby!

ps - one of the biggest growth spurts is coming up at 6 weeks - she will want to feed day and night 24/7 so be prepared. But the good news is after that spurt (usually lasts a few days) you'll have a much bigger milk supply - you'll be exhausted but hopefully you won't worry too much about supply anymore - all the best!

Answer 6

Stop using formula!!! Your filling baby up with formula, which digests slower so he feeds less often! You are causing your low supply by suplementing. Breastmilk is supply and demand! If you suply formula, your baby will not demand breastmilk, therefore your body will not supply breastmilk.

I would suggest a nursing vacation with pumping without suplementing with formula.

Stay in bed with your baby for 48 hours. Nurse on demand. Pump for 15 minutes after each feeding session-if you get milk or not--pump by the clock, not the amount of milk you're not getting. Let someone else take care of older children and you. YOU STAY IN BED WITH BABY!! Rest. Feed Baby. Pump. Rest. Feed baby. Pump. (get the picture??)

Eating oatmeal daily works for some woman

Fenugreek supplement:
2-4 (580-610 mg) capsules, 3 times per day
capsules
7-14 (500 mg) capsules per day

tea one cup of tea, 2-3 times per day

Instead of Reglan you might want to ask your doc about Motilium (domperidone) which has many fewer side effects because it does not enter the brain tissue in significant amounts. It does not pass the blood-brain barrier. domperidone at 30 mg (three 10 mg tablets) 3 times a day. In some situations we go as high as 40 mg 4 times a day

(In June of 2004, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) put out a warning against using domperidone because of possible cardiac side effects. This unfortunate step was taken without considering the fact that the cardiac side effects occurred only when the drug was taken intravenously by otherwise very sick patients.)

Avoid pseudoephedrine--research shows that it can decrease milk supply by as much as 24%. (found in Sudafed, Actifed)

Herbs to avoid: dried sage, Peppermint (Mentha piperita), Spearmint, Parsley (Petroselinum crispum), Chickweed, Black Walnut, stinging nettles (not nettle - that increases milk supply), Yarrow, Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum), Lemon Balm, Oregano, Periwinkle Herb (Vinca minor), Sorrel (Rumex acetosa).

HTH

*****************************************************EDITED TO ADD:
A retained placental fragment can delay adequate milk production. Ask your OB about it!

Answer 7

I had the same problem- my doctor told me to produce naturally I should nurse my son MORE often even for just a short periods of time...your body produces on demand....I never had "extra" but I never had to supplement or pump either- It would take me all day to get 4 ounces!

All turned out ok for me--I nursed my son til he was 2 so all was good.

Hope this helps...

Answer 8

You need to pump a lot more then that. Every four hours. And V8 is also good for your milk supply. I drank a quart a day of the mothers milk tea and it helped me a lot. Good luck!

Answer 9

Try to slowly decrease the amount that is supplemented.. and nurse a little more each time. The more you nurse the baby, the more milk your body will produce. Also, try massaging before you feed.. it helps, too. The most important thing is RELAX... you may be too "busy" for your body to do what it needs to do.

Answer 10

Increase your fluid intake, don't take sudafed or similar, don't eat very much rice, pasta & breads...things that absorb fluids.