wanting to start pumping my milk?

Question

my son is a month old, he has been breastfeed from day one, but now that he's getting a bit older, I want to start pumping. so I went out and bought a manual pump, Today I've only been able to pump a ounce on each breast, the most has been 2 1/2 ounces. other than drinking water, what else can I do to get more milk??

Answer 1

My daughter is now 15 weeks. We introduced the bottle to her at 6 weeks which is the recommended age. I did the manual pump at the beginning since the hospital gave us one, but it took way too much time. I barely got anything from pumping a long time. Usually, the most you'll get is within the first 10 minutes...any longer won't make much of a difference.

With my electric pump, I can get a lot more. Like if my daughter is still asleep during the night, but my breasts are full, I can get almost 4 ounces in 5 minutes. But everyone is different. The more you nurse and pump, the more milk you will produce. Also try taking a warm shower before pumping. When I do this, usually the milk starts coming and my breasts are leaking when I'm still in the shower (even if it's a short shower which we know is all babies will give their moms).

The electric pump is a good investment, but if you can't afford one, I think hospitals rent them out.

I found this on babycenter.com:
To find rental locations in your area, call Medela at [phone] or search the company's Web site or try Ameda at [phone] or search its Web site.
http://medela.findlocation.com
http://www.ameda.com/where

Good luck!

Answer 2

Are you pumping long enough? It usually takes about 10-15 minutes a breast with manual, if you get an electric, it's about 5 minutes a side. I would say, definently, increase your milk and water intake and eat healthy. Sometimes, it's just hard to go to the pump, as I had trouble doing this with my second child. The breasts sometimes need that stimulation from your baby and you may want to try feeding the baby for a few minutes first, just to get the milk flowing. Also, you may want to try pumping every hour or two, to keep the milk production up and running. It's really hard to switch to pumping because after a while, it can get exhausting if your not pumping enough milk and it will take it's toll. Don't try skipping pumping at night and pump as often as possible, no matter how tiring, if you want your child to continue with the breast milk. When I had my first, I was fine for 3 months, starting pumping and was successful for about 3 more months. With my second, it became exhausting, taking care of baby 4 year old and pumping, not to mention taking in enough food to keep up with everything I was doing. So, if you want to pump and plan on sticking it out, be prepared to increase your intake and have plenty of time to pump, because if you don't the milk production is going to slow down.

Answer 3

Increasing your liquid intake does help but the more drink doesn't make you produce more milk. I breastfeed for 4 months. My son nursed just fine but I pumped when I went back to to work. I bought an electric pump that I had to plug in and it was loud. Wished I had gotten a different one. But anyways, after 2 days of pumping and only getting 3 ounces in total, I called my OBGYN and asked for a referral to a Lactate Nurse/Consultant. I met with her once with my pump and she showed me how to properly use the pump and how I could pump sitting up in a chair and lay on my side in my bed. It helped and that day I filled 3 bottles. So I suggest that you call your doctor for a referral to a Lactate Consultant or maybe a few are in the yellow pages. You need to see someone in person, not just talk over the phone. The way you position your breast and the angle of the pump and to make sure you have the suction piece completely around the nipple so there is no air getting in. Good luck!

Answer 4

I think the most important thing is that you have a quality pump. I highly, highly suggest the Medela Pump In Style. It's expensive, but it's really worth the price. And you can pump both breasts at once to save time.

If you're still having problems, you can try taking Fenugreek and/or Blessed Thistle Herb. They also make something called Mother's Milk Tea which has those herbs in it with other things to increase your supply.

Try to relax. As a previous poster said, you could drink a glass of wine. It shouldn't be controversial at all. Alcohol DOES NOT concentrate in your breast milk. The level of alcohol in your milk is the same as in your blood. So, even if you're legally drunk at .08% (which I'm not suggesting because you ARE caring for a baby), such a small amount is not going to affect your baby. Oh, speaking of alcohol, they say drinking a beer can help increase your supply, too, but I don't know how accurate that is.

Answer 5

Just keep pumping and feeding. After each feeding I'd pump whatever would come out. which wasn't much at first, maybe an ounce or so..but I did have a small supply built up for when I went back to work.
Pumping will never drain your breast as good as a baby can anyway. But the more sucking action on them the more milk you body will produce. Nature of supply and demand.

Answer 6

You could try taking a supplement, like Fenugreek or Mother's Milk Tea. They both promote milk production. It's hard to get lots of milk with a manual pump, though. Also, because your baby is only 1 month old, your body really only produces as much milk as your baby needs. So at 1 month, 2.5 oz at one pumping is great! As your baby gets older and drinks more milk, your body will produce more and you'll be able to pump more. And, your baby is much more effective at getting milk from your breasts than a pump is. So you'll never be able to pump as much as your baby drinks.

Good luck!!

Answer 7

Eat and drink foods and drinks that are high in calcium. Your body needs calcium to make milk. And pump more often, the more you pump the more your body will make. So say your pumping 3 times a day now, pump like 6 times and maybe pump a little less at a time at first. Good luck!

Answer 8

Even dough is no very Tasty There's this fish called Cod Fish am not sure if u are familiar with it, is very salty . But you make a soup or anything with it in it...and that is a For sure to work, there's also tea's and them manual pumps are No good!! They're a waste of money! Electric ones are the best and as much as ppl say they hurt at first it will but after a few seconds u dont even feel it. But yeah that was the only way I was able to bring my milk supply back after i stoped breast feeding for about 3 months! Every one kept on telling me to eat it after failed attempts with everything else...at the end it was the only thing that actually worked so i would recomend it to anybody!

Answer 9

Consider buying an electric pump..much more efficient!!!! I've been pumping since the beginning....it was worth the cost!!! Don't worry about how much you are getting. Right now your little baby will only need 2-4 ounces a bottle anyways. Keep at it!!!!!

Answer 10

Keep pumping but I'm not sure how much a manual pump is going to help. If its just for occasional use it may be ok but if you need it to work really well and get alot of milk you are going to need a much better one. They are expensive but worth it. You can get a used one and always sale it later.