help with breastmilk drying up?

Question

ok my daughter is going to be three months in 10 days and for the past week or two it seems like whenever i breastfeed her she is not getting enough. she will nurse for about 5 mins and then starts fussing. so i switch to the other side and not even 5 mins later she is fussing again. and i check to see if anything is coming out it seems like nothing is coming out. when she was about 1 1/2 to 2 months old i started to give her a bottle every so often. like when we would have to go out somewhere. i just didn't feel all that comfortable breastfeeding in public. see i'm a bigger girl and i am very self conscious. and now i don't know if my milk is drying up or if she is just mad because it does not come out fast like a bottle. i have tried to pump and when i do nothing comes out. i really want to try to continue breastfeeding but it seems like she is not getting full.

my husband is in the army and we are currently sationed in belgium and we don't live on base so i don't know if there is a latch league around here. i have talked to some of the other moms here and they said they are pretty sure that we don't have anything like that here.

Answer 1

Babies usually go through a phase about this time. Just don't give up. If you really want to continue nursing, nurse alot and stop giving a bottle. Believe it or not a bottle can mess things up when it comes to nursing. The way babies have to suck to get milk from your breast is quite different from the way they have to suck on a bottle. My son is 6 1/2 months and still exclusively breastfed(and also has never had a bottle or paci) but around three or four months I started to notice my let down didn't happen as quickly as it had. I was still producing plenty of milk, it just took longer for my milk to let down. I bought some Mother's Milk Tea, it is made by Traditional Medicinals, it supports health lactation, and it worked like a charm. I started drinking it regularly and my let down would kick in almost as soon as he would latch on. Also I don't know where you live but do a search. La Leche League in __________
And it will help you find a la leche league in your area. It really is important to have support when you are breastfeeding. And you want to make sure they know what they are talking about and is encouraging. Alot of times doctors and friends aren't as knowledgeable as they think they are when it comes to breastfeeding and they end up giving bad advice. La leche league is wonderful when it comes to giving great, supportive, encouraging advice.

Answer 2

http://www.llli.org/Belgium.html

LLL is all over the world!

That bottle is sabotaging breastfeeding for you. Throw it away. Seriously. Nurse your baby all day for a few days.
Look into getting fenugreek supplements or Mother's Milk tea. Do you have a GNC at the PX? They should have these things, or the commissary might have them.

Do you have an FRG or coffee group? Have you tried calling the hospital and asking for a lactation consultant? Can you call the ACS (Army Community Services) office and ask for resources?

I would like to add that many mothers lose confidence in their supply at this stage. One day you wake up and the engorgement is gone, no more leaking, no more letdown. That's normal. The bottles you gave may have interfered with your supply, so I recommend that you find some face-to-face help.

Keep going. You can do it, mama!

Answer 3

You can access LLL online. And get help there too.

Is she still making peepee? As long as she's still making 6 or more diapers a day she's not starving. In most cases you make the same amount of mile until she demands more. Keep her on the breast longer on each side. Pump between feedings. Its just the stimulation that causes more production, not always more milk coming out.

Make sure you're taking a prenatal and drinking plenty.

Does the hospital on base have a maternity ward where you can ask for help? I know those hospitals are a joke.. lol. Belgim is not without experts on the issue. If you have to, look around for help.

Answer 4

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/low-supply.html this is an awesome site, this page is on low supply and ways to "fix" it ... also search the site for everything breastfeeding related.

Just for some support and encouragement, ask around more English speaking moms - no matter which country they're citizens of, you may find a local group in Belgium, where 2-3 of the mothers have really good english and can meet you at a park, or come to your house for an informal LLL meeting.

http://forums.llli.org/ sign up for one of the online groups... they have scheduled chats too
also here for message boards: http://forum.kellymom.net/

Belgium LLL Leaders:
--Bruxelles: Carla 02/660 77 67, Erin 02/241 79 90
--Arlon: Irma 063/22 22 39
--Dinant: Fabienne 0476/57 84 88
--Durbuy: Caroline 086/21 84 53, Christina 086/21 06 31
--Liège: uniquement par e-mail (voir ci-dessous)
--Marchin: Emmanuelle 085/41 29 57
--Nivelles: Mandy 071/85 40 59
--Namur: Laurence 085/71.45.92

send LLL Belgium an email, someone should respond too: [e-mail]



Just say - "La Leche League English?" if they speak English, they can help you!!

Answer 5

My daughter has been having the same problems with her 3 month old just lately - but she gave in and fed so often that her nipples were sore - two days - and now her baby is fine again. Possibly a growth spurt or teeth coming into the gums.
Try Eglanol and Alfalfa to enhance your breast milk but the best thing is more feeding.

Answer 6

You dont need la leche league, you need some herbal teas, there is a really good tea made by traditional medicinals called mothers milk, there is also one made by Yogi teas called mothers tea. They are great for starting up your milk again. Stay in for a week breastfeed when ever you can no bottles incase it is a bottle strike and drink some tea 3 times a day. If you cant order it see if you can eget someone from the states to ship it to you or if there is something equivelent where you are.
Ingredient are mostly, anise, fennel, corriander, tth combination has been used for centuries to promote healthy breastfeeding in europe so I am sure there is something of equal value if not better where you are.

Answer 7

Supply and demand is the order of the day. You need to feed feed feed you baby frequently and often. The more you feed her the more milk you will make. It will take about 24 hrs from the time you slip in extra feedings for your milk to build up but it is worth it. continue breastfeeding as long as you feel comfortable but if you are having difficulties and want to stop do so. You don't need the extra pressure.
Good luck.

Answer 8

You can just try pumping for a bit and see how far that gets you, maybe shes getting just the Colostrum and that's he watery substance your breast makes before the milk, If you can pump you would be able to see what the milk looks like and you can tell whether she's getting one or the other. Sometimes it just doesn't come out fast enough no matter how long they feed or how hard they suckle, Try it in a bottle and see what happens. That's the only issue I have with breast feeding, you can never really tell what there getting and how much. As for the pumping and nothing try another pump, the hospital should be able to point you in the direction of a good source or help you get one from them, sometimes the store bought pumps don't have enough suction.

Answer 9

I don't think your milk is drying up. Your daughter might not be as hungry as she usually is, or she could be teething and it hurts to eat (my daughter doesn't eat much when she is teething).

I tryed to pump also and it takes a long time to fill up those bottles. Try not to give her the bottle that much, it is less work for babies to suck from those nipples then yours (they want the easy way out).

Just keep of the good work and she'll eat when she is hungry.

Answer 10

Even though your a bigger girl try eating more maybe healthier foods to produce more milk in your body. If your not really eating your body has nothing to process to produce the milk shes needing to get. your can maybe even try taking some type of vitamins to help your body produce certain nutrients it needs to start you to flow like you need. I say eat more! I was like that with my last son he just couldn't get enough, but he wouldn't give me time to eat a full meal to produce like I needed to so if shes on the bottle as well while shes feeding off that try an stuff your face with GOOD HEALTHY FOODS! an see how that works.