did you breast feed or formula feed your baby?

Question

I have been trying to breast feed my son by pumping my milk but my milk supply cannot keep up with how much he eats. My son will be 5 weeks old on saturday and he eats over 30 onces a day and so I have to subsitute some of his milk with formula. I try to pump on a regular basis but it is sometimes not enough time in the day to sit down and pump his milk and plus sometimes I don't get much milk when I am pumping. How can I increase my milk supply from my breast, like I said sometimes I will get alot of milk when I pump and then other times I just don't hardly get any milk. Any suggestions are helpful.

If you nursed how long did you nurse for?

Answer 1

try taking fenugreek tablets, they can be gotten from chemists or health food shops and Vitamin B tablets these will help build up your supply, keep pumping and drink plenty of water.
If this doesnt work do not feel bad about using formula as a top up.
Also Try massaging them and doing it by hand pump in a warm shower just to try and build up the supply
I exclusivly nursed for 6 weeks but had to supplement because no matter what I did my boy was always hungry

Answer 2

30 ounces is a lot. My son was drinking about that much when I stopped pumping at 12 weeks. It looks like you have gotten some really good suggestions so far. My advice would be to either supplement with formula (knowing that doing so will cause a decrease in your supply eventually), or renting a hospital grade double electric pump. Those seem to be the most efficient. Also, the more you are able to relax, the more you will be able to produce. Pump as often as your baby eats, and good luck with what ever you decide.

Answer 3

Are you only pumping?

Milk will "let down" much more easily (and readily) for your baby than it will for a piece of machinery. At least that's been the case for most of my friends and myself when it came to breastfeeding. If you can breastfeed and pump between nursing sessions, you'll encourage more milk production.

Your milk supply works on a supply/demand basis. The more you nurse (or pump), the more you will produce. If you supplement with formula, you will be undermining your own efforts by decreasing the demand for your milk.

I nursed my daughter (now 3) for around 14 months. My son is still nursing at 8 months now and will continue to do so until he decides he's ready to stop.

Answer 4

the more you pump/nurse the more you will make. if you nurse then pump you may only get an ouce out but that is extra milk and within a few days you will be getting more out. its all supply and demand.if your worried about how much hes getting or his weight gain get his weight checked adn talk to his doctor. when my son was small i would pump after he ate thru out the day. they also make a herb called fenugreek which helps the supply of millk. you take 3-4 pills 3 times a day, you know when you are taking the right amount when you smell like syrup. call a laction consultant they will help you or check out kellymom.com they are helpful with a lot of information also. my son will be 6 months on the 9th and we are still going strong. my other kids didn't nurse. good luck

Answer 5

Unfortunately, pumping doesn't stimulate quite as well as nursing. If you can, get your baby to latch onto you and just nurse on demand. The more you nurse (or pump) the more you produce. I pumped on occasion so my husband could feed her, or she could do an overnight with my parents, and I never got as much let down as when she nursed. Stay hydrated, take your vitamins, and make sure to get enough rest. All of those factor into your milk production. You also need to be relaxed to get good letdown. There is an herbal supplement you can take, called fenugreek. Call La Leche League if you want some hands on help as well.

I nursed for 9 months. One day, she wouldn't nurse anymore. She couldn't be bothered to sit with me, she wanted to be up and around and looking at things. By that point, my milk supply was too low. I couldn't get it out with the pump, and had to use formula.

Answer 6

I breastfed. I didn't bother pumping after a handful of tries because I could never get much of anything out that way, even though I had plenty of milk, and a strong letdown when nursing. If you can get your baby to latch on and nurse often, your milk supply will keep up. It would probably be good to contact a La Leche League leader or certified lactation consultant to help you out as well.

Here are some good links:

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/index.html
http://www.llli.org/NB/NBmilksupplyissues.html

Answer 7

i do both. but if you want to keep your supply up drink lots of water and pump every two hours and let the pump go 2 - 3 minutes after the milk stop to show more demand for milk.

Answer 8

I know what you mean. I breast feed and formula feed my baby. He is now 11wks I feed him, every 3hrs in the day and after 6pm every 4hrs between 4 to 6 onces. Everytime you pump you should drink a glass of water and through out the day drink plenty of fluids to increase your milk supply.

Answer 9

Your milk supply is on demand. If you supplement with formula your body thinks that it doesn't need to make as much milk. So first, I would suggest that you minimize formula as much as possible. A good way to help your milk let down is by massaging or tickling your breasts in a spiral/circular motion. Good luck, breast is best, so keep it up!

Answer 10

Yaeh,i did breastfeed my son and gave him formula at the same time, you would be taking in lots of fluids like soups, that also helps with breast milk. I breast feed my son till he was 16months old,cos am a stay at home mother and i love to breast feed my babies, there are so many advantages. Talk to your Doctor about the advantages of breastfeeding