I had to give Reagan formula yesterday for the first time in his 5 months of life.
I HAD to.
On Monday my milk supply plummeted.
Tuesday the same.
The last few days it has been about the same.
I don't seem to be losing any. But I am definitely not gaining any.
And there is definitely not enough to satisfy him.
My supply has always fluctuated a lot.
From being very engorged...to hardly having anything.
But I always have enough for him.
And it has never been this low, especially not for this long.
So finally last night around 9:30 I gave in and made him a bottle.
I knew he was hungry.
And I was stressed and upset I couldn't make enough milk for him.
I was worried he wouldn't like the taste of it...and it would just make him more upset.
(I had tried to give him formula once before just to see what he would do in case I ever did need to give it to him...and he wanted nothing to do with it and spit it all out)
But
He downed it in about 5 minutes.
And was happy as could be.
And I cried.
I don't know why my milk supply is suddenly dwindling.
Nothing in my diet or routine has changed.
And I feel like a failure that I can't provide the nutrients that he needs.
Did any other mothers go through something similiar?
I have been nursing him every two hours on the dot to try and get my supply back up, but it doesn't seem to be helping.
I have heard of the tea and pills you can take to boost your supply.
But
1. Do they work?
2. Are they safe?
I am kicking myself now for not being adamant about pumping. I only had about 10 bags in the freezer. He had those gone in a day and a half.
He spent the rest of the evening happy and content with a full belly though...and went right to sleep.
I on the other hand laid awake stressing about not being able to provide for him.
Which I'm sure just made the situation worse.
So any breastfeeding mothers have any advice for me?
I always feel sad when my babies like formula. I've taken fenugreek and brewer's yeast to help boost my supply. Both work GREAT and are safe for breastfeeding. There are teas and other things too. The tea tastes terrible but I've heard it's really effective. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! My supply has been better lately, but if it drops again I will keep this in mind!
ReplyDeleteMy lactation consultant always recommended this for me, to get a boost in my milk supply.
ReplyDeleteIf you have a double pump, do this: pump on both sides, at the same time, for five minutes ONLY. Stop for ten. Pump for five. Stop for ten. Pump for five. Stop for ten. Pump for five. Stop for ten. And then pump for five again. Do not go beyond five minutes for pumping - and don't worry about how much milk (if any) that you get. Do this in the evening, once. If your milk supply is really off - do it twice, once in the morning, and once in the evening.
If you only have a single pump, then you would just do one breast at each five minutes, switching on and off between the ten minute wait periods.
The tea DOES help - but if you're not a fan of drinking tea, there are some pills (of the ingredients that are in the tea) that you can take instead - you can find them at a natural foods/supplement store.
The "power pumping" has helped me in the past - and I never needed to use the tea or the supplements.