Breastfeeding Advice??

Question

My first I breastfed for about 4 weeks until I couldn't go anymore. I was not producing enough milk....Now, my ten month old I breastfed for about 8 weeks and then quit. I am currently pregnant and I am due October 21st...Is there anything that I can do to make me produce enough milk this time....And any tips on how to keep it going this time....Its hard to stick to it.

Answer 1

The more you nurse your baby then the more milk your body produces. My advice would be to nurse often but it sounds like that hasn't worked for you in the past so you could try pumping milk. Pumping usually stimulates your body to produce more milk, just like nursing. If you had trouble nursing then I would talk to your doctor about a breast shield which usually makes it more comfortable for you to nurse your baby and also is easier for the baby to latch onto.  

Answer 2

The only way to produce more is just to pump or breastfeed more. Talk to your doctor. But honestly some women just never can produce enough. Don't feel bad about it. I didn't make enough and my son is perfectly healthy on formula.  

Answer 3

people kept telling me to pump. when i had my baby he was in the icu for the first week and i was pumping every 3 hours for 15 minutes a side. When i got him home i already was producing milk but i kept pumping in between just to boost up the supply. when your baby comes try the breast and let him go on one for as long as he can and then pump. I would let my son go to town on one side and then pump after to drain the rest and go for about 3 -5 minutes after the milk stopped. We stuck to onesided feedings - he wasnt fond of switching. So he would empty the right one and then the next time he got the left and then i would pump a little after.

If that doesnt help increasing supply contact a lactation consultant and see what they say! Good luck and congrats!!

Answer 4

Number one, breastfeed baby as often as baby will eat.  Once baby is done eating, you can pump for a few additional minutes to make your breast think that baby is still eating or still hungry.  You also want to make sure and eat at least 3 nutritional meals a day.  On top of eating, get plenty to drink.  I was told to drink a bottle of water everytime baby ate to replace the fluids lost.  Try to get as much rest as possible ( I know its easier said than done).  Stress can also affect milk supply so don't be afraid to ask for help to avoid from getting stressed out.  Malt is also good for milk supply so you have a good reason to go to dairy queen for a chocolate malt.  HeHe  If you are still having trouble with your milk supply, your doctor can prescribe a medication called Reglan to help increase milk supply.  Remember that a little breastfeeding is better than no breastfeeding at all.  If your just not producing enough milk to satisfy baby, you can always supplement with formula so baby is getting full but also getting breastmilk.  I ended up giving my daughter bottles with half breastmilk and half formula.  Best of luck to you this time!  And good date to give birth, that's my anniversary!!!!

Answer 5

Breastfeeding is difficult in the beginning, but believe me if you can do it for 2 months, you can do it for 2 years.  Try and get enough rest (I know that is easier said than done, I am pregnant with my fourth.)  Drink lots of fluids.  You can take fennel in capsuls or tea (its cheap at the health food store.) You can also get a prescription of domperidone from your doctor. That will help your milk supply.  Do it sooner rather than later if you are having troubles.  I had problems feeding my first but bf my second for 2 years and my third for 17 months.  Its much cheaper and healthier for babe. But any amount you can give baby is wonderful.  Congrats on your baby.

Answer 6

Most likely the pain drugs used during birth are causing the breastfeeding problems. Read a book on childbirth and see if you can have a drug free birth this time which will help greatly with beginning breastfeeding and continuing the feeding. It is harder on your own, there are some great free neighborhood breastfeeding groups and you can connect with them through La Leche League. The link below contains 10 Tips for Breastfeeding for a Year. Hope this helps. Best wishes, g

Answer 7

what makes you think you didn't produce enough milk the other times? if your baby was gaining weight then you were making enough- not making enough is very rare believe it or not. some babies want to nurse constantly and that's normal but it doesn't last forever. my son nurse constantly when he was tiny and it subsided as he grew andd learned how to nurse more efficiently. it is hard but every time you think about quiting just say you'll give it two more weeks, then say it again. it gets easier and easier- after a while it becomes effortless and im not jsut saying that. i was in the same boat, a new 19 year old mother with not much support and information. speaking with lactation consultants and most helpful. not only do the help you physically with your baby but they give you a boost of hopeand make you feel good about your decision and your insecurity about it..the best ways to produce enough milk is... NO BOTTLES, nurse on demand. using pacifiers can hinder the amount of stimulation you get on your breast.  breastfeeding is supply and demand, the more you nurse the more you'll make. remember, what you cna pump has nothing to do with the amount of milk that your baby gets directly from the breast. your baby gets much more out that a pump ever will. 2 months is still good considering a lot of women don't even make it that far.

here is a great website that still helps me

http://www.kellymom.com/

Answer 8

Just breast feed as much as possible.  I had the same problem with my son because he had a very weak suck reflex.  I only breast fed him for his first month of life.  My feeling is any breast feeding is better than no breast feeding.  Good luck and I hope it works out this time for you.

Answer 9

Did anyone weigh your infant before and after nursing them?  Just because you don't feel your b*****s filling doesn't mean they aren't full.

Don't diet, eat a nutritious diet, and you can drink Mother's Milk Tea (some women like it), or even take fenugreek - found in supplement section of a natural food store.  Also try to nurse every 2 hours, 24 hours a day, and switch sides often - even switch twice during one feeding.

Answer 10

the best thing you can do is attend le leche league meetings and get good support

the next best thing is to feed the baby on demand at the breast (no bottles) which will naturally increase your milk production to as much as the baby needs

Answer 11

Feed anytime your baby shows signs of being hungry.  If he starts crying, you've missed the earlier cues like rooting and sucking on his fingers.  Feed on demand and don't try to 'schedual' him.  The more you breastfeed, the more milk you'll produce.

Answer 12

Try your best not to supplement -- you want your baby to be demanding milk from you, not a bottle.  The more the baby demands, the more production you usually have.

Make sure you get enough rest - being tired and run down will affect milk production.  Easier said than done with three little ones, though, I know.

Offer the breast often -- you can't really be on a schedule with breastfeeding, because supply and demand are so idiosyncratic.  

Answer 13

You need to line up some assistance.  Very  few women cannot produce enough breastmilk to nourish their babies.  That's not to saw that women don't run into difficulties - they certainly do!  But just because they don't know how to turn it around doesn't mean there isn't an easy solution.

Just some general suggestions; avoid bottles when you don't need them.  If you use a bottle (ie. when you are out), make sure you  pump when baby would take that bottle.

Nurse on demand and remember that you CAN be your baby's pacifier.  The first 6-8 weeks are when you are building up your supply and any suckling is going to help that.  Introducing any artificial nipples/milks will hinder it.

Learn what the real symptoms are of insufficient milk.  Some people confuse a fussy baby following a feeding to mean lack of supply; or cluster feeding.  If your baby is still hungry, then nurse more.  Offering bottles of formula afterwards only compounds the issue.  It's perfectly normal when baby is gearing up for a growth spurt to naturally increase your milk production by nursing more.  That's not a sign of insufficient milk.

Before you give any formula because you think you are not making enough milk, see a lactation professional (IBCLC) for confirmation.  Even if you aren't producing enough, they can often help you easily and quickly resolve the issue.  Don't take the advice of your doc or ped to switch to formula; they are not trained in solving lactation problems.

Good luck and congratulations!

Answer 14

1) Education

2) Support

Far too many women quit breastfeeding because they think their baby isn't getting enough when in fact their baby is getting plenty.  Also even when mom is making plenty of milk if baby isn't latched on properly or fed often enough the baby isn't going to get enough.  A third possibility is tongue-tie which can cause breastfeeding difficulties and can run in families.

You need the education to be able to understand when things are going well.  You need the support to get help if things do not go well, or just to cheer you on.

Attending La Leche League meetings can be a good place to start.

http://www.todaysparent.com/article.jsp?...

Lactation consultant Diane Wiessinger of Ithaca, New York, agrees. “I once led a meeting where I told the mothers — all experienced breastfeeding mothers — that we were going to write the real baby book, one that told new mothers what they needed to know,” she recalls. “One woman said, ‘New mothers need to know that newborns will nurse every hour.’ Another mother spoke up and said, ‘Yeah, and the feedings will last an hour.’ Everyone laughed, and I think that laughter meant that this is a common experience. Babies don’t really nurse all the time, but it can sure feel that way — especially at first.”

She points out that in the beginning, nursing a baby requires intense concentration on the mother’s part. “You’re pinned to your seat. You have to get the position right, and the latch right, and you feel like you can barely move while you’re nursing.” That improves with time, though. “You learn how to read a magazine lying next to you on the couch while you’re nursing, even if you have trouble turning the pages. Then you can hold a book with one hand. Then, later, you can walk around with baby still attached.”

Wiessinger believes that counting and timing feedings may only make a nursing mother feel more stressed about what she thinks she needs to accomplish during the day. The reality, however, might actually be quite different since, as Wiessinger points out, frequent feedings tend to be short and easy to fit around other activities.

Anthropologist Kathy Dettwyler from Texas A&M University says that nursing a lot is typical of babies around the world. She cites a study done in 2000 that looked at the feeding behaviour of infants aged three to four months in three different communities: families from Washington, DC, the Ba’Aka hunter-gatherers and the Ngandu farmers, both of the Central African Republic. They found that the Ba’Aka babies nursed 4.02 times per hour, the Ngandu babies nursed 2.01 times per hour and the American babies nursed 1.6 times per hour. Certainly the American babies nursed less often than the two African groups, but they nursed more frequently than many new parents expect.

http://www.breastfeed.com/articles/newbo...

The Formula Effect

In our culture, mothers have been accustomed to babies who are formula fed, who behave very differently from babies who eat naturally. Formula is an artificial food, and it causes babies to act in artificial ways. Babies who drink formula receive in very short order a large amount of liquid that is very difficult to digest. After a formula bottle and a few big burps, babies sleep for several hours before they feel hungry again. Hmm... This sounds very nice; Mom can get lots of things done. Perhaps.

However, inside, Baby is dealing with an unnatural food that is very hard to digest and takes a very long time to move out of his stomach. In any case, many new mothers have come to accept that this is the way their own baby will behave. Not so with breast milk.

Breast milk is natural and digests very quickly – usually within two hours. Therefore, breastfed babies eat often. In the early weeks, they may eat eight to 20 times a day – or more. It depends.

As a lactation consultant, I frequently hear moms say, "Well I tried to breastfeed my first child but they always wanted to eat, and my milk could never fill them up like formula did. They were always hungry." Get it? The formula makes them feel very full, but is that good for them? Not really. Formula is deficient in all immunological properties.

I then ask the mothers, "Before you changed to formula, was your baby gaining weight well and having plenty of wet diapers and bowel movements?"

"Oh, yes," they say. "That was going well." I have come to understand that the reason these moms quit is not that their baby is not growing well or that they did not have enough milk, but because they didn't want to feed as often as the baby needed to eat and felt that by switching to an artificial food, the baby would be "happier" and "more content." Their baby would behave more like TV babies. Their perception was that something was wrong because their babies ate often. Perhaps that feeling was reinforced by "helpful" friends or family members.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/low-su...

What if you're not quite sure about baby's current weight gain (perhaps baby hasn't had a weight check lately)? If baby is having an adequate number of wet and dirty diapers then the following things do NOT mean that you have a low milk supply:

    * Your baby nurses frequently. Breastmilk is digested quickly (usually in 1.5-2 hours), so breastfed babies need to eat more often than formula-fed babies. Many babies have a strong need to suck. Also, babies often need continuous contact with mom in order to feel secure. All these things are normal, and you cannot spoil your baby by meeting these needs.

    * Your baby suddenly increases the frequency and/or length of nursings. This is often a growth spurt. The baby nurses more (this usually lasts a few days to a week), which increases your milk supply. Don't offer baby supplements when this happens: supplementing will inform your body that the baby doesn't need the extra milk, and your supply will drop.

    * Your baby nurses more often and is fussy in the evening.

    * Your baby doesn't nurse as long as she did previously. As babies get older and better at nursing, they become more efficient at extracting milk.

    * Your baby is fussy. Many babies have a fussy time of day - often in the evening. Some babies are fussy much of the time. This can have many reasons, and sometimes the fussiness goes away before you find the reason.

    * Your baby guzzles down a bottle of formula or expressed milk after nursing. Many babies will willingly take a bottle even after they have a full feeding at the breast. Read more here from board-certified lactation consultant Kathy Kuhn about why baby may do this and how this can affect milk supply. Of course, if you regularly supplement baby after nursing, your milk supply will drop (see below).

    * Your b*****s don't leak milk, or only leak a little, or stop leaking. Leaking has nothing to do with your milk supply. It often stops after your milk supply has adjusted to your baby's needs.

    * Your b*****s suddenly seem softer. Again, this normally happens after your milk supply has adjusted to your baby's needs.

    * You never feel a let-down sensation, or it doesn't seem as strong as before. Some women never feel a let-down. This has nothing to do with milk supply.

    * You get very little or no milk when you pump. The amount of milk that you can pump is not an accurate measure of your milk supply. A baby with a healthy suck milks your breast much more efficiently than any pump. Also, pumping is an acquired skill (different than nursing), and can be very dependent on the type of pump. Some women who have abundant milk supplies are unable to get any milk when they pump. In addition, it is very common and normal for pumping output to decrease over time.