Increasing milk supply

Hello ladies. My son is now 6 weeks old and I have been pumping my milk for him since birth. However my milk supply has gone down drastically (barely an ounce at a time) and I was wondering if anyone had any hints on how to build this back up? I can't breatfeed because the poor little guy was tongue-tied at birth and never had a proper sucking reflex. So pumping is my only option. Any advice you can give would be much appreciated!

[DollChina]

Relax and try warm compress.  Drink loads of water.  I find ward fluid helps.  When I was nursing, I had a decrease since I returned to work due to stress.  I tried Funugreek and drank Mother's Milk tea and it me built back up my supply.
You are doing great, keep it up.
BTW, I used Medela Pump in Style.  Do you have a good pump?

[casey's mom]

Well as I'm sure you know, breast milk is a game of supply and demand. Your body replaces the milk that is extracted.

What you may not know, is a breast pump does not match that of a sucking baby. Even the best pumps do not extract what a nursing baby would. So as your baby gets older, the amount of milk he or she requires increases obviously. And if you are only taking out the pumped milk, only the pumped milk will be replaced or in some cases less will be replaced over time depending on how good of a pumper you are. It's simply the laws of supply and demand.

I don't want to discourage you by any means. But I haven't known someone who was able to provide only pumped breast milk to their child for an extended amount of time without having to eventually suppliment with formula. The fact you've been able to for 6 weeks is quite impressive to me.

Before trying to increase your milk supply based on advice learned here I would talk to a professional lactation consultant. I wish you tons of luck and continued success with breastfeeding.

[ZevasMom]

I had the same problem... I was sooooo frustrated... I tried the prescription medicine where the side affect is increased milk suppy... No luck... What did work for me was the following...
4 capsules of Fenugreek (610mg)
3 capsules of Blessed Thistle (390 mg) - has to be "Blessed"
Taken together, do this three times a day (a total of 21 capsules).  It worked in a few days... I was pumping 8 ounces at a time!  I pumped more than DD could handle... I ended up freezing 150 bottles!  So, at 4 1/2 months I quit pumping, but she still had breastmilk supply til she was just over 6 months old.

P.S. I first tried the Fenugreek by itself, it didn't work... It worked when I took the two together... Oh yeah, and once you get the supply up, you can stop taking the supplements (I got my from the local health food store).  

Tell me how it works out for you!

[Hopeful1978]

Thanks for the suggestions, I will definately make a trip to my local health food store this week. I actually rented a hospital quality pump from my local drug store so I think thats helped me. I need to return the pump soon but will check into buying a manual one. Even if I can just supplement breastmilk with formula, I want my little guy to have the best I can give him for as long as possible. Thanks again ladies.

[neparker]

I take 3 pills of fenugreek 3 times a day and its worked for me.
Although my urine and sweat smells like maple syrup!  

[cmroark]

hey! so, i stopped breastfeeding my daughter 2 months ago and i called my lactation consultant to tell her i wanted to start up again and how i could get my milk back. well she told me about goats rue which is supposed to build back up all my breast tissue and help me make milk and she also recommended that i take this stuff called "more milk plus".. it's supposed to do exactly what it says.. i ordered them both on wednesday and just got my goats rue today and i should get my more milk plus tomorrow! so if you want to increase your milk get more milk plus! i baught mine on

luckyvitamin.com.. or you can just type more milk plus and a whole bunch of sites you can get it from will come up.. i got it from luckyvitamin.com because that was the cheapest i found.. mother love was way expensive with the s&h!.. but definately get more milk plus i've heard it works wonders!

[myproblem]

Most people's biggest problem is dehydration. Drink a 20 ounce bottle of water every time you sit down to pump. Within a day or two, you'll probably have a lot more milk. I assume you have a good pump? If you have a cheapo one, you probably need to upgrade to Medela or something similar.

[mgi]

I think you can easily pump enough for a baby - I know I have and then some!!
i agree on fenugreek and blessed thistle
pump often to keep it up
and make sure the flanges are big enough - I had to switch to 30s

good luck you can for sure do it