amitymamaThe Attachment Parenting Community

momof2boys1girl · 09-30-2004, 10:35 PM

She is currently only pumping about 8-10 oz a day. She is pumping 3 times a day to get that.
Her dd is almost 4 months old. exclusively b/f. She brings me frozen bags of it and i feed the baby w her bottle. mom says baby does not like to b/f anymore. We are assuming to much confusion w bottle all day and bottles at night if dad feeds her so she wont take the breast anymore. Babies demand is depleting moms stash and mom is afraid she will run out and have to switch to formula. She is pumping once in the am at home and once at work and once in the eve. what can she do to increase her supply so she can pump more?She wants to at least make it to 6months if not longer. She is planning on starting foods in the next month or so also.

Thanks

cathleenc · 10-01-2004, 02:50 AM

Pump, pump, pump. She needs to be pumping every 3 hours around the clock for 10-15 minutes per session. What kind of pump is she using? The bigger the motor the better the results for the most part - a hospital grade rental pump is best followed by Medela Advanced Pump In Style with lots more tiers after that.

She can also take fenugreek capsules or make fenugreek tea to help increase supply. Fenugreek works to increase mammary gland (and sweat gland) output. Mothers Milk tea is a commonly available brand of herbal tea specifically made for this - many big grocery stores now have it.

Demand creates supply - if she is only pumping three times a day her body thinks her baby only needs to nurse three times a day - not enough. If she starts pumping regularly and consistently and taking fenugreek she should begin to see more output within 4 days with increasing supply from that point forward. Tell her to give it 2 weeks to really kick in so that she is not expecting major results immediatelyl and gets discouraged.

gl! Cathy

2xlechemom · 10-01-2004, 07:28 AM

And, a 4 months you could probably try cup feeding vs. a bottle. My dd would drink from a cup at 4 months. Not a non spill one tho.

Also, get mom in touch with LLL for support too

annsni · 10-01-2004, 12:04 PM

I agree that she needs to pump a LOT more than 3X a day to get her supply up. Take fenugreek as long as she's not asthmatic or hypoglycemic (she can take 3 capsules 3X a day) and make sure she's drinking lots of fluids. Now that it's the weekend, she should take the baby to bed with her and nurse as much as possilble for the next 2 days and that should help a lot. I was a terrible pumper so I'd pump every 2-2 1/2 hours if I needed milk for a while just so that I'd get as much as possible. - I was only able to ever get 1-2 oz. at a time.

Good luck!

Ann