amitymamaThe Attachment Parenting Community

LilRichsMom · 04-09-2006, 11:55 PM

Rick is about 2 and a half months old. Up until the end of this past week I'd pump and get 2-3 ounces per side, then about thursday it dropped to 1 or less! I've been eating oatmeal all along, and I bought Fenugreek Friday night and have been taking the dosage recomended on the bottle as well as brewers yeast. Is there a differant dosage i should take? I think it's 2 capsules of fenugreek a day and 2 tabs of brewers yeast three times a day thats on the bottles. Or is there something else I can do? I need any advice I can get!

Thanks
Angie

pj and the bear · 04-10-2006, 12:13 AM

Are you taking any birth control pills?? Sorry for the personal question!

That can cause a decrease. Most of us would say that what you pump is not an indication of what you are producing. I'm not much help but hopefully another mama with more info can help. Good luck!!

herc · 04-10-2006, 12:31 AM

it may just be that he is nursing more, so there is temporarily less avaliable for you to pump! The bcp can reduce milk supply for sure-- Laya is right about that! Try not to stress too much though! How is the baby acting? Is he satisfied after a feeding? Enough wet/dirty diapers??

LilRichsMom · 04-10-2006, 12:43 AM

I quit taking the pills over two weeks ago due to dh's worries about the extra female hormones going into his son's food (hehe). He acts satisfied after feedings generally, unless it's a day he decides to eat more than usual. But the problem is when I am pumping at work for his milk the next day while I'm at work. Am I going to have to end up supplementing since I can't pump enough while I'm at work? I'd love to quit work and stay home with him, but my job's the one with health insurance.

Also does the differance in pump make a differance? I have the Ameda Purely Yours through the WIC program which came with a manual pump and I seem to get slightly more with it than the purely yours.

Angie

sbdonahue · 05-04-2006, 01:09 AM

It will take a bit of time for the BCC pills to work their way out of your system so just be patient. You can try drinking a dark beer on top of what you are doing already. That usually works for me.

I pump at work too but if I'm having a particularly stressful day sometimes my ounces are less. I've supplemented a bit but for the most part I've been quite sucessful with the pumping. I'm not sure about the pump making a difference-- I use a Medela PIS.

LilRichsMom · 05-08-2006, 02:50 PM

I've been drinking dark beer (the only kind I like anyways) I been taking fenugreek, and brewers yeast as well as more water and juice. But I can not pump enough to keep up with him. I've been supplementing formula while at work (except for the eight ounces I can get with the pump, pumping three times a day). I know there is enough 'cuz on weekends I only nurse him and he seems to be satisfied. I'd like to go back to not having to supplement, but I really can't see it happening since he takes up to 22 onuces a day from my mom.

angie

thea · 05-09-2006, 04:41 PM

Would it be possible to add a pumping session or 2 during the time that you are at home with him? You might get more if you pump while you are nursing. Also, breast compression while pumping can help stimulate your milk ejection reflex.
http://www.bflrc.com/newman/handouts...ompression.htm
http://www.bflrc.com/newman/handouts...ssing_Milk.htm
Your baby is lucky to have a mama who is working so hard to give him mama milk!

DEandF · 05-12-2006, 11:38 AM

Hi! I was passing by and saw this thread, and thought of all the things I did when I woh and pumped. Let's see... I had a Purely Yours, which I loved. I got about 6-8 oz total (both sides) at my one pumping time at work. If I had a good breakfast, a good lunch, and a good night's sleep the night before, I'd get closer to 8. I took a lot of fenugreek, and had oatmeal for breakfast daily.

I tried pumping first thing in the morning, but that stressed me out because then I'd have to clean pump parts before going to work. I'd get home from work, nurse the baby on one side, then pump the other. What really worked was this-- once, after nursing him around 3 am, I found myself awake. I got up, and figured it wouldn't hurt to try pumping. I used my Avent (so I would still have clean PY parts for work) and I got like 8 oz from one side, without really trying! It was quiet, calm, peaceful, warm (I sat near the heater)... There was absolutely no pressure, nobody waiting for me to finish, or get back to work, no TV blaring in the other room, no fussy baby.

From then on, if I felt awake enough (and ds was sleeping soundly), I'd get up after his middle of the night nursing. I pumped until he was about 14 months, then he was eating so much at daycare that bottles were coming home full. Oh, and we never had to supplement. Now, I did work 2 days a week, then 3, and finally went to 4 when he was almost a year. And I went into the office at 10 at first (but with over an hour commute, from home to daycare to work), then 9, and was off by 4, but he was without me from 8-5.

Good luck!

milknmore · 05-12-2006, 10:57 PM

Pumping is not an idicator of a mam's milk supply. In fact pumping between 1-2oz is actually a very normal amount to pump. Are you working? If so how often are you pumping at work?

The best way to up your supply is to nurse/pump more frequently. here is a great article on indentifying and dealing with low supply.

Keep track of the wet/dirty dipes and you will be fine. Good job nursing mama!

academama · 04-09-2007, 05:48 PM

Also, fenugreek dosage for milk production is higher than the bottle says. My LC told me to try 3 caps, 3 times a day and that I could go up to 4 caps 4x a day. So, 9-16 caps depending on your supply situation are fine, and you probably won't get much result unless you're taking at least the 9 caps.