Expert: ruth kraft - 12/1/2009

Question
hi,
i am desperate for positive advice.  i'm having trouble breast feeding my four years old boy. i had low milk supply when my baby was born.  it might be due to all medication i was given when i went in for preterm labor.  I received no help from the hospital.  Later when i visited couple of pediatricians for my baby they told me that the key is to breast feed your baby at the breast for as long as it takes to satisfy their hunger. So for few days i just took my baby and fed him lying down; sometimes the whole day.  my supply did go up because baby wasn't demanding formula as long as he was on breast.  
unfortunately, i had to travel when baby was 3 months old and with having so much to do outside the house i didn't get to breastfeed my baby during the day (i was shy to feed infront of anyone :( biggest mistake)  and then slowly night time feedings turned into bottles as well because the baby wanted lots of milk right away when he was hungry and breast milk wasn't enough or flow wasn't as fast as bottle milk.  
now my baby is four months old and pretty much  100% on formula drinking 4 oz every 2-3 hors during the day and twice at night.  Every time i try to put him on breast he starts screaming.  if he's in a good mood and not so hungry he may suck on it for a minute but then he starts getting fussy.  
i really want to breast feed him.  i feel so guilty that its my fault he's not breast feeding anymore.  i try to pump now but i'm drying up.  i get few drops everytime i pump.  i want to pump more frequently so i can increase my supply high enough to interest him to get onto breast.  but my husband is back to work and i have no other family support so i only get to pump about 3-4 times a day.
i was hoping someone could tell me i can still bring my supply up and breast feed my baby.  i am really determined to feed him and don't want to give up.  i have made a mistake before in not feeding him enough but i really want to feed him if i can for at least until he is 2 years old.
so please help me!!! any advice would be great!!!

Answer
I can give you the basics but there is alot of work that will be involved in getting the baby to latch etc. He doesnt know that milk comes from the breast. Because of that it is often much harder to get him to latch. There are 2 ways to get your supply back up, Pump more ( every 2 hours ) or get him to nurse, every 2 hours . stimulation HAS to happen . Breastmilk is produced on supply and demand basis. So the more demand, the more youll make.

The good news is, you have a few drops of milk. If you have a few drops you can get a million. you just have to work up to it. it wont happen over night. You are basically starting out as if you had a newborn. Now you have a virtual newborn and a 4 month old. It will be time consuming but it is entirely possible. I would suggest taking mothers milk tea and or fenugreek capsules to help build supply. But also youll need to find a way to pump much more often. You wont have to do it long term, but short term youll need to. feed the baby any of the expressed milk instead of formula. You can also Stop giving the baby bottles and ONLY nurse. You can get a sns system ( supplimental nursing system ) from most lactation consultants or online, and feed him any extra pumped milk first, then formula second if needed. But only if he nurses from you. that way he gets the nurtition but stimulates your breasts. which is far more effective than the pump. Also, you should see someone in person to help evaluate is latch and position. La leche league leaders will do the evaluation for free. They can also help you get him latched on after seeing his behaviour also. He is 4 months old now so this will take longer than it would a newborn. But people adopt babies at 8-9 months old and go on to nurse. SO, its very possible. Just be patient with yourself, know your doing the best you can, keep telling yourself the past is the past, the guilt will nothelp you. and every drop of breastmilk you give is more than any other mother who never even tried.

I hope that helped.