Expert: ruth kraft - 8/25/2010

Question
I had to go back to work when my daughter was 6 weeks old.  She is now 12 weeks old.  When I first started pumping, I was struggling to cover what my daughter was eating for the day while we were separated; about 16 oz, but I sent 20 oz so there was usually a bottle leftover.  I send the leftover bottle the next day. I pump 4-5 times a day, every 2-3 hours.  I started taking fenugreek to try increase my supply over a month ago so I would not have to struggle any longer.  It appeared to work great for a little while.  I was even able to establish a tiny bit of a freezer stash.  I nurse exclusively when my daughter and I are together.  She usually eats in the morning at about 5 AM.  Then we are separated at 6:15 AM, and the next chance I have to feed her is about 5:00 PM when we get home from work and daycare.  She is down for bed at 9 and sleeps until 2 or 3 AM when she wakes up to eat.  Now, she is eating a full 20+ oz everyday and I am again having a hard time meeting her demands.  I have had to dip into my freezer stash almost daily and that is almost gone.  I am still taking the fenugreek; 2 pills 3x/day and I drink nothing all day but water, besides one morning can of soda.  Is there anything different I can do to help meet my daughters increasing demands?  I have tried different pumps also and that didn't seem to make much of a difference.  I have tried the Lansinoh Affinity and am currently using the Medela Pump in Style Advance.  I have had a lot of ups and downs with the breastfeeding experience and it has been so frustrating that I have almost given up several times...  Please help!

Answer
Good job working this hard to pump this milk for your daughter. It is alot of work and shouldn't be this hard but it is when you are working full time. I commend you for  your efforts. The reward will be a much happier healthier baby :) You can increase your supply by making sure that the valves have not become weak from a lot of use which will often not be efficient in pumping enough milk out. If that checks out ok, then you can do several different things like trying supplements like mothers milk tea, or more fenugreek.You can take a break from the fenugreek and try something else and see if that works as well. You can also increase your fiber. Take metamucil, or eat a lot of fiber in your diet. The more your intestinal movement you have going on, the more milk you will make.

You can also pump in the morning either before or after you nurse her and again throughout the evening for the next few weeks while she is also nursing. this will help your milk increase as well. Even on the weekends when you are with her you can pump for a while to increase more. Right now she is also going through a growth spurt as well. It is hard to pump and keep milk up through growth spurts because the baby is more efficient than the pump. So sometimes you have to pump more frequently to make up fro the growth spurts at the breast that she misses while you work. She will have another at 6, 9 and 12 months. Keep up the good work!

I hope that helped
Ruth Kraft CD CLD HBCP FOCEP
Mother of Emma & Jacob
www.honoringwomen.com
http://welcometotheworld2.blogspot.com/
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