Expert: ruth kraft - 9/4/2011

Question
Hi,

I exclusively pumping for 2 months, since we have latching/nipple confusion and/or milk flow issues. I read couple books about breastfeeding and lots of web sites about that. Her first month I didn't have enough of milk, had to supplement with formula, but constant pumping increased my milk production and now only my milk is enough. The problem is - she got used to the bottle nipple, when I offer my breast- she has very hard time catching the nipple, she gets very angry and cries.. (I tried to do that when she is hungry and when she is not so hungry). When I started using nipple shield-she had no problem catching my nipple, but still would stay at my breast only 5-6 minutes and then would get agitated , angry(probably because the flow is not constant, and slower than the bottle). At the end I would have to give her a bottle of expressed milk anyway.
I gave up offering her my breast.
My questions are :
Can I still improve our breastfeeding? I still want to pump so my husband can feed her when I am away, and to store milk for the future if my milk supply will diminish, but pumping takes awful a lot of time, .I was reading that it takes 15-20 minutes for other mothers "to pump till the last drop". Well, for me it takes 40 minutes! If I would stop after 20 minutes- I would have only 4oz of milk. My second let down starts after 20 minutes of pumping and I would express 6-8 oz in total if I pump 40-45 minutes.
How can I improve all breastfeeding/expressing experience?
Thank you for your time!

Answer
Hello. To answer your question, yes you can still improve your breastfeeding. If I understand correctly you would rather be exclusivly breastfeeding rather than pumping all the Time. You can do this, with an occasional bottle here and there although it is time consuming.

You can continue doing what you are doing and offering the breast as often as you can and seeing if she will take some. If she will suckle, you can use a SNS that you can purchase online or through a lactation specialist , ( supplemental nursing system ) and put your pumped milk if there so she understands that milk comes from the breast and slowly teach her to work for it.

You are correct that she knows the bottle is easier so, one of the best, but hardest choices is stop giving bottles. If she wants to eat, she can do it from you with some syringe or cup feeding in the mean time. the sns might give a faster flow . retaining her mind to do something else is not going to be easy. I am not sure exactly how old she is but the longer you wait the harder it is. it is possible though as there are people who adopt 8 month old babies who go on to breastfeed.

You can also try things like fenugreek, mothers milk tea and more fiber in your diet to increase milk. If you have been pumping for a while, check to make sure the valves in your pump are not weak which is causing milk to flow slower.  Time and patience will be what help you to nurse continuously. If you can do without bottles until she learns to breastfeed, you will eventually be able to go back to bottles easily. She will protest at the loss of a bottle, but you are not depriving her by giving her what works best in the long run.

Good luck to you !