[...] that he’s not getting enough food. This one is a little obsessive.  Since I’ve been trying to boost my milk supply, I still have no idea if Wolf is getting enough milk from me alone to survive.  I’ve been [...]

[...] wrote about having low milk supply a few months back and my struggles to accept my “burden” of supplementing at the [...]

[...] quite certain you’re tired of hearing me say it but as I’ve mentioned many times, I wasn’t dealt the engorged boobs or over supply cards when it came to [...]

Know that you are doing everything you can to feed baby. If you are near a La Leche League please contact one of their leaders, they can help guide you with latching issues. If latch is good, then you can slowly decrease the supplement since it is all supply/demand. The last part was really difficult for me to understand, it took about 6 weeks before I could even be sure I was feeding my daughter enough. Don’t despair it will all be ok whatever happens. Big hug.

Hi Alyson, I’ve read your blog for a while but never commented. I just wanted to let you know my SIL had the same issue when she had my niece. She was really attached to breastfeeding but within 3 days of having my niece it was clear that she wasn’t producing enough milk to keep the baby healthy. It was pretty devastating for her because she felt that she was “failing” as a mother by having such a low supply and the doctors were not very helpful and kept telling her to keep trying. She also ordered the SNS and eventually became more comfortable with bottles and formula. Soon enough my sweet little niece was old enough to eat solid foods and she’s honestly the smartest, most precious little toddler ever! (I know I’m biased). Just wanted to say hang in there!

Alyson–this situation sucks, and I am so sorry. I’ve been exactly where you are, straight down to the frantic call to the pediatrician, followed by me sobbing while trying to syringe feed. The only difference is that my own mom did some frantic googling, and found an LC who could see me that afternoon. And I loved her. We established a plan of nurse, supplement, pump (at least 8x a day) which I did religiously for six weeks. At the end of those six weeks, my little guy was still only getting about a teaspoon per breast. At that point, with my LC’s blessing, I stopped. It was hard. I felt guilty every time I bought a can of formula. But it gets better. And there is no doubt that my little guy is happy, heathy, and very much bonded to me.

So, I guess I’m saying…hang in there as long as you can. I so hope that it works out for you. But despite all of the very well intentioned “just keep trying and take some fenugreek/oatmeal/mother’s milk tea” or “it’s all about supply and demand [this one makes me so stabby!]” there are times when it might not work. And while that will seem like the end of the world for a while, it’s really not. You are still an absolutely wonderful mother. As my LC said, the #1 rule is to feed the baby. With whatever it takes. Even formula.

One last thing…did your LC have you do a feed with a before/after weight check? I found it really helpful to know exactly what my guy was getting from my breasts while nursing, since a pump isn’t always the best measure. If I had seen any progress at all using the scale, I know it would have given me the motivation to keep going.

This was my experience and 6 mo. later my daughter gets 50-50 breast milk and formula. Our lactation consultant was very realistic and matter-of-fact that I had “insufficient glandular tissue” – in other words, breast size and spacing between breasts kinda does matter (I only gained 1 cup size during pregnancy). A breastfeeding support group wasn’t that helpful since most of the other mom’s had over-supply issues. After watching the baby lose oz after oz after being born a robust 7 lbs 13 oz, it was devastating to supplement, but you gotta do what you gotta do for a healthy baby. When she regained 5 oz in a couple of days, I felt a parental triumph that overcame my feelings of mammalian failure. Contrast that to a mom in the breastfeeding class whose daughter was just approaching her birth weight at 6 WEEKS because she was determined not to supplement. I wanted a healthy baby and the lactation consultant was great – any amount of breast milk is beneficial to babies and the fact is that way more people supplement with formula than you’d believe. You’ll be a great mom if you can breast feed exclusively or if you have to supplement. Whatever works, you know?

Just wondering if he has lost weight? Or if you are just judging your insufficient supply based on what you get when you pump? I’ve breast fed two babies and I can tell you I *never ever ever* could pump out the same amount that my babies could suck out. It was actually really frustrating because I could never get the “freezer full” of pumped milk that all my LLL friends had. But I guess I just caution judging your supply based on that alone. Maybe there are other ongoing indicators that you didn’t mention (apart from the early no pee/poop episode). I cautiously and with great respect wonder if supplementing might be contributing to your low supply? I know and believe that there are numerous problems that a nursing mother might encounter and it’s not just simply about supply and demand…. but since you have been supplementing since just after he was born, maybe your body isn’t getting all they demand cues it needs to produce enough milk for your little guy. You know what is best, please do what you have to do, just a thought about tapering off on the supplementing and see what happens? You can always go back if you need to.

Have you tried Fenugreek? It worked for me! It doubled my pump amount!

thanks so much for your comments and support ladies. it’s so helpful to hear other perspectives, experiences and advice!

to answer your question Nik, yes, Wolf did loose weight. he was 7lbs 8oz when he was born and had dropped to 6lbs 14oz when I visited lactation. however, that was two days after I’d realized he wasn’t peeing/pooping. then two days later at the pediatrician he’d gone back up to 7lbs 3oz. so my guess was that he’d lost even more before I’d began supplementing.

and yes! it is scary not knowing how much milk you’re producing. but the good thing is I know there has been progress. when I first began pumping, I’d pump each side for 20 minutes and hardly get an 1/8th of an ounce. now I’m getting just over an ounce from each side between feedings and while two ounces isn’t enough to support him fully, I know that between what he’s getting while nursing and what I’m able to provide him from pumping that he’s thriving! so I’m pretty happy and staying positive about my supply still increasing.

I feel your pain. I too struggle/ed with low supply. I have the added pressure of trying to feed preemie twins too. While my two were in the NICU I had daily conversations with LC and nurses about my “low supply”. It sure is a shot to the heart when you want so badly to be able to feed your babies but you can’t and then to have it brought up every day. Unlike you my kids have never mastered latching on so they have been bottle fed since the beginning. I have been pumping for the last 5 months and they get about 50/50 milk and formula. They do so much better on milk but I just don’t have it. We do what we can and the babies will be fine.

I had the same experience with my first son. It was so exhausting and defeating. I had a lactation consultant tell me this happens to less than one percent of people! I now know this is not the case. I was also told that usually with a second chlid there is better milk supply. My second son is now nine months. I supplemented for the first few months, but stopped when I realized he was not taking it most of the time and spitting up a ton when he had it. This time around it was not as emotionally difficult to supplement. My boys are both happy and healthy and well fed.

Oh lady…you know, breast feeding is one of the sneaky challenges that no one reeeeally tells you about. I had a tough time nursing Wolfie initially too. My LC was not helpful at all, but thankfully one of the nurses really was. I would pump and seriously get, like, a thimble-full in my little baggie while a girlfriend of mine was filling an entire bag! It was depressing. And you can’t help but think, “What am i doing wrong??” I also had a clogged duct (fun!) and remember thinking , “Oof! I don’t know how long I’ll be able to do this!!!” But then 3 months turned into 6 and suddenly I was a milk producing machine. It just took my body time. I ended up nursing Wolfie til he was one. Which trust me, I NEVER would have thought would have happened!! As one of the commenters said, just be sure to be good to yourself. Try and stick with it if you can (you sound like you’re doing all the right things!). It could very well get better or you may decided to go the formula route. Either way, it’s all about having a happy healthy baby! We are so hard on ourselves….and my biggest advice I always give mamas is that it’s all about what works for YOU and YOUR BABY. Every child/family/mama is different. You’re doing an amazing job! Big hugs to you….

Hugs

I was in a similary situation with #1. The emotions are all over the charts.
You are doing a great job. I’m proud of you.

Here are some suggestions I’m sure you heard but they worked for me so I’ll repeat them here:

LLL was the best support group ever better than a LC and LMD.
Oatmeal seemed to help me or at least comfort me which relaxed me which helped me produce.
Fenugreek AND blessed thistle rocked my supply. I smelled of maple syrup (which is a reason I think #1 loves pancakes so much) but my baby had milk and then some.
If you are logging which I did stop for a day or two. DH noticed it became an obsession which led to stress which lowered my production.

I find this subject very draining.

I want to tell you that I had a similar problem when my son was born, but I had an amazing lactation consultant, and because of her support and perseverance, within a few weeks my supply was up to normal.

Can I ask when was the last time you weighed the baby before a feeding and then re-weighed him right after? Your pumping supply has gone up a good amount since you started, which means your milk supply has increased, so I think it’s important to figure out exactly how much he’s getting from you. You might be surprised by what you find out.

For me, two weeks after we started nursing with the sns, and pumping after every feeding I was still convinced that my son was not getting enough from me. I would have kept supplementing if my lactation consultant hadn’t done a follow-up appointment with me and by weighing him before and after a feeding, she figured out that he was getting just a 1/2 ounce shy of the right amount from the breast. That gave me the courage to stop supplementing, but I kept pumping (and drinking the tea and tincture) and sure enough, within a few more weeks we did the weight test again and my supply was up to normal.

I know that low supply affects a small population of women but according to my lactation consultant, a lot of women out there think they have a low supply when really they don’t. And even now, I’m still nursing my 7 month old, and every once in a while if he’s fussy at the boob, or hungry too often, i jump to the place of wondering if I am producing enough. It’s always going to be my insecurity but since he is gaining weight and soiling enough diapers a day, I try to remind myself that my supply is not an issue anymore.

It’s not easy being so responsible for the health and well being of such a tiny little thing, but you are doing an amazing job at persevering. Your baby is very lucky to have you as a mom.

I have totally been there! I would NOT nurse the baby outside of the house for weeks and weeks because we were such a circus act. Eventually we struck a happy medium between breastfeeding and formula that lasted until after her first birthday. Even though there was formula involved, I still consider her a breastfed babe. Those first few months were hard (and stressful and painful and looooong) but totally worth it. That said….there came a point in my frantic quest to successfully breastfeed that I had to let go of my supplementation guilt. It was surprisingly difficult to shake! It’s a bummer that formula gets such a bad rap these days, especially when you’re a new mom juggling so many other feelings of guilt anyway! No matter what happens, you and the baby will be just fine. :)

Oh Alyson, I had some sobby nights, too, over the same thing! For the first 10 weeks or so of Ingrid’s life, I had to supplement. I pumped after every feed, I took the natural supplements, I did what I could… I was finally able to stop supplementing, but only after I had come to the conclusion that like you said, the important thing was that she was healthy and growing! I had hardly gone anywhere during those first couple of months and was coming to a breaking point! I had pretty much decided to stop pumping when it somehow all came together. But even if it hadn’t, and we’d had to keep supplementing and eventually move over to all formula, I know it would have been fine. You try your best, but please don’t beat yourself up about it! (Although it’s so hard not to… I know!)

hey mama, i’m not sure anyone’s piped in with this yet – when you nurse and pump, try grabbing your breast from underneath/along the side and kind of cup it in your hand, fingers underneath and thumb on top, to help push the milk along. it’s the same thing you’d do if you were hand expressing, it kind of creates a forced full nipple for wolf to really latch on to. gosh, i hope that makes sense, it’s hard to explain in writing. you can also massage as you pump, starting in the back and moving towards the front, imagine yourself pushing the milk out. i’m going to leave my email, in case you want to talk about it further, but i’m sure it’s something that LLL or maybe a better lactation consultant could help with in person. :) rosadesal@gmail.com.

hang in there, mama, and as long as he’s getting fed, whether it be formula or breastmilk, you’re doing a great job.