Am I producing enough breast milk?
My baby is 11 weeks old. Born 4 weeks before due date because of high blood pressure and pre-eclampsia. My baby often seems hungry still and cries after nursing. When I try to pump breast milk, I only get anywhere from 2-3 ounces. I am making sure to get plenty of rest, drinking plenty of water and eating a healthy diet to help produce milk. I’m afraid my baby isn’t getting enough from me and have been supplementing with formula. Should I give up on breast feeding and switch completely to formula? Is there anything else I can do to increase breast milk? I also pump after nursing to help increase stimulation.
Tagged with: breast feeding • breast milk • due date • eating a healthy diet • high blood pressure • supplementing with formula
Filed under: how to lower blood pressure
Breast feeding works on a supply and demand basis – if you want more milk, you feed the baby more often. If you do that for a couple of days, your supply will increase.
Don’t stop breast-feeding, just feed more often and before you know it, you will have lots more milk.
Keep up the good work!
i would stick with it because its so good for your baby. the more the baby nurses the more milk you will produce.
First of all, pumping doesn’t get near;y the amount of milk your baby gets out. Since you’re gettin 2-3 ounces out at a time I’d say you’re doing great. Also, nursing frequently is also no indication of a supply issue. Babies nurse a lot and it’s not all for food. The rbeast is very comforting to them and this is fine. You need to stop supplementing with formula or you WON’T make enough. You’re actually making the mistake and wrong assumption that a lot of new mother mothers make regarding breastfeeding. The more you nurse the more you make. Stop supplementing and just nurse. If your baby is having enough wet diapers and is gaining weight then you have enough. It’s VERY rare not to make enough when you’re nursing on demand with a fine latch.
Just let baby nurse as often as he/she wants and for as long as he/she wants. As long as there is enough we diapers you’re fine…
pumping is NEVER as effective as the babe. adding formula will decrease your supply. drink plenty of water, continue to pump, and call your lactation consultant.
you can just let him latch on longer to increase your production. let him suck every little bit out. A beer (the darker the better- think guiness) is great for milk production (it is true) and it is not harmful- 1 beer a day. You can alos call yor OBGYN and she will prescribe something for you to get your milk suplly up. Your 5-6 week check up after the birth shoudl be coming up. Bring it up and say that you heard there are pills for milk supply.
Maybe your baby is having gas… do you get good burps up. Does the baby spit up alot? It could be reflux which is very common and makes babies uncomfortable. ALso.. dont eat any garlic or spicy foods…can cause babies to get an upset stomach but that usually woudl be a while after feeding.
If your baby is getting enough wet diapers and gaining weight then you are supplying enough milk to her. At around 1.5 months my breasts stopped feeling engorged and suddenly went soft on me and I was worried too. I did some research and determined that my LO was having enough wet diapers and so stopped worrying and just continued to breast feed.
Now, I will not tell you what to do. However, if you want to continue to breast feed, and your baby is getting enough wet diapers, then you need to stop supplementing with formula since doing this will surely cause your supply to decrease. You body works on a supply and demand system. The more milk that your baby demands, the more milk your body will supply. If you continue supplementing, then your baby will be demanding less from your body and therefore your body will supply less milk.
Also, 2-3 oz is plenty of milk for an 11 week old in one feeding, plus your baby suckling on the breast is much more efficient than any pump. If you are still concerned you can check out these articles:
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/2/T022600.asp
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/2/T022800.asp
The website actually has an entire section on breastfeeding: http://www.askdrsears.com/html/2/T020100.asp
Don’t give up. Especially since he was early, it will be a breeze after you get over this hump. You sound like your on the right track, just breast feed often for awhile. That is what tells you body to produce more milk. If you supplement with formula your body will think it doesn’t need to make more milk. Remember breast feeding and pumping are not the same.
Check out La Leche League, lots of help and support.