For the past month or so, I’ve been trying to increase my milk supply. If I were exclusively breastfeeding Olive, I think I’d probably have enough milk for her. But I’m also pumping and since I was producing around 2 ounces at a time when Olive takes 4 oz bottles, I had to increase my supply if I ever wanted to build up a stash and be away from her for more than a couple hours. I’d been taking More Milk Plus for 10 days and didn’t see any difference, so two weeks ago I also added Fenugreek, Blessed Thistle, and Mother’s Milk Tea to my regimen. I knew how effective this had been for other women so when I didn’t see significant results, I became really discouraged. I was already stretched so thin, I didn’t have much left in me to focus any more on increasing my milk supply.
But one day last week I just decided to let go. Why was I beating myself up so badly? So what if Olive has an occasional bottle of formula? It’s not the end of the world. She’s only had two bottles of formula since she was born, and is going to be breastfed almost exclusively anyway. Olive is thriving and though she was less than 5 pounds when she was born, she is now a little chubmonster. Letting go was the turning point, and I just started producing more milk, literally overnight. I went from getting 2-3 oz/session to 4-5 oz/session! I’ve even been able to freeze 20 oz of milk (or 5 bottles’ worth)!
I’m nowhere near producing as much as I was with Charlie, but I think I just have much less milk this time around. With Charlie my boobs got huge, painfully engorged, and I constantly had to change my nursing pads. I don’t think I had a low supply, but I just wasn’t able to pump that much until I started taking More Milk Plus. With Olive, my boobs didn’t grow, they don’t get nearly as engorged, and my nursing pads are almost always clean. I wonder why I’m producing so much less milk this time around. Is it because I’m older? More stressed? It’s my second child?
With Charlie I took More Milk Plus and pumped more often, and I started seeing a significant difference in about 2 weeks. This time around I took the recommended dosages of More Milk Plus, Fenugreek, Blessed Thistle, and Mother’s Milk Tea, and saw results in about 4 weeks. I didn’t nurse or pump more often because with two kids, it was just impossible for me to find the time. I’m not even sure what worked, to tell you the truth, since I tried a little bit of everything. But I do think these supplements definitely help, and different ones and different dosages work for different women. For now I’m just happy that I’m able to produce enough to keep up with Olive’s needs. And now that I have a little stash, I’m looking forward to having some wine with Mr. Bee for the first time in a year!
Have you ever worried about your milk supply? Did you supplement with formula or try to increase your supply?
pea / 15 posts
I used domperidone to increase supply.
It helped somewhat, but I also have to supplement. I’m (now) okay with it — he’s still getting the advantages of BM.
GOLD / apricot / 337 posts
I wasn’t able to breastfeed, but I wish I had been able to because I had so much milk! I would soak through 4 or 5 nursing pads a day. LM has been on formula since she was born and I’ve gotten a gamut of commentary about formula-feeding her, but I stopped feeling guilty. One less thing to worry about! LM was thriving, growing, and happy.
kiwi / 718 posts
that’s wonderful! I’m so glad that you were able to let go of the stress & also start producing more milk – what a blessing
it’s crazy what your body does or does not do, isn’t it?
cherry / 116 posts
I feel very lucky that my milk supply is plenty for my baby and also to do a little pumping for freezing. That’s great that you were able to work things out!
When do you pump?
cherry / 151 posts
I wonder, if you’re able to produce, pump, and freeze a stash of extra breastmilk, is it acceptable to feed to a second child if you happen to have back-to-back pregnancies? Or is it recommended to use it by a certain time frame even if it’s frozen? Obviously I haven’t had my first baby yet. Is it even practical to accumulate enough for a stash like that, or does it just get used up before you know it, no matter what?
cherry / 202 posts
Frozen milk has a shelf life of 3-6 months depending on type of freezer you have. I never used mine if it was past 3 months. The easiest way I found to do this was instead of writing the date you pumped on them, write the date it expires.
cherry / 116 posts
@Amy, if you keep it in a deep-freezer (one that doesn’t go through defrost cycles), you can store it for 6-12 months. Here is a good website for breastmilk storage guidelines: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkstorage.html
pear / 1852 posts
I hope I can breast feed, but if I can’t, I know I’ll be able to find advice here.
cherry / 207 posts
Hi bee, since the last time we discussed this topic (at 5 days pp) where I was only taking more milk plus capsules, I have since increased pumping sessions (from 4 to 6), added fenugreek capsules, Herblore nursing tea (supposedly fresher herbs compared to other brands), rented a hospital grade pump and lastly, shatavari capsules which I only started yesterday. Over 2.5 weeks, there was no dramatic increase in supply. I gradually went from 5.6oz total a day to 20oz total a day. I think I have added all the herbal supplements that I can. I won’t be able to add more pumping sessions – as it is, my twins are not home yet, when they are, I wonder if I can keep up with pumping … I am not opposed to formula, but it does give me personal satisfaction that right now, my twins do not need formula supplement they will eventually
Let’s see if shatavari does anything for me – I’m holding off on prescription meds. My milk supply seems to have plateaued. I didn’t have much milk with my first and it is no different this time around … No milk sprays, no need for nursing pads etc.,
Perhaps my milk supply may just decide to increase just like yours did
cherry / 128 posts
@josie267 – so good to hear that your milk is up.
I think the need for nursing pads varies from woman to woman. I never needed many nursing pads – maybe only in the first month or two, and I never soaked through one, while my girlfriend had to change hers constantly. But I’ve always had a plentiful supply of milk, and have even donated almost 200 oz of milk.
Bee – I think that’s so funny how once you mentally let go your supply increased! I just found out from my girlfriend that she’s pregnant with her 3rd child (a surprise!). She’s almost 40 now! She couldn’t get pregnant for a long time, had a miscarriage, and then when she was ready to start IVF (and mentally relaxed) got pregnant with #1. Now she has #3 on the way! What are the odds that after all the difficulties she had in her early 30s she’s become a baby-making machine?!?
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
@mekarual – i was pumping a lot to increase my supply — 7-8 times a day. but now i will reduce as it is at a good place.
@tejbee – charlie is obsessed with my milk and has drank some out of a bottle twice!
@josie267 – your supply is still being established and you may be able to increase it further. with charlie i didn’t even try to increase my supply until he was over a month old. olive is 1 1/2 months old and my supply started increasing at the 1 month mark. my pediatrician once told me that as long as they get two feedings of breastmilk a day, they’ll still get most of the benefits. maybe that’s a more realistic goal especially because you have twins. if it doesn’t work out, there’s nothing wrong with formula! i can’t imagine how hard it’s going to be with twins, and i have no doubt that i’d supplement!
@mrsnarbonne – i guess i’m comparing my experience with olive vs. charlie. i definitely could not live without nursing pads with charlie. with olive i can go to bed without wearing any when i’m producing the most milk!
guest
bee and mrsnarnonne, Happy Thanksgiving!!! Thanks youboth for your encouragement! I will keep going and oh yeah, nothing wrong with supplementing with formula! Some breastmilk is always better than none!
olive / 54 posts
I was a complete Nazi about bf’ing. It was scary to the point where my husband didn’t want to bring up the “f” word (aka formula) for the first 6 mos. I was so stressed out and that’s probably when I didn’t produce that much in the beginning. This time around, I plan to be more relaxed.