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Trouble Producing Milk

:worried: I am having trouble producing enough milk for my son. He is a premie, and right now he is getting his food through a feeding tube. I am pumping every 3-4 hours for 15 minutes at a time. I've tried warm washcloths on my breasts, warm showers/baths, holding a blanket that smells like him, massaging my breasts before and during pumping, looking at pictures of him, and sitting by him. I am getting worried that I might not be able to feed my son, does anyone have any suggestions?
Aiden Zachariahs Mommy

7 Replies

  • Toriaenzo
    I use to drink Mother's milk tea when my supply got low. I also heard eating oatmeal can help too. I used a hospital grade pump to get my supply built when both my kids were in the NICU.
  • liz loschinskey
    I used Reglan. It worked for a few weeks and then I ran dry again.

    I wasn't producing after about 4 weeks, was put on the prescription, everything picked up for about 10 days then I dried out again.

    -shrugs-

    Hope this helps!

    Liz
  • alexandrasmom
    It was a hard process for me now at 6 week and on reglan a prescrition from my dr and fenugreek. try those and getting kangaoo time will help. good luck :smile:
  • Akeelah's Mommy
    Just another pump resource- they are now covered by insurance under the new health care legislation. Sounds like you already have- but just wanted to share.

    :)
    Lauren
  • Hunter and Randi's Mom
    Hi! Congratulations on your son!

    Are you using a hospital grade pump? If not, definitely rent one, my insurance covered my pump rental (with a little convincing). If you are using a hospital grade pump, I know that some people who used the Medela Lactina pump (which is hospital grade) had issues with milk supply that got better when they switched to a different hospital grade pump, I don't know why that particular pump has such issues. I used a different Medela hospital grade pump which was fine.

    I agree with Leigh about consulting with an LC. Also, make sure you keep pumping for a few minutes after your milk stops (I usually tried to pump for 20 minutes). It signals to your body that it needs to make more milk.

    Make sure you are eating and drinking enough too. You can order or bake lactation cookies (google it for the recipe or the companies that sell them) that might help too. They have brewers yeast and flax seed meal that are supposed to increase supply. And they are pretty yummy!

    Good luck to you! Whatever you can supply for your son is great!

    Marissa
  • tucker'smom
    Hi and welcome to Share!
    I'm not sure how long you've been pumping, but it can take a week to 10 days to get your full supply up after delivery.

    I spoke to different lactation consultants every day that my second son was in the NICU (8 days), and every day I got a different opinion. :eyeroll: My main issue was actually what level to put the pump on...as I am apparently a wimp! The LC that got my milk to really express well was the LC that put the pump's settings up very high. My milk had come in days before, I just wasn't expressing it correctly. After talking to her and having her observe a pumping session, I was getting 4-5 ounces per session. And as time went on I got up to 8 ounces per session. Much better than the 10-15 mls I was getting before.

    So my advice is to have an LC observe the pumping session, don't be shy! :wink: I was way too shy to have the LC observe me pumping with my first son (he spent months in the NICU), and I think I had the same issue the first time.
    Also, check out kellymom.com, it has tons of info!
    Good luck!
    Leigh
  • stacyat
    Hello and welcome to Share! I'm so sorry for the difficulties that you're having with pumping enough breastmilk! I know when I had a low supply with my son I took something called fenugreek at first and then switched to more milk plus and it increased my supply by a lot. Though I would definitely speak to his NICU doctors before taking any supplements to make sure it's safe for him. I found this link in our archives for another mom who had a similar problem and there was lots of great advice there too! I hope this helps!

    http://shareyourstory.org/webx/.ef99e73/27

    Stacy
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