Help! Trouble with breastfeeding

Electrolytes! Gatorade worked with my first but I would try and get a higher/better quality drink like LMNT!

So different things work for different people. Mothers Milk tea didn’t work for me but some others it did. What worked for me was: Lactation cookies Prime Energy drink (dilute with water because it’s SUPER sweet) Body Armor Sunflower Lechitin

Coconut water mixed with any juice you fancy used to help me and watermelon too, broth soups, lots of hydration basically.Can I ask how old little one is? Are going down the pumping route/bf/both? My little one was in NICU for a week in which I had to pump for him while we tried to establish bf and even when we were discharged from NICU I still had to pump which created an over supply. Won’t bore you with the details but feel free to message me if you like xx

Pumping isn’t an indication of supply, so struggling to pump much milk out doesn’t mean you have low supply. It’s actually incredibly rare to not have enough to feed your baby! The only effective way of increasing supply is milk removal, and baby is the most efficient at that. So putting baby to the breast frequently is really the only thing that will work. Tea, cookies etc are all nonsense, there is absolutely no evidence they work and what they do is focus mum’s efforts away from what will actually increase her supply, which is putting baby to the breast as much as you can. Lots of skin to skin time will stimulate milk too xx

I struggled with a couple of things so suggestions of things to ask the lactation people to check or advice on: Check for tongue tie if they haven't already. That can lead to baby not getting enough milk when latching, so low weight for baby and not simulating your breasts to make more. Lazy let down: my boobs had milk but they just didn't want to let go of their milk. So the pump wouldn't get out all out. Emptying fully and often is the best way to send the message for them to make make , (and you might be making enough but not responding to the pump). I did things like massaging my boobs before and during pumping and hand expressing a little at the beginning and end of the pump. Also heat packs can help (just be careful how long they are on and how hot). Watching videos of your little one nursing can really help too. And medication or breathing exercises. Some people respond better to covering their pump and bottles while pumping too. And just hydrating. I really liked coconut water personally.

I struggled to feed with my first & am trying with our second. What has worked well for me is skin to skin & pumping after feeding. If & when I do supplement with a bottle, I pump. It’s supply & demand. I have also done lactation cookies, coconut water, & body armor, and those are working for me. I read that fenugreek products tend to lead to thyroid issues & that’s something I don’t want to deal with, either for me or my LO. But what works for one person doesn’t work for someone else. I am resolved with pumping & feeding him through the bottle. I had a meeting with my lactation consultant today & she told me that it’s okay to pump & feed from the bottle & put them on the boob for a snack. She also said that any changes you make today will take about 2 weeks to see the effects, as you need to give your hormones time to adjust

@Miriam she doesn't have tounge tie, both my HV and midwife already checked for that one. This is me, O cannot get my boobs to let down, there's milk but I am struggling with it and my pump isn't getting it out. I massage my boobs, but even hand expression, I cannot get it out and I am doing it frequently. As a result I am not making the milk I need to and my daughters getting frustrated which isn't helping at all :( I've not tried heat packs, so I'll give that a go.i asked for medication, its what I used with my eldest two, but they won't until they see me at the feeding clinic and I am worried I will loose my milk before hand, even with hand expressing and pumping and getting bubba to latch.

@Blair I'm trying to put her to my breast as much as I can, but she's getting frustrated even with a good latch

@Zamzam shes 8 weeks old and she's currently combi fed because of the issues with my milk. She gets frustrated even with a good latch because my milk won't flow. When I had express its there, but won't come out properly, so I am getting very little. I get her to latch before and after every feeding time, I pump each time too to get it to produce as well.

@Blair I do lots of skin to skin with my daughter as she's a contact napper

@gina I just can't get my breasts to let down. I can feel the milk there (I'm not small boobed so they're weighing a tonne), but getting it to come out either by pump or hand expression is hard and frankly its making me feel a little down now as well.

Oats! I notice if I have a bowl of oatmeal a day it really helps my milk production.

Fenugreek can have the opposite effect for some people. Dried up my already struggling supply.

Keep baby latched! The more they breastfeed the more signals are sent telling your body to produce more milk. Hope this helps!! Best of luck to you and baby ❤️

Brewers yeast helped me. I got the powder and mixed it with Luke water and gulped it down. Tastes like crap but really helped. Give it 2-3 days to see results

I struggled to breastfeed my first child exclusively. For my second child, staying hydrated made a huge difference! Drink at least 3 liters of water daily—I mix mine with Gatorade. Nourish your body well and feed the baby frequently. Before pumping, massage your breasts with a warm compress. Also, ensure you have the right nipple flange size. Switching to a larger, more appropriate flange was a game-changer for me. I went from pumping 250ml in 20 minutes to 500ml. You've got this!

@Samantha 4 or 5 nurses checked mine in the hospital and said no tongue tie. I was so sick of people checking but we went to a lactation nurse and she told us to get another opinion and check for a posterior tongue tie. Those apparently are harder to check for. For boob let down, oof. Yeah. Depending on what pump you are using a different one might also be more effective. You might be able to get one of the medical grade ones if you don't already have one.

@Ife oh yes! Flange size can make a big difference. I also don't the silicone ones nicer that the rigid plastic ones. I had to go down a couple flange sizes so it's really individual. You can get nipple sizers and get a couple of flange sizes to try.

@Kirsten that I didnt know, thank you

@Jazmin this is proving harder and harder because she's getting frustrated and then unlatching

Are you drinking enough and getting enough electrolytes?

@Abi about 2 liters a day and drinking lucozade sport for my electrolytes

The most helpful thing was to feed my baby whenever she wanted instead of sticking to a schedule and to use a silicone pump on the other side while she was eating. Patience and not worrying too much is what’s needed. It was definitely stressful in the beginning

Brewers yeast helps! (I have a recipe for lactation cookies that I love that uses brewers yeast, no alcohol in it if you’d like the recipe- I eat 2 a day). I also have one beer a day (immediately after my mid afternoon pump and hours before my last pump of the day). I also would recommend drinking 100 ounces of water daily and make sure you are getting in enough calories (when I don’t eat as much, my supply dips).

@Samantha try coconut water or something natural rather than lucozade as its mainly sugar

Try power pumping, I could never get my boy latched on but I pumped and fed him breast milk but I went through a stage of him wanting more and more and I wasn't pumping enough. So I tried power pumping and within a few days I was pumping nearly double what I was previously, it really worked. Try it for an hour a day!

Great suggestions here. I've been there with the difficulty letting down. For me drinking water while nursing sometimes sped up my let down. Also nursing while walking around, staring down at my newborn. Unfortunately I think sometimes his cries also simulated the let down! I started timing how long it takes from latched to let down, that helped too because then I knew how long I needed to be patient for. I know this is easier said then done but also, trust your body! We have been feeding babies with our boobies for much longer than bottles and formula have existed! I think many people give up too soon due to those "easier" options/ pressure from pediatricians/well- meaning family. You've got this!