Breastfeeding questions

Why do you think your supply isn’t enough? You can message me if you want.

I think you need a lactation consultant as soon as possible. I waited too long and had to always combo feed because my supply was never enough. It increased, but my baby's intake as well, so I had to feed her formula also.

The more formula you give the lower it’s gonna make your supply. It’s supply and demand.

@Baled Potato because when I’ve pumped he will drink 5-6oz (he’s a chunky boy lol) but when I breastfeed in the AM (I’m super full) and he gets full and when it’s 3pm-6pm I’m not nearly as full, and he cries because he’s not full,

@Adri hmm ok! What do u think. A LC would say? Or advice?

@Baled Potato what do u suggest after I’ve given him boob and he’s crying like crazy for more food? Genuinely asking🥲

@Sophia baby sounds like he is cluster feeding they latch. Unlatch. Cry. Want to latch again. It’s sounds normal to me. How are his diapers? Plenty of wet ones?

@Baled Potato plenty! I’ll give him boob and then he’ll pop off , I’ll try to give him more but I literally feel so empty and he’s crying it stresses me out and I end up giving him a bottle of formula :(. Do I just let him cluster feed? It’s very draining

@Sophia boobs feeling soft and empty isn’t an indicator of supply. Wet diapers and dirty diapers and low weight are mama!

Sounds like you’re almost there with full breastfeeding! From my experience in the first 5-6 months milk supply is still regulating, so good chances that you can get fully switched to breastmilk. Also, 6pm is a big feed before going to bed. I think you’re getting there! Try this: - Try to get lots of skin on skin, maybe plan a contact nap with skin on skin - have you heard of a Hakaa? It’s like a silicone cup to express breastmilk. For me it boosted my BM supply so much. You can put it on after he is finished feeding to get extra milk off. That way you can gather the milk and give it to him in the afternoon feeding. - try breastfeeding before giving bottle. Even if he just takes a few sips it’ll still get his saliva in contact with your nipples, which helps stimulate your milk supply as well!

Have you tried brewers yeast powder to help you with milk supply? I breastfed my son but now I breastfeed my daughter my pediatrician says I’m doing good but I feel like it’s not enough sometimes

If baby has wet diapers and is gaining weight you’re doing great!

At 3 months you're breats won't always feel "full" like they do at the start because your milk is regulated. The more you put him on the more your body will go ahh we need to provide more at this time. The thing with breast feeding is babies will latch on and off even when they still want more sometimes. It can take my daughter a whole hour to eat from me sometimes because he get distracted. She will feed for 3 minutes then be like an excited dog and off she goes staring at some random light that's suddenly appeared due to a car or something. Look at me and cry, back on and all of a sudden, nope my hairs way more fascinating for 5 minutes before waaa and back on she goes.

Your baby latching will pull more milk than a pump. And one of the only sure fire ways to increase a supply is to latch more. Even if it’s every hour and a half for as long and they will go.

@Sophia in my case, she helped me create a personalized plan to pump and breastfeed according to my schedule at work and baby naps. Also watched my baby latch and recommended positions and food and supplements. She was very honest when she said that she could not guarantee that my supply was going to be 100% but maybe 50 or 70% because I had waited too much to get help. She used a sensitive scale to identify how much milk was transferred and see it it had improved, and also followed up on my breast pump settings and usage.

Me, personally, I’m not a fan of lactation consultants. Still remember how that lady pinched my nipples in the hospital without my consent. I mean, feel free to look into it, but doctors and medical consultants are not always the best way

I go through this with my left side because my daughter has never really latched well to it. Even today she only nurse one time a day on that side. It almost always feels empty. I have to kinda hold it up for her and when I started taking deep breaths during nursing it helped the milk come faster. I found that the more frustrated I was about the milk not coming out, the slower it would come so I literally had to make my entire body just relax and calm down for it to come out. It’s worth a try! At that age I was still pumping in between feeds so I would try that too even if you barely get anything out, it can help your body think it needs to make more milk!

I read your replies to the other’s comments and tbh breastfeeding is definitely more time consuming! Babies digest breastmilk in 41mins while they digest formula in 2-3hrs so u should be latching baby every hour to feed! If baby is crying “for more food” just burp and relatch on the other breast! My baby likes to suck suck whine/cry, suck suck whine/cry for like 5mins and then she will finally just stay latched for 20mins then falls asleep! Like another said just bcs your breast feels empty it never actually is and baby can still get let downs! So just keep latching and switch breasts every 15mins if u need too! Majority of the time they aren’t actually hungry or not full they are just wanting to comfort feed (using breast as pacifer) which will increase your supply! So just latch every hour and baby will be full! Plus just make sure they poop and pee plenty everyday and you’ll have nothing to worry about! Losing weight and dry diapers are signs of insignificant supply! Good luck

@Jess ok thanks so much! And he’s been going to sleep between 9pm-12am and sleeping till 9am 😅 and I use the hakkaa but for some reason I only ever get milk when I have a let down from him feeding

Have you tried hand expressing a little first before you put it on? You can also flap down the front part and then snatch it on the breast. And you can play with the “bottle part of the hakaa, like pressing it in different directions if that makes sense lol. There are videos on YouTube on it. Or simply put it while breastfeeding on the boob he’s not on