Pumping to increase supply??

[Jupitermom]

My baby was born 3 weeks early, she is only 2 weeks old. But for the last week I have not been producing much. In fact her first week she lost 2 oz and she isn't up to birth weight yet. I have been supplementing.

Yesterday I started to pump and the first time I pumped 2 oz (total), after that it was only 1-1.5 oz. I pumped for 15-20 minutes every 2 hours.

My question is, is this going to help me? Will my milk increase? I feel kind of like I'm spinning my wheels.

[Anmarnad]

It will help you!!!!! For sure. I remember when I first pumped 2 days after my dd was born I barely produced 1 ounce total in 4 pumping sessions! It was terrible. My girl lost almost 10% of her weight.  It took lots of pumping (I had to rent a better hospital grade pump) until my milk production took off. I think I finally could start living again around 6 weeks after giving birth! So please don't give up and pump. :-) It will get better. My dd is almost 8 months now and growing really well and Im still feeding her by myself.

[Me.and.my.two.boys]

Yeah it helped me too I pumped after each feed for 5 minutes regardless of how much I got and my supply did increase. It was my MW who advised me to do it or I never would have known.

[*Ali*]

It will help stimulate your body to make extra milk yes. The stimulation your body gets from the pump is more important than the resulting amount of milk pumped.
Also any EBM you can give instead of formula will help. This is because any ounce of formula you give is an ounce less your body will know to make.
Also, how often are you feeding your baby directly from the breast? Feeding frequently, at least every 2hrs, will send all the messages to your body to produce more milk.
Do you have any professionals like a lactation consultant to advise you in real life?

[mariarico]

oh I am the queen of pumping!!

i exclusively pump my milk and feed my baby with it in a bottle ever since she was born.  I have learned everything about pumping! she is now 4.5months and i'm still doing it.

First of all here is a website that you should read..http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/pumping_decrease/

In the first few weeks, your milk supply is not 100% fully in.  I too was only pumping 1-2oz.  I had to supplement with formula until my milk was fully in!
But DO NOT GIVE UP!!! Now I pump about 5-6oz every 4 hours, some women pump more and some less. everyone is different.

also the time of day influences how much you pump...more in the morning and less at night

I took supplements that are safe to increase supply...fenugreek and blessed thistle. 3xdaily
I also drank Milkmaid tea 2x daily.
Plenty of water and OATMEAL everyday!

If you pump every 2 hours for a few days, you will notice the supply increasing gradually! Make a chart of date, times, amounts that you pumped.  I still chart mine after 4.5 months. 

Do you have a good quality electric pump?

This is a very time consuming process and can get very frustrating...trust me!!! i cried and worried soooooo many times. but it depends on your willingness!

good luck!

[eva026]

I pumped after each feed for 5 minutes regardless of how much I got and my supply did increase

Same here, in fact I ended up with the opposite problem: enough milk to feed half the block! DD is nearly 1yo and I still haven't used up my freezer stash. Fenugreek is great too, made a difference within 24h of taking it.