Low milk supply, my Dd doesn't want to nurse after 2mins

[anyone0205]

my milk supply is low till my lo was born. Time after time it increased but my lo gets bigger so he wants More and still its not enough for him. I am drinking some Herbal teas to increase my supply but he doesn't want to nurse most of the time,  if he nurse it takes only 2 or 3 mins
When he is sleepy he nurse for about 5 or 7 mins

I tried to pump my milk, it was about 60cc. I am afraid he will give up nursing. Because he doesn't nurse for hours. Sometimes from morning till night.
Also i will start to a full time job next week.  I Will come home at lunch break for breastfeeding but even if he doesn't wanna nurse it will Be useless.
By the way my dd is 5 months 2 weeks 4 days old. But adjusted age is 4 months 3 weeks old
Please give me some advice

[PaulsMom]

It is stressful when you think that you are not producing enough milk... Sending you some hugs.  However, I would not assume that your supply is low based on your Lo feeding for only a few minutes or only being able to pump 60 ml.  Some Los are very efficient at feeding.  My DS as a newborn was SLOW... It would take hours but by the time he was 3 to 4 months, he could feed in minutes.  Wrt pumping, your body may not respond to the pump very well.  I certainly am finding this with my dd, now I am lucky to get a 60 ml vs with my DS, I could pump 120 ml in 10 min. 

If you are really worried about how much your Lo is getting, I would recommend doing a proper yield where you weigh your baby before and after feeding to see how much he is getting. 

Hope this helps!

[Fiver]

Agree with PP about pumping and how it's not a reliable indicator of supply.  Also about how some BF LOs are so efficient that they don't take long to feed.

How's his weight gain been?  Is he meeting developmental milestones?  Plenty of wet/dirty nappies?  These are all better gauges of milk supply.  Although I totally get the worry of not being able to see how much LO is getting.  Sounds like you're doing well so far

[anyone0205]

Agree with PP about pumping and how it's not a reliable indicator of supply.  Also about how some BF LOs are so efficient that they don't take long to feed.

How's his weight gain been?  Is he meeting developmental milestones?  Plenty of wet/dirty nappies?  These are all better gauges of milk supply.  Although I totally get the worry of not being able to see how much LO is getting.  Sounds like you're doing well so far

He drinks formula most of the time, we started mixed feeding when he was born and we couldn't give up cos' of my low supply. For a week he started not to suck my breast during daytime. But when he is sleepy he nurses.
What can i do to maintain my production. This night i pumped after 12 hours of not feeding with my breast and it was only 75 cc. After 3 hours i did it again and that time it was only 40 cc. Do you think i should pump it all the time.

By the time sorry for my bad English. I hope you can understand me

[anyone0205]

It is stressful when you think that you are not producing enough milk... Sending you some hugs.  However, I would not assume that your supply is low based on your Lo feeding for only a few minutes or only being able to pump 60 ml.  Some Los are very efficient at feeding.  My DS as a newborn was SLOW... It would take hours but by the time he was 3 to 4 months, he could feed in minutes.  Wrt pumping, your body may not respond to the pump very well.  I certainly am finding this with my dd, now I am lucky to get a 60 ml vs with my DS, I could pump 120 ml in 10 min. 

If you are really worried about how much your Lo is getting, I would recommend doing a proper yield where you weigh your baby before and after feeding to see how much he is getting. 

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the hugs

[PaulsMom]

The best thing you can do is breast feed your son.  Babies will stimulate production better than a pump.  You can encourage feeding by doing breast compressions while he feeds.  Some moms take herbal supplements or domperidone (a prescription medicine) to boost supply.

If your objective is to stop formula feeding, then you will need to put your Lo to the breast as much as possible and try to reduce the amount fed by bottle.  This will take some time. 

Hope this helps

[Fiver]

If your objective is to stop formula feeding, then you will need to put your Lo to the breast as much as possible and try to reduce the amount fed by bottle.  This will take some time.

^^^This.

The more bottles of formula you offer, the more your supply will dwindle as your body is not being stimulated to produce milk.  Is there a reason you think you had low supply from the start?  A small percentage of women don't produce enough milk to sustain their baby (some due to insufficient glandular tissue in the breast, others due to hormonal issues, like PCOS and other reasons still, like previous breast surgery)

One thing you could try is giving a small amount by bottle at each feed to take the edge off LO's hunger and then offer the breast.

This thread (Relactation: I stopped nursing, but regret my decision. Can I start again?) may also be helpful to you in your journey back to BF

[YussiCat]

I went thru the exact same thing, realized after bringing my baby home she kept on falling asleep instead of drinking, she lost a bit of weight the first 2 weeks and I freaked out thought I had left my precious baby to starve all this time and supplemented with some formula ( which she gulped down in a minute because it's so much easier then actively sucking), went to the lactation consultant 3 times, she kept telling me my supply wasn't low and that DD was getting enough, I don't believe her, I pumped and never got more then 1 oz or 2 even after 6-7 hours not feeding. But eventually I started letting my daughter nurse almost all day ( breasfeeding vacation= all you do is relax and BF your baby for a few days) and pumping at night and I guess it worked because thank God I have been exclusively BF for 11 months with introduction of solids at 5 months.
It's a lot of work but Don't give up! There is nothing we wouldn't do for our little one,
 If your baby is growing fine and the pediatrician is happy then don't worry too much, and don't give up!
I  have been there, I hope you come back in a few months to tell me I was right :-) in the meantime I am sending you lots of hugs for you and your LO.

[*Mona*]

anyone, I too had problems with pumping with dd1- wanted to when getting back to work but never really succeeded- the most I got was maybe 50~60 ml. But as dd was gaining nicely I knew it was not my lactation that was the problem. So really, I wouldn't worry about pumped amount. And yes, if you want to burst your supply, try BFing more often. Hugs.

[anyone0205]

Hi, after a few weeks again me  thanks for all of your replies and hugs  a month ago suddenly i had to start to work, first my son refuse bf, but after a week he was fine and now there is no problem about nursing, he wants to nurse. But the problem is changed, when i started to work i was pumping about 70cc but now it only 35 or 40 cc. Our schedule is like this

07:30 bf
08:30 breakfast : cereal with 80cc formula or bm
12:00 mashed vegetables (meanwhile i am pumping at work)
15:30 150cc formula
17:30-18:00 if he wants to nurse bf, if doesn't want i am pumping
19:00 rice cereal with formula
22:00 bf (if isn't enough for him he continues with 60 cc formula)
and he wakes 1 to 3 times at night for bf

What do you think about our eating routine, he takes formula + bm so i don't know if he is getting enough milk for his age. But i am worried about my supply

[PaulsMom]

I'm thinking that he should have one more bottle while you are at work as he is bf at 7:30 am it gets his next bottle at 3:30 pm.  At 6 mo, he should still be getting either bf or a bottle (of EBM or formula or a mixture if he two) roughly every four hours.  Solids can be given roughly 1hr after milk as you do in the morning.... So it might look more like this

7:30 bf
8:30 solids
11:30 bottle
12:30 solids
15:30 bottle
16:30 solids
19:30 bf
22:00 bf

With the extra bottle you may find that he wakes less at night for bf as he's getting more during the day.

Wrt pumping, I found that I was able to pump less after the 6 month mark because my body stopped responding to the pump.  This doesn't mean that your baby is not getting enough milk. If he's content coming off of the breast then he's had enough.  If he wants more, I would put him on the other breast.  If he's still not satisfied try putting him on the first breast again.  This will stimulate your supply at the times you are feeding him. 

Over time you may find that you don't pump much during the day when you are at work and at these times give him formula but if you bf him when you are home, then you should maintain your supply for those times. 

HTH