Dear Chris,
I always love a good breastfeeding challenge, so the fact that you're not too confident
that we can help you is not a hindrance to me! While I would love to see you be able to
build up your supply, I also realize that that may not happen (although I think it can).
More important to me is that you see that what you are doing right now has merit and is
beneficial to the health of your baby and you!
I loved the last paragraph of your letter and want you to think about what you said,
"Marguerite is doing great, has never had a sick day in her life, and manages somehow
to avoid all the colds that her father--and even I--have caught these 6 months..."
The "somehow" is very easy--It's the breastmilk! And even though you
aren't making enough right now to avoid supplementing, you can see that in terms of
protecting the baby, it's certainly enough! One thing we know about breastmilk is that, as
the baby weans and the mother's supply goes down, the antibodies become more concentrated
in the milk. So even a little milk is beneficial! I am constantly saddened to hear women
giving up breastfeeding because they think it's not worth it anymore since they can't get
a full supply. I often tell moms, "If I could only get a teaspoon of milk out, I
would be feeding it to my baby! " I have been studying about breastmilk and
breastfeeding for 15 years now, and I am convinced that even a teaspoon a day is
beneficial. Your last paragraph says it all! What I want you to realize is that, it may
not be the way you had pictured it or the way you would like it to be ideally, but what
you are doing is working! You have a healthy happy thriving baby--and you can be sure that
the breastfeeding is playing a big role. I hear constantly from women that, as soon as
they weaned, that is when their babies started getting sick. Many of these women have been
down to only 1 or 2 feedings a day prior to weaning, so we aren't talking about a lot of
milk.
Concerning your milk supply--the two most important factors to building up a good supply
are (1) frequency of stimulation to the breast, and (2) getting enough rest and avoiding
stress. Let's take them one at a time:
(1) Frequency of stimulation. The more often the breasts are stimulated, the more milk
there will be. So in order to build up milk supply you have to stimulate the breasts
often. It does not matter at all if nothing is coming out--it is the stimulation that gets
the hormones flowing. Double pumping (which I hope you are doing) helps even more to
accomplish this--even though you cut your pumping time in half.
If you can get yourself on a two-hour schedule (or as close as possible) while you are
awake, that is the ideal. 10-15 minutes of double pumping is how long--again it doesn't
matter that nothing is coming out. By the way, looking at a picture of your baby may not
necessarily be the best thing for you to do. When a woman is having problems with supply,
taking her mind off what she is doing can be even more beneficial sometimes--reading a
book, watching TV, or just closing your eyes and resting.
(2) Getting enough rest and avoiding stress. Because rest is so important, I never
encourage women to pump frequently through the night. However, during the time that you
are trying to build up your supply it can be extremely helpful to pump at least once
during the night. That is because going all through the night without stimulation to the
breasts will cause your hormone levels to fall. The stress of not having enough milk and
trying constantly to build up your supply can actually decrease it even more. It is
similar to a mother who is trying to get pregnant, gives up, decides to adopt, and all of
the sudden she's pregnant. I have seen this quite a number of times. So anything you can
do to relax is a good thing. This is one of the reasons I would like to to accept the fact
that what you are doing for your baby is valuable.
Being a morning person, I also rarely encourage people to pump after the baby goes to
sleep. However, if you can do that just while you are trying to build up your supply,
again it can be helpful. Your supply will be at it's lowest point of the day, so you
wouldn't really expect to get any milk. Again, it's the stimulation that is important.
Drinking "tons of water" will not help milk supply. It only produces more urine.
In fact, drinking more than you are thirsty for can actually decrease supply since, in a
"waterlogged" body, the hormones are going to be more diluted.
Blessed Thistle is good, but I'm wondering if you have tried Fenugreek. 2-3 capsules with
each meal has been shown to help increase supply for about 80% of women. You can take this
along with the blessed thistle. Good luck to you. I truly hope what I have said is
helpful and gives you some peace.
Cher Sealy, RN, BSN, IBCLC, LLLL
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