How to Increase Supply When Breast-pumping

Hi J.,
L. the lactation consultant here.
Congratulations on your decision to give your milk to your baby. Pumping and feeding with a bottle can be time consuming, but is well worth the effort.

To answer your question: The more often the breasts are "emptied" (breasts are never empty, but removing most of the available milk is considered "emptying") the more milk mother will make. So pumping every two hours should help increase your supply. Most babies your son's age eat about 8 - 12 times in a 24 hour period. If you have a few minutes, please take a look at the explanation of milk production at http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/milkproduction.html

Since you are returning to work in a week, it would be a good idea to begin to encourage your baby to take bottles of your milk at intervals that will be manageable when you bring him to daycare.
You can also use this formula to calculate approximately how much milk your baby needs:
1) Convert baby's weight into ounces - 16oz=1 pound
2) Divide baby's weight in ounces by 6
3) The result is the amount of milk needed to gain approximately 4 -6 oz a week
4) Divide this number by the usual number of feedings to get approximate amount of milk to put in each bottle
Source: Riordan and Auerbach, Breastfeeding and Human Lactation, Second Edition,1999, p. 362.

Remember that every baby has a different metabolism and that the results obtained by using guidelines above are just those: guidelines. Obviously, if your baby is hungry, he needs to be fed.

Most mothers pump before leaving for work. It will be important to pump as frequently as you are able at work - pump during a morning break, at lunch, and again during an afternoon break. Then pump as soon as you pick your son up from daycare. For the first few weeks back at work, try to pump every two hours when you are at home and at least three times while you are at work.

Tip: When storing your pump, be sure not to wrap the cord around the adapter. It causes wiring to loosen and the pump won't work as effectively. I see this problem frequently as a factor that lowers milk supply for mothers pumping exclusively.

I hope this information helps you. Returning to work is a big step - please get as much rest as you can and enjoy the time you have with your baby. If you have additional questions or concerns, please let me know.

Happy Mothering!
L.

My daughter was such an aggressive, wiggly eater that I went all-pumping at 4 mos in order to get us to the recommended 6 mos. Breasts are all about supply and demand, in my experience, so you must have a regular pumping schedule, and you must pump long enough to get through at least two letdowns (I didn't know there was more than one, so in the first couple of weeks I only pumped through the first one and my supply dropped drastically! It was really, really hard to get it back up aftr that). For me, that meant double-pumping (do you have a double pump? you feel so stupid at first, but it's really a time-saver) at least 30 min a session. Since your baby's still so young, you can probably 'train' your breasts to put out as much milk as you need right now -- but I really couldn't say how to do it. :-) I'm sorry -- hopefully someone else here will know! Good luck!

There are really only two ways to keep your supply from decreasing when you're exclusively pumping. One option is to pump more often. I was exclusively pumping for a while because I also have flat nipples. I had to pump every hour and even when I felt bone dry I would leave the pump going to induce let down which can take a little bit and is very inconvenient for a working mother. The other option is to talk to your doctor about medication. My doctor gave me reglan to increase my supply. There are ways to breast feed with flat nipples as well. We bought Medela nipple shields at Target. They're like nipples that go over your nipples and they worked wonders. There's also the soft shells that you wear all day that are made for flat and inverted nipples. What I do now is breast feed when I'm with him and pump whenever he's done eating. Pumping after breast feeding ensures that you have emptied out completely to increase your supply. I've known a lot of women that have insisted on exclusively pumping and even with help of medication and pumping every hour your supply will still run dry sooner than if you are breastfeeding. I would suggest getting the shields or the shells to wear for the flat nipples, breastfeeding when you can and pumping after your son is done eating. My son is now 5 months old and I produce more milk than I know what to do with.

I had the same issue with flat nipples and actually, if you are interested in breastfeeding, you can still do it (without all the pumping)! They make something called a nipple shield that you can put over your nipple for the baby to latch onto. It is just a rubber piece with holes in the end that fits over your nipple and the baby sucks on that. I used it with my daughter and was able to breastfeed her for 10 months until she weaned herself. Since you will be returning to work, I'm not sure if you're interested in this option, but I thought I would suggest it. They sell the nipple shields at Babies R Us and you can get them at Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth. Just call and ask to speak to a lactation specialist and they can tell you where to go in the hospital to pick one up. (I would assume most hospitals have the same service, so just call the one where you delivered) Maybe you could try this for the feedings when you will be home with him and use the pumped milk for daycare.

As for the pumping, I was lucky enough that my daughter started sleeping through the night at about 8 weeks old, so I never had any middle of the night feedings. I would just pump every night before I went to bed in order to build up a supply in the freezer to use in a bottle if I had to be away from her for a feeding. I'm not sure how you can anticipate the increase in demand that babies go through during growth spurts and such when you're pumping. I would just continue to pump at regular intervals and freeze the milk in small amounts (3-4 ounces), so that you can defrost a little at a time to add to a bottle if he needs more.

Congratulations and best of luck!

J.,
you have truly had some wonderful advice here, pumping every 2-3 hours but pumping a little longer will emulate baby. When baby wants to make more milk, such as during a growth spurt, they do it by eating more(both breasts instead of one per feeding) and more frequently until the supply increases. This typically takes about 3 days. Sometimes they will eat as often as 1-1/2 hours during a growth period when they really need more and we aren't producing it yet. To emulate this with a pump there are several things you can do before going back to work. Please call or email me offline and I will explain how to get the most out of your pump. Try adding an extra 5-10 minutes to your pumping time (if you are now doing 10 minutes increase to 15-20). Also Fenugreek often helps and I usually recomend it before going to a prescription medication. But you have to take a lot of it to make a difference substantially.
I truly applaud your efforts, it is so much harder to pump and bottle feed than feeding at the breast. I would be happy to help you try to get the baby on the breast for a portion of the feedings if you would like. I know many women, who prefer this method however and do fine for months. Please feel free to contact me for amounts of fenugreek to increase your milk, or pumping methods that will help.
Don't forget to let us know how this worked out for you.
K. Willis
The Nesting Place, Grapevine.

You need a professional. Please contact Judy Eastburn ###-###-####. She is wonderful and will help you through this. I used her will my second child. First chid formula fed second child still breastfeeding. I owe it all to her wisdom.

I am solely pumping now...something I decided to do after she was 3 weeks old. She was born in September of this year. My pediatrician said that if I pumped longer vs more often that my body would produce more. So far it's been working and the amount has increased. She suggested doing it this way so that I could spend more time with my baby. Before she recommended this I was trying to pump every hour if possible. But it really does seem like just going longer has worked better than more often - at least for me. I'm no expert though and will be curious to see if it continues to work. But we also will do a formula bottle occasionally if for some reason I wasn't able to pump enough that day (sometimes there just isn't time!). And our pediatrician said that way I wouldn't be stressed out -which would in turn allow my body to keep up the supply. So she told me to just look at it as - I'm pumping and what I get is what I get. And it's helped me feel more comfortable!

Have you heard of an herb called Fenu-Greek? I used it with my son when I needed to increase my milk supply. Along with drinking plenty of water this worked very well for me. You can get it at any health food store. Good Luck :)

Nursing and breast massage are the best ways to establish breast milk supply. I had supply issues and was also taking Healthy nursing tea along with above methods and am now producing sufficient milk.

J.,

When I had trouble with supply, I called the Lactation Specialists at Presby Plano. They are awesome and can help you out. It is important to have a good pump too. I ended up renting one because the one I bought stunk. To increase my supply they recommended pumping every 2 1/2 hours and for 15 to 20 min. max. I was pumping way too long. They also recommended Fenugreek (you can buy it at GNC or a Health Food Store)to increase my supply. Your best bet would be to call and talk to a lactation specialist or call the La Leche League. I have been successfully pumping for 10 1/2 months. Best of luck to you.

K.

My advice is to be sure you stay hydrated! Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day and pump at least every 2-3 hours. Find a schedule you can stick with. Even if you end up needing to supplement w/ formula, your son will benefit from any breastmilk he gets!

I'm at home with my 1 yr old who I'm still breastfeeding.

I had a milk supply problem with my second son. She prescribed Reglan (which she took herself after she had her own child) which increases the size of your mamary glands. This results in an increased supply because your body works to fill those larger glands. Also, put warm towels on your breasts before pumping. It helps with let down and releases some of the milk that stays in your glands when you pump. And are you on birth control pills? That usually DOES NOT help the breastfeeding problem. The hormones in pills help diminish the supply if it is not already established. A progesterone only birth control is okay but it must be taken at the same time EVERY DAY. There is no "making up" if you miss it. Hope that helps!