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Katep 
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 Topic: no boob..lack of milk?
Posted: 16 December 2009 at 8:11pm |
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For a few weeks now, Miss almost 5 months has been a little fussy at the boob. Like on and off and on and off. It has slowly been getting worse and my milk supply seems really low. I have never really had extra, she has always had to work for her boobie milk, but over the last few weeks I have been running out and it is beginning to really piss her off. At first it was all good until 4pm ish and then I started noticing a lack of milk early afternoon and now even with her first feed of the day (after a 12 hour sleep) I am running low and she gets real pissed off first thing in the morning (when I say running low- I mean I squeeze and there is nothing there!).
She has had FF before bed since 8 weeks old and lately she has had thr odd extra bottle.
I know there is such things as tiger milk, complain...I dont want to resort to that as I dont want the extra calories in my diet (there is enough intake alredy).
I did a round of domperadone when she was first born and that seemed to work. Is a dr. likely to prescribe domperadone etc. I dont want to be wasting time and money going to a dr.
SO I am wanting to know your thoughts of whether to try to boost milk for her or is she ready to wean? (BTW- I really want to continue BF).
TIA!
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Mum to the Gorgeous Leah!
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Katep
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Posted: 16 December 2009 at 8:12pm |
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Oh and I forgot to add that she has barely been feeding today and she had a nappy on late avo today and was not wet at all after 2 hours! She was just crying over the boob and was only happy after a bottle.
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Shezamumof3
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Posted: 16 December 2009 at 8:23pm |
Kate if you dont want to use Complan or anything then you could use these pills called Milk Flow, you can get them at any health shop or chemist, its a Natropharm product. I use them and they are fantastic!! They boost my supply heaps after a day or so, brilliant things!!!
Also, Complan actually isnt that bad, and it REALLY works, so what you could do is, just use it to replace one meal a day, having one complan a day isnt going to effect your diet that much and if it helps your milk its worth it 
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Katep
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Posted: 16 December 2009 at 8:28pm |
Seeing as I am trying to loose weight ...I want to make the most of the calorie intake by eating yummy things and not complain!
Yeah I am aware of these pills- how long do you reakon the take up up supply? Cost? I am wanting to go to the dr. anyways so a script might be cheaper.
Also do we think stress can take a toll on supply?
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weegee
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Posted: 16 December 2009 at 8:40pm |
Actually I was surprised to learn stress doesn't have that much effect on supply at all. What it DOES affect is letdown - so if you're stressed out you might be having difficulty getting a let down (so it's not that the milk isn't there it just doesn't want to come out iygwim). If you think that might be the case then check out kellymom's page on slow letdown. (Link here.)
The big thing I would say is the best way of producing more milk is frequent, effective removal of milk. So try to feed as often as you can / as often as Leah wants to and try not to supplement with FF. If you can take a day or two to not do anything but feed - a bit of a BF holiday if you like - that would work wonders for your supply. Just take to your bed with her and let her graze all day.
Just so you're aware, every time you give her "the odd extra bottle" your supply will dip a little in response.
You might also want to see if someone can check your positioning to make sure she's latching correctly and removing that milk effectively (you could try contacting La Leche League or a peer counsellor). If you're in Auckland I'd be happy to help (I'm a breastfeeding peer counsellor) - OT but actually Sheena that goes for you too, I'll be in your neck of the woods this weekend.
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Shezamumof3
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Posted: 16 December 2009 at 8:45pm |
Thats what Ive been doing weegee, feeding bella heaps to gets my supply back up and it dwindled from giving her bottles during my stressed out time 
The milkflow take about a day or so to kick in, you take 2 pills(just suck them) about 3 or 4 times a day.
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bebebaby
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Posted: 16 December 2009 at 8:49pm |
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Could it be that you aren't eating enough? If you're trying to loose weight are you getting enough caleries to make milk?
I dunno, just a thought.
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Katep
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Posted: 16 December 2009 at 8:54pm |
I tried to feed heaps today....Leah doesn't sleep in the day (yes, you heard me) so I was feeding her every 30-45 minutes and she just did not want a bar of it. She was on for up to 5-10 seconds then off and eventually she would just scream/cry.
I dont like giving her extra bottles. In fact I was pleased to be able to only giver her the normal one bottle before bed tonight. But then she has really dry nappies.
I am very close to just packing it all in and go FF full time... 
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Katep
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Posted: 16 December 2009 at 8:56pm |
JAnini- I am eating at least 2000 calories a day (probably more but I dont want to admit it  ) As far as I am aware, anything above 1600 should be ok for BF'ing. Also I have pleany of fat store...surely that counts towards somehing?
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cuppatea
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Posted: 16 December 2009 at 9:00pm |
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I would see a lactation consultant before you pack it in, they cost around $70 to see or you might be able to arrange a free one through plunket or something?
Whenever i think my supply is a bit low, if I've been unwell or whatever, then I find a bowl of porridge normally does the trick. Also make sure you are drinking heaps and resting as much as possible (I know I know, impossible sometimes).
I also think that until you sort out the BF issue that you should stop watching calories in case it is messing with your supply, after all you need to eat heaps more to breastfeed than you need to eat to grow the baby when pregnant and there will be plenty of time for calorie counting once baby is on solids and not depending so much on milk.
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kathamill
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Posted: 16 December 2009 at 9:34pm |
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I noticed that my daughter around 4/5 months got really nosey when feeding, pulling on and off. So now we have to be somewhere quiet, otherwise she thinks she may be missing out on something. Just a thought.
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peanut butter
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Posted: 16 December 2009 at 9:41pm |
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Definitely get some help. It sounds like you migh tbe getting into a vicious cycle with her...she's hungry. not sleeping, too tired, not feeding...etc.
I second the "nosey" phase and found I had to go into James' bedroom to feed as he wasnt interested anywhere else.
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Bizzy
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Posted: 16 December 2009 at 9:46pm |
 janini wrote:
Could it be that you aren't eating enough? If you're trying to loose weight are you getting enough caleries to make milk?
I dunno, just a thought. |
i wondered this too... and also the right type of food too. and are you exercising?
Just because nothing comes out when you squeeze your nipples doesnt mean that you arent producing milk. you squeezing is not the same action as a baby. also your body starts to produce the milk differently and makes it as it is needed as opposed to storing it up...
one other thing to consider is the weather, it is hotter and it can affect how much they want to feed.
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Babykatnz
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Posted: 17 December 2009 at 1:17pm |
I'm on the other side of the fence on this... I had the same prob with DD in that she started off ok, then around 3 months just wouldnt feed and even the slightest distraction would have her pulling off and refusing to go back on (I'd barely get it in her mouth before she started arching back/screaming etc) I tried and tried to get her back on but it got to the point she was so far underweight that I was being accused of neglecting her and was made to give her formula (no amount of supplements, complan or medication would increase my milk enough to get her to try again)
From leaving hospital at 3 monts until she hit 4 months I was expressing almost all day to get enough to give her 2-3 bottles a day (the rest of her daily bottles were formula), and by the end I was barely able to get enough from a full days pumping to fill one bottle... we gave up at 4 months and switched to fully FF and she has started creep[ing back onto the average range in the growth charts... I beat myself up over it for so long thinking I had done something wrong all over again (DS was very much the same only we caught onto the problem a lot earlier at 1 month old and was fully FF by 6 weeks) until someone made me realise that its not our fault as mums whether we are able to BF or not, sometimes nature just doesnt work to our 'plan'.
I found Fenugreek (from memory was about $16? from health shops like Hardys or Health2000) was a big help in increasing supply, it took just under 2 days to see a noticeable difference in supply. Domperidone costs $10 (not fully subsidised) + doctors consult fee, so sometimes it works out cheaper to go for the natural approach 
Best of luck, but please dont let it get you down if you do go fully FF like I did! its not your fault!
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mumzrule
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Posted: 17 December 2009 at 1:45pm |
This isn't advice just whats happening to me.
I am having the same problem with Willow. She was bf prefectly till about 8weeks when she started to refuse me. I persevered for two weeks when I started to notice she was having dry nappies, (she has gone 10.5hours at night before and four hours in the day). We now supplement feed (one bottle before bed at night and the odd 50-100ml here and there).
Willow is getting worst so for my own sanity I am going to try and make it to four months and if we are still have issues, (like today, stick hot and refusing me) I am going to start weaning to FF fulltime.
So different to Lilly who I was able to bf till 13months no problems.
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fire_engine
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Posted: 17 December 2009 at 8:00pm |
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I was about to ask what do you want to do with BF then went back to your OP and you said you really want to continue.
Personally (and this is just based on my experience), I've found it can be really hard to combine boob and bottle and that was our downfall. We went through it at 7 1/2 months and Daniel weaned within a week, going from happy feeding to getting really frustrated. I think it was becuase the bottle was faster than the boob and he didn't see why he should have to bother. If you do continue to combine BF and FF, then it would be worth getting advice about the type of bottle and teat as some are easier to combine.
I would really encourage you to get some advice and give it a go, since you're keen to continue. I still wish I'd been able to BF longer.
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no boob..lack of milk?
