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| Breastfeeding Mommies |
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| Hi all. Here's my issue: My daughter is about 9 months old & is bottlefed breastmilk exclusively. I recently found out I am about a month pregnant with my second child & since a few weeks in my milk has decreased enough that it is not meeting my daughter's needs in a day. I know to increase milk supply expects suggest breastfeeding (or in my case pumping) more often, rest, & hydration. I tried that & my milk supply isn't going up. It has actually gone down a little more. If I can get her to suppliment with something for her last feeding ( about 7 oz) of the day, my milk would be enough for the rest of the day. We tried her on formula earlier tonight, one that is suppose to be closer to breastmilk in composition, but she only took a few sips & refused the rest to the point of tears. I don't think she will take to it at this age. I know technically you are not suppose to start an infant on cow's milk til 1 year. Do you a) have any suggestions on how to up my milk supply &/or b) have any thoughts on starting her on whole milk with vitamin D at this point? Thanks to all who reply. |
| Posted by Melanie on 01/28/2009 10:31 PM
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There are a couple good teas out there that a lot of women have good luck using to increase their milk supply, but I don't recall if they are okay during pregnancy. The ones I know of are Mother's Milk by Traditional Medicinals and Nursing Mom by Yogi Teas. Are you getting enough calories? That would be the other thing that I can think of that might help. If you are lactating and preggers, you should be getting something like 2600-2800 of good quality (as opposed to junk food) calories a day.
I wouldn't try cow's milk yet. I've heard that rice milk with a little blended papaya is a good supplement instead of formula. It is a lot closer (tasting) to breastmilk than any formula on the market. You can add blackstrap molasses, brewer's yeast, and/or a liquid children's vitamin supplement in it to boost nutritional content as well. I would use the rice milk and papaya blend mixed with breatmilk when my second son was being babysat by my MIL since she would always way overfeed him while I was working so I never could pump enough. He liked it and I'm not even sure he noticed the difference. I would mix it as much as half and half, although I tried to mix it at more of a 3/4 mama milk, 1/4 supplement so it would be thicker like undiluted breastmilk. |
| posted by Indigo Ottyr on 01/28/2009 10:47 PM
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I wouldn't want to make any of my normal suggestions for increasing your breastmilk at this point because of your pregnancy. I think you should talk to your OB and a lactation specialist.
Don't start on cow's milk until a year. You can actually create lactose issues (or kidney issues) if you start it too soon. To get your daughter to start taking the formula a little better, try mixing your pumped breastmilk with a little bit of formula all day long to start acclimating her to the taste a bit at a time, and then increase the percentage of formula in the mixture after a while (a while being a couple of days). Hopefully that strategy will both stretch your breastmilk out over the course of a single day and also get her used to the taste of the formula.
Good luck, and congratulations on your pregnancy! |
| posted by Cindy on 01/28/2009 10:48 PM
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Thanks for your suggestions and advice. I think I am getting enough calories but I might just start calorie counting to be sure. As for the OB, I'll ask them when I find them. I didn't go back to the OB that I had with my first pregnancy because of some issues we had & I am still looking for a new OB or midwife. I need to find one soon, but I need to be a little more careful with my choice this time too.
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| posted by Melanie on 01/28/2009 11:03 PM
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| I had the same problem with the OB I had with my first child. I wish you well! In the meantime, go to the La Leche League website and see if you can email in the question to get specialized info about breastfeeding and pregnancy. Since your body works so hard during the first trimester on brewing the baby, what might be enough calories for breastfeeding, or enough for pregnancy, might not be enough for pregnancy and breastfeeding together. |
| posted by Cindy on 01/28/2009 11:19 PM
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If I may ask Cindy, what happened with your OB?
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| posted by Melanie on 01/28/2009 11:23 PM
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| Oh, it probably wasn't the same problem, I meant that I also realized that I'd made the decision a little too readily the first time. They were really c-section happy, and kind of flip. I got kind of pressured into a c-section by a doctor who wanted to make it to his tee time. Then I had a few miscarriages and nobody took them seriously or even really remembered that that was why I was coming in so often. The last time I went in, all the younger doctors of the practice had left and there was a giant poster of the head OB standing in a recovery room with a new mom -- he had delivered her baby for Good Morning America. After I saw that poster, I quit the practice. So it could have been much worse but wasn't very enjoyable, and made the second pregnancy and delivery unnecessarily more stressful. |
| posted by Cindy on 01/29/2009 01:55 AM
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