ts a little long but here is the background story: I had my baby 10 weeks early so he spent 5 weeks in the NICU. He is 11 weeks now. They started him on a bottle (breast milk) and we slowing started working on breast feeding. Well he wouldnt take to it very well but they just said he will get it just keep working with him. So now he has been home for almost 6 weeks and we have got NO WHERE with the whole breast feeding thing! In the NICU the nipples they use are medium flow to make it as little work as possible for the baby. Now when he tries to breast feed he gets SO frusterated b.c. its not as easy as the bottle. He does latch on perfect and will feed for a good 10-15 minutes but still eats the same amount from a bottle he normally would without breast feeding. I am pumping every three hours (well I have REALLY been trying to pump every three hours) but he is still eating every three hours. So it takes about an hour to get him up change him, feed him, burp him and get him back to sleep. Then I have to pump for 20-25 min. and then clean everything up. It seems like as soon as I am done with all that it is time to start all over again! I am really worried about not being able to keep up my milk supply and just this week he started having reflux, horrible gas pains and is starting to he a little colic. So I am not able to pump as often b.c. he is having so much trouble sleeping. I REALLY want for him to have breast milk, it would be even better if he would breast feed, but if pumping is all that will work then I will do it. Does anyone have any advice for keeping up my milk supply? I have already noticed I am not pumping as much as I used to. Sorry for the long post I guess I also just needed to vent a little. First we had to deal with the NICU, then the reflux, gas, colic, and fighting sleep, now my milk supply is decreasing! If its not one thing its another. Anyone else been in this situation? Any help?!?

(((HUGS))) It's so hard to keep up with it all, isn't it?!

My son wouldn't latch very well, or for long enough to get anything, so he'd get mad and pull off. After a week of this, he was losing too much weight and we had to turn to formula. I pumped for about 4 wks and it was hard! I can so relate to what you are going through. After 4wks, I got a yeast infection in my breast, which spread to Josh and he got a nasty diaper rash from it. So, I called it quits with the pumping. I too wish I would have been able to keep up with it longer, but it was just too much. I finally decided that he was able to a month of breastmilk and that was all I could do at that point. It was formula after that.

To keep your supply up, drink a beer! That's what my Ped had me do, lol! She wanted me to have at least 1/2 a day. It has to be a good hearty beer, nothing like Coors or Bud. So, once my dh got home at night, he'd take over with Josh and I'd have a beer! :drinkalot:

Like you I beleive that breast is best, so if you are willing to perservere a little I think that you can get the hang of it. But it is hard enough with a refluxer without the added pressure you put on yourself to breastfeed, so think about the decision.

But if you do want to continue or try then I have a few strategies I used.

First off the reason that you aren't getting as much milk now is because in general as time goes on the pumping will not produce enough milk so you will be overpumping to produce what she needs, which in turns still doesn't produce enough milk, but can cause infections if you are doing it for ages. The key is to pump for as many minutes as you would breastfeed for, so if feeding takes 20min each side, pump for 20 mins each side.

With the latch you will find that it is quite hard for her to differentiate between breast and bottle, a lot of people think that nipple confussion is not possible, but it is. So what you have to do if you want to feed from the breast, is start feeding without the bottle. This is possible two ways.

The first is a finger feed, where you get a feeding tube and a syringe which you tape to your finger, and let her suck on your finger and as she is sucking syringe the milk in, this will give a better reflex for nipple attachment.

I would do that for a couple of days, and pump after, or if you have someone to help you, they could do that, and you can pump.

The second is a supply line, these are fantastic, I have a link to one here,
http://www.medela.com/NewFiles/pdfs/SNS_Ins_3-langIns.pdf

but you could make one yourself, with a feeding line and a syringe again, you tape the line to your breast so it is in line with your nipple, then you let her attach properly and when she is sucking you syringe in the milk, it works really well, at first they get a huge reward for sucking properly and it is getting milk in via the nipple as well. Generally after a couple of weeks (maybe 2) of this, they are ready to suck without the line.

This is a preferred way as as they are sucking they are also increasing your milk supply in the best way.

The only problem I have ever found with expressing is the over expressing, so with both my boys in the early days I would top up with formula (hypoallergenic- after I have used the breast milk I have pumped) and as your supply grows eventually this isn't needed.

I hope this helped, I know it can sound pretty overwhelming but the method is a really good idea.

This is the link to the medela finger feeder
http://www.medela.com/NewFiles/pdfs/Hazelbaker_INS.pdf

all other info at medela.com

I hope you are able to work something out. I really wanted to breast feed. My son latched perfect and I thought it was going to work great, but when my milk came in my let down was way too fast for him. I don't think it helped that he had reflux. I pumped for about a month. When we figured out he could not tolerate milk or soy, and I would have to cut them out of my diet, it just became too much for me and I gave up.

I never had any supply problems when I was only pumping. I pumped four times a day and got more then he needed. I guess I am just a bit a dairy cow, or something.

I really hope you will be able to make it work, but don't be too hard on yourself it you can't. I felt really bad about not breast feeding, but now I know it was the right decision of us. Good luck.

Try Mother's Milk Tea. We recommend it for our pumping Mom's in the NICU. It can be found in most health food stores, and even the health food departments of most larger grocery stores. Some Mom's have a lot of success with it.

Believe it or not, I'm pretty sure Reglan is used to help with milk supply. My friend took it for that.

Daniel was a NICU baby, too -- 12 weeks early. He had a cleft palate, so he could not breast feed. For the 12 weeks he was in the hospital, I was able to pump and freeze a good supply. But then he came home, and we had the same problem. Bottle feeding for one hour, pumping for 20 minutes, cleaning the pump and storing the milk for 15 minutes, start thawing next bottle, change laundry/try to start supper/play with the baby, then start all over again. Plus, D would always need me for some reason when I was trying to pump. But, as you know, you cannot pump and hold a baby!

Anyway, I ended up stopping even though I felt so guilty -- and then I felt guilty all over again when I ran out of my frozen milk three months later.

Anyway, sorry I don't really have suggestions. But I did want to commmiserate. :hug:

I think drinking a lot of water would be beneficial as well.. my baby came at 34 weeks,, did the whole nicu nipple thing, then i tried to get her to latch on forever and she completely refused, but she refused bottles later too but thats a whole other story. I would pump every three hours.. thats the best way i think to keep up the supply, cuz when i started slacking, the milk started lessening.. and i had a lot frozen from when she was in the nicu, so like Becky i felt guilty when i stopped pumping after 8 1/2 weeks, then i felt even more guilty after all the milk ran out :( but i know how difficult it is.. i felt like my whole life revolved around the breast pump. i took reglan for a short stent,, and it does have side effects.. it made me feel really weird.. but it will pick the milk back up. Good luck.

I ditto the Mothers Milk Tea, I often suggest it to BF moms. Emerson never took to BF in the NICU they fed via bottles and we went with it.

Also plenty of fluids, since you are running around. Stress and exhaustion can also decrease milk supply. Another great booster is oatmeal.

I love breastfeeding and am a definate advocate. I think that you should try Rachels suggestions as they will help your baby learn to not only suck efficiently, but will increase your supply. You should definately try and keep up your fluid and food intake and get enough rest also to help with the supply. I would even suggest trying to feed every 2 hours this way to help with the supply for the first few days. hope it goes well and keep us posted!

Lots of hugs!!!

Hayley was in the NICU as well after birth for 10 days. She had GBS sepsis. It was a nightmare! Anyways, she wasn't feeding from me. She would suck a couple sucks on my breast, then let up and cry and cry. The hospital had to give her formula. It didn't help that my milk didn't come in for 6 days :( I wanted Hayley to be a 100% breastfed baby. It broke my heart that I couldn't get her to feed from me or that breastfeeding wasn't working out. I continued to pump every two hours but only got about 10ml out each time. It was devastating for me and added to the baby blues, I cried and cried! I know how tiring it is though. When she finally got home (my hubby is deployed at the moment), between feeding her, constantly having to hold her up, cleaning up, and pumping, I got no sleep. When her reflux got worse and she had to be held all the time or else she would shriek, I gave up on the pumping. I still try to nurse her every now and then at night. Maybe not nurse, but let her suck for a little bit. Maybe my heart is still hoping to be able to nurse her.

Hang in there. The Medela SNS system looks like it would help!

Ditto on the Medela SNS--that is probably the best thing to try. As folks have said, it will keep up your supply AND get your dc used to the breast.

Have you met with a lactation consultant? Does your hospital have one?

For increasing supply, try eating oatmeal (the less refined the oats, the better), drink TONS of water, take Fenugreek (I think it's up to 9 capsules a day, you could google it).

I know it's overwhelming right now, but you can get through this! :hug: