Hellobee Boards

You might need to up your caloric intake. I know I had to eat at least 2000 calories to not see a dip in my supply. I also had great success eating avocado and seeing a boost in my supply. I also snuck flaxseed into a lot of stuff like pancakes in order to get some of that in my diet.

But yeah, try upping your calories and getting more good fats in there.

Not sure how full you are at the 6/7 am session, but I used to feed on one side and pump on the other in the morning. I was so full that this was usually as much output as the rest of the day's when pumping two sides. Another option is to add a pumping session at 9/10 pm before you go to bed?

I have to eat a ton of calories (2500) to keep my supply up and it's hard. I normally eat 1500 when not nursing or pregnant so 2500 is really difficult. I also eat clean (mostly, and my son has a dairy & soy intolerance) so it can be challenging. I make my own peanut & almond butter and eat an absurd amount of that. Water, steel cut oats and brewer's yeast are three things that make a difference in out put for me. I also rented a hospital grade pump online and that has made a difference. It's a little pricey but its worth it...for both my baby and my sanity.

You might have better results pumping longer. Do you get a second letdown? The second letdown has been key for me. Do your horns fit right? I would consider playing around with your settings. I found decreasing my suction increased my production, but requires a longer pump time.

I like all of the things that @PawPrints: said.
The thing I'll add is that I need to be very hands on when pumping. I wear a handsfree bra and I'll hold the flange on tight with one hand and then run my other hand from the base of my breast towards the nipple on both the inside and outside of my breast. Even after the milk has stopped flowing freely I can get another oz from each breast this way. Then once no more, or very little is coming out with my modified compressions I press the letdown button again and wait for a second letdown. 15 minutes also seems like a very short amount of time to pump. I always pump long enough to allow for a second letdown.

@Mrs D: I agree with @PawPrints: That 3 oz in 15 minutes seems good. How much are you wanting to put in each bottle? What kind of pump do you have. My output was much better if I used compressions while pumping. I also found having oatmeal every morning plus a ton of water throughout the day helped. I would also try to only go 3 hours between pumps at this point, four hours is a long stretch.

I think others have given great advice but I just wanted to chime in and say you are doing NOTHING wrong! Pumping is hard work!

If you're using a pump with membranes, have you changed your membranes recently? New membranes might help! You can also try: renting a hospital grade pump, using different size flanges, hand compressions, things to help you relax or think about the baby (looking at pictures, etc.) or following a power pumping protocol:

To power pump, find an hour in the day that you can pump uninterrupted. (Do your best to find time in the morning because that’s when many women’s milk supplies are at their highest.) Within that hour, use this pumping pattern:

1.Pump for 20 minutes, rest for 10 minutes

2.Pump for 10 minutes, rest for 10 minutes

3.Pump for 10 minutes.
(from: https://www.lansinoh.com/en/help-advice/power-pumping-what-is-it-is-it-for-me)

@Mrs D: That is definitely not a second letdown. When I pump, I pump until milk stops coming. I keep pumping until milk comes again. I find that doing this drastically increases my supply. I am currently pumping for 30 minutes twice a day. You can speed up the process by stopping pumping, and starting again to stimulate another letdown. To stimulate a letdown, pump at a high speed with a low suction. When you get a letdown (milk starts flowing), you can increase the suction and decrease the speed. A lot of pumps have a separate letdown mode. I pump while working, so I prefer to pump for longer and not have to fiddle with stuff in the middle of pumping. I actually find working while pumping helps my output, because, while it is not relaxing, I am not thinking about the pumping.

ETA: I also get more when I make my hands free bra really tight. I need to keep making it tighter, because my ribcage goes down in size gradually postpartum (independently of weight loss).

@mdf106: how interesting - i never thought of pumping into a second letdown.... maybe i will try this today! and ditto to the ribcage, although mine is definitely permanently wider after 2 kids.

@hellobeeboston: yes -- me too on the rib cage. I used to be 34 but now am 36.

@regberadaisy: same! Grr

You've gotten a lot of great ideas so far! I agree with the good fats/more calories--that helped even more than Fenugreek for me. I also had to pump 30 minutes at work each time. My DD took 3 bottles while I was at work, and from about 3 - 6 months I was really stressed about supply. I finally found a rhythm that worked for me, though, and even though it involved a lot of pumping, it got us over that hump and I even ended up with hundreds of ounces in the freezer! Here was my schedule on weekdays:

6:45/7:00AM: Nurse at home
7:45ish: Pump at home (for 10 - 15 minutes)
[10:00AM: E had a bottle at the sitter's]
10:30/11:00AM: Pump at work (for 30 minutes)
[1:00PM: E had a bottle at the sitter's]
3:30/4:00PM: Pump at work (for 30 minutes)
[4:00PM: E had a bottle at the sitter's]
5:30/6:00PM: Nurse at home (she'd literally nurse for like two minutes, but I liked that session since she got a bottle of pumped milk before bed--she slept better that way)
7:30PM: E had a bottle before bed
My bedtime (time varied): Pump at home (for 30 minutes)

That's way more info than you need, but thought it might help to see how it worked out for me. I ended up adding that extra morning session at home because it helped me get an extra ounce or two (sometimes three!) for peace of mind.

Also, if you ARE able to build up a small freezer stash and can send frozen milk to daycare for a few days at a time, I'd highly suggest doing that. It sounds silly, but for me, it was so nice to send a handful of frozen bags at once instead of stressing over "will I make enough for tomorrow?!" every second that I was pumping.

You got this--you're doing a great job!