Hellobee Boards

Remember that the total number of ounces should not increase for breastmilk. So if you are sending 16 ounces now, that number may actually decrease to maybe 3 5 ounces bottles (15 ounces total) when they get older.

I don't know if my supply really dipped at first (although it definitely did after a month or so), but I have never been able to pump enough to cover all of LO's feedings (at least not after the first few weeks or so . . . I managed to eek out just enough in the beginning, but after she went up to 4.5 and 5 ounces, I just couldn't meet the demand). LO gets a mix of BM and F . . . I would divide up whatever I pumped into 3 even amounts (for her 3 next day's bottles), and then just add formula until the bottle contained the appropriate total amount.

I felt horribly inadequate when I started supplementing, but yanno, LO is still getting all of the benefits of BM, and I was doing everything I could to provide for her (while still maintaining my sanity). I am at a good place with it now.

I didn't notice a supply issue until AF came back... months 3-5 were okay with pumping at work (esp because i'm only in office 3 days a week)... Ever since my supply tanked last month this has been my regiment and we haven't (knock on wood) so far had to dip into my small stash and DS still gets 25+ oz a day:

calc magnesium supplements half of the month around AF time. (2x daily)

on pumping days, i take 2 fenugreek tablets, MMP when I can handle the nasty taste, and drink mother's milk tea 2-3x a day.

i try to drink 20 oz of water each time i pump as well (3x).

i'm not sure the fenugreek is really doing anything, i think the major thing is the tea/water/hydration.

i pump 3x a day, 3 hours apart, 20-25 minutes until my second let down. I nurse the other sessions. DS has 3 - 5 oz bottles while I'm at work. we nurse in the morning and before bedtime. and he also eats 2 solid meals a day.

@Smurfette: Months 1-6 their intake is pretty much the same http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/milkcalc/

After solids are started it slowly starts to decrease. We went from 16oz a day to 12oz a day over a period of about 4mo.

@T.H.O.U.: This is off-topic, but what did you feed your then 9 month old for a *meal*?

Yes. I don't know exactly what the dip has been attributed to -- not nursing during the day (pumping instead), LO has become a very fussy nurser (going through wonder week IMO), I was also sick on two separate occasions one week apart and am not getting as much sleep as I used to now that LO wakes up more frequently throughout the night -- but when I first came back to work I would typically pump 14-16 ounces during the day, then an additional 4 ounces at night. Now, I have to work very hard to pump 12 ounces during the day and 2-3 at night. I'm 4 months post partum/been back at work 4 weeks.

I tried taking MMP a couple of weeks ago and it was already working on Day 2 (pumped 7 versus 5 first thing in the morning, 5 versus 3 at night), but had to stop because LO had a lot of gastrointestinal upset. I also stopped taking the tea because, even though it's less fenugreek, I suspected that's why his stool had been green since I came back to work, and I was right.

So right now I'm:
- eating oatmeal every morning in addition to a granola bar
- taking the more milk (non-fenugreek) tincture (oh god the taste... the taste)
- power pumping once or twice a day
- trying to drink even more water than I already do
- trying to be more relaxed about it

His daycare teacher recommended that I start sending 5 ounce instead of 4 ounce bottles because she said that the past few days, he's been hungry sooner than his usual 3 hours. I fear that part of that is because he's not getting as much from me in the morning so he's hungry for his first bottle sooner than usual.

So we'll see how this goes. So far today I've pumped 9 ounces (5 then 4) and I have one more pump session. This is the first day I've taken the More Milk and the second day I've power pumped and had oatmeal.