hi fruitcake,
if u are keen to go TBF, u may want to consider NOT supplementing.y? coz ur body produce to wat ur bb drink from u, so by supplementing, ur body will produce less coz ur bb drink lesser from u. Its ur choice though, coz u may feel upset if u think bb is not full without FM.
My gal is 1yr old n she has not taken any FM. I did not start with plenty supply. In fact, i was struggling very badly to bring in enough BM for my gal first few weeks. but i refuse to supplement. I latch her on as long as she wants to, i can say its very very tiring. but coz i was very determine to TBF her...in the end, thank God, i managed to bring in enough BM to TBF her.
what i really did:
1. we must have PLENTY liquid, fish soup with green papaya is good.
2. must have good/enough food. when we r full, we can produce more milk.
3. I did not supplement at all, i latch bb on as long as i feel she's not full
4. after each latch on session, i'll pump out watever milk i can. about 10-15mins each side. meaning, bb latch on, pump, bb latch on, pump etc etc round the clock. its really tiring, so u need determination.
5. if u can have enough sleep/rest (or lie down even if u cant sleep), it helps alot too. i know its difficult to rest if we r latching on n pumping round the clock. so u get others help (eg, hb or nanny) to do other things....so u concentrate on bf bb
the above really helped me, i really had very little milk at first. but with this routine, i produce more than wat my gal can consume. All the best to u!