very little breast milk

[in_distress]

hi kemmy, how to continue giving when i barely get 5ml aft 1hr+ of pumping?

hi pigmit,
actualli whenever i squeeze my breasts, can see a bit of milk come out but when pumping time, like i mentioned, less than 5ml aft pumping 1hr+..

 

[sputnik]

Hi,

Thanks for the advise. I've increase my dosage of fenugreek to 6 a day, previously was taking only 2 a day cos that was what is says on the bottle. Think it helped increase my breastmilk ss. Also order more milk plus from one of the sprees to try.

 

[sputnik]

bunnybluey - can i ask where you buy the mother's milk tea? Saw from an earlier posting that momsinmind have that, but need a filter. Is that the one you bought?

 

[leela]

Hi mom to be,
Wat pump r u using? Maybe the pump is not suitable for u.
I had the same problem before. I used medela pump, no milk comes out! I changed to Avent manual then I had good flow.
Now I also drink longan red dates tea, as suggested by Hazel See.
My friend also said that her milk comes back after drinking the longan red dates tea.

 

[in_distress]

hi leela,
i used medela mini electric.. then got medela swing but still ss seemed the same.. now having menses, the more pathetic my ss..

 

[rabbit41]

Sputnik, the nursing tea is the one you saw at mom in mind website.

Mom to be, agreed with Leela. Maybe try on avent manual pump.

Leela, longan red dates tea is very heaty. And nowadays the weather is very hot. Try to drink many water too.

Happylittledot, let your baby latch on more often. It will help to increase supply. You can also try to latch on one side and pump on the other side.

 

[kemmy]

mom_to_be,
agree with leela and maureen, try avent manual pump.

 

[in_distress]

hi leela, maureen, kemmy,
u all still think got hope? coz rite now im thinking of getting the manual pump to try out since u all recommending me the avent one...

 

[jen_phua]

sputnik, e one i taking is organic mother's milk tea, which i spree fr drugstore, it's a box of 16 tea bags. e nursing tea fr mim is not e same, i tried tha b4, quite troublesome cos gotta filter, aso personally i felt tha MMT is better. i hv some leftovers to clear as i'm stopping bfing soon, let me know if u wanna try.

 

[w0nderland]

mom_to_be,

I support you. Don't give up, nowadays I find that using my manual pump on and off I can hit 180ml in about half an hour (I never try to go longer because hand will get abit tired). Maybe you can get a preloved one to try out?

Last time when I haven't get the Ameda I used the manual pump + the power pump method, it really helped to established ss but must be super hardworking lah like every 3-4 hours pump once. But now dropped because my job can't allow me pump so often.

Even though now I have to supplement more FM feeds, I think I'm contented with whatever I can give.

You try first lah, maybe manual pump suits you more?

 

[leela]

mom to be,
I support you too. Try using manual pump.

 

[rabbit41]

Most of the time I used manual pump. Occasionally I will used ameda dual pump.

 

[jeraymin]

hi all
Just checking whether fenugreek will cos colour change in milk. this few day my supply drop and i start taking fenugreek and i realised that my milk is abit grenish in colour.
Whethering wat causes the change in colour?

 

[in_distress]

hi alice, leela,
its rili worth the try?

 

[w0nderland]

Hi mom_to_be,

I would say no harm trying. Maybe for a start it would be quite tough for you since you are used to electric pump, manual pump can be quite tiring, but you can always alternate between the two when your hands are tired. The main thing is don't stop because once stop supply sure drop you got to work double hard to make up for the days that you have stop in order to see results.

I would suggest to increase the frequency if you can and try the compressing while you pump I realised that it will drain faster and better.

Lastly drink more water and most importantly stay positive (it does help for me).

Good luck!

 

[in_distress]

hi alice,
but ive stop for enarly 3 wks now.. still can stimulate ss meh?

 

[leela]

Hi mtb,
You mentioned earlier that when you squeeze your breasts, can see a bit of milk come out, right?
Maybe there's still hope. Just give it a try and drink more water.

 

[luca]

hi bunnybluey, how to get the organic milk tea? or u wana sell to me since u gt leftovers?

 

[w0nderland]

Hi mom_to_be,

Can one, I ever research online about relactation and it is possible. Some mommies stopped for 2 months and they want to relactate its possible, there was one even more surprising, an adoptive mother was never pregnant but she managed to produce milk to bf. So it is actually possible, but like I said you have to work double or even triple hard for the time you have stopped.

So if you have decided to give bfing another shot, I think you shouldn't wait anymore go get a manual pump and start pumping already.

 

[rabbit41]

Mom to be, like what Alice mentioned. You can do it. Drink more water and soup. Pump 2/3 hrly regularly. You can do it.

Manual pump is tiring but it can empty the breasts. Try to relax. I often watch tv while expressing.

Jeraymin, so far never encounter the change of the breastmilk when taking fenugreek.

 

[dewberries]

Jeraymin,
Yes, consuming fenugreek will make ur milk greenish.

Re-lactation
You'll probably need an LC's help on re-lactation. It involves a lot of hardwork n determination to get the milk back. So mummies, dun play play n stop if u still feel u want to make milk for your baby. Remember that as your baby grows older, the level of milk producing hormones in your body reduces, so it will be more difficult to get back the milk if u make the wrong choice

.

 

[sputnik]

Hi,

Does anyone know if we can take fenugreek, more milk plus and the mother's milk tea together? Or is it overkill? ;-)

 

[in_distress]

hi all,
ok, maybe should try again since i still have more milk plus and fenugreek seeds to consume.. as for getting lc to help, do u think i shd see 1?

 

[hazelsee]

hi mtb

just my 2 cents worth. relactation is definitely possible but i suggest seeing a LC since initially the reason you stopped was because milk supply is very low, starting again using the same methods e.g. more milk plus, fenugreek will at most yield you back the same amt of milk as last time. LC may be able to guide you better and help you re-establish milk supply.

Check out this page for contact no. of LCs:
http://www.family.sg/nursingbaby

 

[jen_phua]

luca, i pm u abt e organic mother's milk tea.

sputnik, i taken fenugreek & mother's milk tea together at e same time but i took v.little of fenugreek oni.

mtb, i suggest tha u c a LC. i had a mummy friend who aso can't produce much milk, then when she c a LC, she was told tha she e type cldn't produce muck milk, forgot wat's e reason aredi.

 

[in_distress]

hi hazel,
thx for the website... will try contacting some of them and see how it goes..

hi bunnybluey,
just hope tt im not in tt category.. i ever read in the papers oso abt mummies who have low milk ss.

 

[jen_phua]

mtb, dun worry so much now, c a LC 1st. jia you!

hazel, did ur AF come during bfing? if it does, did ur ss drop? mine came few days ago, now ss dips even more. sianz... i trying to dong till my son is 1yo, which is coming v.soon, hopefully i can make it.

 

[hazelsee]

hmm what is AF? if you're referring to menses, mine is still not here yet. but i still get afterpains from time to time, maybe cause of c-section.

 

[rabbit41]

Blunnybluey, when menses come supply will drop.

 

[tessy]

drink lactation tea to maintain the milk supply tat wat i did when i went back to work. Drastic drop in supply the moment i start work. very discouraging.

 

[hazelsee]

Hi Tare

Have you tried giving porridge / vegetable / fruit puree?

How many meals do you give baby now? 6 mth plus can take 2 solids a day and then slowly increase to 3 times a day. That'll help to decrease the reliance on milk.

Mine started solids at 6 mths, initially 1 cereal a day, then 1 cereal with 1 fruit, then 1 cereal, 1 porridge and 1 fruit. Milk intake from 900ml per day at 6mths slowly decrease. Now my boy is 8.5 mths, 2 porridge a day, sometimes take cereal, sometimes eat a bit of bread / bao, and fruit and take 600ml milk.

 

[jen_phua]

hazel, AF is Aunty Flow, referring to menses. i aso c-sect, aso experience afterpains fr time to time, esp e left part where e wound previously teared twice.

maureen, yup, my ss drops aft menses came, so i need to take a longer time to pump enugh for mixing 1 feed of cereal & then latch on at nite & in e morning b4 going to work. am glad tha i can c e light at e end of e tunnel as e 1yr target tha i set for myself is coming v.soon.

tare, for e cereal, maybe u can try to mix it w FM & c if he takes it. wat i did is mix e cereal w EBM, cooked e other ingredients like carrot/potato/sweet potato, etc till quite soft & then mash it into e cereal.

 

[jen_phua]

<font color="ff0000"><font size="+2">HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL MUMMIES HERE!!!</font></font>

Enjoy that special moment with your little ones!
For those who are still breastfeeding, keep it up! Jia You Jia You! Ma Ma shi zhui wei da!

 

[baby_jo]

I am total breastfeeding my 2-weeks old baby.
@ first I got very good milk supply. Per breast can pump out 180-220ml of milk.
But suddenly the supply just dropped to 70-80ml.

Very sad!
Anyway can suggest to me what I shld take to increase my supply?
Very scared that if it continues, very soon I got no more milk supply.

 

[hazelsee]

Hi Baby

First thing, don't worry. First few weeks of breastfeeding, the supply is inconsistent. Are you exclusively pumping? If you are, you'll have to work doubly hard in order to ensure your supply is sustained. If you can latch on, I suggest that you latch on as much as possible as that is the best way to help you increase your supply. If you really can't latch on, you may want to consider seeing a lactation consultant.

If you only want to pump for whatever reasons, then you'll have to massage through rolling and rubbing your nipples, and compressing your entire breast area very often, before and during pumping. By the way, after 2nd month, I'm an exclusive pumping mother because of spinal problems I can't carry baby for several months. My baby is exclusively breast-fed, and he's coming to 9 months next week.

As for supplements to take to increase supply, herbal supplements like fenugreek (can buy from GNC), more milk plus, mother's milk tea (think can buy from Moms in Mind) are said to help increase supply. Personally, I've not tried any of these.

I take Anmum milk for breastfeeding mothers regularly. I also take Scotts Cod Liver Oil tablets. For food, I drink longan and red dates tea (with a few other herbs) on a daily basis during my 1st month confinement and a few months after. I also eat pig's trotters in sweet vinegar, personally, I find pig's trotters very good in increasing milk supply. I've tried green papaya with pork ribs (I didn't try it with fish). I also eat ikan kurau almost everyday during confinement. Some ladies have shared that you should not eat pig's liver as this will decrease your milk supply.


Between weeks 2 to 4, you need to be very regular in pumping out your milk at this early stage, e.g. pumping every 3 hrs in the day, and pumping every 4 hrs at night. This is firstly, to establish your milk supply, and secondly, to ensure that you don't get any blocked milk ducts. This is the time when there is quite an increase in the amount of milk produced, so if your pumping yields much less milk and your breasts still feel hard, you may have some blockage. Do be careful about that as many of my friends had to stop because they didn't know how to handle blocked ducts.

Hope the sharing of experience helps. Paiseh, I'm very chiong heh.

 

[isobellies]

hi mummies!

i also have low SS of BM and have tried a lot of things like papaya soup and fenugreek. these didn't have any effect at all, and what i found really did help was latching on.

however, i still don't have very much, between 20-50ml when i pump out, and bb is already 3 months old, so i just try to latch him on as often as I can for him to get whatever he can.
a medical doctor told me that the only thing that can really increase ss is to drink milk!

There are some tips on establishing milk ss using a pump at the ameda website.
http://www.ameda.com/breastpumping/elibrary/qa.aspx

i wish i had these tips in the beginning when my bb had problems latching on! now i think that it might be too "late" to really increase it to TBF but at least the bb is still getting what i am able to produce

 

[mika]

hi.. vivo city vita kids got sell more milk plus n the tea....i got my from there.. got slight increase in my supply..

 

[in_distress]

hi mummies,
i think i make up my mind to give up totalli oredi la.. coz very stressful everytime i think of my no milk ss (not low milk ss). n i think im at peace wif myself oredi.. enjoying time wif bb.. but will definitely try 2 tbf 2nd bb (if got la) wif all the tips given..

btw, ive got 4 bn bottles of more milk plus.. if anyone keen can pm me la..

 

[isobellies]

hi mika

the store name is vita kids? maybe i should try

 

[in_distress]

hi iso, u wana get more milk plus? can sell u cheap if u wan.. vita kids selling for $48+..

 

[jpwongwong]

Hi hazel see

I am just curious, what has scotts cod liver fish does in your diet? does it help to increase milk supply? My son is 14months old now and I am still bf him.

mom to be
I am a SAHM, i am said to be one of the lucky ones to have enough milk supply. I do not need to take any extra supplements to have enough milk supply. I do take fish as and when I can, its said to aid in milk supply.Soya bean drink and mushrooms does help too.

 

[hazelsee]

Hi PLL

I just take cod liver oil to boost my immunity as I use to fall ill quite often. So far, I find it useful in helping me, as my colleagues had several bouts of flu, but I managed to stay flu-free.

 

[closetdoor]

Hi,
Does eating more help in boosting supply?
Every time when i eat a lot, like gorging, I get a bit more supply. Now get 30ml per pump, eat until super super full, I get 40ml. Lol.

I am afraid I will get gastric attack if I continue gorging.

 

[jpwongwong]

hazel see
OIC, good for you. I heard that cod liver fish oil is good for health.

kell
Must drink lot and lot of water, than will have more supply.

AS for food of cos you must eat well to produce milk lor but dont have to overstuff yourself to get gastric la.

 

[closetdoor]

Thanks PLL!

 

[kemmy]

hi mom_to_be,
i'm sure you did your best.
you started solids on your baby?

 

[in_distress]

hi kemmy,
*sigh* yup, tried my best still fail.. yup, started solids oredi..

 

[belleepoque]

Hi I haven't visited this thread in a while but it was interesting to read the posts that I have missed. I have stopped expressing for almost 6-7 months since my son turned 6 months.

After achieving some distance, I would like to share some of my thoughts.

It's a fallacy that all mothers can achieve total breast feeding with effort and all new mothers somehow feel terrible and guilty if they are unable to achieve it. I am not sure how we land up with the idea. I have observed the breastfeeding journeys of myself and my friends and I have noticed that different mothers are just different. One of my friends was able to latch and total breastfeed without a lot of fuss -no mother's tea or the like needed. It wasn't as if she prepared a lot either. So my conclusion is that some women are physiologically or hormonally better off for breastfeeding. Some other women can achieve breastfeeding with a lot more effort. Some just can't no matter how hard they try.

Even for my friend who is a natural at bf, she still found her supply dropping after she returns to work. So you can imagine for the rest of us....

To draw an example from nature, even pandas have different milk production. I was reading up on the pandas after the Sichuan quake and one of the panda mothers always had little breast milk. The keepers arranged for her baby panda to be brought to other more productive mothers for breastfeeding to ensure that the baby panda had sufficient nutrition! The panda institute at Wolong, Sichuan also developed panda baby formula in order to feed panda babies. Instead of always blaming formula companies, we need to be thankful that there is formula for babies whose mothers could not breastfeed for whatever reason.

Our lifestyle and working life may not suit breastfeeding as it was in the past. Stress at work would definitely affect milk production. Unless we have 6 months or longer maternity leave, let's face it ---- it's a lot harder than what most women can take.

Also I find that the pressure to breastfeed these days make us very stressed out in the early months of motherhood. I find that I am able to enjoy my baby better after I stopped breastfeeding. Before that, I was very grouchy and it is not easy for family life. So no matter how hard you intend to try, you should still consider the overall picture - the strain on the marriage and the people around you. I don't think it works for everybody. The interests of the child is very important but one must still be flexible and make a good judgment of when it is necessary to put other people's interests a little higher in priority.

From my own research, breastmilk is most important to a child in the first 4 - 6 months as the gut is not fully developed and "closed" then and any introduction of foreign food may cause allergies or other intolerance. Beyond 4 - 6 months, breastmilk is good to have but not as critical.

Some babies however have no problems even if supplemented with baby formula so there is no need to feel too guilty if you can't bf totally during those critical first few months.

So my recommendation is:
1. Try hard for TBF for the first 4 - 6 months and supplement if necessary with a hypoallergenic formula. Best not to supplement at all to avoid allergies.

2. Beyond 4- 6 months, and especially if your baby can tolerate formula without health issues, you should bf only if you are comfortable with continuing.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[haystack]

hi

my gal now going to be 15mths. i have been TBF till she is 1 year old. only ard 13 mths, i decided to cut down the pump. but after watching some documentary, i feel like continue to BF her. is there any way to bring back the milk ss? cos now my ss is very low. whole day only able to pump ard 150ml.

mom to be, how much are u selling milk plus?

does anyone know if by taking milk plus, will it reduce the chance of getting pregnant?

 

[pamtaurus]

Hi

I oso have problem with the milk supply. I pump regularly every 2.5hrs but oni manage to pump out max 90ml of milk each time. Is it normal? Anybody knw how much milk in every how many hrs shld b express? I can't keep up with my baby's demand as I am giving him 140ml of milk for each feeding recently, b4 that i oni give him 90ml every 2hrs.

My baby is now 2mths &amp; 3 wks old.

How much milk shld a 3 mths old baby drink?