My almost 5 month old is not interested in nursing any longer. I have also been pumping and using the bottle (He was a premie, so he got used to the bottle in the hospital). I have a couple questions:
1) I would like to continue pumping, which has been going fine. Are there tricks to keep my flow up besides drinking lots or water etc.? Any foods? I would like to try to give him mother's milk as long as possible.
2) Can pumped breastmilk cause obesity since fore and hind milk milk will be combined at times depending on the expressed amount?
Things still seem to be going well as far as pumping goes. Oatmeal was a great idea. I have also seen that Grapenuts Flakes work too (for me anyway). Everytime I had oatmeal or the Grapenuts flakes, I would produce more. I ended up having to cut out a pumping session. Now, I can sleep more through the night since I cut out the 2am session. Thank you again for all your suggestions. I did try the Organic Mother's tea a few times, but it does not taste that great, so I opted for the cereal instead. It may be because I drink regular tea every day. Maybe if I was a coffee drinker, the Mother's tea would not be that bad. Oh well. My little guy will be 7 months in a few days and he surprises me every day with how alert and active he is. What a blessing.
I was showering one day before I had my first daughter and I noticed that I sprung a leak. ha ha ha It was from my breasts and I asked my dr. what was wrong and he told me that when you take a shower it opens up the milk ducts and that it was normal for you to overflow when showering. Hope this helps!
A. from Three Rivers, MA
Hi. Well I will try and help if I can.
I have been pumping exclusively seince my 7 month old son was born(latching issues). I tried to pump with my first but I did not now how to do it well or how often I had to do it so I dried up. From my experiance if you drink lots of water, eat healthy and pump often you will be fine. I was told to pump at every feeding which is how I started but now several months later I am now in a position where I can pump 4 times a day and have enough for the day.
As for the obesity I do not know, that is a good question, but my son is perfect size, he is a big baby but he was born at almost 9lbs 2 weeks early.
Pumping full time is hard but if you set your mind to it it can be done. There are some great things out there to help full time pumpers as well. I bought a halter top for pumping (I found it on ebay brand new)it has the cutouts for the shields so you can pump away while relaxing or working on the computer (they say you can play with your baby too but that has not worked well for me)
Well I hope this helps. If you have a question please feel free to contact me. Have a good day. A.
I have a son who is 9 months old that I have been breastfeeding since birth. I have been attending a support group weekly since he was 5 weeks old. The Nurse who runs the group said that eating oatmeal can work. She also said that if you have a health food store near you that you can drink mother's milk tea, or take Fenugreek pills and this will increase you supply. I hope that some of these things help
S. B
I think it's great that you are so dedicated to continue to give your baby breastmilk- it's such an important first food! Pumping is challenging at times, but it can work. I began pumping with my dd when she was a couple of weeks old getting ready for child care, and I still pump in addition to feeding her. Drink water every time you pump, and in between. Oatmeal does work, and if you're interested send me a message and I'll send you a yummy recipe for oatmeal nursing cookies. Fenugreek tea also works! I found that if I "scheduled" my pumping sessions at the same time ever day, my body was always making extra at that time (boy did I feel it if I skipped!). As for your milk causing obesity, I think it wouldn't. Truly- the only time your son would only be getting fore milk without the hind milk is if he "snacked" on you for just a minute and then left the feeding altogether. Babies only do that on occassion typically, so I wouldn't worry about it. Many babies have been happily fed exclusively pumped breastmilk (for more on that you can go to www.milkshare.birthingforlife.com.) So much luck to you!
I took the herbal vitamin Fenugreek...advised by my doctor. It is supposed to help with the increase in your milk supply. I went to the health food store and found it there..Im not sure if they sale it at regular shopping centers. But I do believe as long as you are expressing your milk, you will keep producing it without any problems. I think you are doing a great thing by being determined to continue the breast milk. It takes lots of work and I wish you much luck.
Hi!
I nursed my baby. He started using a bottle in addition to me nursing at about 1 1/2 months when I had to go back to work. Then he weened himself completely off me at 6 months =(
From what I understand, expressing milk consistently will keep your flow up~whether you are nursing or pumping. Your body makes what is used. Also, make sure you are well hydrated, like you said. I've never heard about specific food helping.
Breastmilk doesn't cause obesity. Lack of exercise and a poor diet do. If your toddler is like any other~running and climbing around, I wouldn't worry about it too much.
~J.
Hi T.,
1) The best way to keep your flow up is by pumping regularly every 2-3 hours. You should be pumping as often as your baby would be breast feeding to keep up with his demand. I had trouble keeping up with my baby's demand because I didn't pump as often as I should have. To increase your supply you also need to make sure you've dried them out each time you pump. It will send the message to your body that the baby needs everything you have and possibly more. If you don't pump it all out each time you'll start weaning yourself dry and decrease your supply. It sends the message to your body you don't need to produce as much for your baby.
2) I've never heard of obseity being caused. Breastmilk is the healthiest thing you can give your baby. As long as you give him healthy foods when he gets older, and he's active, I don't think this is something you'll have to worry about. For now, I wouldn't even think about obesity. Babies grow so fast, and if they have a little "extra" there is nothing wrong with that. I was a chubby baby, but I grew out of it. Chubby babies are just as cute too!
I pumped for my son and it is hard and demanding, but it was the best option for me before switching to formula. Keep it up as long as you can! It's worth it!
-A.
One little side-note: the idea that drinking extra water or fluids helps you create more breastmilk is a myth. Here's what Dr. Sears says: "Because milk-making hormones help your body conserve water, failing to drink enough water will not affect the fluid content or volume of your milk." So, lactating can cause you, yourself, to require more fluids in your own body to keep you from dehydrating, but drinking extra water will NOT mean you are able to physically create more breastmilk. Only frequent nursing and pumping can trigger the "Supply & Demand" response to encourage your body to produce milk. Secondly, many babies at your son's age go on intermittent nursing "strikes" as they become more and more alert and distracted by the world around them. The want to look around, smile at you, tilt their heads back and see how the room looks upsidedown, poke you, babble, squirm and get moving. It doesn't mean they want to wean. I would stick with attempting to nurse him as often as you can at the breast for at least another few weeks to make sure this isn't just a temporary strike. If he refuses to eat at noon, don't force it, but try again 30-45 minutes later. He may refuse again or be hungry enough this time to buckle down and nurse. And don't immeadiately whip out a bottle- offer the breast first as the default method for feeding. My daughter would go through phases almost daily at that age, of refusing to nurse for 1 or 2 feedings and then snuggling in later on for a decent session, then refusing the next one after 2 minutes. She's 10.5 months now and we got through her strikes and are still nursing well. Just make sure you aren't giving up nursing because of your busy baby's new interest in the world! Especially if you want to keep him on breastmilk. Nursing obviously is the best way to keep up supply.
If he really prefers the bottle and won't nurse after a couple weeks of continuing to offer the breast 1st, then don't worry about pumped milk causing obesity. It is still the ideal food, and the fat balance, mixed or not, will be healthiest for him no matter what!!! Good luck!
Try Mother's Milk Organic Tea from Traditional Medicinals. It contains fenugreek. It can be bought at Shaw's or Stop & Shop. If you don't like tea, you can buy fenugreek pills from GNC. It definitely worked for me. (Drink 3 cups per day). I heard oatmeal works also but I never tried it. Good luck and happy pumping!
Foods that boost lactation include oatmeal, fenugreek (available in tablet form - take enough so that your urine smells of maple sugar) and mother's milk tea.
No- pumped milk is absolutely fine - no fears about obesity. The preferred food for your child, according the the world health organization goes in this order of preference:
1) breastmilk direct from the mother
2) mother's pumped milk
3) donated pumped breastmilk
4) formula.
Let me know if you have any further questions - I pumped for 15 months for my son after returning to work. Make sure you have a good pump - I recommend the Medela pump in style advanced. An inferior pump will hurt your supply. Also, pump often - I pumped every 2 hours when I was at work and was even able to donate breastmilke twice to an adopted preemie.
L.
