Hey y’all,
As some of you know, I had a baby not too long ago. I had planned to breastfeed, but he has a tongue tie and struggles to get any milk out. We’re supplementing with soy milk while I try to up my milk supply.
For weeks, I tried all the foods and supplements and hacks that are supposed to increase supply, but the only thing that really works is to pump all the time. I even tried just pumping a few times a day and doing a long power pumping session in the morning. That didn’t work too well either. My milk supply went from ¾oz to 1⅓oz per day in 2 weeks. For reference, a brand new baby from the hospital needs to eat at least 4oz. My 1-month-old son is eating 25-30oz a day. So for his entire life, I have never been able to make enough milk to meet any great portion of his needs.
I don’t expect to be able to exclusively breastfeed, but I do want to increase my milk supply so that I can supplement a greater portion of his food. What I’m doing right now, is every single time he eats, I am pumping for the entire duration. Usually when people say to pump while feeding the baby, they mean that you would be breastfeeding the baby and pumping, but I’m balancing a baby, a bottle, and a breast pump. Two things would be so much easier than three.
But pumping every time my son eats, although it’s a lot, is the only thing that has increased my milk supply. In just two days, I went from producing about 1 oz to nearly four ounces of milk. And I’m really hoping it just gets better from here.
This is the electric pump I use, but this is the manual pump that I just love. If I didn’t have to pump so much, I would use this exclusively. Even so, it is really great for it any kind of traveling. I don’t have to worry about court or so many parts to haul around or outlets. Also, you will need to get different pump flanges. I use these. The flanges that come with these pumps are hard plastic and they will tear your boobs up.
If you need to increase your breast milk production, more pumping really is the only solution.
Metta
Frugal Treehugger 