Home made remedy for increasing breast milk

Re: Milk Supply question!!

Hi Mridu

Congrats and kudos to you for trying so hard and knowing how important breastfeeding is. I dont think there is anything wtong with your supply.

First there is a difference when milk is pumped and baby sucking , the latter being more. SO your baby is doing fine drinking 15 - 20 min. So when you are pumping between feeds of course there is less. I suggest you stick to feeding him directly instead of the pump as now he is getting used to you breast. Also baby's experience growth spurts , so your baby maybe feeding frequently because he wants to and not because your supply is less.

How do you know your baby is feeding well:

I have attached a reference card from kelly mom.

CHeers
Deepa

 

Re: Milk Supply question!!

Congrats on your little one, congrats again for being able to breastfeed a NICU baby. (((Hugs)))
I had a preemie who did not latch great for the first six weeks, so I can understand what you are going through - the doubts.
My questions are: how is your child's latch. Nice big open mouth with an assymetric latch - taking more of the top side of the breast than the underside of the breast - is important.
If you are not sure about it, use the breast sandwich technique. Here are some links to good latching techniques.
How is the baby's diaper output, enough wet and poopy ones?
Another think to note Mridhu is that you say you are now pumping between feeds - how often does your LO feed, every two hours or so... Two - three oz of pumping output between feeds is good one indeed. I would think you are doing everything right. Hang in there, it does get easier and you will become confident in a while. Hugs again.

 

Re: Milk Supply question!!

Deepa, crosspost. I found kellymom a lifesaver is a lot of ways. Have you checked out the handouts from Dr Jack Newman's site. I was wondering if there are any translations for it in Tamil, or similar Tamil sites. Let me know if it is something we can look at.

 

Re: During maternity leave

have a question regarding the maternity leave... did you guys work till the last week of your pregnancy or took time off before itself? For the first timers I was told its advisable to take off a month before the due date as we won't be knowing when the pain will start... Hope experienced working moms can throw some light... I need to plan my ML and am totally confused from when to take off...

 

Re: During maternity leave

Hi Lalitha,
First of all congratulations on your pregnancy.
If the pregnancy period is quite normal without any complications, yes, its absolutely fine to take leave one month before due date. But we need leave once baby is out. So, plan your leave to give more priority after baby's birth. If there is any possibility of working from home, even till one week before due date is quite fine. I took leave just a week before my due date which made me to spend my maternity leave after my DS's birth and managed to work from home till he is 6 months.
So, plan your leave according to your due date. Because even you take leave much before that, as we know idleman's brain is devil's workshop, you may get negative thoughts for unknown reasons.So, its better to be occupied.
Hope this helps!!

 

Re: During maternity leave

Hi Lalitha,

I actually planned to take leave before two weeks. My due was Sep 13th and i actually planned to take leave from 29th August. I was fine till last week. But this week I really feel tired and was asking my manager for a work from home option.
So, one month of leave before EDD will be more than enough is what I feel.
but the main advantage for me is my office is very near by to my home and it hardly takes 20 mins for me to go office in auto... So you need to consider that too... how do you travel to office and how many hours will it take for you to reach office?

Dont think that you will feel bored being at home becoz u can really enjoy the time preparing things for your baby.... And by taking enuf rest and shopping...

Hope this had helped you and i have not confused you.

Love,
Vidyaa

 

Re: During maternity leave

Thanks Priya_Mommy and Vidyaa for clarifying my doubts...The problem is my office is quite far off from home.. I travel close to 60 kms daily up and down in train & auto.. if not feeling I travel by call taxi and I work out of dedicated client network so working from home is not an option I want to spend most of the time with the baby and not before as even if I take a day off due to tiredness I feel bored... no interest in TV or such. So planning to come as close to the due date as possible...provided health cooperates. In our company we can take 84 working days as ML, 30 calendar days as Extended ML and then 2 months loss of pay so need to plan accordingly. Thanks again for the information.

 

Re: Milk Supply question!!

Hey Mridu,
Congrats for your DS... Hope you are also recovering well too and are having plenty of rest..

Before I say anything, I would like to telll you that I am second time my mom and my little one is almost 7 months old..

Coming to your question, as everybody said\asked:
i. Is your baby latching properly?
ii. 2Oz milk after baby feed sounds perfectly fine..
iii. His weight gain is good, so you shouldnt worry
iv. Is he wetting 6-7 diapers a day?

Dony worry about not feeling your breast full.. your body gets used to the pumping n milk supply after few days.. .. rarely feel that my breasts are full except on the days when I dont pump for 12-13 hrs straight..I pump at work and everytime I pump, I wonder..

on a side note, a piece of advice, if you are pumping, start freezing your extra milk in breastmilk storage bags.. stored bads come really handy when you start work or later if your supply goes down..

Good luck with the baby n motherhood
Ritika

 

Re: Milk Supply question!!

Hi Mridu,

Congratulations with your newborn!!!

I think you are definitely doing the right thing. The reason why you are getting only 2 oz when pumping is because your son is already feeding 10 mins on each breast. Hunger may not be the only reason for your son wanting to latch on and suck every one hour. Babies love the touch of breast and they sometimes do it for pacification.

You are doing a very good thing by pumping regularly in between feedings. Also eat regularly and drink milk after each nursing.This will help maintain your supply.

All the best and tk care.

- Radha

 

Re: Milk Supply question!!

Deepa, Tikka, Rithika and Radha

Thanks so much for all your adivce. I finally went and saw a lactation consultant(LC) because I was going crazy. She checked the baby's weight before and after I nursed. He basically took 2.5 ounces from one breast and 1/2 ounce from the other. And his weight has increased by 10 ounces in 8 days. So she said not to worry because he is gaining weight and eating well. Of course my supply might has gone down and got adjusted as per the needs of my son. But alteast I am relieved that he is getting enough. LC also asked me to keep pumping between feedings and also every 2-3 hrs if I miss a feedign and give him a bottle. I am going to continue doing that.

Anyways, thanks a lot for all your suggestions. It surely helped!