Breastfeeding Resources

I’ve been struggling for a few months with milk supply problems. For now, things are going well. In this post, I’ll share what I’ve learned about how to approach the problem and finding a solution.

If your baby is eating more breast milk at day care than you’re providing each day, or even some days a week, you’ll start to wonder what’s going wrong. Unfortunately, there is no simple answer. What’s going wrong is different for everyone. You have to think through the possible causes and try solutions until you come upon a combination that works for you. I am not a professional, but after my experiences I have some suggestions on how to approach the problem.

1. It probably took you days or weeks to recognize a problem was developing. Make sure to allow weeks to see improvements. You’re not likely to find one magic bullet that changes things overnight.
2. Everyone says it, but find a way to relax about the problem. Stress can make things worse. After you work yourself into an absolute frenzy (I know I did), take a day when you’re with the baby to let it fall completely from your mind. Then try to think about what would let you relax with the problem. For me, after my freezer stash was all but gone, it was pumping a few evenings after Aaron went to bed to get the stash back up a little. Is it coming to terms with supplementing with formula (maybe for a short time), and buying some to have on hand? Is it sharing your problem with your husband and the day care provider so everyone is looking at the problem as seriously as you are? Is it calling a lactation consultant so you’re not going it alone?
3. Consider whether you have a problem producing milk or in how the baby is being fed. Even if you are producing less milk than you used to, the problem might not be you. Remember that it can take your body a while to equalize the amount of milk it produces with what the baby really needs—six weeks to nine months. And remember that according to kellymom “Current breastfeeding research does not indicate that breastmilk intake changes with baby's age or weight between one and six months.”
4. If you can do so without getting more stressed out, keep a log of milk production and baby’s feeding times and amounts. See what you learn.
5. Review suggestions for improvements, like those here http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/index.html
6. Be persistent. Try things that strike a chord with you. Try easy things first, then try hard things. Don’t avoid the hard things just because you might have to do them forever. You might not. And at least when you’re back at the place where you have enough milk you can think more clearly about what you’re capable of doing long term.

I’ll share what worked for me in the next post.