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My son August and is now 3 months old. We are just hanging on to the last of my milk. It took 8 days for my milk to come in after his delivery. When my milk did arrive it was very little. I saw a lactation consultant 2 times after my son's birth to correct his latch (which is awsome now) and to get a referral to have his tongue clipped as he had a tight frenulum (sp?). His tongue was finally clipped at 3 weeks old much to my relief and breast comfort though I'm sure that having him tongue tied for 3 weeks contributed to our problems. For the 1st 6 weeks after his birth I BF every 2-3 hours, pumped every 2-3 hours, drank mothers milk tea, and took fenugreek 3 times a day. After all this work my milk supply hardly increased and I still had to suppliment each feeding with formula (did this with a lact. aid for 3 weeks and then went to a bottle). After 6 weeks of so much work, and the work of taking care of our first baby, I was exhausted and could not continue. So for the last month and half I have continued to nurse before each bottle, compress during feedings, take fenugreek 3 times a day, and pump 2 times a day. Lately I've noticed that I am producing less and less. He will fuss sooner at the breast, I hear less swallowing, and when I pump I only get 1oz (both sides combined, 10-15min, medella pump in style) as were I used to get 2oz. Yesterday I started to suppliment at the breast again (lact. aid) in hopes that it will stimulate my milk more. I feel like I've done it all with no real progress. I really don't want to stop BF but it seems like all my attempts to make it work have failed.
My questions are...
Is this still worth using the lact. aid?

Do I just have a really low supply and have no hope of gaining more milk? (I've never had any kind of breast surgery or trama so I know that is not a factor.)

Will this happen to me again when trying to BF my next baby?

If I try to go to the doctor to get help (like getting a perscription for something) who should I see at this point and what do I ask for? My reg. family practice doctor or a lactation consultant?

I've heard about domperidone but don't know how to approach a doc. about a perscription or even just help with monitoring me. Is this something I can or should do on my own?

Any other advice?
Sorry this is so long.
Joy

Hi Joy,

Kudos for all your efforts. I say keep it up and pump more. Pump after every feeding. Pump whenever you can. It can be exhausting, so get creative with your "pump" station ... have water, phone, a comfy chair, a pumping bra (or take an old bra and cut holes in it ... it is amazing how much easier it is to pump when you have your hands free. Keep baby at breast. Try to use the Lact-Aid only after baby has emptied breasts. Keep us posted and keep up the good work!

PS As for the dom, I got mine from New Zealand mail order (contact info is on this site somewhere, I believe in the protocol) and self-monitored. That worked for me and does for many others, but you will have to decide this for yourself. Lenore made a great posting recently about taking oral dom with an updated FDA posting on its use and a good article on the safety of taking oral dom. I also know a mom (birth mom) that had a supply problem and took dom for 18+ months. She had her doctor write the Rx and had it compounded in the US and her insurance paid for it ... she just paid her co-pay, which was about the same cost as getting it from NZ.

HI Joy,

Congratulations on your new son!!

We see this sort of situation in our clinic quite often. Your assumptions are likely correct about your milk supply in terms of how it decreased but you CAN turn this situation around. There are many women on this board who induced lactation without a pregnancy....you're way ahead.

Domperidone has proven very helpfull in these types of situations. Most moms start with 10 mg 4 times per day for the first week and then increase to 20 mg 4 times per day. You should notice a difference in your milk supply within about 72 hours. You can find domperidone at select compounding pharmacies and it is also available from www.globaldrug.tv It's important that you discuss this with your doctor so that you can be monitored and educate at the same time.

Pumping after feeds would help and supplementing at the breast is key. Babies learn to breastfeed by breastfeeding. Many mothers use the Lact-aid www.lact-aid.com filled with their expressed mik, donor milk, or formula.

It shouldn't take too long to get you back up to speed with the help of the domperidone. I would encourage you to contact a board certified lactation consultant to assist you with getting baby back to the breast. You can find one here www.iblce.org Just click on the "About IBLCE" button and the US registry pops up.

Best,