Home Forums Induced Lactation aka Adoptive Breastfeeding Medical Interventions to Induce Lactation/Increase Milk Supply feeling discouraged

I don't post much, but love to hear your sucess stories. I am the lucky mom to our son who was born last Oct, by surrogacy. I followed the protocal and by the time he was born was pumping 16 - 20oz per day. We has a lot of issues with breastfeeding, mainly him falling asleep and he was loosing a lot of weight. So I tried the SNS and hated it. I felt like I had this big hard juice box between myself and him. I ended up supilmenting with my stored breastmilk and a bottle.
Now it's almost 4 months later and he's still breastfeeding, but I'm not producing anywhere near enough for him. So I give him the breast, then later a bottle. At night he gets just the breast and is great then. During the day he seems very fussy and keeps turning his head around to see what is going on and shoving his hands in his mouth.
I know that what I have done so far is pretty amazing, but somehow feel like a failure because I am bottlefeeding him a fair bit also. My drop in breastfeeding support shut down and I'm having trouble finding support.
I'm still on the domperidone and fenugreek and blessed thistle, is there anything else I can take/do to increase my supply?

Aww, sweetie... take comfort in the fact that your baby is getting your brestmilk.. regardless of how he is getting it, he's still getting it and that's what's important!
I belong to a yahoo message board called "Pump Moms"... The member list is huge and a wealth of support and information. You should check it out....

as far as what else u can take, i have recently tried Brewer's Yeast and it has helped me a little... i'm going to try Goat's Rue next as soon as it arrives in the mail....
oatmeal, water, warm compresses -- all these things can help as well.....

Empty your breasts more. If your giving him a bottle your breasts are not getting stimulation to produce more milk. Try breastfeeding more instead of the bottle. IF not that then try pumping when he has a bottle. Remember.. the more often you empty your breasts the more milk you will make.

Hi Lynn,
You say your son is 4 months old, it may be just a new phase - he is more aware of, and interested by, his environment. My son is like that, I have to find a quiet place to breastfeed him, put a blanket over his head,... unless he turns his head constantly and doesn't feed well. You say he nurses well at night, you can try and breastfeed him in the same setting you do at night, and if possible before his nap when he is a little tired. As you know, the more you bf him, the more milk you'll have! Hang in there, you did great so far, you can do it!
Julie

I would try the lact-aid system. It is less intrusive than the SNS. But like Nona said more nursing and or pumping. If he is eating from a bottle then you still need to empty your breast at least every 3 hours. If you are feeding him with the lact-aid it is killing two birds with one stone. I know it seems like a lot of work but once you get into a grove with it, it is actually less time consuming than pumping, nursing and bottle feeding.

Dear Lynn,

I understand how you feel and there are steps you can take to remedy the situation. First, as has been pointed out, the Lact-aid is less intrusive than the SNS and believe it or not is your best friend in this type of situation. Babies learn to breastfeed by breastfeeding and the more you breastfeed the more milk your breasts make. Using the Lact-aid provides added stimulation which builds milk supply and keeps baby at the breast.

New research shows that snacking while breastfeeding helps let-down. Anything will do, doesn't have to be a meal.

It's important to avoid sage, parsley, raspberry leaf tea, fennel, and decongestants because they can hinder milk supply.

You have climbed the Mount Everest of Lactation. Sounds like a success to me honey.

Best, Lenore