Sunday, February 21, 2010

Increasing milk supply


I was once confirmed to have low milk supply, as judged from my first born slow weight gain, despite the adequate daily wet diapers and bowel outputs. When back to work, I also need to pump frequently day and night to make up the daily requirement. This time, I hope that I am able to have abundant milk supply, so that I won't be so stressed over the output(hopefully oversupply like my friend who can easily reach 10oz persession of 5 mins only!).

I found this http://www.lowmilksupply.org/pumping.shtml and got some tips. Here were the notes I got
"balancing active suckling time and pumping time to no longer than 45 mins in total"
"fit in 8 to 10 pumpings during waking hours"
"...pumping for additional stimulation...pump each breast for at least 10-15 mins..."
'....pump one breast while baby nurses from another...' (this was the method that I had adopted, though I was not sure if it increased the supply, but at least it was the most time saving method to keep milk stock and kept the stock sufficient throughout my BF journey with HE)

I found that many references just give advice on nurse frequently, let the baby lead the cue...pump after 'finish' feeding to extra stimulate the breast....but hardly advise on how long to pump. A book by G*** F*** suggestion on boosting milk supply is the most ridiculous suggestion. It does suggest frequent pumping too, but instead of suggesting the duration, the amount to be pumped is suggested, assuming all mothers have good production, not thoughtful that some mothers like me may take minimum 30-60mins just to get that pathetic 1oz!

Anyway, I plan to do more breast compression during first few days of birth, and start the tandem pumping when mature milk kick in or from second week onwards, hopefully that make me a mother with abundant supply.:P

Also, I will try to listen to music to keep myself relax. My loving hubby just bought me an iPOD which is just in time to keep me relax to pass through the early difficult days to establish milk supply and later pumping time while at work. :)

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