I have no milk in the left breast...
| I am struggling with nursing. I have nothing on the left breast and he cries and pulls everytime I put him on it. The right one has milk but not enought to satisfy him for at least 3 hours. How do I increased my milk supply? I have had children before and this one is 5 months old. I love your website. It has helped me a lot. I hope you can help me now.
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Responses:
| You need professional help You need to see someone about that. A lack of production of breastmilk as you describe can have many causes including anatomical malformations, lack of early and frequent milk removal and so forth. Did you nurse the other children previously? How did you manage feeding this baby for the past 5 months? If you can't find an LC, contact me through my website. I need a lot more information from you to help.
Marie Davis RN IBCLC
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| Try more stimulation For the most part, you can increase your supply of breast milk by allowing your baby to suck on that breast as often as possible. The sucking action helps stimulate the breast to make more milk. If your baby refuses to suck on the breast with no milk, then you can try using a breast pump to simulate the sucking action. If you do this, try using the breast pump as often as you can and, if all is normal, the milk supply should increase withing a week. What I found that helped me a lot was that I drank more liquids, that seemed to allow my breasts to fill up with milk more quickly. Some people try using a galactagogue (a chemical that induces breast milk production). This is often in the form of a herbal tea but can also be a prescribed medicine. Common galactagogues include fenugreek, blessed thistle, and alfalfa. I've never used these myself so can't say whether they work or not. If you are supplementing with formula, that might be the problem. Your baby may have decided that drinking formula from a bottle is easier than breastmilk from the breast. If he refuses to suck, then it will cause less and less milk to be produced. Less milk causes more frustration and it goes around and around. Last but not least, check your breasts for lumps that may indicate a more serious problem like breast cancer or a tumor. These conditions may also interfere with breast milk production. So give those a try and if nothing seems to be happening, then go see a lactation consultant or just your regular doctor to make sure there is nothing seriously wrong. Good luck, I hope it resolves itself painlessly, Donna |
