Hi mummies, my LO is 2 weeks old now and we started off rocky with bf due to blocked ducts. I am currently bottle feeding him ebm and fm as pumped amount is very low (30-40ml per pump). I am already pumping 8x per day, taking fenugreek and lactation tea but the supply don't seem to go up. Do you think I should latch baby on now whenever it's his feeding time? Does the pump output equate to the amount of milk I have?

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I have same issue too. Worse is my baby totally reject breast because the volume is very low compared to bottle. I visited LC and they suggest to me with supplementary feeding system. It's hard work cause u have to latch with fake milk + express milk too. I'm doing latching twice a day around 30min each. I'm not sure if it could eventually make my milk increase but LC say monitor 2 weeks first. Also consider your pump! I was using S9+ spectra but switch to S1+ and my pump volume is slightly better from 20ml to 40ml. Keep trying!!

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Super Mum

I used to supplement with fm - fenugreek, domperidone, even green papaya fish soup didn't work for me. I power pumped once a day on top of diligently pumping every 3 hours and latching baby. Consult a LC eventually and she told me to give babye a half feed with bottle (whether it's ebm or fm), and then finish off at the boob. Did that until i was confident with my supply and managed to breastfeed exclusively when baby turns 2.5 months old. Shes 6.5 mo now and I'm still pumping 3 times at work and direct latch at night.

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Blocked ducts can cause a decrease in milk flow and milk supply. Blocked ducts if uncleared will cause mastitis. To encourage milk supply is to encourage latching or pump at constant timing and intervals ie every feeding time and in the wee hours as well. Massage your breasts before you latch or pump to facilitate letdowns and smooth milk flow. Do watch your diet as some foods will cause your milk flow to decrease and subsequently stop.

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Pump out does not equate to the milk u have. U can latch and u can pump at the same time. The more demand the more supply u will create. Try to find ur milk boosters as what works for 1 may not work for another. Just keep trying to find what works for u. Gradually when ur milk increase then u can decrease the amount of fm u give. Jia you

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The pumping amount doesn't equate how much milk you have. Baby latch will definitely be able to suck out more milk than pump. U shld let baby latch to stimulate the milk supply too. Initially my milk supply wasn't enough so I supplement with fm. But since I latch, I totally dropped fm liao.

7y ago

I look forward to the day I can totally drop fm!

Try to use warm compress bwfore the massage. Also for me, i drank a lot of water. Best if you can latch baby direct. Otherwise keep massaging. I did it whenever i had time and remembered.

Have you felt the letdown sensation?

7y ago

may i know what is letdown sensation?