Am I losing my Breast Milk?

[gabwest]

Hello Ladies!!

I have a question... I've been breast feeding for the past 4 months to mylittleman and things have been going great...until this past week! I pump maybe twice a day..I used to be able to get 5oz out from just one side within 15mins and 3-4oz from the other..now I'm lucky if I get out 3oz during pumping from one side and 2-3oz from the other... Am I losing my milk?!? My breasts feel full and I see that the baby is getting enough when he eats from me..but why am I not pumping out enough anymore!?!? I've put on hot&cold packs, taken warm showers,kept warm and this week it's just not happening! Any advice???

[mostlymaydays]

You don't need to pump at all to maintain your supply. Dump the pump and let your baby regulate you. Demand=supply. A pump is like a baby with a very inefficient suck. If you ever need to be separated from your baby, pump the day or two before (though factor in that diminishing pump response) an ounce for each hour you're away. If that. You can breastfeed before you run out the door and come back 4-6 hours later to feed again.

Quoting gabwest:

I am a stay at home mom..just trying to build a stash! Yessss, when he lets go he gets sprayed! One of my friends told me to pump that many times in a day to keep my milk supply up..maybe I shouldn't have listened to her considering she only breast fed and pumped for a month?!?? Hahahahaha!! Thank you for all your input!

[mostlymaydays]

Having oversupply/overactive letdown can create problems in the baby (fussiness, gassiness, green poops) that are almost always misdiagnosed as allergies to foods in moms' diet and can lead many a mom to weaning early because of that frustration. Formula seems to clear up the problem, not because it was ever mom's breastmilk, but because baby no longer has to deal with the unmanaged oversupply/overactive letdown.

[mostlymaydays]

I RETRACT my suggestion to pump more considering you are describing an oversupply already! ;-)

Quoting mostlymaydays:

Do you *need* to pump or are you just building a stash? You might want to throw in a third pumping to compensate for your diminishing pump response.

[tabi_cat1023]

I am sure the others have said it but supply regulates, normal output is under 2 oz total..you get way more than that. 

Why arent you getting ENOUGH? ENough for what? to feedher the whole day with one pump lol

[gdiamante]

Yeah, never listen to anyone who hasn't breastfed for at least one year.

(26 months here, BTW)

99 % of moms who think they're not making enough milk are actually making plenty. And you are the 99%.

Quoting gabwest:

I am a stay at home mom..just trying to build a stash! Yessss, when he lets go he gets sprayed! One of my friends told me to pump that many times in a day to keep my milk supply up..maybe I shouldn't have listened to her considering she only breast fed and pumped for a month?!?? Hahahahaha!! Thank you for all your input!

[gdiamante]

One more thought. Your stash has a limited freezer life; generally about six months. On kellymom.com you'll find milk storage guidelines. 

If you've been pumping and storing since birth, use your oldest stash when you're not with baby. Or consider donating.

Baby will need 1 - 1.25 ounces per hour whenever separated from you. No more.

[aehanrahan]

Exactly!

Quoting larissalarie:

Smh, how does she think babies survived before the invention of the breast pump? I can just picture those cave & pioneer women stopping to pump so they could breastfeed, lmao!
The only thing you NEED to maintain your supply is a nursing baby. The only time you ever have to pump to maintain supply is if you are separated from baby and miss feedings.

And what you are experiencing is completely normal. Pumps are only about 20% as efficient at removing milk as baby, so as your supply regulates the pump outputs go down (part of why exclusive pumping is so hard to maintain for very long)

Quoting gabwest:

I am a stay at home mom..just trying to build a stash! Yessss, when he lets go he gets sprayed! One of my friends told me to pump that many times in a day to keep my milk supply up..maybe I shouldn't have listened to her considering she only breast fed and pumped for a month?!?? Hahahahaha!! Thank you for all your input!

[aehanrahan]

Exactly. She's not a very good resource for correct information.
I'm at 5+ years with my second and went 23+ months with my first.
We are here to correct the horrible misinformation that is floating around in our society.

Quoting gdiamante:

Yeah, never listen to anyone who hasn't breastfed for at least one year.

(26 months here, BTW)

99 % of moms who think they're not making enough milk are actually making plenty. And you are the 99%.

Quoting gabwest:

I am a stay at home mom..just trying to build a stash! Yessss, when he lets go he gets sprayed! One of my friends told me to pump that many times in a day to keep my milk supply up..maybe I shouldn't have listened to her considering she only breast fed and pumped for a month?!?? Hahahahaha!! Thank you for all your input!

[PolishMamma2]

Thats above average what you have been pumping. I pumped a little in the first few weeks, and I would be happy if I got 3.5-4 oz total. You could be loosing your ability to respond to the pump. Try closing your eyes and picturing your baby, or record him crying & play it back while you pump.