Extended Breastfeeding

Just wondering if anyone else can give me some tips. I've already searched the web and kellymom and the la la leche league site in particular...so, I'm not really looking for someone to refer me to a website. I want actual tips/advice. I have a 7mo old who is still breastfeeding and I would like to continue breastfeeding for as long as I can. I also am exercising regularly and have not limited my caloric intake much...I aim for 2000-22000 but I am wanting to increase my milk supply so that I can have some stored milk. In the beginning, to say I had an overabundance of milk is an understatement..I was pumping after every feeding up until about two months ago, then I suppose my body learned that my daughter was eating that much or perhaps I've just worn my pump out (it's a medela manual single hand pump). So, how can I increase my supply? Would an electric or hospital grade pump be more effective than my manual pump? Again, I'm wanting to increase my supply to store milk. I am not concerned with how much my daughter is getting because I know it is enough. Oh, and I want to increase supply for storage so that I can have backup in case I get sick, have a WHOLE day off where I can focus on my work and things which are not baby-related once a week...maybe twice if it goes well, and in case me and DH ever wanted to be spontaneous and let a grandparent watch our daughter while we have a night to ourselves.

I also would like advice from anyone who has BF up to a year and beyond. I have been thinking about what I can do when my daughter actually gets teeth because I'm sure she'll be a biter. She started biting me while feeding at five months old and it lasted only a few weeks and she has not done it since, but I'm worried she'll start again once she gets teeth. I've thought since she already holds and handles a sipper cup well that I could just put extracted milk in a cup for her instead. And one more thing, does anyone else have to deal with relatives who are uncomfortable with BFing and how can I brush off their reactions to my extended BFing or do it on the sly?  Any thoughts?

I would suggest first changing the membranes on your pump and seeing if that will make a difference in your pumping output.  That would be the easiest and quickest way to increase your supply.

If that doesn't work you can take fenugreek, you will want to take 4 620mg pills 4 times a day, and start drinking mothers milk tea.  And if you really want to increase your pump output I would switch to a double electric pump.

Then I would remember that your baby should only need 19-30oz a day for the whole days worth of milk.  In most cases if your sick you will still be able to nurse, and if you don't want to nurse you will still need to express milk to avoid plugged ducts.

As far as the advice for extended feeders, my LO is about the same age as yours but he has teeth and has only bit me once.  When he did I pulled him very close so smoosh his face into my breast and block his breathing forcing him to open his mouth to breath.  Once he let go I placed him down, he got very upset but once he calmed down a little I put him back to the breast and he hasn't done it since.

He has tried a few times, it's never when he is really hungry it's when he is just comfort nursing.

Babies can not nurse and bit at the same time so just watch her and if she slows down and looks like she is getting distracted try to end the nursing session.

I can't give you any advice as far as nursing in from of relatives or people who are uncofortable with nursing because I nurse everywhere and believe that the only way that breastfeeding is going to become comon place is if people get used to seeing it happen.  No one would say anything to you if you got out a bottle to feed your baby and that's a totally forein not natural object.

Re: uncomfortable relatives

I have two kids and I'm a strong support of breastfeeding.  However I was only comfortable feeding both of my kids up to about 6 months and 8 months respectively.

I have more than four friends that were comfortable breastfeeding kids beyond 2 years.  I became comfortable with them doing this based on two things,

1) They never acted shy or embarassed about it, when it was time for a feed they just did it.

2) They never pushed any justification of it.  They just did it without explaination, and hence without confrontation.

Had anybody ever confronted them on "why" they breastfeed so long, I'm quite certain any of them would have replied that it's what worked best for them and their child.

It's your child and your choice. 

I breastfed my first for 6 months and I'm currently breastfeeding my second at 10 months. I plan to breastfeed until a year because it's what feels right for us.

My son is a biter. I actually posted a topic in this forum about it because I was at my wit's end! Like hotharmony said, it's when he's bored and not actively nursing that he bites. I try to read his cues and end the nursing session when he's no longer taking milk.

As far as the pump goes, I think you'll have greater success with a double electric. And it doesn't have to be a Medela. I use an Ameda pump and I can express milk just as easily and it costs about half the price of a Medela.

I tried using Fenugreek to increase my supply a while ago. Just a word of warning: it may not work for you. It temporarily increased my supply but never for more than a few days. I took it religiously for about a month before giving up. Most women I've talked to have had great success with it, though.

Check out KellyMom.com; it has great information on nursing an older infant, nursing beyond a year, increasing milk supply and handling criticism:

http://kellymom.com/bf/index.html

I nursed my first child a little 2.5 years and my second 3.5 years.  I know that may sound like a really long time, but in both cases, we just kept going -- nursing only at bedtime -- until I no longer wanted to do it. I nursed the second longer because he really objected to weaning at 2.5 and then something else was going on in our family life that made pushing the idea seem foolish. 

I have no advice on the pumping question, beyond seconding the opinion that you should check the pump itself and possibly upgrade, but I can say that usually the biting passes. Neither of mine did it more than briefly once or twice. Sometimes it's to get a reaction, and sometimes it's because of teething discomfort. If it's a sign of teething, you can attend to that with a teething ring or toy as a matter of self-protection!

If you keep nursing beyond the introduction of solid food, you can usually use solid food when you're around folks who are uncomfortable or critical about nursing. That said, if those folks say anything, you can be ready with the statistics about the benefits of bfing. In my case, I usually mentioned the good evidence that bfing would lower the kids' chances of developing two conditions they might have inherited from my husband (childhood asthma, ongoing ezcema).

But science only convinces some people, and lots of people are just used to what they're used to. It really comes down to you believing that you're doing something good for your child that you're happy to do. And other people really have to give way before that. I grew up never once seeing bfing (my mother tried but had no support, poor thing), and the first time I saw it I was quite shocked but also moved. And I love that it's now almost the default for many people I know. So please don't let other people keep you from it. And good luck with everything! 

I breastfed my son for a year.  I went back to work after 6 weeks b/c I had to and I pumped religiously all day and even at home in between his feedings.  I was having problems producing enough milk and my son was quite stubborn and refused formula, he would rather starve.  So I tried the tea it seemed to help a bit, so that would be my suggestion.  Also try not to stress about it the more stressed out I got the more my milk supply diminished. 

He was also a biter and it was like the other posters on here say, he was full and just comfort feeding...I would just stop feeding him if he did this and he eventually stopped.  It is very painful if they bite though!  Also my reaction, jumping, yelling ouch, startled him so that probably had something to do with him quiting biting.

Uncomfortable with the relatives:  I had this very problem, I knew prior to giving birth that I only wanted to breastfeed.  My child's grandmother on my ex's side was always trying to push formula on me.  All this did was piss me off, I would just give it back to her and tell her for the millionth time I wanted to do what I felt was best for my child and I breastfed at her house many a time and didn't let it get to me.  Just be confident and know you are doing it for your child and it is completely natural and normal!

Thanks everyone for all the tips/info/advice. I think I'll try the fenugreek. Just one more question though, my supply as far as being enough for my daughter is fine, but I want to increase it for the reasons I said before..so I will be able to do that right? Or does anyone know if there is an actual limit to the amount one person can produce? Thanks again.

Well I think each person is different but from every nurse/lactation consultant that I have spoke to the answer would be yes.  It is basically supply and demand.  The more you pump and breastfeed the more you will produce.  That is why I pumped like crazy and it did seem to help.  Obviously a healthy diet helps too and you already said that you were eating plenty so you should be just fine!

I agree; it will vary from person to person. I don't think the Fenugreek worked for me because I already had an oversupply when trying to increase my production, I just didn't realize it. When I was with my son, I was able to nurse him until he was full but when it came to pumping, I couldn't seem to make enough. My body definitely responds differently to the pump than my son.

The only way to increase your supply for certain is to increase pumping/nursing sessions. The thing I was told to do was pump for an additional 15 minutes after my son finished nursing. I also pumped for an extra 15 minutes after the milk stopped flowing when I was pumping at work. It definitely helped when the Fenugreek didn't.

I went to the La Leche League's website and e-mailed some questions to a lactation consultant. I got an amazing response with so much helpful information in it. You might consider doing that, too.

Milk is created on a supply and demand basis the best way to ensure you make more milk is start to take more milk out at regular times throughout the day.  So get a good electric pump, perferably double.  And set up a schedule to pump two or three times a day you will get more in the morning and keep at it after a few weeks you should notice an improvment in milk production.

I just found the topic where I posted all the info from the lactation consultant. Here's the link if you want to check it out:

http://caloriecount.about.com/great-informati on-breastfeeding-moms-working-full-ft123864

As to your question of supply - My best friend currently feeds BOTH of her children breast milk.  She pumps and feeds them her breast milk through a bottle. She only pumps three times a day for a half an hour each session and gets around 18-24 oz per pumping. So 54-72 oz per day. She is able to provide enough for her 7 1/2 month old and 2 1/2 year old boys. So if you tell your body you need more it will give it to you, as long as you eat enough and eat a balanced diet.

Best of luck.

Original Post by snowqueen93:

She only pumps three times a day for a half an hour each session and gets around 18-24 oz per pumping. So 54-72 oz per day.

 Holy crap. I think my boobs would split at the seams if I made this much milk at once.

About the uncomfortable family--I went through that, too. I nursed to 15 months with my daughter and 14 months with my son. My son was a great eater and I would have kept going, but he truly just didn't want to. Believe me!

Anyway, we spend a lot of time with my inlaws, who were NOT into breastfeeding at all. It helped a lot that I nursed before nap and bed, so those were private times anyway. And the early morning feeding was usually before anyone was up. I brought one of those portable cloth chairs with arms and everything whenever we went to their house and set it up in our room, and that was just our nursing spot. I think it also helped that I would sometimes pump and let my m-i-l give the babies the bottle. She LOVED that.

It did get better with the second one though. He was a focused eater, and I could just hang out on the sofa with a blanket over my shoulder and they were fine with that.

Do what you feel is right! Bfing is so healthy and should be accepted!

A few weeks ago I decided to increase my supply so that I could start freezing. 

Since my son sleeps from 9 pm until 3 or 4 in the morning - I use that break in feedings to pump extra milk.  After he goes to bed, I try to wait until it has been at least an hour and a half since he last ate, then pump and head to bed.  As my body gets used to a "feeding" at that time, my supply is slowly increasing.  The only catch is to keep up with the pumping, if you drop a "feeding" your supply will decrease because the demand has decreased. 

I also tried Fenugreek when I first returned to work.  I took it about 3 hours before pumping and saw a slight increase (maybe .5 oz).  Be sure to read the bottle - mine says to take 1-2 pills 2 or 3 times a day AND to only take until the increased supply is established.  It does have a curious side effect - baby and I both smelled faintly of maple syrup (Fenugreek is a common ingredient in imitation maple syrup). 

Finally, on the pump, I use both the Medela Pump in Style and the Medela FreeStyle (hand) daily.  I seem to get the same amount no matter what pump I use.  So I would recommend renting a hospital pump for a week to see if it makes a difference for you. 

Fortunately, my family is supportive of BF, although I could tell BFing in front of my brothers made them a little uncomfortable at first.  I always wore a cover when they were in the room and after a few times they mellowed.  I'm a firm believer that repeated confident exposure to BFing helps others learn to accept.

Good luck!   

Original Post by sarahcatherinejohnson:

Thanks everyone for all the tips/info/advice. I think I'll try the fenugreek. Just one more question though, my supply as far as being enough for my daughter is fine, but I want to increase it for the reasons I said before..so I will be able to do that right? Or does anyone know if there is an actual limit to the amount one person can produce? Thanks again.

There are many women that have discontinued BFing and found that their children were allergic to cow's milk...and then pumped religiously to bring their supply back.  I only breastfed my daughter for 9 months before she weened herself (I wanted to go for at least a year but she wasn't having it) but I continued to lactate until I got pregnant with my second 4 1/2 months ago (when my daughter was a couple months from 2).  I am positive that I could have pumped several times a day and brought back a milk supply.  Your body will respond based on what you ask of it...I used a double electric pump (worked better for me than the manual pump because it had a stronger suction which more closely mimicked the baby's suction) and was able to get quite a bit of milk and a stronger let-down than with the manual.  

Good luck to you!  

Sarah 

Uncomfortable relatives:  I had problems producing enough milk to fed our daughter. We tried everything! I swear. I had planned to breastfed as long as possible. Bought all the books/supplies in advance/etc. I pumped religiously all day and couldn't produce enough milk. ( For months. ) I did everything the doctor suggested to help. I visited multiple doctors in hopes of hearing something new. We had to supplement formula with breast milk starting out. My baby grew slower than the "average" baby. She was Small for gestational age (a SGA baby). SGA babies are smaller than 90 percent of all similarly aged babies. She was only 5lbs and it was a very big concern I wasn't producing enough milk. She was a perfectly healthy/full term baby but dropping weight quickly. It's normal amongst babies just born in the first few days to do so... However: For our daughter that wasn't an option because it was making her seriously ill/starve.

 I received so much back splash from relatives it was disheartening. Even strangers would bring me to tears giving me well-meant lectures. I already felt horrible because I couldn't breastfeed. I already knew/agreed that breast feeding was the most desirable route. I wanted to breastfeed my daughter. However: It wasn't possible for me.

I tried to be optimistic and continued to try everything. Giving her the milk was able to produce in addition to her formula. Weeks turned into months and still...absolutely no change.

Either way: There are some people that will bash you for your choice. As long as you know you are doing what's best for your child, their opinion of it doesn't matter.

Best of Luck! You've already been blessed to be able to produce enough to fed your daughter. Hopefully: You will be able to produce more... - I have no advice on working tactics since nothing worked for me. I couldn't even produce half of the normal amount a newborn needs... much less a surplus of milk. :( I'd just try everything suggested by doctors/ your resources available.

If not: At least you can say that you tried.  Do what you feel is in the best interest of your child... That's all. Dismiss the negative comments/attitude from others. Just focus on what you know is positive. :)