Carissa's Advice for Nursing & Pumping Moms
Carissa's Advice for Nursing & Pumping Moms
March 29, 2001
My DS took a bottle of EBM just fine around one month of age. (In retrospect, we were probably lucky that he took one so early without problems with nipple confusion. He's always preferred Momma.) We weren�t very good about making sure he was offered a bottle on a regular basis after that. Around 3 months, I was preparing to return to work and we discovered that he wanted nothing to do with the bottle. He cried, screamed and squirmed when DH would offer it to him. The following is some of the advice that worked for us in getting DS back onto the bottle.
Offer the bottle at the first sign of hunger. (Crying is a LATE indicator of hunger.) Most babies will be more willing to try something new when they aren�t very hungry.
Sometimes it is easier to slip an artificial nipple into a sleepy baby�s mouth. The baby will start sucking and not realize that it isn�t the �real thing.�
Try different types of nipples. Breastfed babies seem to prefer either Avent nipples or the Gerber Nuk nipples. My DS prefers the vented Gerber Nuks. A breastfed baby should always use the stage one slow-flow nipples. The nipples made for older babies let the milk flow too quickly and you may have problems getting baby to go from bottle to breast.
Many people will tell you the the Playtex nurser system is the worst choice for a breastfed infant. Basically, if your baby is predisposed to nipple confusion, the Playtex nipples will compound the problem. The way that they are designed, it is hard for the baby to get the nipple back into the sucking spot in the back of his mouth. The baby may learn to suck on just your nipple when nursing instead of getting more of the areola in where he can properly compress the milk ducts.
Someone other than Mom should offer the bottle. Mom shouldn�t even be in the room when the bottle is offered. If possible, leave the house. Babies are smart. Your baby may smell, hear or see you and hold out in hopes of getting his meal fresh from the tap.
If the caregiver or the baby gets frustrated with trying the bottle, have them take a break before trying again. Give each of them time to collect their wits before starting over. One thing that worked well for my DH was pacing. He would hold DS and pace, patting his behind, until he was calm and then insert the bottle. Once DS started sucking, he would continue to pace for a little while until he felt that DS was really �into� the bottle before trying to sit down.
Some breastfed babies want taking a bottle to be nothing like nursing. Sometime it helps to try holding your baby in different positions when offering the bottle. Many times the baby will be more likely to take the bottle in a position other than the cradle hold. A lot of BF babies prefer to take a bottle facing away from the caregiver.
Try offering the EBM at different temperatures. Try it cold and warm. (Breastmilk should never be warmed in the microwave. Not only could it scald the baby, but microwaving kills the antibodies.) We floated our DS�s bottle in some hot water until the fat would mix back in and the milk was roughly room temperature. It also helped us to warm the nipples. A teething baby may be more likely to take a cold bottle and nipple because it feels good to his sore gums.
Your baby is far more efficient than any breastpump you can buy and will always be able to get more milk than you do when you pump. There are, however, things that you can do to increase the amount of liquid gold you can express.
First off...make sure you are using a good pump. Those little electric/battery Evenflo (a.k.a. "Evilflo") and Gerber pumps that you can buy at Babies R Us or the drugstore really aren't any good. I started out with an Evenflo because I didn't want to put the money into a professional grade pump until I knew I was going to stick with nursing and pumping. If you don't want to shell out the bucks for an expensive pump until you are more sure of your nursing relationship, it's better to start out by renting a hospital grade pump or buying an Avent Isis.
I recommend the Medela Pump In Style if you want to buy a good pump. There are some good links to purchase pumps on my breastfeeding links page. I highly recommend buying from Baby Love Products. The exchange rate with Canada is very favorable for those of us in the USA so you'll get a great deal.
OK...so you're using a good pump but you're still having problems pumping enough milk for your little one. Here are some suggestions...
About 10 minutes before you even go to set up your pump, begin fantasizing about your baby. Visualize something cute that your little one did earlier in the day. Tuck a picture of your little sweetie into your pump's carrying case. (Nursing pictures are great if you have one.) Sometimes it really helped me to carry something that smelled like my DS with my pump. I started washing the towel that I used to dry my pump parts with DS's laundry so it would smell like his clothes.
Once your pump is set up, continue thinking about your little nursling as you massage your breasts and nipples. Stimulate your nipples as if your baby were nursing. Now, lean slightly forward and shake your breasts a little.
Go ahead and hook up to the pump now. (If you are single pumping, sometimes it helps to stimulate the opposite nipple while you pump.) Once you start pumping there are some more things you can do. You can try pumping while leaning slightly forward. You should occasionally move the horns of the pump around on your breasts to stimulate and help empty the different milk ducts. If the flow of milk slows or stops, reposition the horns and try for a little while longer. Many times this will help you get a second let-down. If you aren't experiencing a let-down when you pump, you may want to consult a Lactation Consultant (LC).
If you seem to be having a problem with your supply, there are lots of things you can do to increase your production. Check out the links under supply issues on my breastfeeding links page for more advice.
If you need to increase your supply, the first thing you should start doing is either nursing or pumping every 2 hours around the clock. Remember that supply and demand are related. If you give your body a chance, it will catch up and make the amount of milk your baby is telling it to. Because of the connection between supply and demand, it's very important that you try your hardest not to supplement with formula (or anything else). For many moms, supplementing is the beginning of the end of breastfeeding.
OK...so you've been nuring or pumping every 2 hours around the clock and your supply is still not sufficient. The next thing to try is eating a few foods that many moms find tend to help their supply. Tuna fish is a good supply booster. The most common dietary helper is oatmeal. Eat at least one bowl of oatmeal and day and you will hopefully see an increase in your supply. Dietary things to avoid include mint and lemon, both of which can hurt your supply.
The next step is herbal supplements. The most popular herbal helper is fenugreek. You can get fenugreek capsules at most healthfood stores. You may want to start out with a low dosage and gradually take more to see if it works for you. The recommended dosage is 3 capsules taken 3 times per day (with your meals). It is very common for you to notice that you smell a little like maple syrup while taking fenugreek. Another popular herbal solution is Mother's Milk Tea, also purchased at your local healthfood store. There are several other herbal helpers that you can read about if you follow the links undersupply issues on my breastfeeding links page.
If the herbal supplements don't seem to be doing the trick, the next step is talking to your doctor about a prescription drug called Reglan. You can read more about Reglan here.
Get your own Free Home Page