pumping exclusively

Hey, my son was born teeny tiny (4 pounds 15 ounces at full term) and had issues latching because of that. He hated formula so I ended up pumping exclusively (which is tough, but worth it because he is actually gaining weight) He is now six weeks old and my milk supply is slowly dwindling. I am still trying to get him to latch on a regular basis, I do skin to skin contact, I am waiting on my mother's milk tea and fenugreek/thistle seeds, and I am on a high fiber diet. Am I missing something?

Anyone else that pumps exclusively or did? I am getting frustrated with my let down and do not want him to move to formula.

Sometimes your body just refuses to give for a pump, I was pumping frequently and getting heaps, now im lucky if I can get an ounce, but my LO can still get what she needs if she does it.

I mainly pump and he nurses only when he is sleepy and we have to be both laying own on the bed. he latches fine but when he is wide awake he wont take the boob. I had an over supply and was able to pump 8oz from each breast every three hours, now at three months its gone down to 2-4 oz per breast sometimes more sometimes less. im not sure if its just evening out or am i really loosig supply. its tough but worth every minute of it.

good luck

Quoting Funny Feminist:" Hey, my son was born teeny tiny (4 pounds 15 ounces at full term) and had issues latching because of ... [snip!] ... Anyone else that pumps exclusively or did? I am getting frustrated with my let down and do not want him to move to formula."

Hey, one of my twins was the same size (but 5.5 weeks early). We had a lot of problems with latching and ended up getting it to work with a nipple shield. Then when I tried to ween off of it (because it was a pain), they still couldn't latch effectively enough to fill up. I ended up giving up on bf after 5 weeks and exclusively pumped (this way others could help me with feeding the girls). It is def hard! I did it for 5.5 months. I was able to exclusively give them breastmilk, but I pumped every 3 hours. Apparently it helps if you can pump in front of your baby. Also I ended up getting a prescription for domperidone (avail only in canada maybe) that helped increase my supply when I fell a bit short. My babies didn't seem to mind an ounce or so of formula mixed with breastmilk if I had to top them up once in a while.

Quoting twingals:" Hey, one of my twins was the same size (but 5.5 weeks early). We had a lot of problems with latching ... [snip!] ... short. My babies didn't seem to mind an ounce or so of formula mixed with breastmilk if I had to top them up once in a while."

Yeah. I always get asked if he was preemie. He's already doubled his birth weight though. So he obviously just needed to get out of me to gain weight.