I am working with the mother of a nice week old.Mom says she had a good milk supply when the baby was a newborn, and experienced engorgement.  In the hospital, mom had cracked and bleeding nipples and started the baby on supplemental bottles.  By the time I saw her, the mom had stopped pumping for several weeks and baby was fully formula fed.  baby wouldn't even try to latch at the breast no matter what inducements were offered.

Mom would like to get her milk back.  She has been pumping 5 times a day (not at night) for a week.  She is now producing 2 oz a day (24 hours).  A week ago she couldn't get anything at all from the breasts while pumping.

Two ounces in 24 hours doesn't seem like much, but I don't know how long it takes to bring in a milk supply.  Is this a good start at relocating?  I did recommend pumping once in the night too.  How much milk should this mom be producing at this point?   Is it possible that she can increase her milk supply?

She has two older children and was not able to breastfeed either of them "not enough milk".  Her breasts looks "normal" to me, but were soft and not lactating, so it is hard for me to say if there is a problem.  Mom says her thyroid is fine.  

She is 40 and this is her last baby, so she would like to be able to provide breast milk even if she may not be able to get the baby to nurse.  I have suggested that she offer the breast after feeding the baby as a pacifier to help the baby become comfortable at the breast and to stimulate mom.  She says "no, I am not going to give the baby a dry breast to suck on".

Help!  I'm stuck here and don't know where to turn for answers (except here of course).

Thanks,

Nancy Sherwood
BA, IBCLC, LLLL

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html