I believe this is a place for Health Care Professionals, I don't think they
are allowed to diagnose on this forum nor could they without seeing you in
office. Try you'r local LaLeche League or a Local Lactation Consultant,
there maybe help at no cost from a Laction Consultant or someone trained to
help you at you'r local W.I.C office.
~Brooke Simmons
---- Original Message -----
From: "Beth Fitzpatrick" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2005 11:24 AM
Subject: Question about nursing 17 month old-LONG!
> Hi everyone. I have questions about my 17 month old, who is still
> nursing, initiated by her, 4-5 times per day. I have taken Domperidone
> since she was 3 months old, since when I returned to work then I was
> hardly able to pump anything, even with the Medela Classic. That was a
> God/LC send :D. I was able to successfully exclusively breast-feed for
> seven months, at which time we introduced regular table food and she
> continued nursing quite a few times a day. I have "allowed" baby-led
> weaning with this one and my last one. The others had to be weaned early
> for various reasons. My last son weaned himself slowly and comfortably.
> Around a year old he went down to just morning and night. Then one night
> when he was 16 months old he nursed and then wasn't interested the next
> morning or ever again. This one "cut back" some around one. She was
> still nursing about 3-4 times a day but not for very long each time. So I
> quit taking the Dom. About six weeks later, she became more interested,
> nursing more often and for a good length of time. So, I started taking
> the Dom. again. She also was never sick a day in her life until after she
> was 1. Now she can't seem to stay well. She runs very high fevers and
> though she eats like a horse (nursing plus eating more regular food than
> some of my school-age kids), she doesn't gain and/or looses weight.
> She's been tested for everything under the sun, and it's always normal.
> So that's all background info. I have three questions/observations now :)
> :
>
> 1) My left breast is drastically bigger than the right. She's never had
> any problems latching but usually preferred the right. I always got a
> little less from the left side pumping, but it was within an ounce of the
> right. Now she pretty much REFUSES the left breast. When I pump, I
> hardly get anything from the left (as in 3-4 ounces from the right and
> under and ounce from the left). I'm wondering which came first-decreased
> production on that side for some reason, which led to her rejecting it.
> Or visa-versa. If the production decreased FIRST, what would cause that
> on just one side? If she rejected it first, why would she do that after
> 16 months?
>
> 2) My pumped milk has only a barely detectable fat layer. Is this normal
> for this stage of nursing? With my other son who nurse a long time, I
> never pumped, so I never saw the milk. I know I used to get a very thick
> fat layer when I pumped routinely with this child.
>
> 3) This involves pumping itself. For a month I was using the Medela
> Classic at the hospital I work at. I then bought a Medela PIS and had
> excellent results (same as with the Classic). After six months, I
> switched to working nights. Since my baby didn't nurse during the night,
> I didn't pump during the night. So I haven't routinely pumped since
> August. A couple of weeks ago I started picking up some day and evening
> shifts. I was trying to pump once per shift around the time my toddler
> normally would. With my PIS, I literally got NOTHING. Not even drops
> coming out. It felt like there wasn't even any suction. I checked to
> make sure everything was connected right, and it was. My friend has been
> using my pump with no problem. So then I tried the hospital pump, which
> they've changed to the Lactina. The first few shifts, I got next to
> nothing with that also (1-2 ounces total after it had been six hours since
> she nursed). Yesterday I was able to get five ounces with the Lactina,
> mostly from my right side. This is around what she takes, as of the last
> "curiosity transfer weight" we did a couple of weeks ago :). All of that
> is to ask what would cause me to be unable to pump anymore when it was so
> successful before? I am completely stunned by the absolute lack of milk
> with the PIS, when before that worked wonderfully. After 17 months
> pumping is more for relief than for supply issues, but still it is
> puzzling. I've tried taking something of hers to smell, thinking about
> her-all the tricks used in the beginning of pumping :).
>
> I know this is long and more boring than a lot of interesting
> topics/issues that come up on here. But I've been wondering about these
> things for a while. Thanks in advance for any feedback, on the list or
> privately!!
>
> Beth Fitzpatrick, mommy of 6!
> "When in despair, remember that all through history the way of truth and
> love has always won; there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time
> they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall." Gandhi
>
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