I’ve been pumping for about 4 days, and my milk supply seems to be getting lower – it’s freaking me out, and I’m very worried I won’t be able to feed much longer. Help!
First of all, get yourself over to a local lactation consultant right away before your milk dries up. Secondly, what kind of pump are you using? When women pump and they get less and less milk, it means the pump is not effectively stimulating your breasts to “let down” and release the milk.
The #1 most important aspect of breastfeeding is to RELAX. I don’t care if you have a nuclear-powered super-sucker breast pump, you won’t get anything out unless you first relax and THEN pump. Same thing when your baby’s breastfeeding directly. You don’t know how important this is to successful pumping and feeding.
Secondly, you might be using the wrong breast pump model for you. I don’t know which pump you’re using, and I certainly don’t want you to run out and spend more money, but some quick tips are:
1. Make sure your nipples are not too large for the breast shields;
2. You CAN be engorged and pump to relieve your breast, so don’t think you can’t.
3. Try pushing down on your breast with an open palm gently in a rhythmic pattern in time with the pump.