A customer recently wrote us this email…
“My son is 4 months old and exclusively breastfed. As I suffered from low milk supply and slow weight gain with my first baby and ended up topping him up with formula from 3 months onwards only to have him weaning himself at 8 months old, so I don’t to make the same mistakes this time.“
Well she already made the first decision, that she wanted to breastfeed rather than starting on formula, so now we just have to figure out a way to help. This is actually quite a common question.
Maybe milk supply has decreased – see your doctor or midwife for a prescription of Domperidone, and there are milk teas available also.
Try express a little with a breast pump after each feed so that your breasts think that baby is drinking more and so will produce more. This will take a few days for it to build up slowly.
Do some breast compressions on your boob while baby is feeding, as this helps the milk to flow and can get baby to feed longer.
Drink a glass of water after every feed, and also every time that you express too.
Get plenty of rest – though we know this is nearly impossible when you have a toddler and a newborn baby to look after.
The last thing you want to give the baby at this point is bottles, that will put an end to the breastfeeding if your supply is already low. You could try to offer a few solids like some very runny baby rice “farex” with a spoon. If you do this, give baby as much as he will take without forcing and as frequently as he seems hungry.
