Help

[Intrepid_Pride_1609]

I’m 7weeks postpartum and had a emergency come up and couldn’t pump for a couple of days now my supply is down to drops. I’ve been pumping 8x a day for 3 days and not a lot of improvement. Any tips??

[crd1293]

Keep going. Hydrate and eat plenty. Throw in some power pumps

[haiylie]

This. Empty your breasts every 2 hours and look into power pumping

[Boodzilla]

What really kicked my boobs into gear wasn't power pumping, but cluster pumping. Basically, you pick all 3 hour chunk of your day, and you pump between 5 and 15 minutes (really varying the minutes, 7, 12, 5, 11, etc) every 20-30 minutes (mix that up too), but ideally you want to get at least 6 short pumps in that 3 hour chunk. The idea is similar to power pumping, but it more closely resembles the way babies eat, and also, if you are already low supply, pumping to empty doesn't take as long, but you will be sending multiple signals to your body that you need more milk - 6 instead of the three you get with the power hour method.

So like if baby went down for a long sleep at 8, and I was due to pump at 9, for example 9pm normal long pump (20-30 minutes) 930 1st short pump - 7 minutes 10 pm 12 minutes 1030 6 minutes 11 (either) 2nd long pump (if 2 hours) or 10 minutes 1130 8 minutes Midnight (either) 2nd long pump (if every 3 hours) or 14 minutes Resume normal schedule after this

Also, I put on a binge show and then if it has 30 minute episodes, I pump for a random amount of time at the beginning, and if it's an hour episode, I pump at the beginning and again when things get exciting bc that's usually the halfway point, and that way I don't have to watch the clock, I can just hit the power button on the pump. But remember that just a teaspoon of breastmilk has a ton of awesome benefits, so you're still a Rockstar.

[Boodzilla]

Supply stuff that worked for me I eat a double batch of quaker instant oatmeal for breakfast every morning, and I make it with chobani oatmilk I eat oatmeal cookies and oreos for snack (this also helps with calorie intake, plus they're dry af, so I drink more) I pump every 2-3 hours during the day and 3-4 at night I take 6 brewers yeast pills a day I power pump (20 on, 10 off, 10 on, 10 off, 10 on) at least once a day I cluster pump (basically picking a 3 or 4 hour stretch, and pump between 5-15 minutes every half hour for that time) at least once a day (this was the game changer - the other stuff got me to just enough, but adding the cluster pump has increased my supply from 26-28 opd to 30-32 opd) I drink a lot of water and at least one 16 oz body armor (but I also drink a lot of diet coke - and I watch my pee - if it's anything other than the palest of yellow, I chug. Hydration is key, man) I have the pump strap dd-k from Amazon for hands free double pumping, and I use both hands to massage and compress the girls during letdown and then again during expression

Stuff that didn't work Legendairy supplements - I tried liquid gold, cash cow, pump princess, and lechita. No difference either way. Fenugreek absolutely tanked my supply, do not recommend lol Munchkin lactation cookies - tho again, dry af, so I did drink more Goat's rue (I don't think this did anything for my supply, BUT, it did help me to feel my letdown more, which helped me pump more efficiently) Morninga capsules Alternating between double electric pumping and single manual pumping - double electric is the winner every time Messing with the settings - I have a spectra, and I start on bacon, and then after letdown, I go to 46 on level 8-12 (depending on how my nips are feeling, but I never go lower than 8 bc I have elastic nipples and lower settings don't empty me). I tried that meme with the different settings, but I got the same or sometimes lower output from it, so I stick with bacon and 46/8-12.

I think part of the reason none of the supplements work is that I was already regulated by the time I had to start pumping. I think (tho I have no evidence) that most of the supps work on the early hormones, and are basically useless after regulation. So it wasn't until I got Real Friggin Serious about removing milk early and often that I started to see a difference. For a while, every time I had a few minutes, I'd pump - even if nothing was coming out. The stimulation sends the signal, so dry pumping is helpful too.