Issues with milk supply

Right from the start I've had problems b'feeding.
Because Gina was a prem and had problems with jaundaice, she did not start feeding and I had to express to try and bring in my milk. In hospital I was expressing every 2-3 hours with no luck. It took over a week for my milk to come in and it only did when I had started taking drugs (domperidone) to help me along.
Since then I've had to stick to expressing as Gina got used to feeding from a bottle. I express every time I feed her and don't have a problem doing it but I just can't bring up my milk supply to keep up with her.
I'm still taking the domperidone as well as blessed thisle (sp?) and fennel tablets, I'm drinking plenty of water and milk and eating protein and almonds and I'm still NOT making enough milk! To make things worse, Gina spills every time we top her up with formula and it makes me feel so guilty
HELP! I'm feeling so hopeless and I really really want to be able to give her my milk. What else can I do to make more milk?

She doesn't really want to b'feed. Should I just up the frequency of expressing?

Just try lying in the bed for one day. Let her get hungry for a little bit. And then express a bit of milk so there is drops on your nipple. Let her smell it a bit. She will be more inclined to try it out then

Otherwise maybe try with a nipple shield first. She might be use to the taste of a teat. Other thing that you can try when you get up is to have her in a sling. Keep her as close to you as possible for a while. (it does help a bit with production to have your baby close to you.)

Other trick that I have heard that works. Go to the chemist and get glycerine. Put that on your nipple. It is sweet and will clean her mouth as well so no worries for bubs. She might be more likely to try it as well.

But first try just to lie in bed with her. If you can with no top on. And hold out a bit with the bottle.

I know for me, demand feeding really helped with bring my supply up. Also drinking a lot of water. I can drink up to 6 litres a day some days. Protein is meant o help as well. I took milk flow tablets with Andrew they did help a lot. Once you have Gina feeding from you well and once she is asleep express of more milk to keep you supply up. I am expressing off some milk after Joshua has been asleep for 2 hours so that he can have milk for a big feed at night.

Almonds help with supply heaps, I get whole blanched "dessert almonds" from the bulk food section of the s/market. I would say,take her off the bottle if you really want her to b/f like busymum said, she might be getting a little "lazy".

I don't really have any suggestions but lots of hugs. Hope that it gets better for you both really soon

Hey you sound like you are in a similar position to me, Fay was born 5 weeks early and stayed in hospital for 12 days. we had major issues with my milk supply and I am still taking domperidone and a fennel supplement to maintain my supply. I attempted breast feeding for 8 weeks, she latched onmost of the time and pulled off crying most of the time because there wasn't enough there for her. I expressed for 8 weeks about 8 times a day, but couldn't and still cannot increase my milk supply beyond 300ml. I finally stopped breast feeding at my Plunket nurses advice as she could see what a state I was getting in and since then Fay has been fed 50/50ish on breast milk and formula all via a bottle, she is nearly 4 months old now and I am now expressing just twice a day to get my 300-350mls breast milk.
What i am really trying to say is don't feel guilty and try not to put too much pressure on yourself as stress reduces the levels of oxytocin, a hormone which helps milk supply. I have learnt and accepted that some babies just don't know how to breast feed and expressing will never get the same volumes of milk as the baby suckling. have they checked gina out for mouth issues such as the position of her tongue when latching, etc, Plunket referred us to Speech therapy as she held her tongue up when latching which created problems with latching to the breast and bottles, is that something you need to explore?
I hope this doesn't sound like a negative post, I just know where you are and I am a little further down the line with it. Gina may also pick up your distress when breast feeding and this may be the cause of her being unsettled at the breast. Fay used to become furious and scream, hold her breath and hit my breast, she used to gum my nipples really hard too out of sheer frustration.
sorry very long post, hope I am not hijacking it. PM me if you want to ask any questions about my experience also. I will try and find my very long thread that I started about that time with all the advice I received too.

Thanks Claire for bumping your old post up!
All those posts are just soo helpful - incredible to read what many others have been thru and knowing it's not just me. Makes me feel a lot less inadequate as a mum that can't feed her own child!!!
I've had a lot of your issues too
- prem baby born 5 weeks early
- flat nipples (forgot that one) - we have to use a nipple sheild
- inadequate supply
We've seen a lactation consultant and Gina can latch on properly, it's just that she un-latches just as quickly and starts crying. I think we've had 1 sucessful breasfeeding session in the last week! I know what you mean about bubs picking up on the frustration, but it's just so heartbreaking to watch her go for it time and time again and just end up screaming and hungry

I'm expressing 8 times a day (and night) too at the moment (10 yesterday!), trying to build up supply. I've given up trying to latch her on at every feed - it's just not happening and we both end up unhappy & in tears
I just soooooo wish my milk supply would build up so I can feed breast milk alone - I don't really mind expressing it but do want to feed her breast milk until she's at least 6 months - really really hope we can make it.

Just wanted to give you some big cyber hugs Yummy Mummy. I don't really have any advice that Clare hasn't already given you, but having express-fed my gremlins solely (with occasional breast feeds) for 10 weeks I can still remember how draining it was and how totally inadequate I felt.

The only thing I can say (just to contradict everyone else [;)) is not to express TOO frequently. It takes 2 hours for the breasts to fill completely so if you are expressing more frequently than that it means you are never letting the breasts completely fill therefore your supply is maintained but doesn't increase. It doesn't sound like it makes sense, but trust me it does - at one point I was expressing 2L of milk a day

And it's not the end of the world if you get to a point where you just can't do it anymore. I struggled with that more than anything else - I just couldn't give up. yes breast is best, but don't kill yourself in the process. There are a variety of formula options around and if you talk to your paediatrician (or GP) he or she will be able to suggest which ones might make Gina spill less.

More hugs. Best of luck!

ETA: My baby diary (http://www.ohbaby.co.nz/article.aspx?ContentID=1216) chronicles the whole story of my breastfeeding/expressing mission if it helps...

Edited by Maya