Re: Pumping mom needs help - cross post...

[Guest guest]

Some random thoughts:

I have worked with mothers who couldn't let down to the pump because they kept staring at the bottles. I had them wrap a washcloth around each bottle with a rubberband so they couldn't see what was happening. Then I tell them to watch or listen to something that engages their mind: watch a game show or comedy on TV (can she find episodes for free on her laptop?), listen to a talk radio show that makes her want to talk back to the radio, you get the idea. Once worked with a mother who was relactating. After a week of pumping with a hospital-grade pump she only got 1/4 oz from each breast each time she pumped. I had her come in to see if there was something wrong with the pump and to watch her technique. I realized immediately she was staring at her bottles. I got her talking about her older kids, how they liked the baby, etc. In 10 minutes, I told her to look at her

bottles: 3/4 oz in each bottle--triple the output! Once she knew she could do it, her relactation efforts took off like a flash and she got back a full supply in short order. I know your mom doesn't want to get 80 oz again, but not staring at the bottles might help with the letdown.

We know that ductal yeast can cause repeated plugged ducts. Any chance she would want to see if her doc would prescribe a round of fluconazole? At least 6 pills taken every other day (based on dosing regimen found in Nov 2011 BREASTFEEDING REVIEW), if he won't give 14 pills for the traditional USA dosing regimen of daily-for-two-weeks. If he gives her only two pills, with the dosing for vaginal infections--one pill now and one pill three days later--it's not going to accomplish anything for a breast yeast infection.

Robin Frees, IBCLC (www.newbornconcepts.com) used to sell self-hypnosis CDs for pumping. I don't see them on her website anymore, but perhaps the mom could contact Robin and see if she still has any of the available.

With the oversupply and then trouble with letdown, this mother may want to ask her doctor to run bloodtests to rule out hyperthyroidism.

Dee Kassing

Hi All,

Permission to post. I have posted about this mom before. She is an exclusive pumping mom who first crashed her supply, then 2 wks later not only brought it back (with a crappy pump!) but brought it back with such a vengeance that she was producing upwards of 80 oz per day with only 5-6 pumpings. Then she started having issues with let-down and used Rescue Remedy and RPS.

She is now 9.5 mo post-partum and is struggling with pumping. It takes her an hour to pump – if she does not pump for that hour she ends up with nasty plugs. She pumps 4 times per 24 hours (every 6 hours) and produces 30-40oz (she had a nasty mastitis that dropped her supply the hard way 2 months ago). Plugs occur regardless of if she pumps more frequently or not. They are always there. In the first half hour of pumping she gets maybe 2oz because of lack of letdown. So she continues to pump because she knows the breasts are not even close to empty. In that next half-hour she will finally have a letdown (around 30-40 min into pumping) and be able to empty the breast. Her breasts require a lot of massage and compression to help drain.

To elicit the letdown: She used Rescue Remedy for a few weeks and th! en it stopped helping. She did RPS for a few weeks and then that stopped helping. She tried a hospital grade pump. That didn’t help. She has tried different sized flanges, the Pumpin Pals are most comfortable for her – she has tried turning them in different directions to see if that would help. Nothing. She feels like her body is ‘over’ the pumping and she is at a loss as to what to do now.

Mom would like to continue to provide EBM for her son – but having to sit there for an hour each time is causing her to become anxious and stressed and resentful. She said if she could get that let down to kick in and be done pumping in 20-30 minutes she’d be fine – but she has been at this routine for a couple months now and it isn’t getting any better – it is getting worse.

For the plugs, she is taking lecithin – she was down to one dose per day and I encouraged her to go back up to 4 times per day for the interim and see if that helped with the plugs. But we need to figure something out for her let down and to make pumping more manageable for her.

We need any thoughts, ideas, input…homeopathic, naturopathic, western medicine – Whatever! She does acknowledge that there is an emotional component here, but just focusing on the good she is doing for her baby isn’t enough. She wants to be done, but then has guilt for wanting to be done with the insanity. L I feel for her in a big way.

Please e-mail me privately and to the list. Thank you in advance!

Warmly,

Jaye

ibclc@...

Jaye Simpson, CLC, IBCLC, CIIM, MoM

Breastfeeding Network

www.breastfeedingnetwork.net