Pumping mom needs help - cross post...

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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 then 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, MoMBreastfeeding Networkwww.breastfeedingnetwork.net