i'm breastfeeding and my son is 4 months, lately he's been drinking a lot of milk?

You may find that this phase will pass sooner than you know it. They go through spurts and want more and then a week later seem to want less.

Pumping is hard work and hard to keep on top of with a baby that is away from you most of the day.

I would ask that the caregiver offer a little water. It will not hurt and might get you by until you can get there to nurse him.

You are right, cereal in the bottle is not good for the baby, it's hard to digest and is just not needed at this early age in life.

You can attempt to increase your sluppy by pumping first thing in the morning, even if you baby has nursed recently. That is when your milk supply is or should be highest. You can get a supplement called Mother's Milk Plus in a health food store. The drops or concentrate does not taste good but is the fastest way to get it. You will have to drink this stuff with a little shot of water 8-10 times a day for 4-5 days before you see a difference. You will not see a huge change, we are not talking ounces and ounces but it will help a little. This also comes in tea form, but you have to drown yourself in it before you might feel like it is working.

Check out some of the forums at LaLecheLeague, www.llli.org

They have a chat board with mothers and leaders asking and answering alot of these questions.

Good Luck.

I have a 4 month old son too (9/11/06, he's currently 16lbs and eating about 23-28 ozs a day plus nursing twice at night) and I am pumping as well. There are things you can do to increase supply.

1. Nurse-in or marathon pumping for a weekend. Do nothing but nurse and/or pump. I did this for 2 days every hour-3 hours to increase my output from 23-28 ozs.

2. Oatmeal every morning, the real cooked kind, not instant.

3. Fenugreek, Blessed Thistle supplments

4. More Milk Plus supplement (I reccomend the capsules, not liquid)

5. Gatorade helps me

6. Domperidone (hard to get but it works, its NOT FDA spproved for milk productions but many women do it, I do)

7. If you don't already, pump after milk stops flowing till you get a second of third letdown.

It sounds like your supply is decent already and your baby is just in a growth spurt though. Pump more often if you can right now and that should be all you need.

Finally, you are doing a wonderful thing already, great job! But remember that formula is not evil and its ok to use a little here and there. I buy the Similac Singles that make one 4 oz bottle each, it comes in a pack of 16 and it lasts me a loooonnnng time, but I hvae it for emergencies. I keep 1-2 in the diaper bag in case the sitter ever runs short on milk... when we actually get out of the house that is! I will list some good resources for you

Just because he is nursing more often does not necessarily mean that he is hungry. Babies who are breastfed know that they can go to mommy for comfort and security. I found that no matter what my girls were crying about, I could put them to the breast and they would "get happy." If he is gaining weight and not losing then he is fine. Babies do go through growth spurts where they do require a little more nourishment. Please don't let this discourage you and cause you to quit.

On another note, introducing solids too early can cause more problems for his digestive tract. So be sure that he is not having any negative reactions to those foods. You don't want to have to deal with tummy trouble-it is very hard to diagnose (whether it's gas or conspitation or colic, etc.) and you'll be wondering what's wrong but can never figure it out. I started both of mine on solids at 6 months, and I have a friend who started all four of hers at 9 months.

Now, to actually answer your question:

Our diet has a lot to do with milk production or the lack thereof. And there is work to be done if we have created a situation that is not conducive to good milk production. I strongly believe that God made women's bodies to have babies and to nourish those babies. He has also provided for health and cure for those bodies.

Doctors never suggest herbs to increase lactation, yet it is the most natural and least harmful way.

Natural ways to increase milk supply:

* Red Raspberry Tea

* Brewer's Yeast- 3-4 tablets daily (may cause gas at first)

* Concentrated Alfalfa-3-4 capsules daily (available at Walmart)

* Marshmallow Tea-drink warm as often as desired, or 2

capsules 3 or 4 times daily.

* Blessed Thistle Tea

NOTE: SAGE and PARSLEY dry up milk if taken in therapeutic doses.

* If you need more information or want to know how to find these products (I used Red Raspberry Tea) just EMAIL ME.

*Just a note: Caffeine can interfere with iron absorption and you want to be sure that baby is getting enough iron. So you'll want to steer clear of caffeine in large amounts and at great frequency. (Alfalfa is RICH in iron.)

Be Encouraged-you're doing what's right for your baby.

MY EXPERIENCE:

I have two daughters.

Daughter one is almost 3 years old. She nursed until she was 16 months old.

Daughter two is still nursing at 15 months old.

Your son is too young for solids. Plain & simple. NO solid has more calories than BM anyhow! He needs MORE BM. Can you take three days & do nothing but concentrate on your supply? Lots of skin to skin contact - just go to bed together & do nothing but nurse. This will really help. Also, try oatmeal & water by the droves, for YOU! Do NOT give formula - THIS WILL EVEN FURTHER COMPROMISE YOUR SUPPLY! Also, rice cereal is USELESS, it's simply a "filler" with NO nutritional value. Nurse, nurse, nurse! Good luck!

Ok. I learned about this from experience. When you feed a baby from a bottle it is MUCH different than your breast. Babies tend to gorge themselves on a bottle. When the bottle is in their mouth it fills up with milk, they swallow out of reflex and keep doing this. At 4 months old they do not have the "cut off switch" we have to say, I am full, stop giving me the bottle. Have your care giver give him smaller amounts of the milk over a period of time. I believe 1.5 oz for every hour.

Start feeding starter foods, and the rest I wrote first but yeah. With my kids different doctors said different things. One told me to not give my daughter more than said formula even though she was hungry. So I didn't, and she would cry and cry and then sleep. After about a week of trying to do this my girlfriend (who thought it was wrong from the get go) wanted a second opinion, so we took her to a different doctor, who said kids are like adults they know when they are hungry and feed that poor kid. So we did and it was fine. When your kid is hungry feed them I say. As long as your kid has a well balanced diet, and is active they will be fine. I would get a second opinion on the rice, I also used it. And above all you are the mother, and mothers know best use your intuition. It is usually right, right?

I totally think it's a growth spurt too.

The more you feed the more you will produce if you are consuming at lease 1,900-2,000 calories a day, getting plenty of liquids and enough sleep. I think it's great that you are breastfeeding..Keep it up it's totally worth it!!

you can only pump as much as u can... dont over work or u might get mastitis!

The only thing that can be done is the formula top ups!

just feed him when u are with him..... it wiill keep your supply going!

my son is also 4 months he also breastfeed but i do substitute with formula it doesn't hurt them