Is milk supply when pumping not an indication of actual milk supply?
I've heard that pumping little milk out might not be an indication of low milk supply. My wife has been pumping and getting 30ml in 20 minutes, while I've been told that a newborn usually needs 50-60ml each feeding at 1 month. Can anybody talk on this point or has actual experience to confirm what I've read? My baby is currently under average weight, and on the low side of the normal band (he was born above average, had jaunice and underwent phototherapy), I was wondering if it might be a milk supply issue and if pumping out little milk is proof of that.
My wife is staying at home and exclusively trying to feed him without the pump and bottle.
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The amount you can pump is 100% definitely not an indication of low supply.
First of all: Is baby actually breastfeeding or is your wife trying to exclusively pump? If baby is feeding 'straight from the source' then he/she will always be getting more than a pump can extract. It's all down to the hormonal connection between mother and baby, whereas a pump is a foreign object that the body does not respect in the same way as baby. Babies are just more efficient at removing milk from the breast and some women don't respond well to their pump at all. There are ways to possibly increase the output to a pump but they aren't guaranteed to work. Your wife could try breast compressions before pumping, a warm flannel on the breasts before pumping, looking at a picture of little one while pumping, fenugreek supplements, eat more oats (great excuse to eat hob nobs :-) ), drink more water...
As for your baby being below average... It doesn't matter as long as he/she is growing, meeting milestones and giving an adequate amount of poos and wees :) There are so many other things than the size of baby that indicate a successful breastfeeding relationship.
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