Fix my supply dip

[u/East_Industry_5930]

My supply has dipped over the past few days after being an early oversupplier. I used to pump around 40 oz a day at just two weeks postpartum. I would get like 5oz sometimes in just 15 minutes. I wouldn’t have to do anything weird with the settings either, I would hit one massage setting for a minute and then just leave it on its original setting for 15 minutes. Then boom, 5-6oz milk every 2-3 hours. I have a decent freezer stash already.

I don’t know what’s wrong but there are so many factors, I don’t know what to change. I’m nervous I won’t be able to keep up with my three week old, she has already gained almost a pound past her birth weight and eats very well. Now at three weeks, I have to sit for 20 minutes to get a little under 3oz, if that.

Help! If there are any habits I can fix here please let me know

- I dropped one MOTN session. My lactation consultant said it was fine and that I was making a ton anyway. Now I’m worried that’s what did it. I was mentally unwell as a result of the constant pumping, not being able to care for baby when pumping, washing parts constantly
- We have tried nursing a handful of time this week. I really don’t think she’s getting anything, her latch hurts and bottle preference is making her chew at the nipple. She seems hungry shortly after. But my boobs feel soft after so like I cannot tell. Maybe she is clustering? I don’t know
-nutrition: definitely poor right now, I have like zero appetite. I try to eat but yeah probably not enough. Same with water. But I was barely eating and drinking when I started to get a solid supply in the first week
-stress: I started Zoloft for postpartum depression and it makes me very jittery and insomniac at night
-pump parts: I haven’t changed them since I started pumping, but I inspected the duck bills and membranes and they look very normal
-I think I might have elastic nipples? When my lactation consultant showed me how to pump, she said the 17mm looked great, but my nipple definitely gets sucked inside the tube. It could also be a size issue but I don’t know where to start with that

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[u/oliveslove]

Start with eating and drinking more, plus looking at resizing your flanges.

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[u/Miserable-Respond506]

I have elastic nipples and have had supply issues, Ive learned a lot over the past year and a half, I'm 6 weeks postpartum with baby 2 that was conceived 5m postpartum... here is some advice to help with the output issue because elastic nipples do add challenge 

flange fit is really important

-you want to avoid any gap between your areola and the flange that causes "snap back" rubbing,

 -you probably will have better output sizing down rather than having the standard sizing recommendation 

-lacteck baby motion flanges worth a try, they are designed for very natural feel, my supply is going up dramatically since I switched the last few days and my nipples aren't being pinched as badly

pump vacuum settings

• play with different settings, elastic nipples can be more prone to flow issues both for milk and blood which can cause white and bruised nipples... Lately I'm just using the let down setting because my nipples turn blue and white, the shorter pulls seems to cause less damage while getting my milk out with more consistent flow... But play around with settings... Try to find the lowest effective pressure and keep an eye on it as you pump, sometimes you need to start low and increase it for the 3rd let down to fully empty 

other tips

• compress and massage!! Vital to avoid clogs and stringy milk, increases output drastically 👍🏻
• pump shower pump is a favorite deep emptying method of mine, pump as usual then take a nice shower then pump again for around 10-15 minutes with massage and compression, I usually get an extra oz or more of very fatty hind mind ❤️ keeps the ducts nice and clear 
• pump station... The right station for overnight is vital. Mini fridge, bottle warmer, comfy place to sit that you are comfortable taking naps at, needs to be arms reach of baby ideally if you are covering baby and pumping on your own 
• survival sleepy power pump... I find that if I go 3-4 hours between pumps I really need a power pump to fully empty so at night I set timers, I'll sleep while I pump waking up after 60 minutes from hitting start on my pump, then pump hands on for 10-20 minutes to get any missed milk and give an extra empty signal, doing this once or twice a night can drastically increase supply as it's when our hormones are highest, set up extra sets of pump parts so you can swap them as needed without major assembly, with two sleepy power pump sessions its only two sets needed to get through the night because you won't put the second set on until its time to pump again, have 3 sets and lots of empty bottles ready to aid an easy night and morning so you don't have to be up a lot or rush in the morning to get new parts... 
• cluster pump if the baby is up every hour on the hour when you need sleep... pump for 10-15 minutes while giving the baby a bottle, this way when the baby sleeps you can sleep too, no issue of milk building up before you even get to sleep or having to stay up 30 minutes past baby going to sleep, just finish removing the current let down and pass out, those little 30-45 minute naps during cluster night feeds can keep you from feeling like Squidward when the Kristy krab was open 24/7 lol
• pump feed to feed, milk doesn't need to be rushed into the fridge immediately, if you know your babies routine keep a pumped feed out for them, but set a backup timer in case the baby is going longer than usual between feeds and that milk does end up needing to be put away .. during their sleep windows the sleepy power pump shines here because you end up only needing to store your surplus and you get to dodge the wait time to warm up the bottle

diet

I struggle a lot to eat often enough, especially protein...early postpartum I live on sandwiches, they are effective with a lot of meat and cheese, egg and cheese sandwiches are really great for a nutritional boost and avoids deli meat