Breastfeeding, Low Supply and the Underweight Child

After reading a post on EmmieBee.com, I got to thinking... Why are many breastfed babies considered underweight? It seems that most of my friends have had the same diagnosis. Are we moms missing something, is the scale used to measure our children flawed or maybe, medial intervention is the problem? Is it some other reason entirely? I have been struggling with this issue for quite awhile. My plan was to breastfeed him exclusively for 1 year and then transition into solid food. As I am learning with motherhood, nothing has been going according to plan.

Many of the books I have read, specifically Mother Food and Making More Milk, state that some moms will experience a decrease in milk supply at about 4-6 months. Not wanting to be one of the "some", I have done many things to increase my supply to continue with my original plan. These included changing my diet (by removing all processed foods, sugars, etc), taking fenugreek supplements 4 times a day, and increasing the amount of and only drinking water. I am sure there are other things I have tried, but my brain is sparing me the torture by blocking it from my memory. ;) At some point, I was hoping I could gain some control over my body's ability to produce the one thing that I valued most in being a good mom. Folks, it was just not possible for me and I was making myself crazy trying. Ask my husband...

What is it about me and other moms that our milk supply drops off at 4-6 months, while still other moms can breastfeed a small nation? Your answer may be that every woman is different. Yeah, I get that but women have been nursing their children exclusively for centuries. What has changed in our society that it is not as possible?

One of the first lactation consultants I met with pointed out that I had medical intervention to get pregnant which went against the laws of nature and therefore, I should be more excepting of not being able to fully breastfeed my child. I suppose if I had not placed so much importance on breastfeeding that this explanation would have shed some light on the situation. This was not the case for me. Instead, I figured if the medical profession could get me pregnant, then they should be able to assist me with nursing my child.

Kaiser promotes breast is best in all of its literature. However, when it came to me and my child, it seemed that every where I turned some medical professional was saying that formula was the answer. If I was willing to put in the effort to explore other options, why was formula the only option offered to me?

I have finally come to accept that my supply is low. After a lot of experimentation and research, I have found a solution that works for Dustin (now, 7-months old) and I. We are still nursing and I supplement with formula through Medela's Supplemental Nursing System (SNS) . I got mine from a lactaion consultant, but Amazon also sells them. While Dustin nurses, he is able to draw the formula into his mouth through a small tube. This way I am able to keep up what supply I have and he still get all the benefits of nursing.