Parenting - The Joy, Trial & Tribulations.

[jadeleaves]

So as not to hijack the pregnant p''sers thread, here''s one for us new mums to share our experiences, post any questions and support each other through the joy, trial & tribulations of motherhood. There is certainly no manual for this, and I am learning everyday as I go along. It is not all peachy as I''ve found out, through sleep deprivation, dealing with reflux, amongst other things, but it is so fulfilling. Everyday I look at little Button and I am in awe at what hubby and I created, this *perfect* little boy who has brought so much joy to our lives.

For "experienced" mums (and dads!!), please share your tips on common issues like sleep settling, breastfeeding, colic, reflux etc etc!

There are so many different types of parenting methods, and only you will know what works for you and your children. Please share, and not judge!

I will kick off by asking for tips on sleep settling, and whilst I don''t want this to turn into a ferber vs non ferber debate, I would appreciate real life experiences on the different ways you have sleep trained your child, what age did you start, how effective it was, and if given the opportunity again, would you do the same thing or try something new?

 

[Ellen]

Jade, what a neat thread!!

I''m not sure what you mean by "sleep trained", could you elaborate?

 

[ecf8503]

Hi! Just thought I''d wave to all the mommies, and share a pic of Noah I took the other day - hard to believe he''ll be 5 months old in a few days!

 

[jadeleaves]

Hi Ellen!

By sleep training I meant teaching your child to soothe himself to sleep, and eventually sleeping through the night.

Button is usually pretty good, but he was so reliant on having a dummy to go to sleep, and we have to keep getting up to pop it into his mouth when he spits it out in the middle of the night, and we want him to learn how to put himself to sleep without the dummy, and hopefully sleep through the night soon

.

 

[katebar]

JadeLeaves with our daughter and her dummy we just used to leave one or two other dummies in the cot and she would find them herself

by about the age of 6 months old. In fact she would go to sleep holding a spare!

 

[Skippy123]

Noah is adorable!!!!! Buttons is adorable!!!

 

[diamondsrock]

well this was quite a while ago (my son is a teenager now!) but when he was a baby we rocked him to sleep every night in the rocking chair. Then he''d wake up in the middle of the night (like all babies do!) and couldn''t go back to sleep on his own because he was used to being rocked. It took so so long for him to get over that and it was really hard. I remember being woken up 2 or 3 times a night for a long time, having to get up with him and rock him in the rocker. Now I realize we should have just let him learn to sleep on his own. And he used the pacifier as well so would cry when it dropped out of his mouth. Seriously I think he was 1 or 2 until he could sleep through the night!

Another thing was we had the changing table next to the crib. One day he was having a nap and I walked in to check on him. He was covered in diaper cream ointment, all over his face and his hands and he painted the crib rails (we had a big tub of it on the changing table). He was standing up in the crib smiling and looked at me like "hi! look what I did!" I freaked out of course and called poison control. I don''t think he actually ate any of it but I was panicked anyways. I moved everything away from the crib after that! I laugh now when I remember how happy he looked, all covered in ointment, when I walked in the room but it was a lesson learned. Never underestimate a toddler or baby!

 

[VegasAngel]

Date: 2/5/2007 8:20:07 PM
Author: ecf8503
Hi! Just thought I''d wave to all the mommies, and share a pic of Noah I took the other day - hard to believe he''ll be 5 months old in a few days!

Noah is a handsome little guy.

 

[VegasAngel]

Ugh, Yvette woke up at 2:30am last night & again at I dont even know what time I was soooo tired. I cannot wait until this teething business is over. I''m going to give her some motrin before bed tonight & see if that helps.

Yvette had/has acid reflux as well. We could never get her to take the Zantac though. Cant say I blame her that stuff tastes terrible. Her reflux peaked at 4 months & was pretty much gone around 6/7 months. Every once in a while it flairs up but it''s very very mild.

 

[diamondfan]

One thing I recall my ped saying was not to worry about eating, a healthy child will eat, and just monitor weight gain and growth for consistency and it usually is all right. Also, I never wanted to get into bad sleep habits, so I tried not to rock them til them were totally asleep, or let them sleep with me unless it was a unique situation. Infants and adults wake during the night and a baby is best off if he or she can soothe him or herself and get back to sleep and not need you to come in and do it for them. Some type of sleep rituals are fine, singing, stories, cuddles, but it is best for them to fall asleep in their own crib or bed and be a bit awake when you set them down so they do not associate sleeping with you...just helps for down the road...then you do not have to do those sleep method things to teach them those techniques later....I also learned, by my third to try to get to sippy cups or straws earlier rather than later, my first was over three when I did as was my second, with my third I started sippy cups at one year or so and slowly transistioned from the bottles. As for passies, dummies, whatever you call them (it was a binky in our house) I had asked the doc about it and he said he did not mind it for about 18 months but after that it was not great for teeth or speech development. My oldest LOVED his, I had tons of them all over my house, and thought he would flip at 18 months when I was going to take them. But, about a month before that, he had a bad cold and since he needed his mouth to breathe he could not use the binky. After that I said the binky fairy came and took them for littler babies who really needed them, he was such a big boy he did not need them now. When my second came about a year later, he liked the idea of binky again since his baby brother had them but I stood firm. And my second and thirds never liked them, spat them out, and never sucked thumbs (which you cannot "take" away like a binky!!!) so I was happy about that...:ast thing, do not rush toilet training, work on it in steps, but do not hyper focus on it, it causes the inherent developmental anxirty to be worse!

 

[jadeleaves]

Noah is so cute!! Wow all our babies are growing so quickly!

Katebar - unfortunately button is not old enough to find his dummy by himself yet, so I think we will have to perserve and not give him one so he''ll get used to it.

diamondsrock - thks for sharing your story! I have my cot next to the change table too, will have to remember to move everything out of the way when Button is old enough!

vegasangel - Button''s pediatrician prescribed a losec suspension for him, and the pharmacist mixed it in a somewhat sweet solution so that it doesn''t taste too bad. We find that he is so much better now that we''re treating his reflux, and he drinks a lot more too!

diamondfan - that is what we''re trying to get Button to do, to soothe himself to sleep so that he can go to sleep on his own, especially when he wakes in the middle of the night. As I type this he is crying in his cot, trying to go to sleep for his late afternoon mini snooze

. I am so torn as to whether I want to try the total extinction method and let him cry it out or do a little of the controlled crying whereby I check on him every few mins and gradually increase the number of mins in between checks.

Also, this crying thing is SOOOOOOOOO hard to do in the middle of the night.

 

[Kaleigh]

I think the best thing you can do is to teach them to soothe themselves. I did go in and rub their backs when they awoke,I reassured them that mommy was there. But as they got older, well my response time got less and less. But never let them cry out of control. It's like you know which cry they have, hunger, pain, general discomfort, wet diaper or like hello I am awake, where are you???

It's a process, you'll find the balance and along the way, you'll teach them that balance as well. Like I can go back to sleep by myself, mom is just in the other room. I'm ok... That's what you want in the long run!!!!
I just wanted to wish all the new PS Mommie's good luck. Listen to your instincts, you know what they say about a mom's instinct. Trust your heart. Ask questions. But be kind to yourselves. You are doing the hardest job out there.

If you want to vent, go ahead, it's not easy.

I'm sure whatever you have to share someone can relate to or can give some good advice. Man I am so bummed I didn't have this when I had my kids. You guys are sooo lucky!!!!!

 

[eks6426]

My son is almost 10 so it has been awhile, but when he was a baby I heard all the horror stories of the binkies popping out in the middle of the night so I never let my son have one. He never did resort to sucking his thumb but he did chew on stuffed animals some. As for the getting up in the middle of the night issues, I usually let him cry for a bit until it started to sound like he was going to get hysterical then I would go in and lay him back down and tell him something like, "mommy loves you now go back to sleep" and then I''d cover him up and leave. He''d cry again sometimes but it was more of a wimper than a true cry. If I had to go back in I did the same thing again. I never got him out of the crib to rock or hold...just to change diapers if necessary. I started this around 6 weeks old which was probably a bit too young but my husband at the time had cancer and was up sick a lot of nights so I couldn''t attend to baby when I was monitoring IVs. I do have to say my son pretty much slept through the night by 8 weeks on although he did get up really early (around 4:30am) to eat. He usually was put to bed around 10pm after one last feeding...again though never rocked him to sleep...always made sure he was wide awake when I put him in the crib.

 

[Ellen]

First, I just have to say, that pic of Noah is darling!! It made me laugh, I just miss babies SO much....


Jade, I just wasn''t sure if you meant night, naps, or both. And the "dummy" REALLY threw me off! lol I''ve never heard it called that.

I was trying to remember, it''s been awhile. My first two had binkys, and I put them to bed with them, but the first night they made it close to morning (say 5 and on), like Kaleigh, when they started stirring I would go gently rub their back and pat their bottom and get them back to sleep. That was pretty much it, both were sleeping through the night by 2 months, maybe a little before, and one was a thumb sucker, one a finger.

You might try that, I know it''s hard to let them go. As said before, follow your instincts, they''re wonderfully accurate.

My last one falls in a category all his own, as he was born with Gastrointestinal Allergies, with colic on top. So every single thing he ate gave him an upset stomach. I held him most of the first 9 months, sleeping many nights on the couch with him on my tummy and a blanket tightly tucked under the cushions. (He was neither a binky baby nor a thumb/finger sucker) I have no idea how long that could have gone on, I got so desperate I tried the goats milk my mother had been telling me for 4 or 5 months to try. I thought she was nuts, who drinks goats milk besides baby goats, lol?, but as it turns out, it''s very gentle on the tummy. It worked instantly, I mean instantly. By the time he finished his first bottle with it, which I had mixed half with formula, half milk, I layed him down on the floor and he was actually happy. That was the first time, seriously. He still had his moments after that, but at least it wasn''t ALL the time, and he finally grew out of it right before he turned 5. So the goat milk is something to remember if anyone has the absolute unfortunate chance of have a child with GA, or similar. Interesting note, he was WAY healthier as a child than the other two.

My best piece of advice though, is savor this time, each and every moment, it really does go quickly....

 

[chrono]

My parenting style is more like Demelza's. I want my baby to know that I will always be there for him, so I will soothe him until he is calm and asleep. I also don't believe in letting a baby cry to sleep for the same reasons she has stated. Although it is exhausting and sometimes frustrating, my strong belief that I am doing the right thing pulls me through. But that doesn't stop me from complaining about it though.

Demelza, JadeLeaves, and ECF,
Your babies are so cute!

I just want to scoop them up in my arms and snuggle.

Dem,
1. When do I pump?
Since my baby wakes up to feed in the wee hours of the morning, he gets one side, and I pump the other. It takes a bit of acrobatics in the beginning, but I am a pro now. I had to do this because I would get terribly engorged and milk would just flow down and soak my shirt. The pumping while feeding, plus prolactin hormones, really gets lots of letdowns. I get the most milk during this session. However, I only do this after the longest sleep stretch (the 5 hour sleep stretch). I just nurse side-lying and sleep for the next session (the 3 or 4 hour stretch), since I am not as uncomfortably full of milk. I also do this before leaving for work.

Other than that, I pump at work every 3 hours.

2. How much at a time?
The morning session is a bumper harvest. I get anywhere from 8 ounces to 12 ounces from just that one side. At work, double pumping each time gets me a total of 6 to 8 ounces total (both sides) every 3 hours. Because I am able to pump more than he needs right now, I am able to freeze quite a lot of milk.

3. Type of pump
I used the Medela Pump in Style classic with my first. I am now using the Medela Pump in Style Advanced backpack with my second. I love the let-down feature because it is gentler but it can also be done manually on the "plainer" Pump in Style classic. My sister has the Avent ISIS IQ which she loves but I can't get the hang of manually pumping to get a letdown to "teach" the IQ my pumping pattern.

At work, I have my own office with a locked door, so I don't have to worry about privacy issues. I also have a special bra that allows me to pump hands-free. However, I think that particular hands-free bra has been discontinued by the manufacturer. Being hands-free allows me to work while pumping, or surf PS (as I am doing right now). Reading while pumping also relaxes me and gets the milk going. I can't pump a lot if I do nothing; I need a distraction like reading, PS, work, anything but looking at my pump.

Another tip is to pump for 10 minutes, stop and do breast compressions (and drink some water), then pump again for 10 minutes. This method seems to yield more milk for me. It's almost like my milk sinuses get "recharged".

 

[jadeleaves]

Ok we''ve had another night of putting Button to sleep without his dummy (lol ellen, that''s what we call pacifiers down under!). Score!

I have decided to try a variant of the controlled crying in that I soothe him before putting him down in his cot and then leave the room. If he protest cries, I will give him a chance to soothe himself before going to him. I pretty much know his different cries, so am fairly confident I can work out if he''s getting too distressed or just crying a little to wind himself down for sleep. I am also going to put him down for the night at an earlier time instead of doing it in a window of a couple of hours depending on what time hubby gets home - everything I''ve read pointed to earlier bedtimes and ROUTINE ROUTINE ROUTINE, so we need to start his soothing before bedtime routine a lot earlier instead of when hubby gets home.

I will also try not to feed him if he wakes up less than 5hours before his last feed, ie, if we give him a feed at 7 before putting him down for the night, he won''t get fed till midnight at the earliest. of course, this is not set in stone - if I think he is really hungry, I will feed him, but I know he doesn''t really need to be fed so many times in a night anymore because he had slept for more than 5hours at a stretch quite a few times. Our paediatrician also recommends that we try to reduce the feed that we give him at night so he ''learns'' that it is not worth getting up for a feed.

Hubby will need to learn not to talk to him in an ''excited'' "LETS PLAY!!!" type of voice in the night so as not to give him the idea it''s playtime.

I think what we were doing before was keeping him up so hubby could have some time with him before he goes to sleep but I see how that we should put him to bed earlier and hubby and can have his time with Button in the morning instead. So simple, but it took reading a few books to really get the idea! Bathtime has always been daddy''s time with Button, but that might have to change.

Fingers crossed that we get this waking up many times in the middle of the night thing sorted out soon, and I have noticed a difference with not putting him to bed with a dummy, so am patting ourselves on the back for achieving that! It was so hard trying not to give in and give him one when he was crying though!

Thks for sharing your experiences everyone!

 

[jadeleaves]

Dem,

I use a medela pump in style advanced in the backpack as well. This pump has been such a godsend, especially since I am pumping exclusively. The double pump saves so much time too!

I pump every 3 hours during the day when I am home. If I know I am going to be out for awhile, I either get up in the night to pump more so I can miss a session or two during the day, or bring my pump with me so I can pump whilst I am out. I have done it in the car whilst hubby is driving (covering myself with a scarf), in the baby change rooms at some shopping centres (they have nice comfy couches!), at friend''s houses etc.

I get an average of 200-250ml during the day per session, but the first pump of the morning has yielded up to half a litre of milk!!

I feel like such a cow when that happens.

I hardly pump in the middle of the night anymore unless I am really engorged, or can''t get back to sleep after giving button a feed. I find that it doesn''t reduce my supply much now that my supply has been established, but I do find that if I pump more during the night my supply increases during the day. I often get another letdown if I pump for more than 20mins, but I don''t usually do that anymore because I have no space for frozen EBM in my freezer, so I just try to pump what I need at the moment.

I don''t use a special pumping bra like chrono, although I''ve seen pics of those! I just use a sleep bra or something you can pull aside, put the pump on and place the cup of the bra over the pump and it holds both sides up so I can pump hands free too. Like Chrono, I find that doing other things whilst pumping relaxes me and the time passes more quickly too.

 

[AGSHF]

Congratulations to all the new mommies! Your babies all look delicious and make me miss those days so very much. My only child is 10 now and my most vivid memories are still of the days when she and I were together at home. That time is so precious and fleeting. I made sure to take photographs of her weekly, monthly (okay, daily) because they change so quickly and are doing something new virtually every few days.

My kudos to the breast-feeding moms here. I do have one quick suggestion about the timing of pumping. Although I was never able to pump very much additional milk for storage (and since I was home with her, it wasn''t a big issue), I do remember that after a several months of successful breast feeding, my breast started "remembering" when the feedings were and would produce primarily in anticipation of those times. That was particularly true after the six-month mark, when things became more regulated and the breasts weren''t just overflowing at all times in case the baby needed feeding. So, if you need to establish supply via pumping, try to make sure that you don''t reduce the number of times, etc. or your body may start to acclimate and reduce the amount of milk available at the times you don''t pump. The b-f body really is a marvel!

Also, I''m sure that you already now this, but the composition of your breastmilk changes over time to accomodate the different needs of your growing, changing baby (different fat content, etc.) so I factored that into the amount of time I wanted to store any frozen milk before giving it to my child.

Best wishes to all and your beautiful and healthy babies!

 

[zoebartlett]

Date: 2/5/2007 8:48:43 PM
Author: katebar
JadeLeaves with our daughter and her dummy we just used to leave one or two other dummies in the cot and she would find them herself

by about the age of 6 months old. In fact she would go to sleep holding a spare!

LOL! I had no idea that a dummy is a pacifier (that''s what it IS, right?), so when I read the highlighted part, my first thought was "Well, that''s not very nice!"

 

[diamondfan]

I always let my kids know I was there for them, but at a certain age it becomes manipulation. I love them and was always available to them, but had not wanted to get into games at bedtime that would be harmful to both of us. I would check in and tell them I loved them and I would let them know I was just a second away, but that it was night time and time for them to sleep, in their own bed. I just did not want to create long term sleep issues and bad habits that I would have to undo, with much more distress, at a later hour...

 

[ImpatientOne]

Well, if I had it all to do over again, I would NEVER have given my babies binkies!!! My middle child did not sleep through the night until she was over a year old

She was so hooked on that darn binky that if she woke up in the middle of the night and it was not in her mouth she would fuss. I tried putting multiples in the crib, but seems like she could never find them by herself. Maybe at some point it became manipulation, but when it's three a.m. and you're exhausted, it's just easier to go in and put another binky in her mouth!!!

 

[Demelza]

Date: 2/6/2007 9:04:32 AM
Author: Chrono
My parenting style is more like Demelza''s. I want my baby to know that I will always be there for him, so I will soothe him until he is calm and asleep. I also don''t believe in letting a baby cry to sleep for the same reasons she has stated. Although it is exhausting and sometimes frustrating, my strong belief that I am doing the right thing pulls me through. But that doesn''t stop me from complaining about it though.

It does sound like we have similar parenting styles. My firm belief is that creating a secure attachment when babies are young will create confident, self-assured kids and adults. I don''t think it''s possible to "spoil" babies by sleeping in bed with them or responding to their cries as often as one reasonably can. Having said that, I think each person needs to do what works for her and her child. Being true to what feels right is probably more important than any one theory or approach. I agree with you, though, that knowing that I am doing what feels right for me and my baby helps me get through the sleep deprivation. I think my daughter will sleep through the night when she''s ready and I really don''t think there''s anything I can do to speed that process along. It''s a developmental stage as much as anything else.

 

[Demelza]

Date: 2/6/2007 12:43:07 PM
Author: JadeLeaves
Dem,


I use a medela pump in style advanced in the backpack as well. This pump has been such a godsend, especially since I am pumping exclusively. The double pump saves so much time too!


I pump every 3 hours during the day when I am home. If I know I am going to be out for awhile, I either get up in the night to pump more so I can miss a session or two during the day, or bring my pump with me so I can pump whilst I am out. I have done it in the car whilst hubby is driving (covering myself with a scarf), in the baby change rooms at some shopping centres (they have nice comfy couches!), at friend''s houses etc.


I get an average of 200-250ml during the day per session, but the first pump of the morning has yielded up to half a litre of milk!!

I feel like such a cow when that happens.


I hardly pump in the middle of the night anymore unless I am really engorged, or can''t get back to sleep after giving button a feed. I find that it doesn''t reduce my supply much now that my supply has been established, but I do find that if I pump more during the night my supply increases during the day. I often get another letdown if I pump for more than 20mins, but I don''t usually do that anymore because I have no space for frozen EBM in my freezer, so I just try to pump what I need at the moment.


I don''t use a special pumping bra like chrono, although I''ve seen pics of those! I just use a sleep bra or something you can pull aside, put the pump on and place the cup of the bra over the pump and it holds both sides up so I can pump hands free too. Like Chrono, I find that doing other things whilst pumping relaxes me and the time passes more quickly too.

Wow, I''m impressed you can pump so much. I sure wish I could!! I''m lucky if I can get 5 oz out of one side. Usually, I get less than 3 oz. I haven''t had much luck with the Medela Pump in Style. I use the Medela Symphony that we rented from the pharmacy. It''s really good, but costs $1,200 to buy! I think I''ll keep renting it until it gets too ridiculously expensive to continue doing so. Anyway, I think you''re doing a great job with the pumping!

 

[Ellen]

Date: 2/6/2007 7:41:22 PM
Author: zoebartlett

Date: 2/5/2007 8:48:43 PM
Author: katebar
JadeLeaves with our daughter and her dummy we just used to leave one or two other dummies in the cot and she would find them herself

by about the age of 6 months old. In fact she would go to sleep holding a spare!

LOL! I had no idea that a dummy is a pacifier (that''s what it IS, right?), so when I read the highlighted part, my first thought was ''Well, that''s not very nice!''

LOL!!

Hey, I read it and thought, what''s a dummy? a lifelike doll or something?

 

[VegasAngel]

I have the Ameda Purely Yours Pump & it works very well. I used to pump a lot in the early months because I wasnt sure if/when I was going back to work. Now, I can get maybe 3 oz out of each breast if I am lucky, but my baby nurses less as she is about to approach her 1st birthday. This website has really good prices on Medela & Ameda pumps with free shipping www.hackleyhme.com/

 

[AGBF]

Congratulations on having your babies, JadeLeaves and Demelza! I used to miss weddings; now I miss the birth of my Pricescope friends' children! I hope I will get to hear more about how you are both getting on here in this thread!


Deb

 

[Cehrabehra]

the best advice I have for new moms is just chill out and relax about stuff because the kids really can manage quite well without OCD interference. They will survive without socks, if they''re full they turn their head, if they''re still eating make more, if they''re tired they''ll sleep and if they aren''t - they won''t. Sometimes the best thing for both of you is to just let them cry on their own - and sometimes the best thing for both of you is to hold them close while they cry. Don''t force yourself to do one or the other because of a book or appearances or guilt. Trust your gut. Remind yourself that with your first all of the details seem so important to know, but by your third you''ll realize that details are mostly irrelevant. The kids tell you what they need and it is okay for you to demand a certain degree of compliance from them at least in terms of waiting a minute while you go to the bathroom. Enjoy the fact that you can rush to your firstborn every time they peep, because you very well might have to leave your second newborn crying in its crib for 15 minutes while you clean the poop your firstborn just smeared all over the couch. Kids are gross. Invest in a carpet steam cleaner with attachments for furniture.

 

[jadeleaves]

Thks AGBF! Haven''t seen u around for awhile - hope you are well!

impatientone - I''m with you in that if i had to do it all over again I will not give my child a dummy! Thankfully button seems to have coped pretty well with not having a dummy so far, and it''s been almost a wk!

Ok I don''t think I can do the controlled crying yet. Button cried for 10mins and I was sobbing along with him. I am going to keep soothing him like I have been, and revisit sleep training when he is a little bit older in a couple of months time.

Thks Dem! I am worried that I will not be able to keep up with my pumping when we go overseas for the next month though! When u say u havent had much luck with the medela PIS, do u mean that you didn''t manage to express much using that? I think expressing every 2 1/2 to 3 hrs in the first 2 months really helped me build my supply up. If you are breastfeeding AND expressing afterwards, getting 3 oz is really good!

cehrabehra - lol abt leaving the second newborn crying bit

Thanks to everyone who are chipping in with tips! Keep them coming!

 

[Ellen]

Date: 2/7/2007 9:33:24 PM
Author: Cehrabehra
the best advice I have for new moms is just chill out and relax about stuff because the kids really can manage quite well without OCD interference. They will survive without socks, if they''re full they turn their head, if they''re still eating make more, if they''re tired they''ll sleep and if they aren''t - they won''t. Sometimes the best thing for both of you is to just let them cry on their own - and sometimes the best thing for both of you is to hold them close while they cry. Don''t force yourself to do one or the other because of a book or appearances or guilt. Trust your gut. Remind yourself that with your first all of the details seem so important to know, but by your third you''ll realize that details are mostly irrelevant. The kids tell you what they need and it is okay for you to demand a certain degree of compliance from them at least in terms of waiting a minute while you go to the bathroom. Enjoy the fact that you can rush to your firstborn every time they peep, because you very well might have to leave your second newborn crying in its crib for 15 minutes while you clean the poop your firstborn just smeared all over the couch. Kids are gross. Invest in a carpet steam cleaner with attachments for furniture.

LMAO!

It''s funny cuz it''s true.

Good post cehra.

 

[NYCsparkle]

Hi moms! I have the medela pump in style and its great. now that my little bean is 6 months its harder for me to store my milk. does anyone have tips to increase my supply? i don''t want to have to supplement with formula.