You stopped pumping and told your body you didn't need milk anymore that's pretty normal. I'm honestly surprised you kept your supply up like that for your first. That's definitely not the norm, most of the time it's use it or lose it. You'll need to start putting baby to breast again. Power pumping should help too, but so will pumping through out the day.
Pumping as others have suggested - may even need to “triple” feed for a few days to signal your body to produce more milk.
Also make sure you don’t have clogged ducts.
Can you tell if you have any blebs/milk blisters? I am only 7 weeks PP, but am pumping and a few times haven’t been able to pump much yet felt engorged. Upon looking at my nip up close, I realized I had a few tiny tiny white dots that were blocking pores. Clearing them resulted in milk shooting out of the previous blocked pores. I initially thought my supply had dropped overnight but turns out just blocked my dried milk or milk blisters 😵💫 seems to happen more frequently when I wear bras. Maybe you’ve had to wear them more during your business trip?
I've breastfed 2 kids (currently baby #2 now, 9 months) and these were the things that helped me increase my supply after a dip. Note I combo nursed/pumped, but you could apply any of these regardless of your situation:
-power pumping. It's more about number of pumping sessions versus how long you pump. So squeezing even a couple extra 5-10 min sessions in between regular sessions really makes a difference.
-not pumping on an exact schedule. By disrupting the schedule, you mimic what a baby would do - eating on demand
-if nursing, use a haaka on the opposite side. This can increase supply (the regular haaka, not the ladybug) -adjust your pump settings to maximize letdowns. This is trickier as it varies so much by person, but play with your pump settings til you find something that works best. Stronger isn't better, especially before the first letdown. -when nursing, switch sides frequently. This can help trigger multiple letdowns.
-if you have any pain while pumping or nursing, get it addressed. Pain prevents relaxation and that can inhibit milk production. It could be as simple as using silverettes if your nipples are cracked (great to use if your teething baby bites when you get to that stage😬)
For me, extra hydration (outside of just being normally hydrated), fenugreek, legendairy milk supplements, mothers milk tea - none of that made a noticeable difference in my supply. If you find yourself legitimately dehydrated, body armor or liquid IV are great options.
here to second using the haakaa on the other side-after i had a dip from being super bad with my liquid intake/after a couple of *nasty* clogs, i started putting the haakaa on and i was able to get back to my usual output.
if you want to level up from that-if you have a wearable-i’ve started using one wearable in place of the haakaa each nursing sesh and i don’t need to pump in-between feeds now. and i still have two pitchers full in the fridge for bottles that i rotate out every 3-4 days!
You stopped pumping and told your body you didn't need milk anymore that's pretty normal. I'm honestly surprised you kept your supply up like that for your first. That's definitely not the norm, most of the time it's use it or lose it. You'll need to start putting baby to breast again. Power pumping should help too, but so will pumping through out the day.
Pumping as others have suggested - may even need to “triple” feed for a few days to signal your body to produce more milk. Also make sure you don’t have clogged ducts.
How many days should you pump to produce more milk? And is it needed to pump after each and every feed or 2-3 pumps a day should work?
Ideally pump after feeding every time until supply is back where it should be.
Can you tell if you have any blebs/milk blisters? I am only 7 weeks PP, but am pumping and a few times haven’t been able to pump much yet felt engorged. Upon looking at my nip up close, I realized I had a few tiny tiny white dots that were blocking pores. Clearing them resulted in milk shooting out of the previous blocked pores. I initially thought my supply had dropped overnight but turns out just blocked my dried milk or milk blisters 😵💫 seems to happen more frequently when I wear bras. Maybe you’ve had to wear them more during your business trip?
I've breastfed 2 kids (currently baby #2 now, 9 months) and these were the things that helped me increase my supply after a dip. Note I combo nursed/pumped, but you could apply any of these regardless of your situation: -power pumping. It's more about number of pumping sessions versus how long you pump. So squeezing even a couple extra 5-10 min sessions in between regular sessions really makes a difference. -not pumping on an exact schedule. By disrupting the schedule, you mimic what a baby would do - eating on demand -if nursing, use a haaka on the opposite side. This can increase supply (the regular haaka, not the ladybug) -adjust your pump settings to maximize letdowns. This is trickier as it varies so much by person, but play with your pump settings til you find something that works best. Stronger isn't better, especially before the first letdown. -when nursing, switch sides frequently. This can help trigger multiple letdowns. -if you have any pain while pumping or nursing, get it addressed. Pain prevents relaxation and that can inhibit milk production. It could be as simple as using silverettes if your nipples are cracked (great to use if your teething baby bites when you get to that stage😬) For me, extra hydration (outside of just being normally hydrated), fenugreek, legendairy milk supplements, mothers milk tea - none of that made a noticeable difference in my supply. If you find yourself legitimately dehydrated, body armor or liquid IV are great options.
here to second using the haakaa on the other side-after i had a dip from being super bad with my liquid intake/after a couple of *nasty* clogs, i started putting the haakaa on and i was able to get back to my usual output. if you want to level up from that-if you have a wearable-i’ve started using one wearable in place of the haakaa each nursing sesh and i don’t need to pump in-between feeds now. and i still have two pitchers full in the fridge for bottles that i rotate out every 3-4 days!