Breast Milk - Lakeland,FL

She needs to drink more water and eat some cookies. Seriously, this recipe will bulk up her milk supply. Works for me everytime!

http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Oatmeal-Chocolate-Chip-L...

get her to eat lots of leafy greens, and up her water. Breast feeding usually is easier than pumping

Rent or buy a breast pump and pump!!! I nursed three kids and I loved my breast pump. I could stimulate/supplement my milk supply, save milk for an outing, take it to work and express milk , and get rid of painful/clogged milk ducts. I loved my Medela Pump & Style, but I'm sure there are other great breast pumps on the market. A good one is $100 or more, but it's worth every penny.

Next to pumping, eating right, drinking a lot, and getting your sleep also help tremendously when you're nursing. Good luck!

Is she nursing on demand??? That will increase her supply and (at least for me) helped the pump get more out.

Also, make sure she puts the pump on a lower setting and pump for awhile even after the milk stops coming.... With our first, I would put the pump on high and I found out with our second that more milk comes out if I set it lower (gentler) and take more time.

Is she avoiding soda? Water and milk should be her main (only if possible) beverages right now. Others will dehydrate her.

You aren't saying that she doesn't have enough, just that she's having trouble pumping and getting enough. These are two different problems. I had the latter as well. My baby certainly was able to fill up, but when I tried to pump, I got next to nothing. I solved it by pumping while the baby was nursing on the other side. At first, I only pumped for a few minutes to make sure there was enough for the baby, but after a few days, I was getting more, and after a few weeks of doing that, I could get about the same amt by pumping without nursing baby at the same time. I've been told by the lactation consultant at the hospital that beer stimulates milk production. As long as she drinks at the right times, it might help!

Try tandem nursing and pumping at the same time - nurse one breast WHILE pumping the other. A great many women have plenty of milk when they nurse a child at the breast, but have a much tougher time when pumping. The body simply isn't fooled so easily. By tandem pumping / nursing, the body responds to the child and releases milk for the pumped side.

She needs to relax...Take bubble baths, read a book, but just relax...Also, have her drink at least a 16 oz. glass of milk every day.

Hi H.,
You didn't mention if she was expressing her milk by hand or with a pump. If she's doing this by hand, I would strongly recommend that she invest in a nice dual electric breast pump. If she is needing to pump because she is going back to work, then a dual electric pump is ideal especially since she can take it to work and pump while away from the baby. They can be expensive, though so she may want to consider renting one to see if works for her particular situation before investing the money. Two brands I recommend. Medela (procounced, Med-EE-la) and Ameda. It's important to understand that a baby is the BEST breast pump. Some women are just not able to pump as much with a breast pump as others. It is nothing your wife is or is not doing. I was never able to pump much and I used a dual pump whereas I have a friend who could pump 2 (4 oz.) bottles in a matter of minutes. Every woman is different. If your wife is needing to pump because she has a milk supply issue, then she needs to breast feed the baby more often. Breastfeeding is a supply/demand relationship. The more milk you take out, the more milk the body makes. The best advice I can offer right now, because I do not know your wife's situation is to contact La Leche League. This is a free support system where she can talk to a breastfeeding "expert" who can put her in touch with a lactation specialist if that is something that becomes necessary. Have your wife call her OB or the pediatrician or even the local hospital and ask if there is a local La Leche League in your area.

Oatmeal is great to eat... makes more milk. I second the fenugreek and Mother's Milk tea too.

One great thing we found was to get a foot massage from dad while nursing the babe. Massage caused my milk to flow every time. Also a good joke got me to relax and helped a lot too.

Good luck!

She should drink Healthy nursing tea. It was a great help to me when I was coping with low breast milk.

MOther's Milk Tea. It tastes great and really works. Any health food store sells it and it relaly is yummy!

Some women have a hard time pumping. I was unsuccessful and it was painful and depressing. My son was hungry ALL the time and I just did not produce enough to keep him satisfied. I would be in tears after pumping for 45 minutes and getting barely 1/2 oz. Had to introduce formula at 6 weeks. It is not the end of the world.

I know that sometimes lactation consultants recommend a lecithin supplement...makes the milk less "sticky" and release easier.

Also, it can take a couple of weeks to "train" the breast to release the milk. I recently coached a friend with implants through the first couple of weeks. She had some loss in sensation so it took a few weeks to get everything moving.

Depending on the size of the breast, a larger or smaller shield may help.

Warm compresses a few minutes before pumping can help stimulat let-down.

And certainly tandem nursing.

A double, electric pump with adjustments for suction and speed is usually the best equipment.

Even in the best scenario, it is estimated that a pump can only clear 60% of actual supply. You should never use pumped volume as an indication of supply. Tracking your baby's weight gain and wet/dirty diapers is much more effective--assuming, of course, she is able to nurse.

hi H., when i was breastbeeding my son, my dr told me to drink ALOT of water every day, + to exspress/breastfeed/or pump often. she said every three hours was ok, but i later learned that i should of been doing this every hour instead. the more you exspress, the more your body makes. she should also she a breast feeding exspert, for i am not, (just a mom of one three year old son.) good luck!

I think she might need to drink more water. I overhydrated with water during my last 2 pregnancies and post partum and had a MUCH easier time with breastfeeding than I did with my first child. I have 3 kids.

Good Luck!

H.,

All of the advise that has been posted in good. But also, she may just have low milk production. Hopefully she doesn't stress, which will decrease production.

I tried drinking Malta (hispanic- non-alcolholic drink similar to beer)- publix has it in the ethnic section.

Fenugreek- an herb. There was another herb that I tried but I can't remember what it was.

Massaging her back while she pumps was recommend by a lactation consultant.

Fennel is suppose the help (the plant). There are other foods she can eat that helps, but some will give the baby gas. the other foods escape me.

I ended up taking Reglan- a drug usually used for vomiting. At high doses increased lactation, but can also cause anxiety. I tried it. It helped, but I did get anxious. I also got PPD. Were the 2 related- I am not sure. But when I stopped the meds I was dried up in 2 days.

Some women find it easier to hand express than you use a pump. Once you're good at it, it can often be quicker and easier than a pump. You have more control on where the milk is coming from (by massaging the entire breast) versus the pump that controls the pull and there is no clean-up! You can check out websites like http://www.askdrsears.com/html/2/t024900.asp and http://www.breastfeeding.ie/getting_started/expressing_yo... for more information or just do a google search.

Well you don't say how old the baby is, I'm assuming newborn. Try warm wash cloths place on each breast, soft music, pictures of babies, a more comfortable position, a glass of wine, a little privacy....with my first it took 3 full days after the baby was born for my milk to really let down. Have you contacted the lactation specialist at the hospital where the baby was born. If the baby is not latching on or is sucking weakly, she can try to express with her hands, or pump, nipples get sore quickly though..........good luck Dad! Hope this helps!

More water, check out WestonPrice.com for really good nutirtion,
and-
when my oldest had twins, and had this problem she you have a-just one- beer- usually I wouldn't be recommending that- but it really seemed to help her- the hops she said!!!
best, k

I tried a Medela hand pump at first and had little to no luck with it - I then rented the Medela Symphony from Babies-R-Us and had much better luck. I now have my own, but think that the suction on the Symphony was far superior. There are a couple of stages of pumping milk - at first you might get a little bit from the milk right around the nipple, but it isn't until the woman has a let-down that the milk will actually begin accumulating. A let-down can take several seconds to a minute or so to take place - I personally don't feel mine, but many women do. Being mentally and physically relaxed along with the suction of the pump will facilitate a let-down. Also, breast compression will help increase the amount of milk she is able to pump.

She should drink more water, everytime she nurses or expresses she should drink one whole glass. Another key is too relax. :) If she stresses out about not producing enough, that will effect the production. Also baby nursing from the breast, is the best way to get most of the milk out. Like others have said, the more she nurses or expresses, the more demand she puts on her breasts to produce, the more she'll make. :) But I really think that if she drink a lot more water, than you will see her production go up. :)

there is a tea out there to help lactation... i can't remember what it's called and i have never tried it, but i know some women swear by it... you might google it unless someone else posts it....

Supply and demand. The more she feeds baby or pumps, the more milk she'll produce!