How to Produce More Breastmilk?

I have the same problem. Someone with experience recently told me that you can get more milk with hand massaging. I personally haven't tried that yet.

J.,
Wat makes you think you're not making enough? Are the babies loosing wieght? Or are they just nursing more? All the other ladies who wrote you have great advice... BF is based upon supply and demand and I agree that you should not suplement. The more you allow those babies to nurse, the more your body will make. Nurse them on demand, they won't starve themselfs to death, they know when they're hungry and it may even give your breasts time to fill totally up! I'm sure you know this, but babies go through growth spurts, one at two weeks old, one at one month old, one at two months, and so on from there on out untill about one, then they start to slow down. At those growth spurt times, they nurse like it's nobody's business, but your body will keep up with it. Keep making sure you are eating right, drinking water, and taking care of you, get as much sleep as you can! Also, I had problems with my milk supply with my first child, now three. I found it was caused by birth control and when I stopped taking it, it was hard to get the milk production back up, but it did happen by solely breast feeding, no pumping, no formula. Encouragement to you on making the descision to nurse twins!! I have three children, all of which nurse/nurse and I am currently nursing two as well, so I know how hard it is!! You can do it, you are WOMAN!! Hee, hee! :)
And for all Breast feeding moms, if you've never heard of it, here's a wonderful sight to go to for BF support: www.lalecheleague.com

Congratulations on breastfeeding twins!! Pumping could be the problem. Breastfeeding is based on supply and demand. Only the babies can increase your supply not the pump. Allow the babies to nurse on demand and your supply should increase. Also, if you are supplementing with formula stop immediately because this too will decrease your supply. Supplementing with formula results in a skiped nursing sesssion and decreases the supply.

I've been told that raw almonds help increase breast milk, and I've been taking three supplements. One is Fenugreek, and the other two are made by Motherlove (you can get them on line or from the Pump Station) they are More Milk Plus and Goat's Rue. There's also an herbal tea called Mother's Milk.

I hope it helps.

Hey,
Take natural tea healthy nursing tea regularly. Drink plenty water and get enough sleep.
Keep nursing more often.These things my LC suggested me.. It does work;) keep going..I`m just finishing up a year of nursing and had similar problems after c-section...KEEP POSITIVE;)

I had this problem and something that helped was Fenugreek. You can find it at your local Henry's, JImbos or whatever your local store is that is "healthy". It is around $6 I believe. Also, at the same place you buy that, buy mother's milk tea. That will also help!

Good luck!

B.

Make yourself as stress free as possible and let your baby to suckle for an extended period. Enable nourishing to continue until the infant is done, as it can affect your physiques usual activates to create milk. Ensure good upkeep of your physique by gulping lots of water and juices, as fluids are essential in your body's milk production. Increase your caloric intake. Drink tea containing the natural herb fenugreek to increase milk supply. Fenugreek may be the most effective herbal enhancer of breast milk production, and is readily available in tea form.
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http://www.onlymultivitamin.com/

First off, congrats on breastfeeding twins!!!! You have my standing oviation.
Just because it seems that you are not producing enough, doesn't mean you aren't. How are the babies weight. Do they nurse and seem satsified at the end? Just because your breasts are engorged and swollen doesn't mean there's no milk, it means your body has adjusted to your babies. Check with your doctor and better yet a lactation consultant. Doctor's don't always understand (especially old school doctors) what a woman needs when breastfeeding. Contact your local laleche league for help in this matter. Membership is $40 a year, and the leader is always a lataction consultat trained.
http://www.lalecheleague.org/resources/providers.html?m=0,2
Also in regards to the alcohol a little bit of alcohol does not hurt mother or child, will it help produce more milk who knows, but it might help relax mom. I prefer red wine. :)

I had the same problem 28 years ago. I was instructed to drink 1 beer a day. I doubt that it is recommended these days, but it worked. Ask your doctor or try to talk to a specialist at the hospital for ideas.

Good Luck

One of my friends took Fenugreek.
I read that if you drink lots of water and have plenty of wheat/grains in your diet, then it helps milk production.
I think the more the twins nurse, the more you are supposed to produce.
Good luck!!!

I wanted to second getting enough rest and eating enough to make all that milk. Try to pump less and breastfeed more. Rest with the babies next to you,putting them on the breast when they indicate hunger.

I have the same problem, i called a lactaction speciallist and she told me the to take the same herbs as the lady below this they work great, also sometimes if you drink too much water it will lessen your milk production but your best bet is to call a lacatation specialist - they are free and very informative!

Talk to your doc or pediatrician about pumping. Pumping helped me get my supply to increase adequately for my son who was a peemie and still in the hospital.

J.,

I had the same problem with my twin boys 16 years ago. It all had to do with stress. The stress of no sleep and trying to keep everything running smoothly in the household (my daughter was 2 at the time) made it difficult to keep up with the needs of the twins. I started working out at least 3 times a week. This took a little work due to childcare but the rewards were well worth it. I also asked my doctor what else I could do. He told me to drink a dark beer in the early evening. My choice was Guinness but I usually only had half. Drinking tons of fluids and eating like a pig to keep up with the caloric output was also a necessity.

When my daughter was born I tried to do too much myself. I thought I needed to be able to do everything around the house that I had done before I had a baby. When people asked if they could help I wouldn't take them up on it. When the twins came around and people asked to help, I had a list ready and asked for help with sometimes even the simple things. Everything that they could do meant I was able to give more time and energy to my babies. Make sure you are getting plenty of help from friends, family and your husband. Don't be shy in asking for help.

By doing all this I was able to nurse my boys for 13 months.

Evelyn

Hi J. - congratulations on your twins! I'm a nursing mom of only one, but she's VERY demanding (at 6 months old, she's already 30 inches long & weighs 22 lbs - she's more than TRIPLED her birth weight and has grown 9 INCHES since birth), so I was concerned about my production too. First, have you mentioned it to your doctor? All kinds of things can cause a lower supply.- from thyroid conditions (not likely, so don't stress!) to just not getting enough rest (ARE YOU? I know it's crazy hard, but you've GOT to just let the dishes pile and make your hubby do the laundry). One natural remedy that REALLY helped me was eating steel-cut Irish oatmeal EVERY DAY (yeah, it got boring, but it did help). Another thing is that if you are taking any kind of allergy medicine - OTC or prescription anthistamine(I started recently because the weather has been so wacky) it can drasticaly reduce your supply (once I realized that I cut it out and figured I could live with the sniffles, I'd rather have the milk and feed Sofia - I can blow my nose more for now). Also, using Fenugreek (I've never done it, but have heard great things from my nursing friends.) Check out this link: http://www.kellymom.com/herbal/milksupply/fenugreek.html
There are some potential side effects, so mention it to your physician (I'm assuming they are very supportive of your nursing). If they aren't find another one - you can get great referrals from The Pump Station in Santa Monica. Finally, I'm a HUGE fan of co-sleeping (if your hubby can handle it). Put your bed down on the floor, so you aren't worried about the kids falling off, pile in bed with one on each side of you, and sleep with them - they can nurse all through the night (TRUST me, you'll eventually sleep right through it). FYI, this actually grew to be great for my relationship with my hubby, because we've had to get creative with each other about where to be intimate, since it's not in our bed for now. Fun, fun, fun (although you may not be ready for that yet!)

I had a similar issue. My son was born 3 weeks early and my milk wouldn't come in. The lactation consultant told me to take Blessed thistle and fenugreek together. I took 2 pills each twice a day. It took about a week to work but when it did holy moly! I couldn't pump fast enough. Try calling a lactaion consultant they should have a number where you can by the bottles since sometimes they are hard to come by.

I had problems with the breast milk coming in when my daughter was born and my midwives told me to take fenugreek capsules six times a day and to drink Mother's Milk tea four times a day. They also told me the more nursing I did would stimulate the production of milk. My daughter was attached to my breast all the time, it seemed, but it worked. I nursed her every two hours until she started eating rice cereal at six months. Hope this helps!

Pumpin more in the mornnings, eat los of fruit and vegies visedes vitamin they have water in them, alway at the beginning it seems to have more milk but later it regulates for what they need and want so put them to breast as often as they wan to and they will be ok, i hope you know how to put both of them at the same time, it will appear that you are breastfeding all day at that is all you do but remember this age will pass and you are giving the bes for their health for their intelligence and development of teeth speech etc so just enjoy. F. vissuet .###-###-####

Try Fenugreek (otc herb) and Reglan (rx). Don't feel bad about needing to supplement. Any breastmilk is great!