Increasing Milk Supply - Hercules,CA

I have been coping with low breast milk since the birth of my baby and nothing helped except Healthy nursing tea.

Hi M. - the best way to maintain/increase your milk supply is to nurse your baby as much as possible. That is the best stimulant for the supply. The other thing I have tried is the organic mother's milk tea (I have only had a couple). The thing is that, I didn not think I was producing enough, and then next thing I knew, I was 'over producing'. By 4th month, I was able to nurse AND pump up to 8-10 oz per session. It worked for me and I hope it works for you too (nurse directly + mother's milk tea).

I know how stressful this is. I too have a flucuation in my milk supply. I've used a product called "More Milk Plus" which has fenugreek in it. I use it in tincture form (with a dropper). I checked with my baby's pediatrician before taking it, and she said it was fine. This form is more concentrated than capsules or tea. Sometimes it takes a day or two to notice a difference, but it really does work. I believe I got it at Whole Foods, but you can also search online. And as funny as it sounds, the cheeseburger theory also helped me. I've heard oatmeal also increases milk supply

As far as your son eating every hour, my son also did this at the same age. I belive it's called cluster feeding which is common. It didn't last.

Good luck. I hope this helps. Congratulations!!

M., first of all, relax...stress will make less milk. Then get that baby and a drink and nurse that baby all the time...More nursing tells the body to make more milk. With my 7 I take the first month and sleep and drink a lot and eat a great concentrated nutrition that I can even feed to the baby! It has helped me to make more and richer milk. Then get I would take most of the next month and just nurse a lot even every fifteen minutes isn't too often if the baby is asking by opening the mouth or crying. Nursing at an empty breast is the bodies clue to make more milk Then get plenty of sleep...More rest equals more milk too. If you would like more info on this great food that the whole family an eat, and you can even eat while pregnant ( then hopefully you will be strong and ready to nurse should you have another) please feel free to call me at ###-###-#### for a free DVD about it and no hassle. I am J.

I nursed my first child for a year, second for two years(he did not want to stop!)and the third child is now 8mths, I will nurse him until he is 1. It is very hard to nurse, it is a commitment, and yes their will be times, you will want to stop, but you need to remember that you are doing it for them not you. It is a sacrafice. The milk flow will increase then slow down, etc. If you want to see it thru, just nurse your baby as much as you can. The Dr. said I could first pump then nurse, since there is always enough for the baby. I too drink mother's milk 3-4 times a day, sometimes I see a difference and sometimes not so much. Keep nursing away.

Note: I also know how difficult it is to nurse and have a 3year old wanting attention. Read a book to them, so they feel it is family time, this will also relax you and not think of the milk you are producing.

Well... my thought is this. If you want to increase your milk supply immediately, order yourself a double cheeseburger, or a meat-lover's pizza with extra cheese. That always did the trick for me. Probably you have cut back on what you're eating to try and drop that extra baby weight, which is fine, but it will decrease the quality of your milk also. If you notice a drop in supply, you probably need to eat more, and higher fat.

Aside from that, are you sure your son is actually eating for an hour, or is he using you as a pacifier? My suggestion is this - when he first wakes up in the morning, feed him. Then make him wait a good 3 hours for his next feeding. Give him a pacifier, take him for a walk, whatever you have to do to distract him until his next feeding. You may find that he finishes that second feeding a lot faster because he is really hungry and not just "snacking." Make sure you are not feeding him too often, and do not let him fall asleep while eating (since he may not get a full meal that way, and will then wake up hungry an hour later). I'd try to cut out the formula as well, unless you are wanting to stop breastfeeding exclusively. (Let other people feed him formula if you're away from him during a feeding - then you can pump when you get back if you need to.) The more you bottle feed him, the less milk you will produce - it's a supply-and-demand system!

I hope that helps! Good luck!

Congratulations M. on your new baby!! My milk ALWAYS decreased when I start to diet or get sick. So eat LOTS and drink plenty of water. Lack of nutrition in your body will very quickly take away your milk supply!!!! I have to forse myself to eat when sick or busy because the next day I have hacky-sacks and no milk. But I sit and nurse for HOURS the next day and soon my milk returns. Why do you think you don't have enough milk? Babies have growth spirts and cluster feed between 4-6 weeks. This is normal. My first son ate for 45-55 min and then back on again in an hour. My second son ate for 10 min max every 1/2 or so. Letting him eat as much as he wants for as long as he wants is the best way to increase your milk supply. Go to your babies docotor and just ask for a weight check. If he is growing then you are doing GREAT!! I wouldn't give too much formula though. Every meal your baby doesn't nurse your body stops producing. Suppy and Demand is the key!! But if he is hungry, by all means suppliment. But the biggest thing is to EAT!!!
Good Luck!!

Hi there M.-

I didn't read all the responses so I'll keep it short so I don't repeat too much. My girlfriend had the same sitution and she finally called a midwife who was also a lactation consultant. She said she wasn't taking anywhere near enough fenugreek or the tea. So if you can afford to call a midwife/lactation consultant(I think midwives know the most about beneficial herbs) to come out I would or maybe you could get one to just tell you on the phone. If not, maybe you could search online for midwives info for increasing milk. I like gentlebirth.org . It is run by a midwife, Ronnie Falcao. I saw a link for increasing your milk. Happy new baby!
K.

I don't know a lot about breastfeeding, since I didn't produce any milk; however, from that experience I did learn some stuff. What makes you think you're not producing enough? Is it just because he's eating a lot? If so, I would make an appointment with your pediatrician and see how his weight gain is going. You could also ask to weight him before you feed him, then sit in a room and feed him then weight him again, that is one way they determined I was producing no milk. Babies grow often, which means they eat often. My daughter was formula fed and ate every 2 hours for an hour. Until we got a faster flow nipple it would take her an hour to drink 2 oz. I wouldn't worry unless he's losing weight or not gaining it fast enough, that is what shows rather or not you're producing enough milk. I read somewhere that a lot of women think they have milk supply issues when they really don't.
As far as pumping goes, I've always been told that pumping makes you increase your milk supply. I would probably feed, pump and try to feed again. If that doesn't work feed him what you had just pumped. I'm not anti formula by any means, but if you're feeding it to him it's that amount of milk you won't be producing.
Best of luck and congratulations!!!

your son could be going through a growth spurt and wants to eat every hour. when you nurse, try to go 10-15 on each side. don't nurse an hour, that sounds too long and he may be soothing himnself and not really nursing. if he truly is hungry every hour, it is a phase and will change soon. your milk should be able to keep up with his hunger but supplementing with formula is fine. i drink mother's milk 3 times a day. a friend of mine took the fenugreek while nursing and said it really worked. if you live in san jose, good samaritain hospital has a breast feeding services center and a lactation consultant. you could ask for ideas there. they also have a drop in breast feeding "class" on tuesdays at 2pm i think. good luck!