Increasing Breast Milk Supply? - Westlake,OH

My pediatrician recommended Fenugreek to increase my supply and it definitely worked! I was taking 2 capsules 3 times per day. Within the first day or day and a half I was pretty full. The only side effect that I had was that I smelled like maple syrup. My son never had any side effects from it and once my supply was up I was able to stop the supplement and still keep the increased supply by feeding more frequently and pumping.
Good luck - I hope you find something that works for you!

Ugh,
I have been through this with my 2kids I used Healthy Nursing Tea by secrets of tea that`s herbs tea and it helped me to build up milk supply and I successfully breastfeed both angels.

How old is your baby? I agree, nurse, nurse, nurse. The more demand, the more your body will produce. Are you eating lots of oatmeal? It helps milk supply. Also, are you getting your period back? My supply used to drop a lot during my period. A lactation consultant I saw told me to take Calcium with Magnesium (http://www.naturessunshine.com/us/product/calcium-magnesi... that is what I take, and I don't have issues with it dipping every month. Yes, I have tried fenugreek (More Milk Plus), and it works, but you have to be pumping a lot or feeding your baby. I have a book called Making More Milk that you might want to check out from the library. It has a lot of tips.
Also, check out www.kellymom.com. Here's one article from there- http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/low-supply.html. It asks a great question- how do you know your supply is low? You might just be thinking it is, but maybe it's adjusting to the demand of your baby. Did your baby just start eating solids?

Hang in there! I'm sure you will figure it out, and be able to keep feeding your baby. The worst thing to do is to start supplementing with formula. That will decrease the demand, and really decrease your milk supply.

Good luck, Mama!
T.
Barefoot Books Ambassador
www.ReadandGrow.com

I had pretty good luck with fenugreek. I bought the seeds at Central Market (in the loose tea/coffee/spice section). I bought a huge bag for a couple of bucks. I used 1T to make a cup of hot tea once or twice a day. I also started pumping while drinking the tea and nursing - I don't know if it was the additional pumping or the tea, but the combination worked for me.

The other nice thing with pumping is that you can see how much you're producing. I always wondered when my son was nursing...

Hang in there. :)

Hi,

I never tried supplements, but really the best way to increaase supply is to nurse, nurse, nurese! By creating more demand, your breasts should create more supply.

Also make sure to eat well and stay hydrated. I have heard that having a beer can help increase it--just don't go overboard. Remember that beer-(and wine) drinking cultures have nursed their babies for centuries.....

Also contact La Leche League, their website is something like www.llli.org or maybe .com. You can call a leader for advice or attend meetings even if you are not a member. I think there is a group on the west side of Cleveland, but check the site or call 1-800-LA LECHE.

If you can manage to access past posts on this site, I am sure you will find other questions about this topic.

Are you on any meds? some of them might have an unwanted side effect of drying you up a little.

It's great that you are breastfeeding! You didn't say how old your baby is, but sometimes they go through a growth spurt and it just takes a little while for the supply and demand to equalize.

Hang in there!

K. Z.

Fenugreek can help, but you have to take enough of it that your armpits smell like maple syrup. So if you're taking it and it's doing nothing and there's no smell, you have to up the dose. I'm definitely seconding the www.kellymom.com suggestion. That site is full of milk increasing suggestions and good advice on how to keep breastfeeding. If you can find an IBCLC (Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant), they can be incredibly helpful, and actually have the credentials, certification, and training to actually help and not just give advice (not that non-IBCLC lactation consultants can't be helpful, more that they're a mixed bag and some are good, some are bad, and since you don't need to do anything but claim the title, there's no telling who's claiming it). Some super simple things you can do are increase feeding/pumping, eat oatmeal, and relax. If you look up "Lactation Cookies" you'll find an oatmeal cookie recipe with some flax seed and brewer's yeast in it that is supposed to increase your milk supply. Also, as your baby gets older, your body will more accurately adjust to feeding your baby so you may not get as engorged, or your baby may feed more quickly, but it doesn't mean your supply is decreasing, just that your body knows how to feed your baby better. If your supply truly is decreasing, some of the last ditch possibilities include Raglan and Domperidone - but those shouldn't really be taken lightly. Raglan can cause depression, and Domperidone isn't FDA approved for breastfeeding so it has to be ordered overseas.

I wanted to respond because I've been one of the few that had problems with it. It worked like a charm and I was pumping 2 6oz bottles in between nursing sessions for a while BUT my daughter was suffering and we didn't realize it. Almost immediately she started acting like she had horrible gas all day long, gas drops and other remedies didn't help, she just screamed like she was in pain all day long. We went weeks using meds for reflux, cutting out dairy, trying remedies for colic thinking that was it with nothing....then I ran out of fenugreek and couldn't get out to get some for a few days but didn't think anything of it because my supply was great. It took exactly 1 day for her to completely change, no screaming and pulling her legs up, sleeping and nursing fantastically, smiling finally. I spoke to my obgyn and found out that a small percent of babies/moms do have that type of reaction and one of her nurses had the same thing happen with her baby. This happened between her age 6 weeks to 10 weeks.

I'm not saying not to try it, just be aware of any changes in your baby. I feel so quilty that something I was trying to do to help her (more milk) turned out to be hurting her :(

I take fenugreek and blessed thistle, 3 pills of each, 3 times per day and I buy them at the health food store. Its about 18 dollars for both bottles of 100 pills each. This is what my lactaction told me to do in MI and what my best friends lactation told her in GA within 2 weeks of each other. It has helped both of us alot!!!! MY lactation told me that mother's milk works good but you have to drink alot of it!!! I also pump alot and nurse alot and after I nurse I pump even if I only get an extra 1/2 oz it still demands more of my body! Good luck!!

Fenugreek worked for me. Just know, it may may make you smell like maple syrup. I had a male co-worker walking around looking for maple syrup one day. :) Good luck and like the others said... nurse... nurse... nurse! Good for you for keeping up with it through your difficulties. My first one was difficult to nurse, too, but we made it to one and it was worth it. :)

Here's a good tea to try:
http://www.tealand.com/MothersMilk.asp

I know you can get it at various health food stores and maybe bigger supermarkets, too. No side effects, very good tasting, too. :)

Another thing I read while I was pregnant was that thinking while nursing about the plenty of milk you are producing actually helps, as in, positive thinking. Good luck!

I used fenugreek and didn't have any issues. It works better in tandem with blessed thistle. I found it cheaper on line. Take 3-4 capsules with each meal. Your sweat and urine should smell slightly of maple syrup if you're taking enough. Take it for 3 days. If it doesn't work after 3 days, it won't. Taking more won't help. And you don't have to keep taking it to keep your supply up. Once it's up, don't take any more unless your supply drops again.
If it doesn't work for you, you can get domperidon which works better, but you have to order from Canada or Australia so it can be more expensive.
Reglan is the next step, it's a prescription from your OB.

If you're only having issues during PMS and during your period, take a calcium/magnesium supplement every day (all the time, not just during PMS/period) and it will help during that 2 weeks.

I tried it but it didn't help for me. Have you tried drinking a beer in the evenings while you're nursing? That really helped for me. Drink it while you're nursing so that the alcohol hits your bloodstream after you're done, but the hops or wheat in the beer will help you with letdown. Good luck.

Traditional Medicinals makes a tea called Mother's Milk that helped me. You can get it at Whole Foods, and Stop and Shop.

I have really bad low milk supply. My LC told me to try an herbal tea called Breastea. After the first day I went from pumping 1/2 ounce to 3 ounces. I'm now up to 5 ounces a pumping. You have to order it from their website at breastea.com but boy has it made a big difference. Just make sure you are breastfeeding or pumping alot. If a mom skips even one feeding it hurts her milk supply a few days later.

People respond to supplements differently. First, maybe check with a lactation consultant; she's likley to be chock full of ideas to boost supply.

But if you're considering a supplement, get the ok from your doctor before taking anything, to check for drug-nutrient interactions (especially if you are taking other meds). Also, be aware that since supplements aren't regulated, you can't really be sure what's in your container (you can't be sure that the amount of fenugreek that you think is in there is really in there).

I hope things get better for you! Keep trying.