Milk Supply Decreasing

A. - Here are several things that will help you:

Take Fenugreek - you can get capsules for this OR if you can get the actual fenugreek seeds from asian/Indian markets. If you get wholes seeds you can just use a coffee grinder and make a powder of it. Here is some information on fenugreek and breastfeeding:
http://www.kellymom.com/herbal/milksupply/fenugreek.html

There is also Mother's Milk Tea by Health Medicinals that helps.

This website has great information about breastfeeding that may help you: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/index.html

Good luck!

Eating oatmeal helped me, especially when I went back to work full-time. I thought about fenugreek and had some as a back up but oatmeal worked well enough that it's still wrapped and in my cupboard.It helped my midday hunger pains too!

A., go to your local health food store or even your grocery store might carry it, get Mother's Milk Tea by traditional Medicinals, or any other compant that makes a breast feeding tes. Drink three to four cups a day, I add honey because it has a slight bitter taste, but the honey easily masks it.

Also buy fenugreek capsules at your local pahrmacy or healthfood store...fenugreek is an herb used in a lot of Indian dishes. It has a slight maple licorice flavor. It will make your milk taste slightly like it, but studies hqve shown that there is no aversion on the babies part to the flavor. Your milk flavor varies based on what you eat anyway.

If your milk supply requires you to consume a lot of fenugreek to be increased then you might experience the ability to sell the odor on your person...similar to if you ate a lot of garlic or onions and then went running and sweat it out...I have personally never experienced this, but a friend of mine has. SHe said that it was a slight maplely odor.

Fenugreek will not harm you. It is an herb that has seed pods similar to Asian long beans, but only up to five inches long.

You could also try pumping on the breat that you are not nursing on during your nursing session. A babies let down stimulation is much stronger than just pumping.

Also pump before going to bed and as soon as you wake up on the breast that you haven't nursed on yet.

WOrked for me.

A.,
As far as teas go, the best one that I give my doula clients is from a woman who is a midwife and wildcrafts her own tea blends. Go to: www.tubsntea.com
She offers 2 types of nursing moms tea. Homeopathic Lactusa Virosa will help your milk supply.
The amount of rest you get also affects your milk supply.
Try adding a bit more water as well.
Good luck. Keep going.
L. M,

With my first daughter, I drank Mother's Milk tea and it worked rather well. I found it at The Vitamin Shoppe. You can also try pumping in between feeds. I did that with my new daughter and OMG my supply increased to unmanageable levels. I haven't had a supply problem, but the pumping created too much milk so it could probably work for someone with a supply problem. I have also heard that eating oatmeal works well. And taking Fenugreek. I have not tried that last two, though.

mother's milk or mother's bliss is an herbal tea, they also have a pill that is a mix of fenugreek and blessed thistle. Any combination of those 2 herbs will help increase milk supply. Mine dropped significantly when I started pumping for my son to take a bottle at daycare (~6 months) and I started taking this, you have to continue to take it usually until you're done nursing, but I nursed until he was 18 months old, so it worked!! Good luck!!

pumping a couple of times a day would help, especially after the first feeding in the morning when your supply is largest. Also, drinking A LOT of water. But you would get the best advice from a lactation consultant

I took Fenugreek when this happened to me. It worked for me and kept my supply up. You do have to take about 8-9 capsules a day for it to work, but there is no after taste or after breath. I would take it for about a month at a time. When I would get off, my supply remained. I also realized that when I was about to get my period, my supply would drop, so I would start up again with the Fenugreek. My daughter is 14.5 mo and I still bf her, just for naps and bedtime though.

Hi A.,

There are several teas that folks say work well, Mother's Milk, Milk Thistle, etc. What worked WONDERS for me was Brewer's Yeast tablets, you can take up to 20 a day, they are full of B vitamins. Make sure you are drinking LOTS of water and eating well too. And remember its all demand and supply, the more you nurse the more milk your body is triggered to produce. For more info you can check out www.llli.org, or www.kellymom.com.

Good luck!
S.

Drink lots of water and nurse frequently even if it appears as if there is less milk. The increased nipple stimulation along with increase body fluid will boost production. If you started solids recently, it could be because the child needs less and your body is automatically adjusting.
I'd also recommend you contact your local La Leche League for ongoing breastfeeding support. They (and other moms) supported me through nursing two children.

I have four children that were all nursed for various time frames. Sometimes it seemed like I wasn't making enough but as long as they did not detach from my breast and fed on both sidesin one sitting I just kept going. Why do you think your not making enough? Is she letting go and complaining?

There are homeopathics that help, but it requires an evaluation by a homeopathic physician. If interested, you can contact me through my website, www.sevenpillarstotalhealth.com. I will be in my office after Feb 19. The server for the website is currently not sending messages, but I should get it eventually.

L. Cheek, MD
28 Town Center Drive
Dublin, VA 24084

The only way I know to increase milk supply is the law of supply and demand. the more often you nurse your baby (demand) the more your body will supply. If this doesn't work, are you taking good care of yourself? Are you getting enough rest? Are you drinking 10 glasses of fluid per day? Are you eating a nutritious diet? Your health matters. AF

I used several herbal galactagogues-

I had a lot of help from the website www.kellymom.com

Most of the stuff i used worked and I got it from whole foods. what they did not have, they ordered for me.

I used Fenugreek, also More Milk Plus from www.motherlove.com

u can also get that at whole foods. They have a whole galactagogue section.

I had the exact same problem with my first son (now 3) and am hoping to breastfeed for a year with my now 6-month old son. First, I would work with your pediatrician and/or lactation consultant. They have an abundance of ideas. The first suggestion I would give is to eat and drink more.

Furthermore, I made a list of all the suggestions from past requests of this type. The list is as follows:
• Reglan (prescription from pediatrician)
• Eat more calories
• Herbal supplements (fenugreek, Blessed thistle, Goat’s rue, Brewers Yeast tablets)
• Pump while he is nursing
• www.kellymom.com (look up “breast compressions”)
• www.llli.org
• www.motherlove.com
• massage breast while pumping from armpit to nipple
• pint of Guinness after last night’s pumping
• stop caffeine intake
• Mother’s milk tea
• New breast pump
• Eat oatmeal
• Massaging the bottoms of feet
• Replace valves & tubing in pump

As you can see, there are tons of approaches. Hopefully one will work for you. But, if they don't, try not to stress out about changing to formula. You've given your daughter a fantastic start! Good luck!

Try Fenugreek...worked for me...get it at Whole foods, etc

I hear that fennel can help.

Are you drinking enough water?

Hi Ann,
I heard that eating oatmeal and similar foods can increase the milk supply. Try also the non-alcoholic beer. I don't know what it does but according to some studies it really helps. I have tried all these and I have plenty of milk. I have a 4 month old. Cheers!

I ordered Goat's Rue from Motherlove.com and it worked for me. Supposedly, adoptive mothers take this and are able to lactate even though they haven't been pregnant.

Taking Healthy Nursing Tea by secrets of tea...!!

Breast milk is a supply and demand. once baby starts eating solids like baby food, the milk demand is replaced to some degree. This won't prohibit you from breastfeeding as long as the baby wants. You can try nursing her more often to get the demand up on the supply but in the end, the baby will decide how long she wants to nurse or claim her independence to a cup.

I used Fenugreek --- in capsule form. And drank a lot of water. It helped for a couple months.

Most women experience a decrease in milk production at this point. It's because of two things really. The return of the menstrual cycle (which can decrease supply from time to time, but is nothing to worry about) and babies are usually taking a good amount of solid food and are therefore taking less breastmilk. This is normal. Also your supply probably isn't as low as you think it is. This also seems to be the point when the breasts feel less heavy and full and start producing only on demand. For me, this was more pronounced with my second child, but he's 16 months old and still nursing so there's proof that my supply was still keeping up. As long as you are drinking plenty of water and getting enough calories I wouldn't worry about it. You're still producing what baby needs.

Fenugreek - u can find in any vitamin store - I was told to take 6 capsules a day, but only 2 did the trick!

I would contact a Lactation consultant. What is it that makes you think your milk has decreased? It may be that you have balanced out and he is eating more solids so he is requiring less from the breast. I am not sure what to tell you about increasing. I know there are some herbs to try, eating oatmeal, drinking more water etc.

Good Luck!