Stimulate Milk Production

Ditto on Marlo's comments below - she is right on.
In addition, there is a tea you can buy called Mother's Milk tea (made by Traditional medicinals). It's totally safe and really helps boost milk production. It tastes good (to me anyway!) and you can drink a few cups a day.
Take care and enjoy this blessed time.
S.

you could try drinking some Mother's Milk tea. I discovered that worked well for me, as I was having a similar problem for the first month or so that I breastfed. Or fennel tablets or the herb itself would work as well! ( I think the tea tastes better though!)

Hello.
I wrote in at about 4 months with this same issue. I got so many great responses. What worked for me was to take Fenugreek. It's a suppliment you cna get nearly anywhere. I take 3 tablets 3 times a day. When you take Fenugreek, supposedly once you get the milk established again, you can stop taking it because you have the milk, but I find that isn't true and I have to keep taking it. That said here is the whole schpeil:
You need to make sure you are drinking enough water: I drink 100 oz per day. I measure it. It made a big difference.
Someone told me to eat oatmeal. I eat it every mornign without fail.
I take the Fenugreek.
I eat very healthy - lots of protien and complex carbs.
No caffiene.
There is also someone named Susun Weed who published a book called The Childbearing Year - it's sold on her website and at Whole Foods. I trusted this book when I was trying to get pregnant & know it was not harmful advice. She has several suggestions for milk production.
Finally, I have found stress is a MAJOR factor for me. When i went on vacation for a week I had tons of milk. Too bad I was on vacation, and threw it all way!!
Your baby will let you know if he's not getting enough milk!!
Good luck, and don't give up!!

You've already received some great advice, I just have a couple things to add:

Hopefully you have a nice pump (like Medela) instead of a manual pump. That makes a HUGE difference!! If you don't, look into renting or purchasing one. This will help you reach your goal of nursing for the first year!

You can try pumping AFTER you nurse to up the stimulation. If the baby nurses for 10 minutes, I would pump for another 10 minutes. It's true that the baby is so much more efficient than the pump, but the extra stimulation should help. The experts say you have more milk in the morning, so that's the best time to pump.

I have also heard that if you spend a weekend with baby in bed - relaxing, sleeping and nursing on demand - this will up your production. Sleep is very important, but definitely hard to get enough of when you have an infant!!

Give the Fenugreek or Mother's Milk tea a try. I have tried Fenugreek in the past, and it seemed to help me. I've also heard from girlfriends who tried the tea, and they said it helped.

Drink lots of water, eat a balanced diet (lots of small meals throughout the day - sometimes moms forget to do this and blow off meals, but that can have a negative effect on your milk production), and try not to stress too much! Stress can definitely be a factor to whether or not you supply enough milk to baby.

Good luck and way to go!!!

Make sure that when you are at home to feed him you always nurse him because that's the best way to stimulate your breast and helps keep your milk supply up. Also after the first few months your milk supply will regulate you won't be full of milk all the time and it won't take baby as long to eat. 10min sounds pretty normal. as long as baby is happy, gaining weight, pooping and peeing enough then he is getting enough. IF you still think that your are not making enough milk eat high protein foods and there are some vitamins or pills that help get your milk supply up so I would ask your doc about that. Good luck.

I would suggest pumping more frequently. I would often do it after my baby ate first thing in the morning (since I was always engorged and had a ton extra at that time) or last thing before you go to bed. Your body will respond to the demand for more milk by producing more, and in theory, you will be able to pump more at a sitting - OR, you'll at least have more in the freezer from your extra pumping sessions.

The first thing to try is the herb alfalfa. To be safe, I would talk to a master herbalist about this. I had a friend that adopted a baby and she got her milk flowing using herbs. They would know exactly what to use to get those glands to start working better. The best and fastest way to contact an herbalist is to call Dr. Christophers herb shop. They have a master herbalist on call alot and they have their assistants there as well. You would just ask to speak to an herbalist. Their number is 1-888-372-4372.They can tell you where to find the herbs as well. Hope you can find what your looking for. Nursing is the best!

Fenugreek worked well for me for a while but as I increased the dose, eventually it made me dizzy. So I switched to More Milk Plus, which is a combination of several herbs, including fenugreek at a lower dose. I've had no side effects with it. It costs more than fenugreek, but works better and faster for me. The only annoying thing is that you have to avoid liquids for 20 minutes before and after taking it (except for the couple of gulps of water to help you swallow it). If I drink or eat something within that 20 minutes, it's as if I didn't even take the dose. Good luck!

When I was breast feeding I wasn't producing enough milk - I called the breast feeding consultant at one of the local hospitals and they had me start taking an herbal supplement called Fenugreek. They said it was perfectly safe for baby, but I also checked with my OB/GYN and pediatrician just to be sure and they both said it was safe and that it was pretty common for breastfeeding mothers to take. Be sure to check with your doctors also though. It did increase my milk supply, the only downfalls were you had to take 3 pills, 3 times a day so 9 pills total, and it makes you have a maple syrup smell - which wasn't totally horrible! :) It is available at most grocery stores - I found it at Fred Meyers. Hope this helps!

Try going ti a GNC or healthstore and getting Phenagreek - They should help w/ th emilk production. They do make you smell like maple syrup though. lol

Try pumping in the morning. I pump 3 times a day, the first time I get 6-8 oz, the other times I am lucky to get 3. I've also been taking "More Milk Plus" capsuls from Motherlove.

Another consideration could be ask your day care provider to feed just a little less and cuddle more. I realized my daycare lady had a tendency to feed every time he fussed, and we have been able to reduce his feedings by a few ounces this way.

Pump at the same time EVERY day regardless of if you get any milk out or not. This will encourage your body to produce more milk/up your supply. Also, be sure to drink lots of water and eat oatmeal or granola bars when pumping. These things worked for me when I was pumping. Good luck!

Make it a GREAT week!

S.

You have gotten some great comments. Do you have a double electric breast pump? This will make a huge difference. I use the Avent Isis IQ Duo and I love it. I use a manual sometimes in the car and its slower and I get less. I would try pumping in the morning after you feed her. You might not get more right away but if you consistently pump in the morning after you feed her your body will start making more at that time. And I think morning is the easiest time for your body to have more. Also fenugreek helped me. I have heard good things about More Milk (which has fenugreek in it) but it much more expensive than just getting fenugreek so i would try that first.

You can't gauge how much she's getting when she nurses by how much you pump. The only way to really see how much she's eating is to weigh her (on a baby scale that accurately gives ounces, or even half ounces) right before you feed her, then again after she's done, without a diaper change. It's a hassle. BUT, if she is having about 8 wet diapers a day and is gaining weight then she's getting enough to eat.

After she has finished both sides, put her back on the first side. You may be surprised to find there is some more milk there. Even if not, the suckling should stimulate milk production. And nurse her every time she seems hungry, even if it only takes 10 minutes for her to be finishes. A two-month old will probably want to nurse every 3-4 hours, possibly more (especially if she's hitting a growth spurt).

Hang in there! It can be a bit tricky the first few months, but it should settle pretty soon!

Try pumping in the morning when you have more milk. You're pretty much tapped in the evening. Drink lots of liquids. Drink beer. Don't get inebriated... just enough to help you let down. Do you exercise? Some women overdo the exercising because they're anxious to get rid of baby fat. Too much exercise can affect your milk supply. Limit alcohol and caffeine intake because they can dehydrate you. Weigh the baby before you breast feed and after you breast feed. You'll find that your baby is getting plenty. It helps if you actually breast feed. The sucking stimulates production. While she's feeding on one side, pump the other side. Make sure the bottle you are using has a slow drip. Make sure you are eating a healthy balanced diet. No dieting. Supplement with formula. Contact a lactation specialist.

I feel your pain. There is nothing more frustrating than pumping and getting nothing, which is what always happened to me when I tried to pump right after the baby ate...and it didn't seem to increase my supply either. I also tried fenugreek and didn't notice a big difference, but I have heard it works better if you do it earlier (like when the baby is only a couple months old)--I didn't even try it until my baby was probably 6 months old.

I work two afternoons a week, and my baby always seems to be able to eat about twice as much as I am able to pump when I get home, so I spend the rest of the week pumping more to make up for it. Does your baby sleep for any decent stretch of time at night? What I found that worked best was to pump about 2-3 hours after I put the baby down for the night. That way I had a decent amount of milk to pump, but I also (hopefully) had a couple more hours before he would need to eat again, to build up some more milk for him. But that only started working after he started sleeping longer than 2 hours at a time. :) It also helped a lot when I got an electric pump instead of my hand pump. Just keep at it, it will get a little easier soon. Although pumping is just always a pain...but worth it.

I was told by my pediatrician when I had my daughter 3 years ago to drink beer. I know it sounds crazy, but it truly does work. It does not have to be alcoholic, in fact if it's non-alcoholic you can have as many as you want/need throughout the day, if it has alcohol then you are limited to two per day. I am not a real fan of beer, but for a few weeks to get my milk flowing more I did it and it worked great! I used non-alcoholic O'douls without any problems. It's the yeast in the beer that does the trick. Keep feeding her regularly every 2-3 hours, 10 minutes on each side and that will stimulate your breasts to be programmed to produce enough to meet the supply and demand needs. Hope this helps!

When my son was 4 months old I was only about to pump about 2 oz when he was actually eating more. This is what I tried to get the pump to actually get more. I got a cloth diaper wet and warmed it up and put it on my chest for a minute before pumping. I also drank a "mothers milk tea". Within 3 - 5 days I was back pumping as much milk as when I nurse him.

Hope you are able to figure it out & good luck!

It doesn't sound like you have a problem with your milk supply at all; just with getting milk out with your pump. When she was little, your body was actually over-producing milk, but now it makes just the right amount, which is why you are pumping less than you used to. You might want to try a different (i.e. more efficient) type of pump if you are going to be leaving her with a baby sitter a lot. If it's just occasional, you might just have to resign yourself to pumping twice in order to get one bottle of milk. One idea, if you can manage it, is to pump from one breast at the same time she is nursing. Then switch sides. I usually sit at a table to do this. It's a little tricky, but you will get more milk that way. You also want to pump in the mornings or earlier in the day when your milk supply is highest.

Getting baby on the boob to stimulate milk production is the best way. Also there are great mother's milk teas, tinctures & home remedies such as Marshmallow root to increase production too. You can ask a midwife, homeo or naturopath for help ;0) Take care. G