What Can I Do to Increase My Milk Supply?

I used an herb called Fenugreek to help re-lactate. It comes in pill form and made me smell like maple syrup...but it worked great!

Hi N.,
I took Fenugreek Herbal supplement. You can get it from a health food store. That really seemed to work (and it lowers cholesterol too if you have that problem). Some say that drinking a can of beer a day helps- I haven't tried proving that one. Good luck

When my milk supply began to diminish I started taking Fenugreek, an herbal supplement, and it seemed to help. Good luck!

"The first and easiest remedy for this is to nurse more often and longer. You can take the blessed thistle to in crease the volume of your milk; marshmallow and red raspberry leaf teas are said to enrich the content of the milk. When I a nursing a baby full-time, I take a nap every day. I put the older children in charge of the younger ones, put the baby to the breast, and go to sleep for at least an hour. An exhausted mother cannot produce adequate milk for her baby. Dr. Christopher stressed the importance of drinking at least a gallon of steam-distilled water every day; he said that most individuals are dehydrated. You will find a big difference in your overall feeling -- and your milk production -- if you drink enough. Some women recommend taking a tablespoonful of brewer's yeast in juice (apple juice goes well with the flavor) to increase milk. If you ask around, you can find a good-tasting yeast. I find that this remedy really does increase milk yield, and it brings up th e blood sugar and fives stamina to a harassed mother. Start with a smaller dose and increase gradually to avoid the possibility of gas for you and/or colic for the baby."
(excerpt from "Every Woman's Herbal" by Dr. John R. Christopher and Cathy Gileadi)
If you need any help with any of the above mentioned remedies, you can contact my mother-in-law who is a Nutritional Herbalist working on her Master Herbalist degree. Check out her wedsite or contact her at www.joannsnp.com
Best of luck!!!

There is a herbal supplement called fenugreek that my lactation specialist recommends. You can find it at a health food store or vitamin store. Fenugreek is an ingredient in curry. She recommends using the 500-600 mg tablets and taking 3 tablets 3times per day for one week, then 2 tablets 3 times per day for the next week. After that 1 tablet 3 times per day to maintain supply. I tried this and it helped increase my supply by a couple ounces. There is some info on the internet about this too.
Hope that helps,
Chris

Hi! I have 3 children, one grown now, and two still in school. Anyway, I was unable to breastfeed the first two more than a couple of months. My third child, my daughter, was able to nurse for six months and I attribute it to the new advice I received when she was born. I was told, by my doctor, to drink a gallon of water a day. Every morning I would buy or start with a fresh gallon of water and make sure that it was gone by the end of the day. I know it is a LOT of water, but I was able to nurse her without any problems for six months. The amount of water I drank was the only difference between her and my two sons. I hope this helps! J.

2-3 glasses of Mother's Milk Tea (you can get it at Cub or at a natural food store) and 8 glasses of water a day really helped me when my supply was diminishing. Like someone else suggested, pumping right before bed helps too.

I breastfed all of my 5 children for almost each two years, I found drinking alot of juices increased my production of milk. Also, having warm milk and a teaspoon of honey has a great affect on production. You may be feeling stressed, that is why your flow is becoming lighter, just try and relax more when it becomes time to feed. You may be using the restroom more often, but you will not loose any milk.
J.

Have you tried the herb fenugreek? I used it to increase my milk supply, as I was a full-time working/pumping mom. You take 3 pills 3 times per day, until you notice a difference in your supply. It took me about 72 hours to notice a supply increase, but I did notice one. You'll start to smell a little like maple syrup when you are taking enough. LOL!

Hope that helps!

Pump as much as you can when he is not feeding. Try not to forget and pump in the evenings right before going to sleep.
I had c-section births and both of these caused my milk supply not to come in very well when I wanted to breastfeed. I pumped as much as I could on the last pregnancy, and it helped me breastfeed until he was 6 months old. The first one pregnancy, no one told me to pump, and my milk supply ran out at 4 months.

Tea made from hops or beer increases breast milk.

Yoga Tea (ususally found with the tea in a grocery store but also can be found in the natural food section of a grocer too) makes an herbal tea that is called Mothers Milk, or for Nursing Mom's. It helps to boost milk supply by infusing herbs proven to increase lactation. Also, Herbal medicinals makes teas: Nursing Moms, Nettle, Red Raspberry and Milk Thistle...all which increase milk supply. Eating more protein may help because you require more of this during lactation and oatmeal has also been proven to increase lactation. Hope these help. They all helped me ....

There are lots of things that you can do to bring up your milk supply, believe me I have done them all! Try taking the herbal supplements fanugreek and blessed thissle, and try (if at all possible) to pump more often. I have read that different types of food can increase supply, but I am not sure if they really work, the main thing is to just consume enough calories to sustain milk production. Make sure and drink plently of water too. LLL or a lactation consultant can be a great source of help too. The fact that you are in the midst of a divorce and are not longer able to stay at home with your baby is a big source of stress, and stress can be a factor in a diminishing milk supply. I hope that there is someone in your life whom you can trust to talk to, good luck, and take care of yourself!

Check out this site it has lots of breastfeeding info. as well as info on low milk supply and how to increase it. Good luck
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/low-supply.html#supply

Hi Nikki,

I have a 4 month old and work full time as well. I pump around 8am, 12pm, and 9pm every day with a Medela double. I also was struggling to keep up with an increased demand. About a week ago, I went to GNC and bought Fenugreek. I take two of those in the morning each day. On the second day I was taking Fenugreek,I pumped over 13 oz in one session! Wow! It has calmed down since. Try and add an additional pumping session in the evening and commit to the two times during the day for 15-20 minutes. I know it is hard to fit it all in. I wish you the best!

Brenda

From my experience, you have to stop the formula and only breastfeed, then your body will produce what your baby needs and immediately take Healthy Nursing Tea by secrets of tea.
Drink plenty of water and eat healthy diet. Take care of yourself and baby...
Good Luck! Hv a nice day!!!!!

Hi N.,
I am in the same situation and i was only getting 2oz each time i pumped. I am taking more milk plus. I am now having enough to keep going. I dried up at 6m with my other two and i was at home with them. Make sure u have a good pump and it isnt wearing out and set an alarm somehow so that u can remember to pump. I pump for 12 min no matter if i am getting anything after 5 min or not. It will help eventually. I pump every 2 hrs at work and between that and maybe a few oz of what i pump in the am i have enough for the next day and i get to freeze one for later use. I get up and get ready an hour b4 my baby gets up so that i can do that and i have more than enough still for him when he wakes up. I get 11 oz in the am. Good luck!!!!
I also went off my birth contol pill as it was affecting my supply.

Check out this website.....This is an awesome sight....www.fourfriends.com or www.asklenore.com

Hope this helps!!

S.

The answer is beer N.. Beer, rye bread and more beer. Women all over Europe use beer to increase their breast milk. You don't have to become a drunk ~ a half glass will increase it quickly. It will also relax you so you can enjoy your new baby.

If for any reason you cannot tolerate beer or rye bread, you can also take the supplement Nettles.

I have used an herbal supplement that is completely safe and works for many women, it's fenugreek. It seems to work for me. You can also try to squeeze in an extra pumping to increase your supply.

I would try to nurse your baby whenever possible to stimulate more milk production (nurse over a weekend and rest and drink plenty of fluids during this time) ( you might need a helper to help with your other kids to accomplish this though) your baby is able to get more milk than a breast pump can.
really try to keep a pumping schedule and have a picture of your baby to look at when you are pumping. perhaps you could pump after nursing to increase pumped milk supply. you are so fortunate to see your baby over lunchbreak!! wishing you the best success !

I got scared when my daughter was 3 months old and my supply got low. I had a cold and did not realize that was what was affecting my supply. It went back up after the cold went away. This was one thing no one told me! So if you have seasonal allergies or a cold, you may be having that problem.

Also, I increased volume by pumping for 3-5 minutes after the BM stopped coming out. This makes your body think your baby needs more than it is making and will keep up supply.

It is hard to pump and work...I went back to work and for the first month pumped 3 times (once before my shift started, twice during the day) because I was away 10-11 hours. After a month, I was only doing it twice a day, then the last month once a day or only BF morning and night. Do what you can...the more you worry the harder it will seem and BF should be enjoyable for you and your baby! It will work out for the two of you :)

I natrually have a low milk supply that pumping alone doesn't help. I used Fenugreek while nursing. I got it from GNC but know that a lot of other stores have it. It worked great for me. There is also something called Mother's Milk Tea, though I never tried that. There aren't any directions on the bottle but I took 3 capsules 3 times a day per my lactation specialist and my supply rapidly increased.

I tried all the herbal options and nothing worked. I also did the pump more, drink more still nothing helped. I talked to a mid-wife and she put me on Reglan. It is a pill that is used for GERD but also stimulates milk production. You can take it for a week to get your supply up. For me, as soon as I stopped taking it my milk supply started to diminish again so I stayed on it from the time I went back to work until she was 1 year so I could continue to nurse. It worked for me!!!

Well I know that pumping doesn't stimulate the breast like the baby's sucking so milk supply can diminish a little because of that. Maybe try pumping a little longer than how long your son would nurse. This is what my lactation consultant told me about increasing milk supply: drink tons of water!!!! Also, eat oatmeal and malts(yum!). The malt powder is what helps. As a last resort there is something called fenu-greek (something like that) that she said you could get from a nutrition store and that can help. Good luck and keep sticking with it! Be blessed!

Hi N.,
You have to pump, pump and pump some more... I only have to work outside of the home two days a week but my three month old drinks tons of breastmilk so I find myself needing to pump more when I'm at work than I did with my daughter, whom I nursed until she was 27th months. I weaned her just before the new baby came so I didn't have to nurse two;-) Anyhow, breastmilk is the best for your baby so you need to pump to increase your supply now that you don't have the option to be with your baby all of the time.. Maybe try to post a reminder about your 2:00 session somewhere so that it's always on your mind. That's great that you go and nurse him in the afternoon because that will help keep up your supply. I don't know how you are about sleeping with your baby but my husband and I co-sleep with our son and did it with our daughter until she was two. Nursing throughout the night will really help keep your milk supply up. So, if you can handle sleeping with your baby it will increase your milk supply. It's also such a bonding experience and they are only little once;-) Also, drink TONS of water and eat lots of good, healthy foods to help increase your milk supply. Make sure that you are still taking a prenatal as well. Good luck!

Melissa

I would try the health food stores. There's a natural supplement called Mother's Milk and another one called Fenugreek. I used them both when my milk supply seemed to dimish quickly after a weekend away from my daughter, who at the time was 6 months. It worked for me.

When I was nursing, I was taking a supplement called Fenugreek. I double checked with my daughter's pediatrician and they told me that was really the only thing that was recommended. I don't know where you live, but in Lincoln, NE it can be found at Complete Nutrition. If you have a supplement/nutrition store anywhere around where you live, I would check it out. Hope that helps!

Fenugreek, (copy and paste link below)http://www.breastfeeding.com/all_about/fenugreek/all_abou...

is an herb and a wonderful, safe effective way to increase your milk supply! May take a couple days but worked great for me and many other Mahmas I know. Best of luck!

The only thing that will work is just feeding him more often when you're with him. I just started working and I'm pumping too, and my county nurse told me that all I can do is feed him more or pump more. Be careful of engorgement, though. I checked on the "Mother's Milk" tea and my nurse also told me that it doesn't work, so if someone suggests it, I wouldn't spend the money on it. There isn't enough regulation when they make it, so some packets may have more of a certain ingredient versus a different pack not having enough. There is one thing that you may be able to get from your doctor (I don't remember what it's called) but it only works when you're taking it.

Good luck!

I took a breastfeeding class and my advice comes from the instructors. Your prolactin receptors (what sets the milk production) are not set until about 16 weeks after birth. Before that time how much you pump and your baby nurses sets the supply. If you are working and want to keep the supply up (which I was), you need to pump whenever your baby would regularly nurse and for as long or longer. You also need a high quality pump - the class recommended hospital pumps first and foremost and then went to the Medela. I used the Pump in Style. Anyway, strong pumping action that mimics the baby's suction.

After 16 weeks you can relax a bit with the pumping. For example I went from 3 times at work to 2 times. I was getting nothing at the first pumping session, but did it to ensure future supply. By skipping the first one, again after my supply was set, I started pumping more milk at the later session.

I never used the supplements, but have heard good things about the recommended ones from other moms.

Try taking Fenugreek. It's available at natural food stores. I took it 2 times a day 2 pills at a time. Also Mother's Milk tea available at any grocery store, drink that once a day or more. It definately has the taste of anise but lots of honey helped that for me! Between these 2 things my supply increased. You could also try renting a double electric hospital grade pump (like the Medela Symphony). I've heard that also helps.

Good luck!

Hi, My name is L.. There is a tea called Mother's Milk. (I think that is what it is called) You can find it at Hy-Vee in the Health Food part with all the Herbal teas. I was trying to breastfed my son before work and at night and that is what i did.