How Do I Increase My Milk Supply??!!

Always nurse BEFORE you feed your daughter solids. Drink plenty of water. Some women swear by eating oatmeal.

Make sure you alternate which side she starts nursing on, and that she nurses from both sides each feeding. If she eats from both side and still isn't done, do NOT give her a "chaser" bottle - instead put her back on the first side. If she still seems hungry but is too frustrated to try and get more milk out (because you're near empty) take a little break and offer hear a breast again in another 15 or 30 minutes. Your milk supply will only increase if it is stimulated to do so. Make a habit of offering her the breast every 2 hours or so to bring your supply back up. If you want to use the pump, you'll be most effective if you pump AFTER you feed her, as this will simulate a very hungry baby.

At 6 months old she really shouldn't be eating very much food - certainly not so much that she cuts back on her nursing I think. Maybe just 1 meal per day. You might consider temporarily (for 2 weeks or so) cutting way back on her "food" and just nursing her a ton to get your milk supply back up and then reintroduce the food more slowly and with better timing (after you nurse her).

Herbs don't work immediately, so keep taking the fenugreek - it can't hurt and it may just take a little more time to kick in.

Few things...

Fenugreek can help. Mother's Tea might also as well.

Drink as much water as you can possible drink and then drink some more!

Having a nursing/pumping marathon for a couple of days.

Maybe hold off on solid foods or cut back a little until your supply increases again.

Check out kellymom for some helpful hints too. Good luck!

How much are you feeding her in the way of solids? You should start out very slowly, only giving it maybe once a day and just a small amount. And you should always nurse her first before giving solids. The more you give formula, the less she nurses, so the less your body is told to make milk. Even if you feel like you don't have any milk, let her nurse as much as she will. Drink lots of water. Eat oatmeal...as much as you can stand. Does your sweat/urine smell like maple syrup? The fenugreek capsules come in different strengths so even if you are taking a lot of them if they are a low dosage you might not be getting enough. Check how many mg are in your pills and adjust how much you are taking accordingly...it doesn't start to work till you are smelling that maple smell. Check this page for the correct dosage: http://www.kellymom.com/herbal/milksupply/fenugreek.html

The more stimulation you get the more milk you will make so the best way is just to nurse nurse nurse as much as she will let you and perhaps pump in between. Often if you take a few days and just lay in bed with lots of skin to skin contact she will want to nurse more and your supply will jump (assuming you are also getting enough water). I would also back off on the solids a little...probably just a little bit (not even a whole small jar) once a day is plenty at this age. Then she will be more hungry and want to nurse more.

Good luck!

Here are some lists I have compiled from doing my own research. Hope they help you! I would definitely put her to the breast before anything else- before any babyfood, etc. and I would discontinue the formula altogether. Oatmeal was a big, big help for me!

INCREASING SUPPLY:
Fenugreek (or Domperidone) w/Blessed Thistle
Oatmeal (cooked or granola, even oatmeal cookies!)
Water, water, water and more water
Brewer’s Yeast or non-alcoholic beer
Pumping/nursing more- nursing “vacation” bed 2-3 days with infant, feed on demand
Skin-to-skin contact
Mother’s Milk Tea
Get enough protein
Reglan (anti-nausea med)- can cause depression USE WITH EXTREME CAUTION
Avoid bottles and pacifiers
Alfalfa
Iron
Malted milk (they sell powdered form by chocolate syrup in most grocery stores, and it's what's in Whoppers candy too)
Oxytocin nasal spray - ask your OB/GYN about this

Try renting a commercial pump if you feel like you can't pump enough in between nursing sessions. Remember, it's supply and demand. If you keep putting a demand for more milk, your body will supply it. Take a week or at least a weekend to concentrate on nothing but producing milk: nursing and pumping!
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Here are things you will want to avoid-

DECREASING SUPPLY/Weaning:
Parsley
Sage
Peppermint
Decongestants
Antihistamines
Decreasing pumping/nursing
Cabbage leaves topically to breast

Hope this helps!
Amanda R.
aspiring IBCLC

J.:

I am sorry that your lactation consultant was not of more assistance.

What type of pump are you using? why do you feel that your milk supply is down? the most effective way to increase your milk is with your daughter's nursing. there are also homeopathic and other herbal things that you can do.

P., RLC, IBCLC
Pres. Lactation Support Group, Inc
www.lactationsupportgroup.com

Definitely discontinue the formula, that's only going to make it worse. It's all supply and demand. The less you nurse, the less you will make. The Organic Mother's Milk tea also worked. Once they are on solids too, I noticed a decrease in milk but then I seemed to level off into I guess what was her new amount of milk. I think your body just knows what they need and accomodates it. You should alwasy nurse before solids too, that makes a difference. Her main nutrition should still be from breastmilk until the age of one, solids are just a supplement. YOu could even cut back on the solids for a few weeks to boost your supply. FInd your local La Leche League meeting and go! They can be really helpful. THey are only once a month but I really look forward to it. I'm not an expert by any means but have been nursing my daughter for 18 months and am also 19 weeks pregnant and still have enough milk for her demands, so if you need any other advice or help I'd be happy to help you. Have confidence, I think that's the biggest thing that moms have problems with because they are convinced that their milk isn't enough for their babies. Your body knows just what to do for your daughter.

Hi J.,

I had a similar problem and tried another herbal supplement. I think it was called More Milk Plus by Motherlove. I got it at a pharmacy in Northbrook on Dundee Road. There is a lactation consultant working out of that pharmacy who was really helpful.

Bobbi

Have her nurse VERY often! Make sure that she nurses when she wants and no schedules, pacifiers, etc. Nurse on demand-she should be pacified at the breast.
My son was underweight and the ped. was worried about my milk supply, and said fenugreek liquid was more potent(but doesn't taste good).

Good luck-don't give up! If you have to, you can always supplement.

Are you sure your daughter is not getting enough milk? It is usually around 6 months when you start feeling "deflated." This is because your body is becoming more efficient at producing milk and produces it on demand instead of stock piling it in your breasts. Try to relax... that will help too :)

I have the same problem, pumping every two hours, the fenugreek (you have to take it until your urine/sweat smells like maple syrup), and raspberry tea have helped me.

I too am fighting with my milk supply. My son is 4.5 months old and I am a single Mom and I work full time. I am on my second round of Reglan. It works, but I won't take another round of it. His doctor indicated that to do what I can do and not get stressed out. I am away from him for 11.5 hours a day and no pump can stimulate the way a baby can. So far he hasn't had any formula, and I am hoping to keep it that way.

I nursed my dd for nearly 16 months, and am nursing my ds who is almost 16 months with no plans of stopping yet. With both of them when I felt like my supply was dropping I would just nurse nurse nurse, and then pump after they are done. I tried Fenugreek, and the Mothers Milk Tea, not sure if either made a difference. But the extra nursing sessions did.

I also noticed that after 6 months that my breasts never felt full anymore, but there definitely was enough milk.

Good Luck!

I also lost some of the milk supply at some point. I was drinking chamomile tea and lots and lots of water, plus I was pumping every 1-1/2 to 2 hours for 2 weeks straight before the milk supply went up again.

Hi,

I'm sure this response is a little late, but I started nursing in Germany and they literally always told me to drink a glass of champagne every day (right after feeding, so the alcohol would wear off b/4 the next feeding), and it did help build my supply. Another thing I tried was fennel tea -- all that hydration helped -- and of course the more you nurse, the more milk you get. I had the same problem -- they wanted me to start my baby on cereal just at four months, and then of course he ate that and didn't want to nurse as much and my supply went down. With my next baby, due in January, I'm going to bf exclusively longer, and add in cereal later.

Good luck!

Check out Lactationinnovation.com Her name is Janet Talmadge and she is this amazing lac consult. She carried all of that stuff and can help you.She's out of Naperville.

Per some of the others, "Mother's Milk Plus" can be bought at whole foods and other places like that. It comes in a liquid or capsule.

I've always had problems with supply so I take it, not sure if it really helps or not but I've never wanted to quit to find out! It has fenugreek and other herbs as well. Good luck.

Hi, J.. I had some issues with my milk supply as well, and had to pump and take fenugreek. My son will be a year old next week, and I still nurse him and pump (I work full time, so pump at work). I take 3 fenugreek capsules 3x per day, and I am typically able to get 8-10 oz. of pumped milk each day. Nursing him at home or whenever I'm with him is fine - I supplement the bottles for day care with one 4-oz. bottle of formula. My best advice to you is to continue pumping and taking fenugreek, and just nurse your daughter as often as she wants. Breast milk is supply and demand, so the more she nurses, the more your body will produce. You may find that you don't get a lot pumping, but your daughter may still get as much as she needs when she nurses - no pump is as efficient as a baby.

Best of luck to you - I can sympathize with your frustration!

N.

From my experience, you have to stop the formula and only breastfeed, then your body will produce what your baby needs. Also, one beer helped too!!!

Drink LOTS of water, you need it to make the milk. There are also some teas on the market that are supposed to work well, haven't tried them myself.

You may want to temporarily stop solids until you get your supply back up. Pumping is really good too. Keeping your daughter near you as much as possible and taking a "nursing vacation" where all you do is lay around and nurse all day for several days if you can is recommended by LLL.

My grandmother's milk dried up when my mom was only a few months old and she got it back by drinking gobbs and gobbs of water, soup, and about any kind of non-caffinated liquid to get it back. She was able to successfully nurse my mom the rest of the time.

I hope that it comes back for you. Some fenugreek is better than others.

H.

Why you didn't drink natural tea that`s Healthy Nursing Tea by secrets of tea and without preservatives and help to boost factory of milk supply naturally. It`s great solution!!!

The only thing that has ever worked for me and then only slightly is to drink more water. When I went back to work and started pumping, I never got all that much milk from pumping and so took fenugreek but it didn't do much for me. since my baby is sleeping longer, I sometimes got up in the middle of the night and pumped but that was far from ideal. So now I feed baby when I get in and before she goes to sleep. If she wakes in the night, she gets fed again and then in the morning before I leave and during the day I pump twice getting around 12 ozs. She is eating some solids at 4 and a half months. she was ready and already grabbing at food and was 16lbs by 4 months at weekends she nurses and so on week days she gets maybe 4 ozs formula.

J., Go to llli.org to find your local LaLeche League chapter. Someone will tell you what you need to know. Blessings, J.

Fenugeek can be a pill form, but what I did was boil fennel seeds - in the spice isle of the grocery store. Skim off the seeds and then drink the water (tastes a bit like tea).

Part of your issue may be that you aren't getting enough fluids, this gives you the benefit of fennel AND more liquids. If you need 20 oz a day for yourself without nursing, (my own formula) you need to be drinking 40 oz to also be able to make enough milk to feed a 6 mo old.

Make sure that you are getting enough rest and sleep....lack of sleep can deplete milk. Nurse like crazy for a little bit to get the supply back up. Try nursing every hour 1/2 for a about a week. You could also pump for about 10-15 after a few of the nursing sessions. Even if no or little milk is pumped, the body will be tricked into believing that the baby needs more milk. Remember though, nursing is the BEST choice, pumping second. The body just responds better to the actual baby and the pump just serves as a good supplement. Worked for me and I produced a lot of milk for a long time!! Good Luck!!
p.s. I have heard that steel cut oats in the morning get the milk-a-flowing! worth a shot!

ok, this may sound crazy but it definitely works. Drink a beer. You don't even need a whole beer. I had so much more milk it was painful. You can pump and dump afterward.

Hi J.,
I would try and slowly cut back on the formula. Your daughter doesn't need your milk if she's filling up on formula, and your body knows this. I'd also rent a symphony (hospital grade) pump and use it mid-morning, at lunch, mid-afternoon - anytime your daughter would normally nurse but isn't. Weleda makes a nursing tea - with fenugreek and other herbs - that I used when my supply went done in addition to the fenugreek (although I never took 10 - but maybe the brand is different.) And co-sleeping will help, if you're not against it, because she will nurse more at night. Of course, this impacts your sleep, but if you're up for it, it should help.
If you don't give up and get her to switch the formula over for your milk, things will get better. It's hard work and very depressing when your baby doesn't nurse. Just remember lots of babies go on short nursing strikes but they're ready to nurse again pretty soon. No baby self-weans at 6 months.
And - your body will make the milk your baby needs. By feeding your baby a lot of formula, your body makes less milk.
Good luck!
S.

You can try More Milk Plus by Motherlove. It is a blend of herbs including fenugreek. My lactation consultant only recommends this specific brand and I had some success with it. Be prepared it is a lot pricier than just buying fenugreek. You can purchase it at Whole Foods.

Make sure you nurse then feed solids. I didn't do this and my milk dropped drastically.