Making More Milk

trying adding decaf. tea it makes a lot of water I breastfed my youngest for 26 months and the only reason I quit then was I ran out of milk but my doctor told me to drink lots of water and decaf tea and it worked I wished I had told my doctors to shut up and breastfed my other 3 children but I was going to breastfed my last one and she was born tongue tied and could not suck a bottle good luck she was my best baby

Breast milk works on a supply and demand basis. If you feed the baby more often or pump more often, you will make more milk. Also, you can call the La Leche League or email them. This is a group who helps and gives advice on breastfeeding. Good Luck!

I hear your concern that you aren't making enough milk. Babies go through growth spurts at 3, 6, 12 weeks and 6, 9 and 12 months. (give or take a week or month respectively) It will feel like the baby wants to do nothing but nurse around the clock for about three days or so and then will go back to the usual routine for the most part. Breastmilk supply works on demand, so the more the baby is demanding, the more you will make. See if you can get your husband to let you take a breastfeeding weekend where you stay put with the baby and he takes care of the toddler and the housework so you don't have so much to take care of and can focus on breastfeeding on demand. Also, don't judge what your supply by what you produce with a pump. Many women who can't express a single drop are able to breastfeed fat healthy babies from the tap, so to speak. Not everyone responds to the pump, and that's OK. What counts is the baby's ability to get milk. You can gague that by counting wet and dirty diapers. She should be having 6-8 wet diapers and at at least two stools a day. At this point if she goes for a few days without stooling, be on the lookout for a big blowout. To increase your water intake, when you go to get that glass of water to sit down with, gulp it down and refill your cup before sitting. This will maximize the amount of water you get each day and if you only sip on the glass, get distracted by your toddler or your mom has an urgent need, you will already have had one glass already. As far as supplements go, try eating oatmeal. It can be hot cereal, cookies, in granola, etc. The steel cut hot cereal is best, but instant will work too.

It sounds like you really have your hands full with two babies and your mom. Just go with the flow. Feed on demand, drink plenty of fluids (water, milk, juice), and have faith in yourself that you can do this.

She's likely going through a growth spurt and is consuming all that you are producing!! Try to put her to the breast more...especially if she's getting expressed milk via bottle from your mom....try to limit that....and put her to your breast as often as possible....she will stimulate more milk production.

If she isn't getting bottles of expressed milk, and she's exclusively feeding at the breast, then add another pumping session. I found if I pumped in the AM after my son's morning 'meal' that I could get the most milk, and it stimulated me to produce more throughout the day....if I waited until before bed to pump, I would get barely anything and it wouldn't increase my supply. If you have the time add a second pumping session after lunch time too.

Relax, drink water, look at your baby/picture and sing a special song when you nurse.....then do the same things when you pump. Hang in there mama!

Of course, look into your local La Leche League group and the hospital's lactation consultant for other ideas and support!!

When I was breastfeeding my twins, I tried larger doses of fenugreek seeds for a week, and it worked wonders. Boil a handful of seeds and eat with every meal. They are bitter.
I also boiled 2 cups of fennel seeds in 3 cups of water, cooled it and drank the water during the day. Strain & throw away the seeds.
For me, a relaxed brain & breast connection & coordination was also a must .... think about peaceful things & arouse your maternal instincts when pumping/breastfeeding. Also massaged your breasts with warm hands before feeding/pumping.
More sleep & using a fully automated pump helped lots.
Good Luck!

First of all, good for you for breastfeeding. Stay with it...it is such a great gift to give your baby.

Hi if your baby is satisfied then don't worry. If you rbaby wasn't getting enough breast milk, then you would know it. Sounds like the baby is draining your breast during a feeding which is a good thing. Follow your child's cues and worry less.
Drink lots of water

You need to keep pumping to get that extra milk. The more you pump the more milk you will make. Breastfeeding is a supply and demand thing; the more demand your bady thinks there is, the more milk your body will make. Always pump directly after baby finishes eating so that you won't be taking anything away from him, and don't be to aggressive about it. Pumping for too long after everything is gone can make you sore and you don't want that! Also make sure you are getting plenty of water, it's a must. A couple of days of this should increase your supply. I exclusively breastfeed (no formula, solids around 6 months) both my son and daughter until they were around a year old. Hope you see the results you want. I know how nice it is to have that extra in the freezer just in case, gives you peace of mind!

It makes a HUGE difference when you sit to nurse with a glass of water and finish by the time your little one has fnished nursing. Also, make sure you pump after a feeding for a few minutes and that can help. if your one is sleeping through the night then make it a point to get up and pump that extra little bit. When they begin sleeping more in the night you will often lose a little milk supply b/c your body recognizes the difference in amounts. I don't know if you are wanting to just have more to store in the frrezer just because or if you are planning for a specific time. Don't feel like you have to have a large supply of milk set away if you aren't planning on leaving baby very often. It will last in the freezer but for more than about 6 months. Talk to alctation consulteant at the hospital if you have questions on freezing times or contact the Laleche league. Good Luck!!

I know it sounds goofy, but drink a pony size bottle of beer every day. My 13 pound 13 oz. baby boy was pulling me dry and that helped. I breast feed all six of my children who lived long enough to nurse. Be sure drink a lot of water. 120oz or more if you can. The stress of mom and a new baby are most likely causing you to slow production. Be sure take a few each day for you!
Good Luck!!!

Great job on breastfeeding especially through all the stress it sounds like you have. I commend you. You have mentioned some key things like getting enough water and offering the breast a lot. Also remember your caloric intake. Just like when you are pregnant you need more caloris to breastfeed. Your body has to be making enough energy for you all your added stress now and enough to make milk to sustain another living human. So eat! Eat good protein sources and eat frequently. Too much caffeine can affect your supply so watch that. There are two other supplements that are usually helpful to a women, that is fenugreek and blessed thistle. Both can help with supply I would ask your local herbalist or health food store about that. Those are both likely to be in MOthers Milk but maybe not enough dosage. And remember stress can affect your supply big time. So it is important to take care of YOU first. You can't sustain another life and do everything else if you are too run down and tired.
I hope some of these suggestions help you. Good luck to you!

She may be going through a growth spurt. My daughter would always just drain me during growth spurts and then after a week or so I would blow up like a balloon again.

keep trying to pump even if you are getting nothing. set a specific time and length of time for the bottling project and follow through every day whether you get anything or not, just use a lower pump setting to prevent too much discomfort. your breasts will adjust supply to how much suckling they're getting even if part of the suckling is being done by machine.

Hi J., Soundls like you have a full house and a stressful time right now. Try to take it easy (ha-ha...seems impossible) and add an extra pumping at least once a day. I had a Medela breast pump and found it vastly superior to any other pump I tried and worth every penny (plus I sold it on e-bay for more than 1/2 what I paid for it!). Once I got it, my milk production soared after just a week or so of adding 2 minutes on each breast in the evening. Also drink as much water as you can.

Also consider that your daughter might be in a feeding spurt. Mine did that at a week, 4 weeks and 12 weeks. It seemed like she couldn't get enough to eat. Every 45 minutes. Hope that helps! Good luck.

Good job for breastfeeding! Its the best start you can give your baby. As pps have said, make sure you are drinking enough - have an 8oz glass of water each time you sit down to feed.
In those first few weeks, your body produced milk at a rapid rate, but now you've probably settled into a good supply/demand flow. I'm guessing you're not feeling as painfully engorged now, and maybe aren't leaking so much, your body has just adjusted to the baby's needs. Keep nursing her on demand, and if you are looking to store milk, put in a few pumping sessions after feeding - especially in the am when you produce the largest volume of milk. Keep in mind that the average woman can only pump 1/2 - 2 oz of milk total (both breasts) per 15-30 minute pumping session. The amount you pump is not at all related to how much baby gets from you nursing.
Keep it up, and make sure you are also getting enough REST! Your calorie intake should be about 500 more calories than pre-pregnancy, but don't overeat, that can actually decrease supply.

HI! Fenugreek is good. Also, go to a local health food or herb store and ask for lactation teas. They have fennel seed and other safe herbs. They are specifically designed to help increase your milk production.
At my last visit, my doctor told me this. Hops really help. It's one of the main ingredients in beer She suggested buying a non-alcoholic beer. I believe O'Doul's is the one I got and it was pretty good. The reviews are mixed on if you can have a real one on occasion. You'll have to make that decision for yourself.
Hope this helps.

What you are able to pump is not nessesarily what your able to produce, so keep that in mind. Also pumping can decrease milk supply because it does not remove milk as effectivly as the baby does, so if your with the baby then you should be nursing. Try nursing more often too to build your supply. I tried mother's milk plus but found fennugreek to be more effective. Its totally normal to be getting a lot during pumping and then see a decrease later, probably because of what I said previously. Don't worry, the baby is getting plenty if she is having enough wet diapers and seems content after feeding. Offer the breast more offten and pump afterwards and keep taking your supplemnet. This should increase your milk supply. But the most important is no bottles when your around because the baby will do the best job of building and keeping your supply.

I am having the same problems. My daughter is 7 months. She started solids. slowed the milk and I got my period back. The hormones mess me up now. I am on Fenugreek and it is helping. Since she is on solids, she doesn't drink s much milk after her meal. Thus leading to the low milk. To combat that I now pump before every one of her meals and give her milk in a bottle. She nurses at 6am and 9pm, and if she wakes in the night. It seems to be working cause I started out pumping every 3-4 hours and now have spread it out. I can empty both sides and get 7-8oz for lunch and dinner. I do notice if I don't drink the water and take my fenugreek I get low again. The fenugreek is cheap (100 for $5.99 at my store) I take 2 pills 3 times a day. My friend also swears by oatmeal & gatorade with the Fenugreek.
Hope this helps you!

Mom, you doing great! Remember your baby is 6 weeks older and requires more milk at each feeding. But yes your right about the fluids, you need to drink drink drink.
And I'm glad your Mom is with you!

It might be helpful to add a couple of extra pumping sessions within your day. Make sure you are consuming enough calories and getting plenty of water to drink. If you can, just let your baby nurse for as long and often as she likes (if you aren't already). Sometimes I suggest to clients that they should crawl into bed with their babies for a day or so and have an all-out nurse fest. Another supplement that seems to be magical with increasing milk supply is fenugreek so you might try to get your hands on some of that.

J.,
I think that you are an amazing mother handling all that you are doing. Alot of advisers sound good about the growth spirt, but do not forget to take care of yourself also. If you do not then you will poop out and then you will need to be taken care of too.

Try a soothing bath in the evening while dad is home with the door locked to get some time for you. You will share everything you have of yourself during the day and will need to refill for your own sanity. A happy mom makes a happy home! Even if it is just for 15 minutes, less stress helps in these situations too.

Good luck,
Mommy of three breastfed babies

if she's producing plenty of wet diapers and if she's pooping... then you don't have a problem. Maybe she just really loves boobie :) My 7 1/2 week old nurses all the time, too. Oh, and they also go through a growth spurt right around 3 months, so that could be it, too... try not to worry too much. Remember that there are lots of reasons that babies nurse (hunger, comfort needs, or just to say I love you). Breast feeding is more than just a food source. It sounds like you're doing a great job. Keep it up and trust yourself.

Oh and good for you for breast feeding!!!! I wish more moms would do it! It really is the best thing you can do for your baby.

I went through that with my daughter. At the beginning I produced a lot of milk, but if I slacked off in the least little bit my milk production would really decrease. I called the lactation specialist and they always said to drink lots of water, so if you think you've had enough drink more!! The other suggestion was to pump more. I had to pump and usually pumped every 4 to 5 hours. When my milk started to get low I pumped about every 2 1/2 to 3 hours for a couple of days and that usually worked for me. If you pump more your body will get used to that schedule and think the baby needs more milk and then will produce more milk. The specialist suggested the supplements like you're taking but I left that for if nothing else worked. One more important thing to remember is to relax. I know that doesn't seem like it would do anything, but I pumped in the same place everytime for a while b/c you get comfortable with your surroundings and just relax as much as you can. I promise if you do all of these things it will help. Just stay positive through everything that you are going through. Good luck!!

Dear J., You are BLESSED. Con't. to love where your at.When ever you sit down to nurse make sure you always have a BIG glass of water. Or if you have a favorite chair that you sit at.Keep a gallon of water in a jug there and make sure you finish it by the end of the day! Nutritional yeast increases your milk supply as well as glyconutrients.wwwhealthyanswersonline.com If you have any question give me a holler, Mom of many, M. P.S.I've nursed 11 of my own children!!###-###-#### Enjoy,You're awesome!

Hello! I have struggled with this since my son was about 3 months old and he is now almost a year. I find that I have to eat a TON and drink a LOT of water but also don't ignore the type of bra you are wearing. I have found that a looser, softer bra helps me make a little more. I have an underwire and I think that it inhibits my milk production. Also, my doctor did mention that there is medication that can help, I believe it is called Reglan. It is for babies and children but has been shown to help mothers produce more milk. I have never tried it though. Good luck to you and remember you are doing a great thing for your baby, it is worth it!!!

I think you need to talk to a lactation consultant. You can call the hospital where you had your baby and talk to the nursery nurse to find out who the lactation person is. Hope this helps.

I had a b-12 shot with my second child and have had plenty of milk. My doctor says it's just coincidence, but it's worth a shot-no pun intended! If that fails, with my first I Did not have the shot, and did not have enough milk, so they had me pump every 2 hours to get my supply up. It's supply and demand, so the more you empty your breasts, the more milk your body will make. But, do make sure you get 6-8 glasses of fluid (non-caffeine fluids)a day.

Water Water Water Eat Eat Eat. You carry 10 extra pounds while nursing. Promise! It comes right off when you quit. I drank gallons of water a day and ate like a horse (more than when I was pregnancy). You burn 500 calories a day by nursing. I went until my daughter was 1 year old. Good luck. It's the best thing for them. But nurse without the bottle as much as possible. It is the important key to keep it flowing.