Breast Milk Supply Is Going Down, Advice on Keeping the Milk Flowing!!!

Hi T.,

You're probably thinking of Mother's Milk tea. It's by Traditional Medicinals and you can find it in most Whole Foods, and in Pharmaca and Elephant Pharmacy in Berkeley.

You can also take Fenugreek capsules. The lactation consultant I saw recommended both; taking Fenugreek tablets three times a day and drinking the Mother's Milk tea. This worked really well. You can also get Fenugreek in all those same places.

The funny thing about Fenugreek is it makes you smell like maple syrup!

But the most effective thing I used (a different time) was More Milk Plus herbal drops (I got those at Whole Foods too). They worked too well -- I got engorged and had to stop taking them. That was in June and I'm still breastfeeding my 9 month old. But I've noticed recently that my supply is starting to wane again so I'll probably try all these things again myself.

Good luck,

K.

There's an herbal supplement called Fenugreek that you should be able to find at any health food store. I found it very helpful.

My milk supply dropped considerably when my daughter was 6 months old. I took Fenugreek - the caplets - you can find them at any natural grocer (El Cerrito Natural Grocery definitely has them). Take up to 3 x 3day. You'll start to smell like maple syrup but it does work. Also, drinking beer helps you let down. And plenty of water - keeping hydrated is so important. Last, nurse whenever you have the opportunity. That is the best way to boost supply. Good luck.

If you have been nursing successfully for six months, you don't really have a supply problem--as Jennifer said, the more the babe nurses, your body will adjust supply to meet her needs. It is also dependent, however, on the amount of rest and fluids you are getting. So, if all those are in order--have you introduced solids to her diet? Once you do, she will simply need less, suck with less vigor and for shorter periods, because her tummy is being filled with less milk. It doesn't mean you are not producing enough, on the contrary, it just means she needs less. Also doesn't mean she doesn't need what she's getting, so keep nursing and pumping, but if she continues to grow and gain weight and be a happy baby, know that your body is in synch with hers and giving her just what she needs most. Isn't it amazing???

I had the same problem when I started doing more pumping and less nursing. I didn't find fenugreek to work any wonders but what did help was more nursing and more pumping. Just keep the pump on for 10 after the milk stops coming out and be sure to pump every 3 hours or so if you can't be around your baby to nurse. Oh, and stay well hydrated for sure. Good luck!

Hi T.,
Mothers Milk Tea is sold at Whole Foods in Berkeley. They also sell liquid Fenugreek. Just ask an employee who works in the vitamin section of whole foods. Eat oatmeal, drink a lot of water and nurse and pump often. If your supply still diminishes see if your Dr can prescribe domperidone. It has to be made at a compounding pharmacy. They don't sell it as a trademarked drug in the US. The Dr's here want to give Reglan instead. (I don't like Reglan b/c it crosses the blood/brain barrier and affects your dopamine levels). Both drugs are meant for digestive issues but the side effect is increased milk production b/c it increases prolactin. Look up Dr. Jack Newman in Canada to read more about it. I used it when my baby was 4 months and I had plugged ducts and my milk dropped. It helped and then I went off it. Try the natural route fist, of course.
Good Luck. Good for you for nursing. :-)

i'm sorry to hear that you're going through this. the same thing happened to me. i don't mean to pry, but have you happened to have started menstruating again recently? that was the problem with me--the week before i was to get my period, my supply would drop very dramatically, then after it started it would get a little better.

even if that's not the case with your situation, i used fenugreek capsules, mother's milk tea, ate tons of oatmeal and pumped a lot, especially when my baby began to sleep through the night to keep the supply-demand ratio up. also, my lactation consultant recommended lots of good skin-to-skin contact time with just the two of you together. i managed to nurse my daughter until she was 15-months-old although i would have liked to have done it 'til she was 2. but, i feel lucky to have been able to do it for as long as i did.

Traditional Medicinals makes a tea called Mother's Milk. You can get it at Berkeley Bowl, Berkeley Natural, Whole Foods or maybe even Andronico's.

I've also heard that beer is good for milk production!

Also, simply drinking more water might help.

Hi T.,
Acupuncture works great at addressing low milk supply. It works by addressing the imbalance that is causing the low supply. I have gotten great results with acupuncture.
Hope this helps.

You should take immediately Healthy Nursing Tea by secrets of tea, organic tea and caffeine free.

Nursing is a supply and demand service. the more your baby nurses the more you will produce. When I was pumping it started to dry up my milk! So I stopped and just let my son do it. Yes, it means you can't be separated from your baby for long, but it is worth it when they are healthy. The tea you're referring to is called Mother's Milk and it's by Traditional Medicinal. Some people just use straight Fenugreek tea as well. Both can be found at Whole Foods in Berkeley.