Foods to Help Increase Breastmilk Supply?

Hi E., I found that traditional medicine has a tea that worked great for me. Its called mothers milk and they carry it at Mothers market or Whole foods. It especially worked after I got sick and dehydrated, brought my milk back in strong. I drank it before bed every night and kept my milk until I stopped breastfeeding my son at 18 months. Good luck, hope this helps.

Hi, my lactation advisor said to eat a bowl of oatmeal, daily and if you drink beer that helps, if not the non-alchoholics ones help too and also a tea called MothersMilk you can find it at any whole foods store.
Good Luck.

Make sure you're drinking plenty of water... Take your weight in pounds, divide it in half, and that's how many fluid ounces of water you should be drinking per day (ie: If you weigh 140, you should drink 70 fluid ounces of water per day). Eat lots of protein rich foods. Avoid fast food. Eat lots of fruits and veggies. Take a food based prenatal vitamin... it absorbs easier into the body. If you can find a liquid prenatal, even better! Mother's Milk tea is great.. you can find it at your local health food store, or online. Another way to increase milk supply is to pump for ten minutes after each feeding... I know it sounds like aliot of work, but it's worth it. By the way, as long as your baby is growing properly, your body is producing enough. There is NO WAY to conclude how much milk you're producing. WOmen do not pump the same amount as they nurse. Your body should match your baby's appetite and adjust accordingly.

Mothers Milk Tea and LOTS of miso soup & water! I have to say that once I went back to work, my milk supply went down due to the level of stress that I was under. I started with the tea & soup and it did help increase my milk supply. I also drank a gallon of water a day. The better hydrated you are the easier your body can produce additional fluids. Also, the healthier you eat, your body will feel stronger and be able to function better.

Fenugreek worked for me too. Our ped said it was safe for the baby. Be sure you take enough, otherwise it hasn't been found to be effective. Just beware of the side effect: smelling like maple syrup (fortunately my husband likes the smell). Good luck.

Try an herb called Fenugreek. It is awesome at increasing your milk supply and keeping it up. You can research it at

http://www.kellymom.com/herbal/milksupply/fenugreek.html

Hi,

I have read that oatmeal helps with milk supply. Hey if you want even more answers post this question on the general breastfeeding forum at www.breastfeeding.com

the best for me and my german grandma told me this was one beer. M

Hello E.,

There are good herbs (chinese) to help with breast milk production. If you'd like more information, feel free to call us at Rhee's Acupuncture Clinic ###-###-####.
Best wishes,
O.

you should eat a well blanced 5mall meals a day, take your preNATEL vitamin while nursimng, and drink lots of water.Your body makes the milk from what you eat. the baby succles to stemulate the brest to produce milk. The milk becomes richer as the baby succles and how often he nursing. The more ofEN, the richer and satisfying for the baby. TO INCREASE YOUR MILK. In a growthspert he will succle longer and harder for the breast to porduce more milk next time. this is normal .
SO REMEMBER THE MORE THE BABY EATS, MEANS YOU HAVE TO EAT MORE TOO FOR HIS GOOD DIET.i AM SURE YOU HAVE TRIED PUMPING THE MILK BUT IF IT BEGINS TO GET TO STRESSFUL IT WIIL EFFECT THE QUALITY OF THE MILK. THERE IS NO SHAME TO GO BOTTLE it that wooks out that way, Since you HAVE GONE TO WORK AND FEED HIM bottle and breast, and since babies linger suckling on mommy more than the bottle. You then have to gradually increas the milk for him to suck longer. Luck to you.
C.

WE plenty fress good, grains.potien.fruits, stay away from spicy foods. Baby wiil have a tommy ache with you.

Nurse all you want.the Baby needs the succlemotion you will see your milk will increase.I know its had to work and be a nursing mother.Do the best you can ,but if you feel at any time you are ANXIOUS, AND THE BABY IS NO HAPPY, MAY BE IT WOULD BE TIME TO CONCIDER THE BOTTLE.
tTHAT WAY YOU KNOW HE IS GETTING ENOUGH AND YOU ARE LESS TENSE *
.

The more baby nurses the more miik for the baby' he buulds upthe milk by suckleing each meal.

Drink lots of water!!!!!!!!

My lactation specialist said to get to herbal supplements. Fenugreek and Blessed Thistle. You must take 3 tablets of each 3 times a day for five days. I did this two times and it seemed to work. I don't pump at all, but I was losing my milk because of stress ect. My baby is 8 months old now and now problems. Coninue pumping frequently or nursing to keep the demand going. Good luck

i was told to eat oatmeal in any form you can get it... and to take 3 fenugreek pills 3 times a day,(you can get those at a vitamin shoppe) if you take those your gonna smell like maple syrup but they work well...

In addition to these great suggestions, I would also recommend you bring a picture of your baby to work with you. Keep it with your pump, and look at it when you pump. I've read that it can encourage the let-down response. Think about snuggling with her too...you might be surprised at how the body reacts to just thinking about your baby! Good luck, I know it's hard to pump. Pat yourself on the pat for doing such a great job, and do NOT beat yourself if you aren't getting enough milk. You and your baby will adjust. Also, hopefully you are still breastfeeding her at night, that will help keep your supply up.

I'm a mom of 3 kids, the youngest was born on July 19th. I have only breasetfed my 3 children, and the only thing I have found to increase my milk supply is to increase the frequency of breastfeedings. The only other thing I can think of is to make sure your drinking plenty of water...

I've heard Fennel can help increase milk supply. There's also a tea you can buy at Whole Foods or any health food store. It's called "Mother's Milk" I believe. I used to drink this. Stress and separation from your child can also wreak havoc on your milk supply. I teach full time and when I went back to work each time after having my girls I had to pump during lunch and breaks. After my second daughter I had a lot of trouble getting enough milk, which caused stress, which in turn contributed to an even lower milk supply. All I can say is to drink lots of water and try to pump every chance you get; the frequency matters as well. I hope you have a supportive boss. Try not to get discouraged and give up. The benefits of breastfeeding are so fantastic for your children (mine are now five and three and have never had an ear infection in their lives). At times I felt so defeated, sometimes to the point of tears. La Leche League has a forum/bulletin board that you can join. I found it helpful when I felt upset with myself and my own body for not producing enough ounces to get through daycare the next day. People there were very encouraging and offered needed support. Overall, when you're with your child breastfeed often to keep up the frequency needed to stimulate more milk. Don't give up! The benefits last a lifetime. If you need to supplement with something else you can, but keep pumping and try to stay positive. You can do it!!!!!

Non alcoholic beer.. something in the hops helps to create more milk.

definitely drink plenty of fluids..

Great job breastfeeding!!
Sorry to hear you have to leave your child at such a young age.
Work less, try to be a stay at home mom. Stress and lack of sleep affect your supply more than anything.
To increase: pump and nurse as often as possible
Eat and drink ALOT, doesn't really matter what, but should be healthy: water, fruit, veg, whole grains, lean meats, nuts, non fat plain yogurt...
Eat and drink whenever you nurse or pump.
Moderate exercise/walking helps too
Go to the Le Leche League International website

As the others said, mother's milk tea. and fenugreek.

Pump more!! pump until you can't believe how much you are pumping! I know it's a pain, but that is the way to increase production. When I first went back to work with my first, I had to pump EVERY HOUR until my milk production went back up, probably two weeks. You can do it!!! just keep trying! Also there is a tea they sell in health food stores, called mother's milk. It helps, too, but I think part of it is psychological, and the other part is that it makes you drink plenty of fluids so you can produce fluids. So, increase your fluid intake, beleive in yourself, and PUMP! (Good luck!)

Hi there!

Try "more milk plus" supplements, oatmeal, brewers yeast, and water, water and more water :) You are probably not getting as much out with the pump as your baby does (I could never pump well so the pump is not a good method of keeping my milk supply up) so this is dropping your supply a little. Could you add an extra pumping session? Maybe that would do the trick. Congrats on EBF for 10 weeks - you're doing an awesome job!!!

The same exact thing happened to me at 10 weeks. i work in a DR's office and one of the MD's gave me some fenugreek to take and told me to eat oatmeal and drink one dark ale beer a day._ or they sale hops in a cap at vitamin stores.
3 days later my milk was back in full force!!!!
Good luck to you,

I have used Mother's Milk tea as well and I felt it helped. I drank it in the morning and night. There is also a supplement called Fenugreek, it really works. You take it 3 times a day and you can increase your supply in a couple days. The only downfall is that you might smell like maple syrup when you sweat.