Suggestions for Increasing Breastmilk Production While Pumping

I don't like beer but when I drank just a few ounces it increassed my milk greatly. I think there is a short time after the drinking of the beer you need to wait befor you let the baby have the milk. I don't know how alcohol free beer would work but it might be worth a try and you would not have to wait to give the baby the milk.

Maybe try pumping a little more often? But sometimes the body just decides to stop. There may be nothing you can do, but buy formula for a couple months. Sorry I don't have more advice.

Hi S. -

I've had the same problem. I started taking fenugreek (an herbal supplement you can get at GNC) and it helped quite a bit. I've also picked up some Mother's Milk Tea (also at GNC) based on advice online, but haven't tried it yet. Also, if you can pump 3x in a workday, that will also help. Something I'm going to try this weekend that I read about online was 'marathon pumping' where you pump for 10 minutes, take a 10 minute break, pump for 10 minutes, another 10 minute break, and then pump again for 10 minutes - the woman who recommended it said that she did it in the morning and at night.

Good luck!!

Without delay, you MUST increase your intake of liquids, food, rest, and most especially the number of times you pump or breastfeed throughout the day. You must continue to eat for two if you are breastfeeding. Your body burns tons of calories to produce milk. Without food, no milk. If you're back to work, or on a post-baby work-out, you're probably burning extra calories, and that means no extra fuel to make milk. EAT. Don't worry about gaining weight. Breastfeeding burns alot, I mean alot of calories.

Most important, contrary to an earlier post, water does not decrease milk production. Like food, you need a lot of liquids, including and most especially water, to produce more milk. In some cases, drinking liquids while breastfeeding will help with let down. Drink more. If you prefer juice, drink juice. Your body can not produce milk if any of these above factors are lacking.

If you very serious about continuing breastfeeding, you're going to have to take some well intentioned measures and soon, or risk your body's total shut down of milk production. You need to jump start your body into thinking the baby needs more milk. Your body is a fine tuned machine that will only produce, what the baby needs. Even an artificial baby (pump) So if you only pump a couple of times a day, for just a few minutes a day, you may still produce milk, but eventually your body will stop producing enough to feed a child.

Before things slow down too far, you'll have to get radical and start pumping/feeding like you did shortly after the baby was born. That means, bringing your pump to work, and pumping both sides every two hours for 10 minutes on each side, for about a week to two weeks, until your body's prodction of milk increases significantly. Once you get production up to a level you find acceptible you'll need to maintain that pumping/feeding schedule until you are done breastfeeding for good. You can't stop. If you have a weak, non-hospital grade pump, this could be a factor too. Double cone pumps are the most time efficient. Medela is a good brand if you don't have one. Pricey but insurance covers most pumps, and there's used ones on Ebay. Just be sure to purchase fresh cones and tubing (get it at Target). Handpumps are alot of work, and often can't get the job done well enough to keep production up. You need powerful suction. You need to get those breast empty each time, to boost production.

This is burdensome for some, especially if you are totally depending on the pump to keep milk production up. One effective ways to cut down time on the machine is to breastfeed her at night, throughout the night. Those who exclusively breastfeed know a very important secret about milk production and nightfeeding in this manner. Stress can shut down milk production in a heartbeat. The benefit of nightfeeding is the child is feeding non-stop throughout the night, and at will while you are sleeping/resting. Many moms using this method have discovered their bodies produces some of the best milk, they produce more milk, and have been able to prolong breastfeeding longer.

There are many books and studies on this topic. You can read up on it at the La Leche League's official web site. Through the site you can contact a local consultant who can meet with one on one, or put you in contact with a support group in your area. Most LLL consultants are nurses/doulas and certified specialists that can help you one on one. Go to www.lalecheleague.org.

One last point, one other cause of little to no milk coming from a breast could be due to blocked ducts. If you have pain in that area, be sure to get checked by an OB. Mastitis is not fun, and the direct result of blocked ducts. You can find home remedies on the La Leche site if this is the case. Use these until you can get to your doctor. Good luck. HOpe this helps.

I asked an LC this very question. She recommends pumping every 3 hours for 24-48 hours. However instead of just 10 minutes to pump until you see minimal to nothing coming and then pump for an addition 2-3 minutes. After the 48 hours you should see an increase. Also look at diet -- hydration is vital. Mint can decrease supply. Oats, Barley can increase it...so have some oatmeal every morning.

I can totall relate to only one producing. I have the same problem. I agree with the mother's milk tea. It definitely works.

The best ways I found were to drink LOTS of water, pump a few minutes longer than necessary each time, and MASSAGE. You can get a lot more if you push and squeeze all over the breast while pumping.

Hi,
for both my sister and I, fenugreek capsules worked.
J.

Mother's Milk tea and fenugreek are great suggestions. I would also suggest power pumping whenever possible. Pump 10 min., off 10 min., Pump 10 min, off 10, etc for an hour. Pump the full 10 min even if there isn't milk coming out. I would still continue to try to latch your daughter on. She may come back around it may just be a nursing strike. You won't know if you don't try. Good luck!

Drink at least eight 8 oz glasses of water a day. I would also recommend 2-3 glasses of Mother's Milk tea per day. You can find it at Cub in the natural foods section. This worked for me! Good luck!

Someone told me that dark beer helps you produce more milk. I just heard this recently and wasn't even sure it was true, but after reading posts about eating barley and brewer's yeast, it makes sense. Some people hate the taste of it, but if you're like me and you like an occasional Guinness on tap, go for it. I guess it can't hurt. :)

I agree with Amanda that its more than likely a nursing strike. Keep trying ot latch her, especially at calm quiet times like naptime, bedtime, first thing in the AM.

As for increasing supply, drink water to thirst. No more, no less. Too much water can actually have the opposite effect and DECREASE your milk supply. Having one bowl of oatmeal a day will increase your milk. Just one bowl is all it takes to increase your milk supply dramatically. Avoid mint, it will dry your milk up, and the mothers milk tea is an easy try as well. Fenugreek can be used, but honestly using the oatmeal, drinking to thirst, and milk tea will help greatly. Pump a couple times a day, and stick to the same times so your body is used to making milk for that time. And keep trying to latch your daughter on, a nursing strike is common at this age, and its not weaning.

That is almost exactly the same age that my son stopped wanting it and really after time has passed I can say that was fine. He weened himself and we moved on and life was fine, actually a lot easier then me having to ween him. But I would say if you want to pump, which I did twice a day for about 2 months. Do it at consistant times so your body knows when to expect it. I did it in the AM and around 8pm, his bedtime because that has his feeding times. I tried to keep the night time feeding with him breastfeeding but it was a fight and so not worth it. Actually what we ended up doing worked great in the end. We switched to the next stage formula and then to milk around 11 months. It was an easy transition and giving up the bottle was nothing because he too loved his sippy. Call or go to your pediatriation and make a plan. Cows milk is so close that this should be an ok transition soon enough. If you do keep pumping though I would say drink tons of water, also drink while pumping.

Good luck-

There are a few things you can do!! Drink LOTS of fluds. When pumping try to pump more frequently and for longer. This stimulates the tissue to make more milk. Some say a little caffeine (such as a cup of coffee/tea or a pop) helps stimulate milk production. You can also talk with your physician about Reglan. It is a 3-4 week regimen of taking it: a lot the first week and then gradually decreasing it. There is also an herb, fenugreek, that has been shown to increase milk production. The dosing is high and like most herbs has not been tested in humans! Hope this helps. Be proud that you were able to breastfeed/pump as long as you have...you have provided your daughter with a wonderful gift!
--From--An OB nurse currently breastfeeding a 5 mo old

When I was afraid that my production was slowing down, my lactation consultant suggested I take Fenugreek (sp?). It's an herbal supplement so there is no hard evidence that it works. Its availble at nutrion/natural food stores. I stopped taking it after a week because our daughter didn't have a bowel movement and I was worried it was due to the herbs. It made me/my milk supply smell like maple syrup!

Drink, drink, drink, and pump every three hours. My son went straight into the NICU after he was born so I was not able to nurse him for the first week and half, and that's what they told me to do, hope it will work for you. But if it does not be thankfullf you got 10 great months in and that you don't have a child that is hard to wean from the breast.

In addition to being the mother of two grown children, I am also a retired pediatrfic nurse,with over 25 years experience in an NICU [Neoantal Intensive Care Unit]. I also BF my children for 15 months & 10 months respedctively.

To increase milk production, the answer is to pump more frequently. [The ORIGINAL supply & demand!] Is your fluid intake adequate?
But I can tell you that my daughter also tried to abruptly stop her breast feeding at 10 months. In the NICU we recommended that the weaning process be as natural as possible. Ideally, the wean should end with the nighttime feeding [morning feeding being the next to last].
For now- I suggest that you see how she takes formula from the sippy cup. my little "darling" would not take any kind of milk [not formula OR cow's milk] but breast milk. If the formula idea fails, her favorite 100% juice is a wonderful substitute. As you probably remember with your older daughter-by 10 months, an infant should be ready to increase her protein source with cheese & meats anyway. There is an ongoing argument over cow's milk, as to whether 3% [whole] milk is necessary. [1 or 2% should be enough fat content.]
With my daughter, I lost the battle to persist with the breast feeding... but in all honesty it probably was better to let her 'decide' now that she is close to her first year. Apologies to the die-hard breast feeders- it just got to the point where it wans't worth the battle, especially if you work full time. Quallity time with your baby is a must!!!

I applaud you for puming all of this time, you are obviously a very dedicated mom!

I also used fenugreek capsules that you can get at a health food store (and other places, probably). But I used it during the first month or so while I was breastfeeding and my production wasn't very high. It worked really well and I never had any other production issues.

Great suggestions from everyone! I loved the mother's milk tea and it did help my production. I used Red Raspberry Leaf tea also. You can find it at health food stores.

Hi S.,
You've gotten a lot of great suggestions! I'll add one more that I didn't see...I read and personally found that it wasn't the length of each pumping session that was as important as the frequency. When I needed to increase my supply, I would pump for 10 minutes, wait 5, pump for 10 more. I did this several times a day for several days. For me, it was important to do this as part of a routine so that my body "caught on" to what I was trying to do.

I also found that drinking lots of water did help me. I didn't have any luck with fenugreek or mother's tea, but everyone is different and you just have to try a few things to see if you can get something to work for you.

Good luck and good for you for keeping at it!

Please don't give up on BF if you are not ready to. I remember my now 3 yr old having nursing strikes. I continued until she was 22 months and she was ready to give up the breast for good...that was a hard day for me!

I wasn't a champion pumper, so no suggestions there at all except make sure you keep up on your liquid intake.

I have heard a glass of plain old iced tea everyday does the trick. It's worth a try.

Are you still taking your pre-natal pills? I've found that when I forget to take them my milk decreases. It's worth a try and plus it's good to have those vitamins too!!

~S.

How often are you pumping? Can you add a short pumping session in between your regular pumping schedule? Have you tried fenugreek or mother's milk tea? I had success with fenugreek - you can buy it at GNC. You'll smell like syrup, but it helped. www.kellymom.com has some good suggestions too.

We didn't get off on a good start when I started nursing, I saw lactation consultant and so on. I finally went to a herbal store and the lady recommended blessed thistle and fennugreek. After I started taking them I noticed an increase within 2-3days. I would try that.

Your daughter is obviously telling you that she does not want to drink a bottle anymore. I realize that it is more advantageous for you but if she is ready to do without her bottle, she is ready. This very good because a lot of children start to think of their bottle as a 'security blanket' and are very reluctant to let it go. There are liquid vitamins that will certainly help her with her growth and good health. Good luck. I nursed two of my three children, the third was allergic to my milk, but he turned out to be the biggest eater and grew tremendously, (6'5" when he finally finished growing. They were all very healthy kids. Good luck.

Hi there,

I had the same problem with my first child. There is a tea and suplement that you can take. The tea is called Mothers Milk tea. It stimulates lactation and keeps your supply up. You can get the tea and supplements at an organic grocery store or specality store. HyVee might have it. GOOD LUCK

You have a lot of good advice here on how to increase your supply. I'd also suggest trying to nurse her first thing in the morning when she's sorta sleepy. And if you can get her to nurse, if you nurse AND pump at the same time, you will see an increase in the amount you can pump. I was amazed how much more I produced when he was attached, too.
I work full time (10 hour days, I was pumping twice a day at work) and at about 8 months I had to start supplementing with formula. I felt AWFUL about it -- I'd had it as a goal to make it to one year. I did actually make it, but he also had formula, too. I got SO stressed out about pumping that I'd spend the whole weekend trying to pump enough for the next day. I'm sure stressing out, while normal, did not help my milk supply, lol.
I just wanted to let you know that if you do end up needing to supplement, it isn't the worst thing in the world. In restrospect I wish I'd done it sooner, because I really feel like if I'd been less stressed out about the whole thing, I probably could have relaxed and brought my supply back.
GL with the breastfeeding, and congrats on making it to 10 months. That's fantastic!

S., You are doing the right thing!
Keep pumping at regular intervals through out the day. Also, keep pumping for a few minutes after the milk has stopped coming out - that stimulates your body to think that more milk is needed. It takes a while, but it should work.
Good luck!

Pump every chance you get--increased demand will increase production. Drink lots of water and 100% fruit juice. Also, relax and feel good about the fact that your daughter got breastmilk for the first 10 months of her life. Thats more than double what most babies get and it is a great start for her. Some babies will just self wean earlier and that may be the case with your daughter. Sometimes it is harder on Mom to wean than it is on baby. : )

Fennugreek pills or tea. You can find them at GNC. Not sure of the exact spelling but it help me. Once the supply starts to increase them back off on the amount you are taking. Talk to a lactation consultant too.

Ten months is the time when both of my boys stopped breastfeeding and is also a time when breastmilk normally decreases in supply.
There are some herbal supplements you can take like brewers yeast etc.
I know stopping was extremely emotional for me, but I realized, that they were done and it was time for me to stop.

Hi Brenda.

Have you tried just lying about with her for a weekend to see if she will take again? Otherwise, pumping in and of itself helped me increase my supply.

Try contacting La Leche League too-

http://www.llli.org/

Best of luck!

A.

A. R.
Free Market Organics LLC
http://www.freemarketorganics.com

Have you tried fenugreek? Even at a small dose, I found that it helped.

I'd say give a call to either a LeLeche League leader or a lactation consultant at the hospital. Those professionals have a ton of tips up their sleeves to share!

Also, find a really good nutritional supplement for yourself to take and that will also help to increase your production. Powdered supplements are more bioavailable. Very few in pill form are worth bothering with for this. I know several women, including myself, who have had success keeping supply up with a really high quality powdered nutritional supplement.

Pumping more frequently should also help! You could double up on pumping frequency at first to get supply up again and them cut back a little again.

:0)

~A.~

Try an herb called "fenugreek", found at GNC or other nutrition stores. I used it when my son was in the hospital for 48 hours and I wasn't pumping as often- helped get it back more quickly. Good luck!

No one has mentioned this so far, but it could be your pump. Commercial pumps lose effectiveness after time, and really should only be used about 6 months. This is why so many moms don't make it to the year mark who pump during the day. You should be able to rent a hospital grade pump for a couple months The cost isn't too bad (much less than formula) and if you can get your pediatrician to write a prescription for you your insurance may even cover the cost- check with your plan. Also, on a personal note I would love to know what type of work you do from home where you have your daughter in daycare. I work from home as well and am finding it very difficult to balance the two. Good luck!