Repairing Low Milk Supply

Increasing  Low Milk Supply

Hi moms!  Do you need more milk supply? Mom gave me some

ideas as well as others when I researched.

We’ll go through some symptoms of low milk supply and the

causes. We’ll then get to some remedies on how to increase

your supply.

Symptoms

Weight Gain

One of the symptoms is baby not gaining enough weight.

Baby should gain an average of 5 to 7 ounces per week, the

first three months.

Between three and six months, 3.5 to 5 ounces per week. From

six months to a year, 2 to 3 ounces per week.

The first week of baby’s life, breastfed babies will lose 7 to 10%

of their birth weight, though.

Dirty Nappies

The amount of dirty diapers you change goes down.

“The number of poos and wees your baby has per day is a good

indicator of whether or not she is getting enough milk – see our

article explaining the pattern your baby should be following in

Breastfeeding your newborn: What to expect in the first week.

Seek medical advice if you’re concerned or if you have noticed

her dirty nappies decreasing in wetness and heaviness.”   

                read more

Causes

Latching

Latching problems could be a reason baby isn’t getting enough

milk. The more baby feeds, the more your body makes milk.

If baby has a latching problem, your body senses you don’t

need as much milk, cause not as much is leaving your body.

See your lactation adviser if baby isn’t gaining enough

weight.

Not Breastfeeding Enough

If moms don’t breastfeed enough, their body won’t produce as

much. That includes not pumping enough, if you pump and

Alcohol

Drinking a lot of alcohol can decrease milk supply. Some say

Nicotine

Smoking can also be bad for your milk supply. It also sends

harmful chemicals to baby.

Medications

Some medications you might be taking might cause this

problem too. Always ask your doctor or pharmacist.

Remedies

Alcohol

Reduce the amount of alcohol you take and the frequency, too.

Smoking

Smoke no more than 10 cigarettes a day. Stop if you can.

Feeding Problems

“Be alert to feeding problems. Offer both breasts at each

feeding. It’s OK for your baby to nurse on only one breast

at a feeding occasionally — but if this happens regularly, your

milk supply will decrease.

You might pump the other breast to relieve pressure and

Skin To Skin

Spend A lot of Skin to Skin Time With Your Baby. Especially,

when they are new.

Skin to skin contact promotes the production of oxytocin and

prolactin in your body which helps the making of milk.

Drink Enough Water

Breast milk is mostly water. Drink enough so you don’t become

Your body will tell you when you should drink water.

“Soon after starting to nurse, you will notice that you feel thirsty

more often.

This is triggered by oxytocin, a hormone released during

breastfeeding, which naturally affects your thirst cues to

encourage you to drink enough water to hydrate yourself and

make breast milk.”    read more

Eat Healthy

You must eat healthy foods so that your body can get fueled

You don’t have to eat super foods or be on an incredible diet.

Just eat good balanced meals of assorted fruits, veggies,

grains, and some meat.

There are certain foods such as ginger, fenugreek, green

papaya, carrots, and yams, that should help with low milk supply.

Lactation Cookies

Some moms say lactation cookies helped their supply.

“What makes these cookies so special is that they contain

galactagogues, which are substances that promote lactation

in humans and animals.

Galactagogues can be found in various herbs and foods. The

brewer’s yeast, wheat germ, flaxseed meal and whole oats in

lactation cookies are what specifically help with a lactating

mother’s milk supply.     read more

Power Pumping

So, if you’ve been exclusively breastfeeding, you can try power

pumping. So, basically how you power pump is you find an

hour of your day to devote to pumping.

Spend 20 mins pumping, and then take a 10-minute break.

Then go back to pumping for 10 mins.

Then rest for 10 mins and after the rest, pump for 10 mins and

then you’re done.

What you are doing is fooling your body into thinking it needs

to make more milk. That baby is super hungry!

“Your aim in pumping is to remove more milk from the breasts

and/or to increase frequency of breast emptying.

When pumping to increase milk supply, to ensure that the

pump removes an optimum amount of milk from the breast,

keep pumping for 2-5 minutes after the last drops of milk.

However, adding even a short pumping session (increasing

frequency but perhaps not removing milk thoroughly) is

helpful.”     read more

Of course, talk to your lactation adviser before doing this. She

might say you don’t need to do it.

OK, moms. I hope that helps! Low milk production is not that

common. Usually, there’s another reason that your milk adviser

can tell.   Have a great day!

courtesy IntermountainMoms@youtube.com

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