Anyone had good results with fenugreek?

[bettydraperswardrobeelf]

Hi,

I'm new to the site so sorry if this has been asked before, but (as the subject title suggests!) I was wondering if anyone had tried fenugreek to increase breast milk supply? I have a 6 week old DS and I have found that despite trying all methods suggested by my HV (almost constantly putting him to the breast, pumping with a very expensive breast pump, drinking tons of water etc etc) I am still not producing enough milk for him and after a week of massively stressful evenings with him screaming for hours cos he was starving hungry and I was running on empty, plus his weight gain slowing I gave in and gave him some formula.

He has been having top ups of formula every evening now for 2 weeks and I am feeling hugely guilty/disappointed about it as I desperately wanted him to be exclusively BF. :(

Anyway, I read that fenugreek can help to increase breast milk production and was wondering if anyone has had any joy or whether it's just a load of rubbish?

Betty welcome to MN and congratulations on your LO .

Firstly, the fact that your DS is constantly feeding in the evenings and your breasts feel empty isn't a sign that you don't have enough milk. Even if your breasts feel empty they will have some milk. Its sometimes called cluster feeding and you can read a bit more about it here on Kellymom

Also, when you say poor weight gain, is he being measured on a bf baby chart? Only asking as I've had 2DC with 2 different HV and they both started stressing about poor weight gain until I pointed out that they were using charts for ff babise. Once they started using the correct charts they were happier with the weight gain.

There is some good info on low supply here including "is your milk supply really low?"

Hopefully, reading all of that will help you feel more confident. If you want to wean DS from the top-ups this might help.

Really though I think you could do with some RL help. HVs can be good but both of mine had very limited knowledge of bfing. You would probably do much better talking to a Bfing Counsellor, is there one in your area or have you tried ringing one of the Ffing Helplines?

Also, do you mix with any other Bfing Mums? When my DC1 was about the age of your DS I think I would have probably gone insane if I hadn't started going along to my local NCT group.

Keep feeding and keep posting, you are doing a great job

I have tried fenugreek, and my baby is gaining really well. I have the tea from Weleda. Have no idea if it really works, but it doesn't hurt to try. Plus, herbal teas are better than caffinated drinks while breastfeeding.

Glad its working for you Badabingbang.

Betty how often is your Lo feeding in the day?

I used fenugreek to help boost my supply so I could move from nearly exclusively bottle feeding (mainly formula but some ebm) to exclusively bfing when DD1 was 8w. I took 4 610mg fenugreek tablets 3 times a day (with meals). If you have taken enough you will start smelling of maple syrup, and baby will smell of maple syrup too (wee/poo)

Within 48 hours I had gone from a DD to a F cup and had gallons of milk (DD1 had reflux so needed a normal milk supply + another milk supply!).

I know breast size doesn't = milk supply size but my theory on the size increase was my breast tissue hadn't been developed by direct feeding (had not really been able to feed DD1 directly since she was 18h old) and the fenugreek helped with that or it may well have been engorgement but then 2 babies later and I'm still an F-G cup and I haven't took fenugreek for years so I don't know the exact effect it has but it did work for me. Other mothers I know have taken it and it has done nothing though.

It isn't a cure all for normal newborn behaviour though so don't expect fenugreek to stop a baby cluster feeding or for it to make you produce more than normal in the evenings (supply isn't lower but SLOWER in the evenings). Also the more frequently a baby feeds the higher in fat the milk is ('fresh' milk is higher in fat than milk that has been in a breast for hours) so the shorter the interval between feeds the fattier milk the baby will get.

If positioning/attachment isn't great it doesn't matter what you do, if baby isn't getting a good latch on they won't be able to access as much milk even the best supply. Have a look at these videos, 'Nibbling' shows you what you don't want to see, 'Good drinking' and 'Really good drinking' is what you do want to see. Hopefully it will be reassuring to see but if you see nibbling, the latch can be altered to get 'good drinking' feeding.

Plus, drink to thirst not Xlitres of water. Drinking too much water can impact on supply but not in a good way (There isn't a direct relationship e.g. drink Xmls of water more than needed = make Xmls less but it can have an impact).

How are you getting on now Betty?