Fenugreek and Milk Thistle

[Emma7]

Bf counsellor suggested I try these to boost my milk supply. Anyone used them? How many did you take? It says 1 tablet every 4 hours on the jar but she said to take 3 each time.
I am struggling to express more than 1oz at a time and baby has been slow to gain weight despite feeding every 1-2 hours. Bf counsellors checked latch again today and no problem there - thought it was worth a try.

My next door neighbour has a tea for lactation here in the US, with the above two ingredients in, she loves it and it works so much that's she's having to express loads too. See if you can feed the tea.

how old is your baby Emma? Can you give a bit more detail on slow weight gain? ie birthweight current weight, growth profile. maybe tiktok or mears will see this thread and have more advice with a bit more info.

in the mean time ask yourself, is you baby weeing and pooing enough, does he seem alert and content?

amt expressed is not an indication of milk supply. type of pump or manual expression also plays a role in how much you may get.

but to answer part of your question, fenugreek makes your sweat & breath smell like maple syrup. you are to take 1 capsule 3x a day on the first day. if your BO doesn't start to smell, increase on day 2 to two caps, etc. when you start to reek of maple syrup, you have the correct dosage.

I think the other poster may be talking of fennel tea. Whether or not it boosts milk supply, i don't know but its been used historically in a few places for that. I have drank it and it is lovely and refreshing and made me relax and stop worrying about all the things being a new mum made me stress out about. Plus you can always use the extra water.

Whether or not this is useful to you, it may be heartening to hear that my dd bf every 1.5 - 2 hrs right up to when she started to eat properly. She is a petite thing with bags of energy who never took the second breast when offered till after she was very active (over 10 months?).

sorry didn't mean to be wordy. off to make some supper.

I've heard that fennel is very good for lactation, I wish i'd tried it when my baby didn't grow properly. I would seriously give it a go- perhaps the dosage on the jar and then increase if not the desired effect?

The tea my neighbour is using is a mix of the following Fenugreek, Borage, Dill Seed, Aniseed, Fennel Seed, Lemon Verbena, Lemon Grass, Spearmint, Star Anise, Peppermint and Coriander. You can buy the tea in the UK. I found one stockist by searching on line Mother's Balm

Thanks for your replies.
Kiskidee - I have posted on here loads about DDs weight gain (paranoid first time mum - everyone must be sick of me!!). She is alert, happy and is doing nappies of both kinds but is petite and only weighs 8lb 110z at 10 weeks (8.2 at birth but went down to 7.3)she is currently gaining at about 3 or 4 oz a week.
Started expressing on Friday (bought a decent Medela electric pump) getting more each day but only up to about 1oz per session (about 15 - 20 mins) so now I'm worried about my supply again and am running out of ideas as I can't improve latch or feed her any more than I am doing IYSWIM. Hope this makes it clearer.
I don't smell yet so will keep on for few days!!

Emma, I have had a look at previous posts and what I said a monnth or so ago. As far as I could tell, your baby had been gaining slowly, but all the other signs were good, and everything sounded ok.

I still think that, though your baby is gaining slightly faster.

I don't see the need for fenugreek or anything else, or any need to express.

Feeding 1-2 hourly is what your baby seems to need and she seems to be thriving. I don't see why there is pressure on you to faff about with pumps or supplements. It's making you anxious, instead of helping you enjoy your sweet baby

thanks tiktok. i was thinking the same thing. [preen] but not experienced enough to say so. as i was expressing - at work - just now, i was thinking that Emma's dd sounds like mine and the only reason she ought to express is if she went back to work.

i fed my dd everytime she squeaked and made her refuse me. she is still only 21 lbs at 14 months.

i took her to a paediatrician about her eczema when she was 5 months old and he took a look at her and said she was a very thriving baby. before that i was always worried about her weight gain - even tried fenugreek too. found it pointless as dd just took only what she wanted.

Just had her weighed and she was 8lb 13 (at 10 weeks) so has gained a bit again this week but not as much as last week.
HV said she had not gained as much as she had hoped this week but that she was fine and not to worry she is just a petite baby.
Will try to relax a bit more about it. Not getting her weighed next week - will leave it a fortnight.
Thank you TikTok - I am expressing so that I can give her to DH for a bit to get some sleep at the weekend not really to boost supply but it may help with that too a bit I guess.