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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Need to boost my milk supply - where can I get fenugreek tea?

27 replies

OldieMum · 02/11/2006 14:36

DS is 17 weeks old and my milk supply is not keeping up with him - he has dropped from the 50th to the 25th centile. I am expressing and drinking lots of water, but some people have recommended drinking fenugreek tea. I have just tried to find it online at supermarkets and at Holland and Barrett, but no luck. Can anyone tell he where could I could get it quickly (ie rather than having to rely on mail order)? Alternatively, how do I make it from fenugreek? Do I just boil it up? Thanks.

OP posts:
corrina28 · 02/11/2006 16:19

google it. probably availabe mail order.

mumandlovingit · 02/11/2006 16:26

you can buy the tablets from holland & barrett.ive got some indoors i started using that are still in date but i dont use them anymore.around 70 out of the 100 still in the tub.

i can send them to you if you want me to?

determination · 02/11/2006 17:44

Have you tried eating Porridge, Oaat cakes, Oat cookies? this would do it naturally. This is how i increased my supply.

However, www.breastfeedingheaven.co.uk have a selection of teas and tinctures for increasing supply too.

Original poster
OldieMum · 02/11/2006 18:14

Thanks so much, mumanlovingit. You are very kind, but I can get DH to go to Holland and Barrett tomorrow. Just wanted to try to get some today.

OP posts:
tiktok · 02/11/2006 20:08

oldiemum, by all means slurp whatever safe herbal concoctions you wish and some of them can be very nice, I know, but don't do it solely because your baby has gone from the 50th to the 25th centile. This could be totally physiological ie normal for him....if you need to make more milk/get more milk into him, then you can bf more often. If your baby is not interested in bf more often, then he is probably getting exactly what he actually needs

Original poster
OldieMum · 02/11/2006 20:33

Thanks, but he has started feeding like crazy (4-5 times in 4-5 hours most mornings this week, plus similar in the early evenings), so I do need to boost my supply.

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DettaJnr · 05/11/2006 12:48

OldieMum, I have just read this thread and to boost your supply you need to feed him more often and also let him cluster feed. This does boost your supply. You also need to eat plenty yourself. I was told to ensure that all my meals were at least 60% carbohydrate. I ate with every feed that I did and fed every 2-4 hrs, never leaving any more than 4hrs between feeds. HTH

Elasticwoman · 05/11/2006 23:25

As other mums have said, milk supply is increased primarily by baby sucking. It might take a little while for your supply to catch up with demand. It might also be worth having the baby's position at the breast checked if the problem doesn't sort itself out soon. Even if you had it right before, position can change as baby gets bigger. Alcohol can dry up the milk a bit, but I'm sure that doesn't apply to you, OldieMum!

hairymclary · 05/11/2006 23:27

just wanted to agree with everyone else. the best way to boost supply is by letting him feed often.

flibbertyjibbet · 06/11/2006 00:19

I had ds1 readmitted to hospital for losing too much weight after feeding 24 hours a day for 10 days so supplemented with formula, DS2 I was determined - again a big baby feeding 24 hours a day, I stuck at it but drank fennel tea which is safe for lactating mums and supposed to increase supply. You can get it from any health food shop, comes in tea bags. I know its not fenugreek but I read about fenugreek too and never managed to find any. I agree with tiktok, DS2 dropped a centile at 4 months and has dropped again a bit, even though at 4 months I started supplementing with formula. My HV said the charts are based on average growth of formula fed babies and that breastfed babies tend to put lots of weight on at first then slow down a bit, so don't fit the chart curves. If your baby is fine in himself and doing plenty wee and poo then please try not to worry.

flibbertyjibbet · 06/11/2006 00:23

17 weeks, isn't that a growth spurt time? In which case feeding will calm down in a few days. I hated growth spurts.... I got told this time just to rest and feed my baby... I asked the hv if she would like to take my toddler away with her till the growth spurt was over

squatchette · 06/11/2006 04:54

Don't know if anyones mentioned this to you but there is a tablet metroclopromide i was prescribed it to increase milk production when my daughter was in neo ICU i dried up with the stress ,apparently it is an anti -emetic(sickness drug) but has the side effect of increasing lactation.I'd try the natural route first though i just didn't have the luxury of time on my side.Good luck.

Original poster
OldieMum · 06/11/2006 21:55

Thanks to all for the advice. I assumed this was a growth spurt when it started two weeks ago, but it seems a bit long for that. I am feeding on demand, ie whenever he wants it, which is very often; I am eating well (and have been throughout pregnancy and afterwards); I have had no alcohol for weeks (because I thought it might exacerbate the colic); for some feeds, all goes well and he falls asleep afterwards and stays asleep (so I don't think it's a problem with positioning); I found some fenugreek; I did a "baby moon" this weekend - spent two days with him in bed. Result? Today he still cluster fed in the morning and early evening and I got very little milk when I expressed. I am at my wits' end. What should I do? I have a three year-old and a DH with a heavy workload this term. The toll on all of us is proving high. Any suggestions would be extremely welcome.

OP posts:
flibbertyjibbet · 06/11/2006 22:05

Now don't all shout at me but the reason I supplemented with formula for DS2 was having only 16 months age gap between kids and self employed dp who was snowed under with work. I decided when I got to that wits end place that a bit of formula to give my baby a full tummy occasionally was the best thing to do for my sanity, our relationship and our toddler who was feeling very left out. Only one or two ounces at a time, not a whopping 9oz bottle so he doesn't expect a mega full tummy next time he goes on you. I did that during a growth spurt and was able to fully feed him again when his demands subsided a bit.

moondog · 06/11/2006 22:09

Oldie,what ypu express is no indication of how much milk you have.
Calm down m'dear.

Go with it,and let him feed.The more he sucks the more he is stimulating your breasts to produce milk.

It will be fine.

hairymclary · 06/11/2006 22:12

oldiemum, cluster feeding is normal and there is no reason why he shouldn't do it (from his point of view!)

as FJ says
the charts are based on average growth of formula fed babies and that breastfed babies tend to put lots of weight on at first then slow down a bit, so don't fit the chart curves. If your baby is fine in himself and doing plenty wee and poo then please try not to worry."

also, how much you can express really isn't a good indicator of how much you are producing.
trust your body, there is no reason why you should not be producing enough milk, he'd let you know soon enough if he wasn't getting as much as he wants!

Original poster
OldieMum · 06/11/2006 22:34

He is letting me know - big time. He feeds hourly in the morning (4-6 times) and does something similar between about 4 and 8pm. He is also finding it hard to settle down to sleep much in the day. I am daunted by the suggestion that this is just how it's going to be from now on. I am exhausted and crabby with DD and DH and am beginning to think that it's unfair to them to keep this going. But I'm also reluctant to give up.

OP posts:
tiktok · 06/11/2006 22:36

Oldie, he's behaving om a normal way - and it's also normal not to have much to express. That can be technique, your pump, or simply that you are making what your baby needs and not much more....but that's perfectly ok. You don't actually need to make more than he needs....if you carry on expressing you will make more milk, but as it's spare and not needed, there's no reason to

curlew · 06/11/2006 22:39

I fed my two sucessfully (dd til she was 3) but I was NEVER able to express more than a few ounces -and that was an agonizingly slow and tortuous process. Just keep feeding and, i suggest, don't confuse things by trying to express unless you really have to. Just feed, and if your baby is content and alert, with good elastic skin, good colour and bright eyes, you're doing fine, regardless of weight gain. So long as he is not actually losing significant amounts of weight, don't worry.

fortyplus · 06/11/2006 23:03

OldieMum - Don't fret - it's hard, isn't it? Are you in your 30's having had a career only to discover that having a baby doesn't come naturally? Having spent years dealing with awkward people I found myself - super confident and capable or so I thought - with a pink blob that I didn't understand & it couldn't tell me what it wanted!
I nearly lost my marbles.

Don't worry too much about the charts - my ds2 ended up on the 75th centile for height and the 2nd for weight. He's a perfectly healthy lad of 11 now.

Original poster
OldieMum · 07/11/2006 09:05

Curlew - I'm 44, and this is my second child. I did feel unconfident in dealing with DD (now 3), but I had been feeling much more competent wrt DS. The feeding went very well until recently. I also kept calm through eight weeks of colic, but this recent problem with feeding has really thrown me off course. I know what you mean about the charts - DD dipped in the early weeks, but now is a lovely, tall, slim child. I have no idea what she weighs! But DS dipped so sharply that I was rattled.

Thanks for all the nice messages. I'll keep going until the end of the week and then make a decision about whether to supplement.

OP posts:
Original poster
OldieMum · 07/11/2006 09:05

Sorry - that should read "Fortyplus..."

OP posts:
Pushkin · 08/11/2006 00:57

have you guys stumbled to the fact that it's FENNEL tea, not fenugreek tea? unless you have a very interesting lactation consultant....

you can get it in holland and barrett.

tiktok · 08/11/2006 09:08

Pushkin - no, it's fenugreek which is sold as a milk boost. Fennel might be sold as a milk boost, too, I don't know.

I would be sceptical about either of them, myself, as most mothers either i) have enough milk anyway or ii) can boost it simpy by feeding more effectively and more often

MrsBadger · 08/11/2006 09:25

fennel tea is sometimes mentioned for colicky babies - wonder if that's where the confusion arose...

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