How to increase milk supply?

[SamN]

My milk supply seems to be going down. This started in the evenings but we're having probs with some daytime feeds too now. Ds2 is only 2mo and I was hoping to bf him for ages (as ds1 has an intolerance to cow's milk and soya and I'd like to stop this happening again).

Any recommendations apart from fennel tea and using a breast pump to stimulate the breasts more?

Ds won't stay on the breast for long if he's not getting any milk, he just pulls off and cries, so some evenings I've fed him a bottle of ebm and then expressed when he's in bed. But it's so hard to express the same amount of milk as he's just taken. Last night I only managed to get 80ml and then decided to go to bed as it was after 11 and I need my sleep too!

btw, I have also tried alternating breasts every couple of minutes during one feed as I seem to remember a mw saying this was good for increasing supply, but I don't know if it has made any difference.

Your supply will increase to match his demand. Supply can be affected by stress though so if you're worrying about it... Have been told in the past that black eyed peas are good for milk production- didn't try it myself so can't comment. Make sure you're eating enough and drinking plenty of water in the beginning- keep your calories up. Wouldn't recommend this but I found that chocolate helped me- snickers in particular but now am seriously overweight... Try to stop worrying about it and let nature take its course- which it will and which I realise is easy for me to say. bear with it- it will get better

As for the swapping breasts every few minutes- never heard of that one but he needs to stay on one breast for a while to make sure he's getting the hunger satisfying hind milk and not just the thin thirst quenching fore milk.

Why do you think your supply is diminishing? How often do you feed and how's ds's weight gain? Remember lots of babies get very fast and efficient at feeding quite quickly (not my son though !) Feeding more often is the only real way to increase milk supply.

I don't think swopping breasts every few minutes will help increase milk, if anything it seems to me more likely to frustrate the baby. My dd liked to swop over frequently, but she initiated it. If your ds is getting frustrated because the let-down isn't coming quickly enough for him, you could try hand-expressing, or simply nipple-stimulation, on the other breast while he is going for boob No1, and then swopping over. This worked for dd.

AFAIK, fennel tea doesn't stimulate milk supply (although it is excellent for wind, especially internally generated wind). Fenugreek and domperidone have been proven to stimulate milk supply. I used fenugreek myself with great success. I took 6 capsules a day - unfortunately I don't recall the capsule size, but I could look it up when I get home. You can get fenugreek capsules at health shops. I don't know about domperidone, but heard of it through Mumsnet.

More info on domperidon .html. This site also has info on fenugreek.

BTW, I'm very impressed that you expressed 80ml, and in the evening no less! I think it's a lot more than you realise!

Message withdrawn

aloha just took the words right out of my mouth! I remember panicking after a couple of months when I no longer felt full - and then empty before and after feeds. You just have to trust that the babe is getting enough. My dd could feed in less than 10 minutes at times. And sometimes only 5 minutes.

I'm guessing from your message that you think your ds is frustrated because he's coming off the boob and crying? Is it definitely hunger? Remember babies will sometimes take milk from a bottle even if they've had a good feed - doesn't necessarily mean they're starving.

As long as he appears healthy and is gaining weight ok I wouldn't worry. Maybe just have a few days where you take it easy at home and feed really frequently.

Good luck.

Do you find you are rushing around a lot after Ds1? It's probably not useful for me to say this, but I found the same problem when feeding dd2, and by 2.5 months my milk dried up completely . HV said I was doing too much (oh well, I'll just ignore dd1 then...). If you can, rest as much as possible, is my advice, FWIW.

Sam, the only sure way of increasing milk is to remove it efficiently and regularly, and your baby may be doing that for you without you worrying.....he needs to feed often, too, inc at night.

Do post and tell us why you think he is not getting enough - pulling off and crying is not a sign in itself.

Rushing around doesn't make any difference to milk supply - believe me on this one, Miaou, whatever your (unhelpful in the extreme) HV said to you! If rushing around means the baby isn't fed often enough or effectively, then yes, milk will be affected, but in itself, you can rush all you like and milk will remain as long as the baby is feeding often enough and effectively removing the milk. Resting is good, of course, because it's good for you and it makes space in the day to feed....but of itself, it is irrelevant : )

That's good to know tiktok, I felt so guilty at the time for depriving dd2 of a "good start".

Hi there. Thanks for all your posts and especially for the kellymom site which told me some stuff I didn't know before - like why a baby might drink a bottle of ebm even if he or she isn't hungry. I'm also interested to see that oatmeal is good for milk supply, as my porridge oats have run out and up to about a week ago I had porridge every morning (including the day ds2 was born).

Just briefly, the way he has been pulling off and crying seemed to tell me he is still hungry. It's not the same kind of cry as when he's windy or in pain (which is far more high pitched) and when I put him near the nipple again he gets keen to go back on. I'm not getting that contented happy look which he gives me after a good feed.

He does feed fairly frequently during the day, although he has already stopped his night feed of his own accord. (I have him in the basket next to our bed or in bed with me so it's not that I'm ignoring him.) Overall he has about 7 feeds in a 24 hour period which I think is fine for his age. I'm not getting him weighed very frequently as I think it can sometimes be an unhelpful way of assessing how healthy a child is (if the HV ignores other ways of assessing his health) but as far as I know he's pretty healthy and is growing steadily.

I guess I shall try to be more attentive during the evening fussy period - although it is of course difficult to do so with ds1 and I actually posted a query about how to cope in the evenings with two children about a week ago. Plus I shall try to be more calm and restful the rest of the time as well - and make sure I have my porridge every morning

Thanks again for all of your responses

[btw, the kellymom site also suggested the switching between breasts as a way to increase supply - as long as you do it 3 or 4 times per feed. I wasn't taking him off if he was happy, only doing it when he had pulled off of his own accord]

just a thought.maybe check wee ones mouth for thrush. this happened to a friend even though she had no outward signs.Mind you ,would probably be extremely painful for you too.

My SIL used to drink a large glass of beer to bring her milk in - yes really - and I watched the effect disbelieving. She would drink a large glass over 5-10 mins and 20 mins later there was the milk!! She lives in LA, don't know if it's an American idea! She doesn't drink beer normally.

i took lactation tincture from a medical herbalist which contains fenugreek and fennel amongst other things - would really reccomend seeing one or asking at health food shop. worked for me.

I took fenugreek capsules (2-3 3x per day) - but I was expressing exclusively and had quite low supply.

It does work though - takes 2-3 days to kick in - then adjust dose to suit your individual needs.

Also make sure you are drinking enough fluids and the baby is feeding as much as possible - the best way to increase supply is to increase demand.

Alternating breasts every couple of minutes is good when expressing but I don't think it helps with feeding (you don't get to the rich hind milk so much then). For feeding maybe try and stimulate the letdown before you latch the baby on - by massage or by expressing - that way he doesn't get frustrated at having no milk straight away.

Oats too - so porridge for breakfast and flapjack for snacks !

hi - just joined cos i saw you were discussing increased milk supply. my baby (sorry, don't get all the abbreviations and things) is 3.5 months. at 12 weeks she started sleeping through - for 12 hours!!! then after 2 weeks, she stopped. 2 weeks later she is still waking up 2 or 3 times a night to feed. i feel like i don't have enough to keep her going. i too have a toddler to look after who was huge as
a baby but this one is tiny. is it all in my mind that i haven't enough? do you think i should try to decrease the amount of time feeding in the night so she takes more during the day?
i feel she feeds better at night as she goes longer in between feeds so have started to leave her as long as i can in between feeds during the day so is hungry, but she still only feeds for 5 mins. is so distracted by her big sister!
advice much appreciated - will definately try fenugreek! have started taking dulcamara - any one know if that works? seem to be a little fuller...??

some babies feed really quickly - aparently especially not first borns - maybe your breasts are producing it much more quickly now ? Also maybe try feeding her somewhere quiet (not easy when you have a toddler rampaging around as well).

And maybe at night she is not really feeding - maybe she would go back to sleep with just a cuddle ? Maybe DH could try settling her for a few nights, and only bring her for a feed if she is really hungry.

she is definately feeding at night, which is what makes me want to gradually reduce the time i do it so that maybe, hopefully, she increases during the day. or maybe i am just paranoid... i had so much trouble with dd1 that i had to do controlled crying and i don't want to again - as we only have 2 beds and dd2 is still with us and i don't want to put her in with dd1 until she sleeps though as it isn't fair to disturb her... might get dh to cuddle her. she did it last night about 10pm whilst i had snuck out to dinner with the girls - by time i rushed home, she had gone to sleep..that time. but twice more she needed feeeding inthe night.
feel like a novice - when should i expect her to sleep through reasonably?

sleep through - god knows they all vary so much ! If she managed it for 2 weeks then she can do it physically - but maybe she is having a growth spurt now and is more hungry ? Probably not because they don't last for 2 weeks. Is she getting cold or maybe something else waking her up ? Or is it just habit ?

With my DS1 I used to limit how long I fed him for in the night - say to maybe 10 minutes, and gradually cut it down over time. And maybe gradually cut out 1 feed at a time. Some people also say try giving them a drink of water - will quench their thirst, but not give them a reason to wake up for it !

pinkp, she sounds normal....and any reduction of feeding in terms of frequency in the day/night, stretching out feeds, will reduce your milk supply. Do not wait longer to ensure she has a 'better' feed....it won't work, and it will do the opposite of what you want!

tiktok - thanks. ok, so no waiting, the last thing i want to do is reduce my milk!! i feel so much more paranoid about it all this time round - i just went with the flow last time.
will try with other drinks, though she has only ever had breast so need to get her to practise on a bottle first do you think? can i give her anything other than water?

But why give her other drinks if you are wanting to increase your breastmilk?? Sorry if I have missed something here....

have you tried feeding in the bath. very relaxing - just leave your baby on one side for awhile. Leave him for at least 10 minutes on one side if he is very young- not sure how old he his but even still leaving him on one side will help. Can you lie down with him on the bed and feed him to sleep then put him into his cot. Until supply returns. Don't forget to drink lots of water. Before you feed and after the feed. Good to eat lots of carbohydrates like pasta and bread.

Don't wait for a feeling of fullness either. It's totally misleading. By three months it's normal to not get full as your body gets very efficient and makes milk to order. I honestly think that you have more of a problem with lack of confidence than lack of milk

And five minute feeds aren't that unusual, I understand. Some babies are very, very efficient milk removers! Go by her appearance. Is she healthy, alert and putting on weight? If so, your milk is fine.

Papillon - drinking lots of water doesn't help with breastfeeding. Drinking to thirst is fine. Forcing water down and drinking to excess has been shown to reduce supply. Having said that, many mothers are thirstier at the beginning, but they just need to drink to stop themselves being thirsty