Oat milk for increasing milk supply

[danielle26390]

Hi everyone. I posted another thread the other day regarding a drop in my milk supply and having a bereavement at the weekend. I'm still feeling the same and my milk supply hasn't increased much since. I was hoping for some recommendations regarding oat milk in the hope this could help to increase my supply. I've never had any other milk than cow's in tea/coffee and on cereal etc, so was just wondering if there's a particular brand that is the best one to use? I want something that tastes relatively nice.

I remember your thread abs I'm so sorry about your loss

I've not heard of oat milk increasing supply but that doesn't mean it won't help however I would give one of the BFing Helplines a call to see if they can support you through your dip in supply.

I’ve heard people mention it but I didn’t experience it when I with switched to dairy. I did because DD is allergic to cows milk. If you are swapping then you need something forfeited with calcium and iodine eg Oatley for Asda’s own. As you are trying to increase your supply then I would go for the higher calorie option of Oatley barista, its nutritionally similar to full fat milk. I’m sorry I don’t know your back story but if you are wanting to increase your supply you need to make sure you are drinking enough, aim for for 3 litres a day, eating enough and mostly importantly feeding often, ideally directly from your boobs.

I've not heard of oat milk specifically helping with supply, just oats in general, which I used (and still use) as an excuse to eat flapjack at any opportunity.

I needed to boost my supply to go back to EBF from mixed feeding so I planned a couple of days where I just stayed at home, mostly in bed, with my baby just feeding at every opportunity- if she looked like she might take a feed she was offered it. In between I ate flapjack and porridge, and drank nursing (fennel) tea, and generally tried to relax.

I don't know if that is feasible for you, but good luck with it. And regarding oat milk, I mostly use Oatly because it is what they have in my supermarket, but if you can get Minor Figures it is by far the best I've had (I'm allergic to dairy), to the extent that I've had to go back to the counter to double check it's oat milk in my coffee as it tastes so close to cow's milk.

Oats in general and fenugreek.

Don't know about supply but purely for an oat milk recommendation, we've tried loads and settled on Oatly Barista (grey carton) for my 3 year old DD, it is fortified and I have to say I like it a lot, have used it in my cereal a few times. Just shake it well as it tends to settle a bit. The regular Oatly isn't as nice in my opinion.

Very sorry for your loss

I'm in a few breastfeeding groups and they always say that nothing but feeding on demand helps increase supply, I've read fenugreek sometimes decreases supply so I would probably stay away from that. I would just feed as much as you can and hopefully you'll soon see an increase.

Sorry that you're having a tough time OP.

Just a note to be really careful to check that any oat milk you buy is fortified with calcium. Some of the Oatly cartons are not.

DD is an oat milk expert as she has been having it from 1 year old on cereal etc. and she much prefers the Minor Figures brand over the others. It has a creamier/less oily appearance as well as tasting nicer.

I had issues with my milk supply (well certainly in terms of producing anything while expressing). Most important things for me were to drink a lot of water and to up my calorie intake with good protein (I added a 2nd breakfast of eggs on toast and added full fat greek yoghurt after lunch).

I usually have oat milk and I dont think it affected my supply. My supply dropped totally actually after a few months if you want to try it though, oatley barista is the only one I can tolerate in tea and coffee. At the time I ate lots and lots of flapjacks :)

Thank you to everyone for your replies and recommendations.
I just thought with it containing oats it would help and I'm not a huge fan of porridge (I do like flapjacks though 😂).

I'm still breastfeeding straight from my boobs on demand and have decreased the amount I'm expressing, as I read that can have an impact on supply. My partner was giving bottles of EBM but I have reduced this to one a day instead of 2.

I will try the Oatly barista as recommended and see if it does make a difference and will obviously to continue to breastfeed.

Thank you to you all for your condolences too, it is appreciated and it is definitely the reason my milk supply has plummeted as I had no issues on Friday prior to the bereavement.