Increase milk supply tips

[tintin13]

Hello mums,

I have a 2 months old baby at home and she's exclusively breastfed.
Lately I feel i cannot keep up with her demand and also when i pump nothing much comes out. Especially in the evening she is really fussy and hungry, my breasts are soft and empty and i end up giving her a bottle (I pump in the morning to have for the evening).
I am drinking teas, taking vitamins, I pump and put her often and the boob but nothing seems to work. I cannot say i am very stressed and i do my best to rest.
I read so many stories about coconut water, gatorade, beer and such and I don't know which is true.
Did something work for you? Do you have any tips for me?

[1234Becca]

Hey - I was feeling like this and called a helpline and the first thing she asked me was about my baby’s nappies - which are frequent and then she asked, what does that suggest? And so clearly she’s getting enough food. This made me feel better and she told me to try and relax about it and not watch it when pumping. And the first time I didn’t watch I managed to produce a bit more. I think the breasts are always going to settle out and regulate / not produce as much as those early days. So I never got any tips from my phone call, just some reassurance and told to relax which didn’t feel super helpful but it has helped a bit. My baby is still really fussy but she’s producing nappies so I’m rolling with it for now 🙈

[tintin13]

Mine is producing nappies as well but she cannot fall asleep in the evening cause she is obviously hungry..I put her at the boob but don't hear her swallow like i usually do and then I give her the bottle she eats 40-50ml and falls asleep immediately..

[Tidypidy]

When mine were breastfeeding some years ago, were we told to eats oats to help milk production. Flapjacks or porridge were my favourites! Best thing to do though is drink masses, rest and try not to worry about it.

[Mossstitch]

Long time ago but I used a bach's flower remedy called valarian if your into natural remedies. I stopped and started it three times to test and everytime milk supply dropped and picked up after I used it. Breastfed three fully, never used a bottle with any of them and all big strapping men now. I think sometimes it's more about the 'let down' of the milk as the day goes on and you get more tired/stressed, especially when you have other young children your running about after. Worth a try for a few pounds, bigger boots chemist used to supply it or online👍

[HelloDulling]

Fennel tea and fenugreek capsules worked for me. The fenugreek does make your skin smell a bit funny!

[Footnote]

The longer you are feeding for, the less you get the feeling of having milk building up before a feed. So base any concern on whether your daughter seems hungry.

[Lacedwithgrace]

Plenty of water is the only drink that will affect your supply, coconut water and vitamin drinks are great in general but beer and energy drinks aren't a great choice. Drink plenty, make sure you're moving around as much as possible and try not to worry. Try to pump regularly, even if you're not getting much the more you do it the more you get.

[tintin13]

thank you all!

[Mossstitch]

@tintin13 sorry op, earlier I was recommending Bach's flower remedies and realised I'd said the wrong thing, it was actually Vervain...... I've just checked👍

[Funauntienowmummytobe]

Babies cluster feed at night and this also increases supply as it is supply and demand, apparently the cluster feeding helps them 'tank up' for the night but my ds doesn't get that memo, he cluster feeds and still wakes every hour! Skin to skin helps increase supply too.

Have a look at the witching hour and see if this matches your lo. We went through it if ds was overtired.

[tintin13]

Yes, for sure we are going through the witching hours as well.
I am taking now the mother love pills and i saw an improvement last night..however during the day i can't seem to be able to pump too much. That's a pity since i wanted to have some reserves.
I will keep pushing and hope for the best!

[twoxmummy]

This is what I have .. it works very well for my supply. Any time it dips due to my cycle this tea boosts it right back up! praybiotics.com/products/liquidgold

[seaborgium]

Giving her bottles is almost certainly making the witching hour fussiness worse - you have now compounded the witching hour fussies with nipple confusion. If you stop the bottles cold turkey you should see an improvement within a day or two.

DS wouldn’t latch for the first few weeks. Once he finally got the hang of latching we found that we could very quickly drop all his bottles except for the evening feeds. For some time he was still receiving bottles of ebm in the evenings because during the evenings he would scream any time he went near my boobs. Then one day we decided to go cold turkey on the bottles. We had a couple of hours of walking around with a crying baby before he calmed down and decided to feed. Thereafter he was much less fussy at the breast and much more settled in the evenings.

[tintin13]

@twoxmummy thanks, i will definitely try it.

@seaborgium I'm trying to give up the bottle the problem is she is a bad eater also with the bottle. The evenings are a bir better now but she just doesn't eat. it's a nightmare to feed her by any means! i try to put her half asleep and give her the breast but starts crying..then I give the bottle the same. In the night i have no problem..

And of course because of stress and sleep deprivation AND the fact that she doesn't eat much i am losing the milk 😞

[seaborgium]

Is her weight gain OK? If she’s gaining enough weight then you don’t have low supply. Refusing to feed for a few hours in the evening won’t do her any harm, it’s normal witching hour behaviour. By four months she’ll have outgrown her witching hour and evenings will be much easier.

[tintin13]

She is not gaining great .. The dr said she's not worried but last week for example she didn't took any gram..
We are monitoring her this week and if she doesn't gain the minimum then we call the dr 😞