Breastfeeding

[mumtobeauts]

Ways to help increase supply

Hi. Feeding in demand helps
There is a great bf twins Facebook group

Search breastfeeding twins Uk on Facebook. Nicest most knowledgeable group 👍

Lots of feeding, plus pumping of baby isn’t latching well. That’s really the only way, it’s a supply and demand product. The more you feed the more you make, the less you feed the less you make

I don't have twins I wasn't sure what to put at topic 🙈 but I'm breastfeeding my 10 week old but I feel like my supply has started to drop since I started the mini pill which I've now stopped, just wondering what I can do? Boobs don't feel like they get full anymore and I used to get 6oz let down a day and now I'm lucky to get half that over 2 days! I'm ebf but like to have some in freezer just incase!

Switch feeding. I didn't have twins but I tandem fed my then twenty month old with my baby, and expressed for the milk bank at the same time. Swap sides, all the time, including between babies - if one is more efficient you can use that one to boost supply.
Feeding at night when your prolactin is higher raises supply too (think it's midnight to 4 when it's highest unfortunately).
Let babies sleep at breast half latched, then they kind of reattach and drink more.
Skin to skin.
Your boobs don't have to be full to have enough milk, think river not lake. Even if they feel empty you're still producing and you may find that time of day affects your fullness more than time until a feed.
Look after yourself as much as you can. There's no magic food to boost supply and anyone that says otherwise is trying to sell you something and waste your money, but you need to drink enough water and eat enough calories. One baby adds 5-800 calories per day so two is 1000-1600 on top of your own requirements. If you're losing weight, 1lb per week is safe, 2lb might risk your supply, slow down any weight loss until you're really happy with your supply. Drink loads of water and take vitamins. Eat things you enjoy.
Get help from an IBCLC if you're struggling.
Good luck xx

@thanthankyouforthesun - thanks for that information! I have been doing slimming world to loose weight maybe that has something to do with it? I did think the pill originally might have caused it

It's quite common for your breasts not to feel as full/enlarged once breast feeding is established which it should be at 10 weeks. Did you used to express as well as actually breast feed? As having baby latch stimulates your flow too. Only way really to increase supply is to increase number of times feeding/expressing. I have twins whom I mix feed, with ebm and breast feeding. And I definitely found a time after a few months when I got a lot less with expressing. And gave up expressing completely at 4-5 months due to hardly getting anything. But girls would still breast feed so they obviously got what they needed

Make sure you're getting enough calories and fluid..if you're doing slimming world just watch out. Dieting can really affect supply.

Pump more! I sometimes got up early before baby and pumped a good few hours before he woke so he had some decent breakfast!

It was actually the best thing I did because then I'd shower get coffee and do things before he woke up and felt like a human being!

How are you getting on now @mumtobeauts?

Just to add, I was told that getting enough fluid was as important as getting enough cals. Advice (to have enough for my twins) was every 3 hrs, including every 4 hrs during the night - in fact the early hours were key as thats when production was highest. I realise you also need to sleep but maybe worth a try for a few nights? Good luck.