Increasing Milk Supply

Well, just when I thought I had this breastfeeding thing down we hit another snag.  For a month Claire has been nursing like a champ!  She was doing so great that I called my LC and asked her if it was necessary for me to continue pumping first thing in the morning and last thing before bed in addition to nursing about 6 times a day.  She thought that it would be fine to stop since Claire was showing consistently good nursing.  I slowly reduced my pumping sessions over time until I wasn't really doing it at all and Claire was doing great!  This was the "nursing life" I had dreamed of!  After she went to bed I could actually relax and take a bath or just hang out with my husband.  Well--- either she has gotten very efficient and can get all she needs in 5 minutes (which apparently is possible) or I am paying for that time off from pumping extra milk now.  I worry that because I wasn't doing extra pumping sessions that low supply could be the reason for the short nursing sessions- although Claire is happy after feedings so she must be fine, right???  I guess since we had so many problems in the beginning I feel like I might always need to go the extra mile to maintain supply.  What a bummer- it was soooooo simple to just feed her and not worry about pumping, cleaning parts, taking a zillion supplements everyday, etc. etc.  So I guess it is partly my fault...I really thought I could just nurse her and that would be enough--maybe it is, maybe it's not--if only I knew that answer for you.  So- back to the game of playing catch up again. 


Here are my tried and true methods of increasing milk supply! Of course, the age of your baby plays an important part in increasing supply...for example if your baby is 0-3 months old night nursing is crucial, while later on it may not be as necessary once your baby is taking in more ounces during the day and sleeping longer intervals at night!


I also just want to say that each and every situation in unique.  This worked for me, but everyone is different so it may or may not work for everyone.  My main reason in posting this is so that I will always have it and I can refer back to it if I need it again in the future.  Also, a few moms have asked for help and I seem to email this again and again, so now it is always here.  I completely realize that not everyone can breastfeed or chooses to breastfeed.  This is just some tips for moms who desire to continue nursing, but are facing some challenges that they hope to overcome. 


Here ya go...let's get that milk flowing again girls!

• nurse often -at least every 2-3 hours and throughout the night with infants
• pump for about 20 min after nursing- you can even keep all the pump parts in a big zip lock in your fridge for up to 24 hours before you have to wash them again- thank the Lord for that tip!
• if you're not getting good results with your pump, consider renting a hospital grade pump- while there is a monthly rental fee it still beats the price of formula!  I rented the symphony and that thing truly was music to my ears!  It worked great!

• buy or make a pumping bra (yes, I know...I laughed at them and made fun of them before I had Claire too, but seriously they are lifesavers!)  Search for the Simple Wishes Pumping Bustier on amazon, trust me...you'll be glad you did!
• do breast compressions while pumping to encourage let down and milk flow
• use a warm rice pack while pumping
• drink plenty of water, and then drink some more....especially if it's 110 degrees like it is today!
• realize that for some woman- this is just not the time to work out and/or cut calories.  Some can and some can't.  I can't- it reduces my milk supply.  Don't worry though- your baby will only be this small for short time and then you can focus on yourself again...this time is not about you- in case you haven't figured that out by now with all the sleepless nights, hahaha!
• eat healthy meals and healthy snacks often
• eat oatmeal
• make lactation cookies!  I am making these today!  They are packed full of great stuff and they taste good too!  click HERE for the recipe!
• herbs such as fenugreek and blessed thistle really helped me to increase supply- you know you're taking enough fenugreek when you smell like maple syrup (yummy, right? haha)  I took (3) 1268mg capsule per meal with blessed thistle as well
• avoid using the bottles or pacifiers with the orthodontic nipple- this can cause nipple confusion for the baby.  We used the soothie pacifiers and the Tommy Tippee bottles that are supposed to be similar to the shape of a breast.
• When things got really bad I also got a prescription for domperidone to increase my supply- which really helped too!  You have to go to a pharmacy that compounds it- like People's Pharmacy.

Here is a link to Kellymom.com (not my website, but I wish it was...how cool would that be?)  She has great info about increasing supply

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/low-supply.html

There's probably more that I am forgetting but that's all for now!  Best of luck to ya!  It really does work.  In all that I have read it is very rare for a mother not to be able to meet the needs of her baby when she is doing all that she can to increase and maintain supply.  Knowing that brought me such comfort and hope when I was worried about supply issues.  Of course, it can happen and can be very frustrating for those mothers, but don't think that has to be the case until you have exhausted all possible efforts if this is something that you really want to do!  I can tell you from my own personal experience it is worth it and I am so glad I stuck with it! Best of luck to ya!