7 Simple Steps to Increase Your Milk Supply
So you thought that breastfeeding would come naturally right? For some women it does, and milk supply is never a problem. For others, and I’m amongst those, breastfeeding was always tricky, mainly because my milk supply was so low.
We tend to get offered practical support on how to breastfeed – positioning the baby etc, but until recently the issue of low supply of milk was not sufficiently addressed. Breastfeeding can be and should be a joy, not a nightmare, so here’s a few tips to help you to enjoy your breastfeeding journey with your beautiful baby.
Aside from breast pumping and actually breastfeeding your baby to get the milk flowing, drinking fluids, eating the right food and consuming certain supplements can actually do wonders for mummy milk production. Here’s 7 ideas:
1. Hydration
Just drink more water. It’s healthy for us all, but especially when you are feeding your baby.
2. Skin to skin contact
Skin to skin contact can simply just help with the letdown of the milk. I know it’s not always possible to do this in all circumstances, but certainly whenever you are at home, it’s worth having some serious mum and baby skin to skin time.
3. Lactation friendly foods
Certain foods are extremely helpful for enhancing your milk supply and luckily many of them are totally delicious.
Sweet potatoes, yam, carrots and beetroots are high in beta carotene and should be included in the diet of a lactating woman.
And there are plenty of sweet options available.
Here’s a whole list of super tasty lactation-friendly treats from mummy bloggers that will help with your milk supply.
And this one looks delicious too.
Or you may prefer to try a fabulous smoothie, which tastes divine and will have your milk supply increased in no time.
4. Herbs to stimulate milk supply
‘There are a number of different herbs such as shatavari and fenugreek that can help new mothers to deal with the problem of insufficient milk supply. Studies show that fenugreek seeds contain galactogogues, which help in breast milk production in nursing mothers. New mums can include fenugreek in their diet either as a food or as a nutritional supplement to improve their milk production for the same reason
5. Have a nice cup of tea!
Drink tea, athough I don’t mean the tea you would usually drink. There are a few brands of nursing tea which contain a fragrant and comforting blend of organic herbs to help stimulate your milk supply. But try to limit it to just 1 cup per day since too much of all these good things may make your baby gassy. We like this one
6. Pumping
The more you pump, the more milk you will make. It’s a demand led thing. You’ll need to experiment with both an electric pump and a hand pump. Some mums swear by one and some by the other. And some mums are fantastic at hand expressing their milk, although as a mum with a low milk supply I found this to be virtually impossible.
Here’s some great advice on how to use your breast pump. I particularly like the part about thinking of, or visualizing your baby whilst you’re pumping to help the milk to flow.
7. Warmth
Warming up your breasts is also very useful to increase the flow of milk. You can use a hot water bottle against your breasts or you can buy gel pads, which can be used warm for the same purpose or used cold to relieve the pain of breast engorgement.
So if you’re finding breastfeeding harder then you’d imagined or if you’re pregnant and want to be prepared for when you do start breastfeeding, then give some of these ideas a try.
Sources
https://theanalyticalmommy.com/favorite-lactation-cookie-recipe/
https://www.momooze.com/30-lactation-recipes/19/
http://www.fabhautemama.com/lactation-smoothie/
http://freshmilkmama.com/how-to-use-breast-pump/
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