How to increase lactation?
the absolutely best thing to increase lactation is stimulation. Get the baby to the breast as often as possible. If your baby does not nurse, pump every 2 hours during the day and at least once at night. It is all supply and demand. When I was pumping (had a preemie who couldn’t nurse for a while so he was fed exclusively pumped milk for 2 months) I had problems with supply a few times. I took fenugreek, oatmeal, and mothers milk tea. The fenugreek helped the most. 3 pills/3 times a day until your sweat smells like maple syrup. Also, keep in mind that babies have growth spurts quite a bit the first 6 months so they may be hungry more often and make you think you are not making enough. Also, changes in hormones can cause you to temporarially lose supply. I was always lower when I ovulated and during my period. Also, meds.can change amount of milk. If you are taking any allergy or cold med, anything with a decogestant, that effects your milk. There is a website www.breastfeeding.com that
First of all *stop* drinking “plenty of fluids”. If you are forcing liquids, it won’t help and could actually decrease your milk production (according to one research study). Second, be sure you are nursing very frequently–at least 10-12 times in 24 hours. More specifically, if it’s been 2 hours since the *beginning* of the previous feeding during the day, nurse the baby, even if you have to wake her/him. And nurse at least twice overnight. This will almost always be enough to increase your supply if you do it consistently for a week. If you are using hormonal birth control (Pill, minipill, Nuva Ring, Mirena IUD, Depo shot, etc.), this could be the reason for the decreased supply. If you stop, the supply will usually correct itself. There are also a few foods (but not oregano!!) that can cause you to produce less milk. The most common of these are sage and mint.
Its commonly thought that mums always have enough milk, i teach mums to breastfeed as part of my job and its not always the case. Try expressing from a pump (after a feed) 3-4 hourly (and through the night if poss) to stimulate the process, stress can play a big part so try not to worry. Accept that your baby may need top ups with formula milk if he/she isnt thriving, your midwife can prescribe drugs that help lactation but i think it would be a good idea to speak with her anyway and have a good chat. Smoking can reduce milk supply so if you do smoke then cut down.
To increase your milk supply you ever need to take your baby to the breast more often or go out and purchase a good breast-pump (I would recommended advent) and use that in between your babies normal breatfeeding times. Also make sure you stick to feeding on demand for the first 4 months as this helps your milk supply more than feeding on set times.
