How to Increase your Milk Supply

This is the last of our Adventures in Breastfeeding series! We hope you have enjoyed it…and that you have identified with at least one of these posts!

Increase Milk Supply1

Hi my name is Carrie and I have milk supply issues. With my first baby I had a super rough time and I thought that I tried everything to increase my supply. You can read about my breastfeeding journey here. With my second, things were much better at the beginning. We were rocking along great and then one Saturday he started nursing for over an hour and a half, falling asleep, and then crying hysterically when I unlatched him. From my previous experience, this told me that there was a problem. I called my lactation consultant and went in for a weighted feeding right away. I was having supply issues again so I went to work right away at increasing my supply.

Now, I won’t tell you that any of things made me go from pumping half an ounce to 5 ounces or anything, but they have allowed me to really only have to supplement in the evenings which has made my life a lot easier! I hope some of these things can help some of you too!

1. Pumping – Ugh! I have a hate/hate relationship with my pump! I’m not sure I know anyone who enjoys pumping…and if you do I’m pretty sure we can’t be friends. However, pumping does help supply. At first I pumped after every feeding, but with a toddler that’s just not feasible. So now I pump once a day. I also do what is called power pumping about once a week. It’s a super fun thing where you pump off and on for an hour. So you pump 10 minutes and then rest ten minutes…for an hour! Yay! Here’s my advice though…if you’re having supply issues or if your little one isn’t latching or is having trouble staying awake, pump! Pump right from the beginning, as in, in the hospital! Take your pump to the hospital so a lactation consultant can show you how to work it. They will also test to make sure it’s working properly and they’ll make sure you have the right size shields… all very important things to know! I HATE pumping, I hate everything about it. But it works, so I do it!

2. Herbal supplements – There are a ton of different supplements out there. Some that are super weird like Marshmallow Root and Goat’s Rue. I feel like I’ve taken all of them. Here are the ones that I like…

Fenugreek – I always see an increase in my milk supply when I take fenugreek. I take enough that I smell like maple syrup. But be careful, too much fenugreek can damage your kidneys and pancreas. Also, fenugreek always makes my little one super gassy.

Marshmallow Root – Marshmallow root is used to thicken your milk. I do find that my milk is somewhat creamier when I’m taking a supplement that contains marshmallow root. You can find marshmallow root combined with other supplements including the Motherlove Tea, which is favorite of mine.

More Milk Plus Special Blend –  This is my favorite supplement to take. It actually helped my milk to come in faster. It contains fenugreek, blessed thistle, nettle and fennel. The special blend also contains Goat’s Rue which supposedly helps with insufficient glandular tissue.

Talk to your lactation consultant and see what herbs they recommend. There isn’t a lot of scientific evidence behind the herbs and they work different for everyone. But if you’re going to try it, try it for a few days before ruling it out.

3. Essential Oils – I have to say that I wasn’t a true believer in oils until I tried these oils. I ordered fennel and basil oils. I put a couple drops of each in about a teaspoon of coconut oil and rubbed it on my feet twice a day for a week. The first time I did this was at night and I woke up for my son’s middle of the night feeding completely engorged. My supply definitely increases with the use of the oils. Use them for a week and then take a week break before using them again.

4. Blue Gatorade – So this is going to sound really weird and I have no idea how it works but when you’re desperate to increase your milk supply and you Google stuff, strange things come up. I don’t remember seeing this anywhere when I was nursing my first child. But it’s apparently a thing now. So I tried it! I drank one of those big bottles of Gatorade, and by the time I was finished drinking it, I was leaking on both sides! Crazy, I know! I have to imagine that its because of the electrolytes and really it doesn’t matter if it’s blue or not, but I’m not sure – so I just go with it.

5. Prescriptions – There are two known prescriptions that have a side effect of increasing milk supply, Reglan and Domperidone. Both medications are actually used for gastrointestinal issues.

Reglan is easier to find in the USA and easier to get a prescription for. Reglan, however, crosses the blood brain barrier, so some of it gets in your milk. It has been considered safe for babies, in fact they give small doses to babies and children for stomach problems. Reglan, however, can have some pretty serious side effects. One of the side effects is depression. When I first took Reglan, I was so nervous about getting depressed. I mean, depression is the last thing a postpartum mom needs more of a chance of getting. I didn’t get depression so that was good… I did, however, have an immediate increase in my milk supply.

Domperidone is not FDA approved and therefore not available in your regular pharmacy. If you can find a doctor to prescribe it, you have to either order it online or get it through a compounding pharmacy. Although it is not FDA approved, it does not have the side effects like Reglan does. Dr. Jack Newman (the Breastfeeding guru) has a great article about starting Domperidone here.

So, I’ve tried both Reglan and Domperidone. They both work great! You have to just weigh your options. The Domperidone was so expensive that formula would have been cheaper than taking the Domperidone. The Reglan made me very tired at the beginning… which might actually be hard to tell since you’re so tired at the beginning anyway. I’ve ended up sticking with Reglan but both worked great for me.

6. Nursing Vacations/skin to skin – So a nursing vacation is where you spend all day or all weekend lying in bed nursing your baby when ever they want. You have a lot of skin to skin contact to encourage them to nurse and you basically just lay around the whole time. You need an amazing support person to bring you anything your heart desires while you lay around and nurse your baby. This works for several reasons. First of all, it’s scientific fact that the more your baby nurses, the more milk you produce. So letting your baby nurse all day or for several days straight will automatically increase your supply. Also, you are getting a lot of rest. There is a reason that nursing takes so long in the beginning. It is giving you time to sit around and recover from birth and giving you time to just sit and enjoy your baby. You need the rest to help your milk supply. I did nursing vacations with my first born and it was very effective and also kind of fun just hanging out getting to know my new baby. Nursing vacations are much harder the more kids you have. I have a toddler now so I can’t just lay around for days at a time.

7. Lactation Cookies – Lactation cookies might be the most fun way to increase your milk supply. I mean, who doesn’t want an excuse to eat cookies? Lactation cookies are filled with a bunch of stuff that is said to increase your milk supply such as: oatmeal, flax seed, brewers yeast. (The chocolate chips are just for fun.) Click here for Anna’s delicious recipe for lactation cookies. I have a small increase when I eat lactation cookies. I know some people who have a noticeable increase with them. Why not try it? After all, you get to eat cookies!!

8Supplemental Nursing System – A supplemental nursing system was my last ditch effort with Caroline, my first, and my first line of defense with Benjamin, my second. It made it so that even though he needed supplement, he didn’t have a bottle until he was at least 6 weeks old. A supplemental nursing system is a great way to wean a baby off supplement since you should never stop supplementing cold turkey. I used the Medela Supplemental Nursing System, but there are several out there; some that are more discreet than others. My only complaint is that it is difficult to use a supplemental nursing system and nurse in public. So I felt very confined to my house for a while which almost made me give up on nursing altogether. If you’re going to give this one a try, contact your lactation consultant for support on how to use it and also check out this article for some great advice.

9. Water – If I had an ounce of milk for every time someone told me that I need to drink more water for my milk supply… well… I wouldn’t be having supply issues. Seriously though, drinking enough water is the number one way to increase your milk supply. I can definitely tell a difference in days where I drink enough water and days where I don’t.

10. Well-Balanced Diet – So this is the part that I have the hardest time with. I had gestational diabetes while pregnant and I ate like a champ. My diabetes was completely diet controlled and I never had a high glucose number. That all went out the window the minute I delivered my baby. It’s weird how it’s so easy to take care of myself when I know my baby’s life depends on it, but when it’s just me, it is a different story. I just eat normally, when I can… let’s face it, it’s not easy to take care of a toddler and nurse a baby and make sure that you eat as well. One day I decided to look up how much food I should be consuming! I was shocked!! I definitely wasn’t taking in the right amount of calories and the calories I was taking in, weren’t quality calories. On days when I eat the way I’m supposed to, I can tell a difference in my supply. It takes a lot of calories to produce food for someone else. Here is a great sample diet for a nursing mom.

Also remember that there are some things you should stay away from while trying to increase your supply, here are a few of those things.

  • Alcohol
  • Peppermint
  • Sage
  • Caffeine

I am not a doctor or a lactation consultant, but these are some things that worked for me. If you’re having supply issues, please contact a lactation consultant or a La Leche League member in your area. There are some great websites out there as well… here are a couple.

KellyMom

Breastfeeding Inc. (this is Dr. Jack Newman’s site and it has great info and some informative videos as well)

Low Milk Supply

Let me just end this by saying this. I know that somewhere this will come up in someone’s desperate search to figure out how to increase their milk supply. Someone somewhere will be reading this in the middle of the night while pumping and hoping that their milk supply will increase. I know that because that was me. With each of my children, I have sat in the wee hours of the morning, holding them, trying to feed them and crying while wondering desperately why my body doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to. If that’s you, let me just say, that I’m sorry. It stinks for that to be the way it is, and it’s okay.  I eventually gave up on nursing with my first and it was the best decision for both of us. It wasn’t an easy decision, but in the end she wasn’t hungry and that’s what matters. All my fears about not nursing turned out to be just fears and not reality. Nursing is hard, whether you have all the milk in the world or none at all. It’s hard. So do what’s best for you and for your baby, in the end, that’s the only thing we mothers can do.

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Carrie Gould
Hi OKC! I'm Carrie! My husband, Steven, and I met in college but never dated. Many years later, we reconnected and fell in love. After a whirlwind romance and gorgeous wedding I gave up my Texan status and moved to Oklahoma (he was worth it!) He spends his days on the road travelling all over the state of Oklahoma. We are the proud parents of our adorable 2 year old, Caroline and precious baby Benjamin. There is very little sleeping going on at our house. I am a music lover and a wannabe crafter. I am very good at following directions but not so great at creating my own masterpieces. I was a math teacher for 6 years before becoming a stay-at-home mom. Before being a teacher, I worked in the actuarial field, which is what I am doing part-time now. As a family we work hard to live a simple life, create great memories, and love the Lord with all our heart. I am so excited to be sharing my family with all of you and connecting with other local moms!

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