Signs That a Breastfed Baby Is Being Well Nourished
Factors Which Can Cause Your Milk Supply to Decrease
If You Notice Your Milk Supply Is LowYou can increase your milk supply by: Show
Talk to your doctor about using medication or the herb fenugreek. Works CitedWambach, Karen and Riordan, Jan “Breastfeeding and Human Lactation”, Fifth edition, Jones & Bartlett, 2016. If your baby eats more than you produce, it can be stressful! Many breastfeeding experts will recommend things like staying in bed and doing nothing but nursing when there are issues with supply, so that a breastfeeding parent can get plenty of nipple stimulation and rest at the same time. While this is great advice, it won’t help people that are exclusively pumping. If you are making less than your baby is eating – or even if you just want the peace of mind of a freezer stash – here is what you can try to increase milk supply as an exclusive pumper. This post may contain affiliate links, which means that if you click through and make a purchase, I’ll be compensated at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I love! More info here. Do you have a milk supply problem or a milk removal problem?Before we talk about how to increase milk supply, let’s make sure you don’t have any issues with milk removal. To pump enough milk, you need two things to happen:
Most people focus on the first part – making milk. But some people don’t seem to respond as well to a breast pump as others, for whatever reason. If the problem is your pump isn’t effectively getting the milk out, eating all the lactation cookies in the world isn’t going to help. (Unfortunately.) Here are some things to look at:
No method of increasing milk supply works for everyone, so you kind of have to try different things to see what works for you. Here’s are some options you can try, in the order I’d recommend trying them. 1. Evaluate your pumping scheduleWhen you’re exclusively pumping, it’s important to pump both often enough and long enough. This creates the demand that is necessary to establish, maintain, and/or increase your milk supply. If your supply isn’t what you’d like it to be, you may want to evaluate your pumping schedule:
If you’re pumping less than described above, changing your pumping schedule to pump more often or more total time would be the first thing I would change. After making a change, allow for a few days to a week to see an increase in supply, and then you can reevaluate from there. (It can take a little time for your body to react to the increased demand.) (If you want help figuring out you schedule, I have a workbook that walks you through it step by step. Use EPUMP30 for 30% off.) 2. Eat OatmealAlthough there is no scientific research on this, enough people have noticed an increase in pumping output when they eat oatmeal that many lactation consultants recommend it as a way of increasing supply. Any kind of oatmeal is fine. You can have a bowl of old-fashioned oats for breakfast or cook with oats (i.e., oatmeal cookies, overnight oats, pancakes, etc.). I did an unscientific experiment to see if oatmeal would increase my supply, and I found it did. I noticed about an 1-2 oz increase in the amount I pumped on days when I ate oatmeal. 3. Power Pumping“Power pumping” or “cluster pumping” simulates cluster feeding. When a baby is cluster feeding, they are constantly on and off the breast, trying to get more milk. This increased “demand” signals the parent’s body to make more milk (thus hopefully increasing supply). To mimic cluster feeding, set yourself up to the pump (hands-free, of course) and pump on and off for an hour (start with 20 minutes on, then 10 minutes off/10 minutes on) while you watch TV or something. Try to make it as fun and easy as you can by doing something that you enjoy while you pump. 4. HydrationWhile this also isn’t backed in research, many exclusive pumpers have noticed that staying hydrated can help support their milk supply. This doesn’t mean that you need to drink gallons of water every day. It can just be hard to remember to take care of yourself and drink enough water when you also have a baby to take care of. Try bringing a bottle of water (or any hydrating fluid) with you when you sit down to pump and see if it makes a difference. (Body Armor and Gatorade aren’t magic drinks, but some people find them helpful because they are hydrating.) 5. Try nursing teasNursing teas contain a mixture of herbs (like fenugreek, blessed thistle, and fennel seed) that are thought to increase milk supply. Because the dosage in these teas are on the lower side, you’d want to drink at least a cup or two every day that you’re trying them out. (I happen to have a discount code for Milkmaid Tea – use PUMPING15 for 15% off). 6. Take Lactation-Promoting HerbsMany people use lactation supplements or herbal galactagogues supplements in capsule form to increase supply. (Important Note: There is always a risk to herbal supplements or medication, which is why I recommend trying the above options first. My supply went up quite a bit when I used fenugreek, and the limited studies that have been done have reported it works for some people – but others have reported that it had the opposite effect on them.) Fenugreek is probably the most popular of these, and some people see an increase in pumping output after 24-72 hours of starting it. Blessed thistle is another herb that may help increase milk supply; some lactation experts recommend taking it with fenugreek for the best results. (Legendairy Milk reached out to me and gave me a 15% off discount code for any of their supplements – use EPUMP for 15% off!) 7. Medication Options – Domperidone or ReglanThere are two medications that are not intended for anything to do with lactation, but seem to increase milk supply as a side effect. These medications are Domperidone (also called motilium) and Reglan. They work by by blocking dopamine receptors, which results in an increase in prolactin levels. These drugs will not work in women that already have normal prolactin levels. Both of these medications normally work within 3-4 days, but may take longer. The downsides of using one of these medications are:
I hope this helps you understand things that you can try to increase your milk supply, what you might want to try first, and potential risks. Ask any questions that you have in the comments! Want help putting together the perfect pumping schedule for you that saves your sanity AND your milk supply? Check out the Exclusive Pumping Playbook! Includes cheat sheets for setting up systems and routines to make things easier. Use EPUMP30 for 30% off. References Why am I not producing enough milk when pumping?If you are pumping before your milk comes in, you may be getting little to no milk. This can be for two reasons: Because colostrum is very concentrated and your baby doesn't need much of it, your breasts don't produce very much. Colostrum is very thick and seems to be more difficult to pump.
How long should I pump to increase milk supply?When pumping to increase milk supply, it's recommended that you (double) pump for at least 15 minutes; to ensure that the pump removes an optimum amount of milk from the breast, keep pumping for 2-5 minutes after the last drops of milk.
Will pumping every hour increase milk?Yes, pumping every hour is a good method to increase breast milk supply. It increases the demand for milk, mimicking a cluster feeding baby. The increased demand for milk will eventually increase the supply of milk your body produces.
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