Increasing Milk Supply

I want to preface by saying I am not a nurse or a lactation consultant, I am just a mom who has low milk supply and wants to be able to nurse my baby. A lot of my advice comes from lactation consultants that I have seen or through in depth research and nights hunched over my computer. What works for some mamas will not work for all so while there is helpful advice here, make sure that you try a variety of things to find what works for you.

First and foremost, let's do away with this idea that breastfeeding is easy. It's absolutely not! 

On top of making sure you have the proper latch you also push through: the pain that comes with nursing for the first time or starting to nurse again, teething, going back to work, nursing on demand and of course what we’re here to talk about today- low supply (which can be due to a variety of reasons). If you meet someone who says breastfeeding was easy for them, that’s fantastic!! But it's definitely not common. So I just wanted to open up by saying your struggle and your frustration is totally valid and good for you for being here! You are trying to take control and increase your supply so you can experience all the joy and bonding that comes with nursing your baby. That in and of itself, is amazing. 

After reading the title of this blog you may be wondering what is a galactagogue. So I'll start there…

GALACTAGOGUES

(ga-lac-ta-gog) is derived from the greek terms galact- meaning milk and ogogue- meaning leading or promoting. They are substances (herbs, foods) that increase milk supply.

Some of the most popular that you may have heard of are fenugreek, blessed thistle, goats rue and alfalfa. 

*An important thing to note is that if you are allergic to peanuts, do not take fenugreek as it may cause a reaction.*

Some foods considered to be galactagogues include whole grains (especially oatmeal and brown rice), and dark leafy greens such as kale, spinach and broccoli (although I would be careful with broccoli because it can cause baby to become gassy), Fennel, garlic, chickpeas, nuts, seeds, almonds are an especially great galactagogue, papaya, cumin, turmeric (turmeric is an herb that personally didn’t work for us because it caused gassiness for baby.)  There are other foods and herbs out there, again these are just the most popular.

While there are foods to help increase milk supply, there are also foods to stay away from because they may decrease supply. Some include peppermint, spearmint, sage, oregano, parsley. Those last two were especially surprising to me and kind of upsetting because I use oregano and parsley a lot while cooking and was disappointed to let them go.. but it's worth it.

Other things that can decrease supply are stress, poor diet, some medications and lack of water intake.

DIET AND HYDRATION

Breast milk is about 88-90 percent water so it is important to drink about 8-10 glasses a day. A good tip that helped me with my water consumption is to try to drink a glass before and after pumping or nursing.

If you are breast feeding, it is often advised that baby consumes only breast milk for the first 6 months. So during those 6 months, baby is being hydrated solely by breast milk. Which again just emphasizes how important it is for you to also be hydrated.

Proper nutrition is important so that your body is functioning at its peak and you can pass those nutrients on to your baby.

LACTATION TREATS

So now its time to talk about lactation treats and whether or not they really work...

Lactation treats are just treats that contain galactagogues. I can't speak on everyones treats but I can speak on the ones we make. (the same ones that actually inspired this post & video today).

When my daughter was almost three months old, I had to go back to work full time. Where I work is also an hour from our home, so I found it is easier to stay at work all day so I can have more time off to spend with my baby, rather than work short shifts but give up those two hours driving back and forth. Of course this took a huge toll on my supply. I tried other lactation treats and they really worked for me, but I it seemed like I was paying a lot for these treats and very frequently too to keep up my supply. I decided to do some research and start making my own treats.

I also wanted to know exactly what I was eating. I created a recipe for brownies  which contain fenugreek, flaxseed, red raspberry leaf, blessed thistle, fennel seed, oats, almonds, and almond flour, along with raw sugar, coco powder, unbleached flour, and coconut oil.

I will be first to admit, fennel seeds are not the best tasting thing in the world… Honestly, I cant even stand the smell yet alone the taste… but they have worked for me so I continue to use them. That’s another reason why I choose to bake treats rather than to use all these ingredients in everyday cookie. The strong chocolatey taste kind of drowns out the awfulness that is fennel seeds. But you can absolutely use any of the food or herbs listed above in an everyday meal and actually it may beneficial to use them in multiple meals. 

Unfortunately, I have the world's biggest sweet tooth. So eating multiple brownies or cookies a day is no problem at all for me. I plan to come up with a healthier option for lactation treats or snacks for those mamas out there who don't like eating sweets all day. 

Now these treats have worked for me personally but it is important to note, I also did the things listed above, like increasing water intake and I also started tracking calories to make sure I was consuming enough throughout the day.

OTHER MOTHER MILK

So yes, lactation treats can work for you. Sometimes results are slow so try to be patient with yourself. For me, I went from pumping under an ounce to 3 oz in about two weeks. While that may not seem like a lot to other moms and it certainly wasn’t where I need to be, it was waaaay better than what I was producing. 

If you find this is your situation as well and you still want to feed your baby without use of formula, you can always look into "Other Mother" milk. This is milk that is either donated or purchased from other mom's who maybe over produce or just do not have a need for all the milk they have stored. I use Human Milk for Human Babies on Facebook. I am so, so blessed to be in a city where there are many moms willing and able to donate milk to moms like me who just aren’t quite making enough yet.

Make sure that if you decide to use "Other Mother" milk you ask important questions about their diet so you can ensure your baby's dietary needs are being met. This can include whether or not they consume dairy, caffeine, alcohol, if they smoke, or consume supplements such as vitamins, medicine, or birth control.

 SUPPLY AND DEMAND/PUMPING

Its also important to note that breast milk works on a supply and demand kind of basis. While galactagogues help to increase milk supply, unless that supply is being emptied at least every two-three hours via nursing or pumping (or feeding on demand), your body may not react like you had hoped to the glactagogues because it may believe since you are not emptying your breasts frequently, that it does not need to create more milk.

For me, I make sure to pump after nursing as often as possible so that my body knows we need more milk. I also carry a hand pump in my car in case I forget my automatic one or I am stuck somewhere longer than expected. You can get a hand pump on Amazon or I believe they also have them at Target. You can call around to wherever you get your baby necessities from and ask if they have them there.

If you don’t have a pump, and you aren’t sure which one to choose, I highly recommend the Spectra. I have the Ameda, Evenflo, and Spectra and Spectra is by far my favorite. I feel like it is the strongest and it gets the most milk out. But you may want to read reviews for yourself, that is just my opinion. A lot of pumps are expensive, so check with your insurance and see if they offer a free pump. I believe If you’ve already received a pump through insurance most insurances ask you to wait three years before inquiring about a new one. I purchased two of my pumps which can definitely be a surprisingly expensive investment if you haven't done adequate research and shopping around. 

SUPPLEMENTAL NURSING SYSTEM

Supplemental nursing systems are another life saver. I purchased mine off of Amazon, but there are others that you can make at home. (You can find tutorials on Google or Youtube). Many DIY versions just require a syringe and tubing. 

Nipple stimulation is important for producing milk whether this is through pumping, nursing, or just comfort nursing. If you are not producing enough milk and your baby is hungry, you can supplement via a bottle or via SNS. 

SNS is a system that uses expressed milk or formula but can be used to feed the baby while he/she is at your breast. This offers you the opportunity to increase nipple stimulation while still satisfying baby's hunger needs. This means everyone wins.

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If none of the above works for you end up having to supplement or switch to formula, understand that you are not a bad mom. You tried your hardest and at the end of the day, baby needs to eat. Making sure your baby is fed is the most important thing. While there are many benefits to breastfeeding, there are also a fair amount of studies that show there are not many noticeable differences in children who were breast fed or formula fed. 

So I believe that’s all the advice I have. Remember these are just series of small summaries of options you could do immense amounts of research on. To summarize the summaries, drink more water, eat well, empty your breasts often, try galactagogues and if you feel so inclined, head over to our Etsy shop, MahalaJoan, and give one of our lactation treats a try.

Another side note to our treats: our cookies only differ in that they do not contain fenugreek.

So If you have a peanut allergy and plan to shop on our etsy, I would strongly suggest cookies over brownies.

We also accept custom orders if any of the above ingredients don’t sound appealing to you. One of the nice things about Etsy versus bigger businesses is that we have that freedom to accommodate a little more.

So good luck to all you rockin' mamas out there. If you have any questions or more suggestions leave them below in the comment section and be sure to subscribe for other mom stuff, home remedies, and hopefully ill get some craft tutorials uploaded soon.