Keeping up breast milk!

ellycotton

Since starting my 'diet' my milk supply has dropped dramatically!! I've put up my cals to 1,800 but still nothing. Any mummies know of any good milk boosting foods that have worked? I'm already eating oats

tiptoethruthetulips

Dairy, good fats and keep boosting your calories

CoachJen71

Have you asked your doc how much (s)he would recommend you eat? Also, if baby is interested in nursing more often, the extra stimulation will help too.

kristydi

Let's start with the basics. How do you know your supply has dropped? How old is your nursling?

Kellymom.com is an amazing site for research based information for breastfeeding moms. Here's an article on feeling like your supply has dropped and a list of articles on supply worries.

catbirdly

What worked for me: eating after nursing (wasn't hard-I was always hungry then); keeping my body steadily supplied with energy--eating something whenever I was hungry. A lot of water, often. Frequent nursing and pumping--pumping every day to have a reserve of milk on hand and to keep milk supply strong. Walking for exercise. Concentrating on nutrient dense food such as avocado, nuts, greens, eggs, beans, starchy veggies such as winter squash and potatoes, and veggies + protein in general.

Vanity0307

I'm in the same situation i've lost 4 pounds but I also feel that my milk supply is dropping. I'm nervous because my baby won't take any bottles he is exclusively breast-fed. How many additional calories should I add to my daily intake?

LKArgh

Unless you have been following some really extreme diet for a while, like eating below 1000 calories and not just for a few days, this is not causing the supply porblems. How old is your baby? Are you nursing on demand without trying to follow a parent-led routine? If this is a young baby, like a few weeks old, are you waking the baby to make sure you nurse at least 10 times per day? Are you sure this is a supply issue and not just the baby going through a growth spurt, which can easily mean the baby wanting to nurse non-stop for a few days? Are you takign birth control pills or other meds? Are you drinking enough water? If you need to leave the baby, are you pumping for every feeding the baby has? If you are pumping, do you make sure the pump is working, flanges, valves etc in good condition and replaced as needed?

kikichewie

I had huge supply problems bc I had to exclusively pump. Oatmeal, fenugreek pills and a daily Guinness (yuck) helped keep up what little supply I had. I ate regular oatmeal, oatmeal cookies and Quaker oatmeal bars daily (the bars usually in the middle of the night). The Guinness was recommended by my doctor and doesn't hurt the baby. This is in addition to eating enough calories and drinking plenty of water. If you are having supply problems, I'd put all thoughts of dieting and calorie restriction out of your head.

hoyalawya2003

kikichewie wrote: »

I had huge supply problems bc I had to exclusively pump. Oatmeal, fenugreek pills and a daily Guinness (yuck) helped keep up what little supply I had. I ate regular oatmeal, oatmeal cookies and Quaker oatmeal bars daily (the bars usually in the middle of the night). The Guinness was recommended by my doctor and doesn't hurt the baby. This is in addition to eating enough calories and drinking plenty of water. If you are having supply problems, I'd put all thoughts of dieting and calorie restriction out of your head.

Yep, dark beer and oatmeal really help. Make sure you are drinking plenty of fluids. If your period has returned, the hormones can cause a drop in supply, too.

ellycotton

Hi thanks for your replys. I have expressed since she was born, and put her on each boob at least twice a day. Haven't seen my doctor as the are now booked up to June and it's not classed as an emergency. Spoke to my health visitor who said I was doing everything right and the only help she have me was to express in front of her. I've gone from making 8oz bottle first thing, followed by 4oz bottles for the rest of the day to half an oz each boob I pump every 3.5 hours also. I just woke up Friday morning and just got an oz x

leahannhorton

EAT! To heck with trying to lose weight. Breastfeeding is more important now. Some of us are just not lucky enough for breastfeeding to take it all off.

I exclusively pumped for 8 months, and whenever I cut too many calories in a day, I knew it since I could see my supply daily. You could definitely be producing more than you are aware of, too, so you might in fact, be cutting calories too dramatically. EPing let me know exactly what I was producing each day, and if 20cal per oz. produced is correct, simply adding in an additional 300-500 calories may not suffice. There were days where I would pump 70+ oz in a day, which would require an additional 1400 calories! Good luck mama!

janjunie

I am exclusively pumping for a 6 month old. On average I eat 2000-2300 calories a day. I am 5 lbs away from my prepregnancy weight but those lbs probably aren't going to move until I'm done breastfeeding and that's ok. Try upping your calories and drink a ton of water if nothing works see about getting a prescription for domperidone (sp?) it will increase your milk supply.

Kristyann624

I used Brewers yeast in pill form to help increase my supply. That's what drinking Guinness would do, but you can take it multiple times a day. I did that in addition to eating oatmeal and pumping/nursing on demand.

Good luck mama!

WeddedBliss1992

try taking fenugreek as a supplement

kikichewie

janjunie wrote: »

I am exclusively pumping for a 6 month old. On average I eat 2000-2300 calories a day. I am 5 lbs away from my prepregnancy weight but those lbs probably aren't going to move until I'm done breastfeeding and that's ok. Try upping your calories and drink a ton of water if nothing works see about getting a prescription for domperidone (sp?) it will increase your milk supply.

Unfortunately, I don't think it's FDA approved in the US. I couldn't get it when I asked.

janjunie

[/quote]

Unfortunately, I don't think it's FDA approved in the US. I couldn't get it when I asked.[/quote]

Oh really? I didn't know...I wonder why. I'm in Canada and here it's the first thing doctors offer if a woman has problems with her milk supply.

summalovaable

Producing less milk only becomes a problem once changes are present in the infant. Your body is quite adaptable and instead of producing a less quality milk (from lack of nutrients) it begins taking from your own bodies stores. It's more likely that your physical nutrition is at risk and not your child's (to put your mind at ease). Not producing enough milk is very often a perception from the mother and not a reality.

I can't remember how many calories are needed for breastfeeding but I would focus more so on maintaining a healthy, nutrient dense diet vs increasing calories. Breast feeding is not an excuse for a poor diet! Dairy products, lean meats (with red meat consumed weekly) and a variety of fruits and vegetables are your best bet.

Government funded Nutrition sites (like Dietitian's of Canada, Eat right ontario) are often your best option for these types of questions.

LKArgh

ellycotton wrote: »

Hi thanks for your replys. I have expressed since she was born, and put her on each boob at least twice a day. Haven't seen my doctor as the are now booked up to June and it's not classed as an emergency. Spoke to my health visitor who said I was doing everything right and the only help she have me was to express in front of her. I've gone from making 8oz bottle first thing, followed by 4oz bottles for the rest of the day to half an oz each boob I pump every 3.5 hours also. I just woke up Friday morning and just got an oz x

Your problems have nothign to do with eating enough, and sorry to say, but the health visitor is clueless. Been there, done that, and the sad reality is, unless you talk to a lactation consultant or a dr/nurse with a personal passion for nursing, you have better luck doing your own research on the internet. Like someone else posted, absolutely go to Kellymom.com, it can change your nursing experience completely.

So, to ekeep a long sotry short, sorry, but it seems you are not one of the few lucky ones who can pump exclusively and maintain their supply easily. Supply is based on demand, and the average baby (excludign medical issues) is more efficient than any pump. So, for most women, pumping starts as easier the first weeks (easier to pump than go through the painful and exhausting procedure of teachign a baby to nurse), but then it gets progressively harder to maintain a good supply, while when nursing, the opposite happens: an exclusively breastfed baby becomes more and more efficient at nursing. For some women, pumping is easier, for most it is not. Which unfortunately we usually find out late in the game
If your baby can still nurse (in which case you are very lucky) try putting baby on the breast more. Ideally, hide the pump, and nurse nurse nurse. In general, the combination feeding scenario works for young babies when the majority of feedigns comes from nursing, the opposite is very hard during the first months and usually the baby will not be an efficient nurser. So, if you can nurse more, give it a try for a while. Ideally on demand, or every 2 hours, whichever comes first, until you feel again comfortable with your supply. While re-introducing nursing to your baby, and building your supply, it will mean a couple of weeks of the abby being glued on you day and night. It is normal and will get soon much much better.

If you want or need to focus on pumping, then there are some basic things to keep in mind:
-First, your baby needs 1 to 1.5 oz per hour between feedings. Unlike with formula, this does not change wth time, it is the same at 2 months or 12 months. So, this is your goal for the day, not to produce several 8 oz bottles per day.
- Second, breasts need stimulation to produce milk. So, unless this is an older baby and you have a well established supply, you need to pump frequently. Like every 2 hours, maybe 3-4 at night, although I would nto risk 4 hours stretches with supply issues. It is possible to pump less frequently: if you have oversupply (which you do not, like most women), if you have an older baby/toddler and already have a well established nursing/pumping routine, or if you start with a hospital grade pump that your body responds well to.
- Third, you need to use a good pump and pump both sides, at least 15 minutes per side, even if nothign comes out. Because, stimulation. And make sure to change the membranes frewuently, it makes all the difference in efficiency.
- Finally, if you are supplementing with formula, you are unfortunately entering a vicious cycle. Every drop of formula your baby gets, is one drop your body will stop making the next days. Because, supply and demand. But, the baby gets hungrier, so your immediate reaction (for all of us) is to supplement more. So, even less milk produced and so on. The only way to break this cycle, is to take a nursing "vacation", nurse nurse nurse like crazy, (or pump pump pump like crazy) and gradually reduce the formula, a few oz per day.

Good luck.