Got Milk? - For Nursing Moms

If you are nursing, I wanted to pass on this super helpful info to you.  Around month 2 I went almost exclusively to pumping for a few reasons - 1) it was faster than nursing, 2) I knew exactly how much Maddie was eating at each meal, 3) It allowed others (my husband/family) to bond with Maddie while feeding.  However, as she got older she began to eat more (shocker, I know) and I struggled to produce enough milk.  I looked around the internet for ways to increase milk supply but I got a lot of different answers.  One page even said to pump every hour and a half, and let me tell you, that gets old real quick.  So finally, I called Stillwater's lactation specialist and got this info:

If you want to increase your milk supply, the following can help:

• Nurse for the first feeding of the day - a baby can always get more than pumping will.  Then, pump immediately after.  You will only get a very little bit out but it will cue your body to produce more.
• Drink plenty of fluids throughout the day, especially when it's hot!  Make sure you are getting at least 8 8oz. glasses a day.
• Massage before and during pumping.
• Pump more frequently - every 3 hours during the day.  Pumping again before 3 hours is up doesn't give your body enough time to recover from the last time.
• Fenugreek - take 3 capsules 3 times a day.  The bottle will say less but that is just for a supplement, not for increasing milk.

Now none of this is a quick fix.  Drinking 64 oz of water in an hour wont give you all the milk you need instantly but doing these things consistently did work for me.  I noticed the difference in about 3-5 days.  On that same note, I stopped doing these things consistently and in about 2-3 days I noticed less milk.  Hope this helps all you nursing mothers struggling to keep up!

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