I promised a more thorough Breast Feeding post regarding supply…so here it is:
If you go back to my old mama blogs, you’ll see our story as to why we had a rough 11-12week start. It’s hard. You’ll feel pain. You’ll want to quit – if you’ve exhausted all efforts and can’t continue then do what you have to do, because FED is BEST!
If you’re someone with a sensitive supply like me, however, please don’t give up yet! There are SO many ways you can try to aid and boost your milk supply up. Many ways that aren’t really talked about – yes the hospitals will preach about how breastfeeding is best and how to latch, but there’s no talk about “well what if my supply is low?”. First things first, if you suspect you have a low supply (baby not gaining weight or excessively fussy at breast) PLEASE seek help from a Licensed Professional Lactation Consultant! If you live in or near San Diego, I highly recommend San Diego Breastfeeding Center as they helped save our journey. They can come to your home or you can go to them – generally a consult includes a FULL evaluation of your babies mouth to assess for lip/tongue ties or anything can that hinder a normal latch, they’ll watch you put baby to breast and also weigh baby before and after a feed to gauge your supply and the efficiency of them eating.
You will run into PLENTY people telling you you don’t have a low supply even after it’s confirmed. Brush it off. And do what’s best for you.
Now – once you’ve confirmed you have a low supply, what can you actually do to increase it? (Below are tips I researched to get familiar with that helped me during my BFing journey, but do NOT take the place of professional medical advice!)
1) It’s important to understand that breastfeeding is based on: Supply & Demand. When your breasts empty, your body sends signals to supply. So removing milk more frequently can help to stimulate this process. This is generally why some babies will begin cluster feeding where they will nurse and be ready to nurse again 10 mins later. Usually, cluster feeding is followed by a growth spurt or big milestone, but not always. If your baby is cluster feeding, let them. If baby falls asleep during nursing, try to tickle their feet or wiggle them to keep them awake to make sure breast is fully emptied. If you feel like your breast is still heavy with milk after nursing, you can pump or hand express to empty it out. Generally in the beginning – you’ll see recommendations to empty breast 2 hours (especially if you have a low supply). If you have an oversupply, this may not apply to you.
2) Make sure baby is latched and nursing efficiently! Is baby coming on/off breast? Or are you stopping the nursing session early? During those beginning weeks, it’s crucial to allow baby to eat a full meal (they will almost always unlatch on their own once they’re finished). In the beginning, a nursing session may take 40-60mins, but as they get older and become more efficient little drinkers, you may find it only takes 20-30mins. Seeing a Lactation Consultant can greatly help with this.
3) Make sure you’re staying hydrated throughout the day! By not staying hydrated and fed throughout the day can potentially cause a dip in supply (especially during the initial newborn stages when you’re supply building is crucial). Please note that drinking extra water or eating extra foods won’t necessarily make up extra milk.
4) Rest & Relax. Added stress can hinder milk supply. If you’re constantly stressing over your supply you could be doing more harm then good. Continue nursing & nurse/pump more often if you need to. Ask your spouse or family member/friend to bring you some meals or maybe take care of some of the extra chores around the house so you’re not too overwhelmed. Making milk feels like a job, a hard job at times, but having a solid support system is crucial to a successful breastfeeding journey.
5) Make sure you have a GREAT breast pump. I’m 100% biased to Spectra Breast Pumps (particularly the S1) because I have one and it works AMAZING! When I was hospitalized, the pump in hospital barely got anything out despite using the recommended settings. I had my husband go home and bring my Spectra Pump that same day and boom – all of the sudden I was getting colostrum to send down to my baby in the NICU. Everyone’s experience will likely be different, but I highly recommend doing some research on various brands. You want something as close to “hospital grade” as possible. Also, a CLOSED circuit pump is a little more ideal as it prevents anything nasty fluid and dirt from circulating back into your pump. Most insurances will provide a pump for you but the brand/type you’d have to call your insurance company for that info.
6) You may consider a galactagogue (supplementation) to take in an effort to boost your supply such as Rolled Oats or Legendairy Milk Supplements. However I wouldn’t personally use any of these without consulting with a Lactation Consultant first. I ended up taking Legendairy Milk Pump Princess in combination with Sunflower Lecithin which has made a world of a difference, but I only did so with the help of my LC. Sometimes, supplements can hinder supply if they’re not taken correctly or if your body isn’t responding well to the ingredients hence the importance of a Lactation Consultant.
Those are my biggest tips for maintaining/boosting a low supply due to what worked for me – but do know we are ALL different. Yes, there’s some generalized things to follow, however our bodies are all different and will respond differently to different measures.
Below, are some very helpful resources Id recommend checking out with ANY breastfeeding questions:
• San Diego Breastfeeding Center
Resources:
BS, IBCLC, K. B. (2018, January 14). Increasing Low Milk Supply • KellyMom.com. Retrieved from https://kellymom.com/hot-topics/low-supply/
La Leche League Int. (n.d.). Pumping Milk. Retrieved from https://www.llli.org/breastfeeding-info/pumping-milk/
Spectra Baby USA. (2019, January 2). 10 Tips to Boost Milk Supply. Retrieved from https://www.spectrababyusa.com/10-tips-to-boost-milk-supply/
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