As a Certified Lactation Counselor, RN, and a breastfeeding / pumping mom, I understand how stressful having a low supply can be and how it can negatively impact your postpartum experience. Let’s talk about some ways to increase your supply.
Increasing Breast Milk Supply
1. Verifying if Supply is Low
Before diving into strategies, let’s evaluate whether there is a cause for concern. Remember, creating just what your baby needs is physiologically normal, while having a freezer full is considered an over supply. Consider the following factors:
- Wet and Dirty Diapers: How many wet and/ or poopy diapers are you having a day? Is this within the normal range?
- Weight Gain or Loss: Is your infant gaining weight appropriately without supplementing?
- Are You Supplementing: Are you feeding your baby exclusively with breast milk or are you needing to supplement?
- Satisfaction After Feeding: Is your baby content after nursing? Does your baby seem hungry after feeding and continue to show hunger cues? Does your baby wake up an hour after feeding and appear hungry?
- Days Postpartum: How many days postpartum are you? Milk can take 3-5 days to come in, and even longer if you had a C-section.
- How Old is Baby: Baby’s milk needs slowly increase with age but then plateau a little after 1 month if they’re exclusively breastfed or exclusively receiving breastmilk. The volume of breastmilk needed for feedings does not continue to increase as your baby gets older.
2. Optimize Feedings and Pumping
- Latch and Position: Ensure your baby has a good latch. A proper latch is everything for breastfeeding. Without a good latch your baby will have difficulty transferring enough milk from the breast. A poor latch may prevent complete breast drainage, affecting long term milk supply. Some things you will want to look for to verify if you have a good latch:
- Areola in mouth
- Chin touching your breast
- Ears, shoulders and hips in alignment
- Body close to your body
- After the first 10 seconds any initial discomfort should ease
- Lips flanging out like fish lips
- Frequent Nursing or Pumping: Milk production is largely a “supply and demand” process. The more you remove, the more you make. Aim for 8-12 nursing or pumping sessions within 24 hours.
- If you are supplementing because your baby is needing more milk/formula after a breastfeed or pumped bottle, try to pump after the feeding to encourage more milk removal and stimulation. Again, it’s largely supply and demand. So we need to create more supply by increasing demand.
- Flange Size: If you’re pumping, use the correct flange size to maximize efficiency. You can measure yourself check out the size guides.
- Strong Pump: It’s recommended to use a double electric pump, preferably hospital grade, as these are capable of removing adequate volumes of milk to keep an adequate supply. They also give you enough stimulation to your nipples/breast that’s required to increase the hormones necessary for milk production.
- Power Pumping: Power pumping can simulate cluster feeding in an infant, leading to increased supply. You can do this by pumping for 20 minutes on, rest 10 min, pump 10 min, rest 10 min, and finish with another 10 min pump. You can do this daily if you’d like.
3. Engorgement
- If you’re experiencing engorgement and trying to increase your supply, it’s important to get that milk out. When your breasts are full they will send a message to your body to stop producing milk. Similarly, when your breasts get emptied it signals your body to produce more milk. So removing more milk will help boost production! To encourage more milk removal, try massaging downward toward the nipple while pumping or feeding. Try applying heat before a feeding or pump.
4. Skin-to-Skin Contact
- Release Hormones: Skin-to-skin contact triggers the release of prolactin and oxytocin, essential for milk production and letdown reflex. If skin-to-skin contact is not possible, it could be helpful to look at photos or videos of your baby, smell something that has their scent, look at your baby, and touching your baby could help release oxytocin.
- Physiologically Calm: Skin-to-skin helps keep baby warm, calm, and well rested, which is perfect for encouraging successful breastfeeding.
5. Hydration and Nutrition
- Stay Hydrated: Drink enough water that you’re not thirsty, your urine is not concentrated, which is about 64 oz of water a day (eight 8oz glasses a day). Try not to over drink water though, excessive water intake does not equal more milk production.
- Nutrient-Rich Foods: whole, nutritious foods are going to be beneficial when you’re thinking about supporting your milk supply. Mainly, if you’re not malnourished your body will still be able to produce quality milk for your baby. Having healthy and whole diet will help improve mood, energy, and level out your blood sugar, which are all important for milk production.
6. Supplements
- I try not to put too much stock into lactation treats or hydration drinks to help boost supply, but there are some things I would think about trying IF you’ve done everything else possible to try to boost supply and nothing has helped.
- Galactogoues: Can be used to help increased milk production. I would talk to a medical professional before taking any supplements or prescription medications to help boost your milk supply.
6. Seek Professional Help
- Consult a Lactation Consultant: If you’re struggling, seek professional guidance. They can tailor advice to your unique situation. If you are seeking lactation support, check out my Services page if you’d like catered, personalized lactation care. I’d love to help you reach your goals!
Remember, every breastfeeding journey is different. Be patient with yourself, trust your body, and seek support when needed. You’re doing an incredible job! 🌟
If you have any specific questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out. Wishing you a successful and fulfilling breastfeeding experience! 🤱🥛
Resources
https://americanpregnancy.org/healthy-pregnancy/pregnancy-complications/dehydration-pregnancy/
Lactation Consultant: When You Need One & What To Expect – Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22106-lactation-consultant.
How to Rebuild or Increase Your Breast Milk Supply – Verywell Family. https://www.verywellfamily.com/relactation-increase-milk-supply-431824.
Increasing Breast Milk Supply – Wicha Lab. https://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/Gyn/Lactation/IncreasingMilkSupply.pdf.
10 Genius Tips To Increase Milk Supply — Milkology®. https://milkology.org/content/tips-to-increase-milk-supply.
5 Ways to Increase Breast Milk Supply – The Lactation Network. https://lactationnetwork.com/blog/maximizing-milk-production/.
Breastfeeding: Tips to Increase Your Milk Supply l University Hospitals …. https://www.uhhospitals.org/services/obgyn-womens-health/patient-resources/pregnancy-resources/Breastfeeding-Guide/breastfeeding-tips-to-increase-your-milk-supply.
