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I am not a medical professional. I am only sharing what worked for me in my own experience. Please reach out to a lactation consultant to determine what is best for you.
Breastfeeding can be difficult, especially if it’s your first time doing it. So, you want to find out how to increase your milk supply. But why do you think it is low? If you are concerned that you are not producing enough milk for your baby, I encourage you to speak with your pediatrician if you have not already and determine if your baby is getting enough milk.
If your pediatrician seems concerned about your baby’s weight, you can ask them for recommendations of a lactation consultant. A lactation consultant can work with you to determine the specific problem you may be encountering, leaving no guess work for yourself. This would be a quick fix to increasing your milk supply.
After breastfeeding successfully for over a year now, I’ve found quite a few things that work. These breastfeeding tips are all backed by science and are things that have worked for me. I hope you’re able to easily increase your milk supply with these tips like I did.
De-stress
Believe it or not, stress can cause low milk production. If you are someone who stresses easily, consider testing different ways to lower your stress levels.
Whether that is meditation, limiting time around people who cause you stress, practicing breathing techniques to calm you down, repeating affirmations, or journaling.
There are many different ways to decrease stress. Stress causes tension in your body and will make it harder to produce milk. See a few options to lower stress, here.
Feed Often
The body makes what the baby needs. When the demand increases, the supply increases. With newborns, you should be feeding every 2-3 hours around the clock.
Your first few times breastfeeding, your body will not be producing much milk because your baby’s stomach is very small. They don’t need you to make a lot of milk right from the start!
Keep in mind, it is good to feed on both breasts multiple times during a feeding session. This helps tell your body to produce more milk in each breast.
This is also important because there are two different kinds of breastmilk you produce. As the breastfeeding session begins, the baby will be receiving thinner milk that still has good nutrients. But as they suck longer, they will reach the hindmilk. The hindmilk is more nutrient-dense. Baby needs to be getting this hindmilk every feeding.
This is also why it’s important to write down which breast you last fed on so you can start on that same breast in hopes of the baby getting more hindmilk.
Don’t worry about exact timing, just try switching breasts every few minutes until the baby is full. You can tell they are full when their hands are no longer in a fist and the baby may seem more relaxed.
Pump After Every Feeding
By pumping, you are telling your body that it needs to increase its milk supply. A time-efficient way to do this is, after every feeding session, you then pump for the same amount of time that your baby was feeding.
You may feel like all you do all day is pump and feed and pump and feed, but this really will boost your milk supply by making your body think there is a higher demand for milk.
If you haven’t gotten a breast pump yet, you can get a FREE BREAST PUMP through your insurance using AEROFLOW! I went through Aeroflow to get a Medela breast pump and the experience was very easy. All I had to do was enter the info it asked for, choose my breast pump and other pumping supplies and wait for them to send it to me (which didn’t take long at all)! Breast pumps can run you hundreds of dollars. Why spend that on your own when you don’t have to!? Let your insurance cover that!
Make Sure Baby Has A Good Latch
Make sure the baby is opening their mouth really wide and taking in not only the nipple but also most if not all of the areola. The nipple needs to be as far back in the baby’s mouth as possible.
When inserting your nipple, the baby’s tongue needs to be underneath and aim your nipple toward the roof of their mouth. You may experience pain if your nipple is not far enough in the baby’s mouth.
Along with getting the nipple as far back in the baby’s mouth as possible, you want to make sure your baby’s lips are flared around your breast. Imagine making a fish face with kissy lips but with your mouth open. That is what your baby needs to look like when sucking on your breast.
To get more information on ensuring you have a good latch, contact your local lactation consultant.
During your stay at the hospital after giving birth, utilize your resources there. There is usually a lactation consultant in the hospital that can speak to you and physically show you helpful strategies and positions to help your baby get the best latch.
Water & Tea
When you are breastfeeding, liquid is going out, but are you putting enough liquid back in? You should be drinking mostly water for the majority of the day to stay hydrated.
Water intake is often overlooked when trying to increase breast milk production. I’ve found when I drink more water than usual, my breasts fill with milk faster.
An easy way to keep your body hydrated it is to drink a glass of water first thing in the morning when you wake up.
Also, the act of breastfeeding may cause you to be thirsty anyway, so keep water with you while breastfeeding throughout the day and during night feedings.
As humans, we dehydrate throughout the night as it is, and to add to that dehydration, baby needs to drink breast milk during the night too. If you are not drinking enough water, you may begin to feel light-headed during feedings.
I for one, know exactly how that feels. This is why it is so important to drink water during each breastfeeding session and first thing in the mornings.
I ended up purchasing a large water bottle to keep with me throughout the day so I’m not constantly having to fill up a small cup over and over. I have a 28 oz bottle that I end up refilling a few times a day to keep me hydrated while breastfeeding and it has worked wonders.
Mothers milk is also a good drink option. It is a wonderful caffeine-free tea that contains galactagogues, which are herbs and food that can help increase lactation.
You can find Mothers Milk Tea at your local grocery store or on Amazon.
Massage Your Breast
Before a breastfeeding session or even while breastfeeding, massage the back section of your breasts, closest to your rib cage. Start by massaging under your armpit and all around the outsides of your breast to get the hindmilk to come forward. As mentioned before, hind milk is the more nutrient rich milk that your baby needs most.
Skin To Skin
Performing skin to skin with your baby will help your body initiate milk supply. Skin to skin care can increase your milk supply because it stimulates the production of prolactin and oxytocin. Both of which helps to produce and release breast milk. There are many benefits of skin-to-skin care, you can see more here.
Eat
If you are at all concerned about losing weight while breastfeeding and are therefore dieting, please consider not doing any serious diets that restrict the nutrition you are providing your body throughout the day.
In order to produce breast milk, you must be eating properly. You are still technically eating for two even though your baby is now on the outside of your body.
You still need to be taking in enough calories and nutrition to take care of your body as well as using it to produce milk for your baby to keep growing.
Breastfeeding can burn up to 500 calories per day depending on how often you feed. If you are not eating enough food, your body will not produce enough nutritional milk to be supportive of your baby.
Some foods that can increase breast milk supply are:
- Lactation cookies with oatmeal and brewer’s yeast are a super simple and quick snack to eat right before breastfeeding. Oatmeal and brewer’s yeast are two wonderful galactagogues to produce more milk.
- Oatmeal
- Asparagus
- Yams
- Garlic
- Ginger & ginger ale
- Beets
- Carrots
Warm Shower Or Warm Compress
Warming up your breasts with moist heat will help during the letdown process of milk, thus helping to tell your body to produce more milk. There are three common ways to do this. Right before breastfeeding, try one of these options:
- Take a warm shower, letting the water hit your chest.
- Wet a towel with hot water, but not too hot to burn your skin, and lay it across your chest.
- Warm a Lansinoh Therapearl pack to lay over each breast.
Focus On Your Baby When Feeding
The overwhelming loving feelings you get when looking at your baby is actually oxytocin and prolactin being released throughout your body which stimulates milk production.
Try putting your phone down, turn off the TV and look at your baby, allowing for these natural hormones to help your body produce more milk.
