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Breastfeeding Tips for Increasing Milk Supply

August 14, 2018 by Rachel 24 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links

My breastfeeding journey is complicated. And before I get started I need to disclose that fed is best. Period. But for me, it was absolutely important personal decision that my children be breastfed. That does not, by any means, mean that this has been an easy journey.

When my first child was born nearly 6 years ago, he had issues latching in the hospital. A couple of months later he was diagnosed with a pretty severe tongue tie, but at that point, I had already been exclusively pumping every 3 hours. Yes, I would even wake up in the middle of the night to pump and make sure that I kept my milk supply up for my baby. It was exhausting.

So when my daughter was born a couple of years later, I was determined that she would latch. I had several visits from the lactation consultant while in the hospital and they confirmed no tongue tie and her latch was great. My milk even came in while I was only 24 hours postpartum! It was crazy. In fact, I had an oversupply (thanks to my body being in overdrive from exclusively pumping with baby number 1). I needed to use a nipple shield to prevent my oversupply from choking my poor baby! But we worked through it.

Fast forward to the present day. I’m 7 weeks postpartum with my final exclusively breastfed baby. My milk came in even faster than with baby number 2. The lactation consultants actually came to visit me in the hospital because I was an anomaly with an oversupply and they wanted to talk to me about it. Obviously, I realize this is a great problem to have; but my supply has evened itself out already and we’re just trucking along.

So my body has literally been all over the place when it comes to breastfeeding — exclusively pumping, oversupply, undersupply, and everywhere in between.

Here’s what I can share with you to help

increase your milk supply while breastfeeding.

Eat and Drink. 

It can be difficult to make sure you’re eating enough when you’re stuck underneath a needy newborn, but the most important thing you can do for your milk supply is to keep a constant supply of water on hand and plenty of snacks. Our bodies use a lot of energy to create the milk for our babies. If we aren’t keeping up with our own caloric and water intake, our bodies won’t be able to produce food for our babies.

Empty your breasts after each feeding.

After you finish nursing your little one the last thing you want to do is be tied down even more. I know. But set that little lovebug down and bust out your breast pump and fully finish emptying your breasts. It will seem tedious at first and you likely won’t get much milk expressed, but if you keep up this practice it will help keep up with the demands of feeding.

Every new mom can check to see if they qualify through insurance for a new breast pump. The Aeroflow Breastpumps website makes it super easy to find out! All you do is complete the Aeroflow qualification form and then Aeroflow contacts your insurance provider and submits the paperwork to your doctor — and you get to choose your brand new breast pump!

If you’re serious about building your supply I suggest using a double-pump. My personal favorite (and go-to since baby number 1) is the Medela Pump In Style. The backpack design makes it super convenient for busy moms and the double-pump design maximizes your time by letting down both sides at once.

If you’re looking for a manual pump, Aeroflow Breastpumps also offers an array of those. Whatever your style is, just make sure you have a breast pump on hand to help with your supply. Even if you’re not getting much milk from expression, it is helping your body to know to produce more for your baby.

Make cookies!

Does it sound too good to be true? It isn’t! Eating the right kind of oatmeal or oatmeal cookies have been shown to increase a mothers milk supply.)* The combination of oats, brewers yeast, and flaxseed seems to do the trick! I’ve found a couple of great make-at-home recipes here and here.

If you’re not a baker and prefer to purchase cookies premade, I’ve had both Milk Bliss cookies and MilkMakers lactation cookies. Both are good, but as someone who doesn’t like chocolate, I prefer to make my own.

Have a beer. 

Again, this is not too good to be true! Hops, fennel, and barley are all known for increasing milk supply — and those are all found in beer! Now, I’m not saying have 5 beers, but an occasional beer before bed has helped myself and other mamas I know to increase our supply.

A bonus? It can help you to relax, which in turn will help you to produce more milk.

Pop a fenugreek pill.

Fenugreek, an herb, can be found in many lactation tea blends, but it doesn’t taste very good. With my first child, I bought fenugreek supplements at my local pharmacy (most big box retailers will have them near the prenatal vitamins). These, along with the methods above were honestly the key to my success with exclusively pumping for one whole year with baby number one.

Here’s the deal with breastfeeding — it’s hard. It’s really, really, hard. But never once was it not worth it. It was always worth it for me. And if you find yourself reading this, and looking for tips to help you on your breastfeeding journey, it’s obviously important for you, too.

So I will leave you with this advice: Seek out support and know that your body is capable of amazing things. And if at any time you need advice or a listening ear or just to vent, please email me. My first breastfeeding adventure was rough and I still decided to have two more babies and breastfeed them both!

*Parenting.com article

Disclaimer: I am not a physician, nutritionist, or lactation consultant. These are just my personal experiences and experiences of those close to me. Always consult with your physician and lactation consultant. And, as always, FED is best.

Filed Under: #MomLife, babies, breast pump, breastfeeding, children, health, mommyhood, Oh baby!, parenthood, postpartum, sponsor, tips + tricks Tagged With: #MomLife, babies, breast pump, breastfeeding, children, health and beauty, mommyhood, oh baby, parenthood, postpartum, sponsor, tips + tricks

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sheila Rhodes

    August 14, 2018 at 4:37 pm

    One of the most natural things in the world to do and so good for our babies. I wasn’t able to breastfeed my daughter due to an illness, but I would have loved to if it were possible. Great tips for new mommas!

    Reply
  2. Megan

    August 15, 2018 at 10:43 am

    This is all so super helpful for new mommys! I’ll have to bookmark it for the future!

    Reply
  3. Chanell

    August 15, 2018 at 1:41 pm

    Thank you so much for this advise! I’m currently breastfeed and any all tips are so much appreciated as it such a difficult journey sometimes. So thank you for sharing! Time for a beer! Lol

    Reply
  4. celeste

    August 15, 2018 at 1:56 pm

    I love breastfeeding so much!

    Reply
  5. Marysa

    August 15, 2018 at 3:36 pm

    These are all great tips. I pumped for 16 months and found these to be very helpful. I’m lucky too that my body responded quite well to fenugreek.

    Reply
  6. Tanvi Rastogi

    August 15, 2018 at 3:42 pm

    Not a mother but my new mommy friends would love your post.

    ❥ tanvii.com

    Reply
  7. Katherine Betts

    August 15, 2018 at 4:01 pm

    Great tips! As a twin mom, supply is everything! Mine are older now but can I still eat all the cookies? lol

    Reply
  8. eryka

    August 15, 2018 at 4:29 pm

    YAS I remember these days!!!

    Reply
  9. Nicole Banuelos

    August 16, 2018 at 2:30 am

    These are such great tips!

    Reply
  10. Amber

    August 16, 2018 at 9:21 am

    I have heard oatmeal cookies are supposed to help! Weird. I just did formula with my kids because I had to go back to work right away and it was nice not having to stress about any of it! Would have been nice to breastfeed but just wasn’t feasible in my case.

    Reply
  11. Courtney N Spena

    August 16, 2018 at 11:10 am

    Eating and drinking sounds so simple but its SO easy to forget to do! As Moms we get so busy taking care of everyone else that we forget to feed ourselves. But it’s SO important for our nursing experience!

    Reply
  12. Vicky

    August 16, 2018 at 2:22 pm

    It looks like there are lots of effective ways to increase milk supply. I know this can be a very stressful time for a new mom, but with these resources, hopefully things can be a little easier.

    Reply
  13. Nicole Pyles

    August 16, 2018 at 2:35 pm

    Fantastic advice! I’ll definitely keep these in mind.

    Reply
  14. Evelyn Hernandez

    August 16, 2018 at 3:07 pm

    I was not able to breast feed for both of my boys, but I know it is difficult, Thanks for sharing these wonderful tips to help out the mamas.

    Reply
  15. Karen

    August 16, 2018 at 4:10 pm

    I’ve never been pregnant yet, but I get the picture of how hard breastfeeding can be. As much as possible, I would like to breastfeed my children. These are great tips!

    Reply
  16. Leigh Suznovich

    August 16, 2018 at 9:36 pm

    Love these tips, saving this for when I become a mom!

    Reply
  17. Deb B.

    August 17, 2018 at 2:43 am

    I am literally breastfeeding as we speak. I’m like you – my journey with breastfeeding has been quite the journey and I’m so glad that even with the not-so-easy times, you still kept doing what you needed to do for your kiddos since it’s very important to you as it was to me. At the end of the day, it is the most beautiful bonding moment isn’t it?

    Reply
  18. jessica

    August 17, 2018 at 9:24 am

    Drinking enough water was huge for me! I could totally tell when I didn’t drink enough!

    Reply
  19. Aarika

    August 17, 2018 at 4:56 pm

    These are awesome tips! I don’t have kids, but I have lots of family members and friends who are currently breastfeeding. I will share these tips. Wonderful!

    Reply
  20. Ashley J Newton

    August 17, 2018 at 9:16 pm

    LOVED me some breastfeeding cookies! I also just love cookies. Haha! Thanks for the tips!

    Reply
  21. Bianca Mcneace

    August 18, 2018 at 12:44 am

    Thanks for sharing this journey b/c so many women need to hear this!

    Reply
  22. Diana tidswell

    August 18, 2018 at 11:22 am

    This is such a great post and very informative as well especially to those who give breastfeeding. As we all know breastfeeding is an important essence for babies.

    Reply
  23. Joan Cajic

    August 18, 2018 at 4:12 pm

    These are really great tips, will be checking out the cookies. My son is 4 months but I substitute with formula once a day since my supply isn’t that much. Thank you for this.

    Reply
  24. Raina

    August 18, 2018 at 7:03 pm

    Such great tips and all based are covered wonderfully! I would have never known about beer having its advantages.

    Reply

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