Increasing Milk Supply
Did you know that a private lactation consultant charges about $150 for a home visit that will maybe take 1 or 2 hours at the most? That’s $150 I was considering paying when I suffered from nipple infection after being a little too enthusiastic about increasing my milk supply. The consultant herself was trying to discourage me from making the appointment and instead suggested that I attend their free mommy gathering at her place.
Looking back, I wish I had someone talk to me openly about all the gory details of breastfeeding. I’d seen a friend with her 10-day-old baby once and recall thinking that it was too much like milking a cow because she had the baby latched on one nipple and her husband holding a pump to the other. I knew some day I’d be doing the same thing but I didn’t know the commitment it takes to breastfeed. With so many formula milk options these days, it is really easy to give up on breastfeeding.
Or is it?
As I mentioned in my previous post, there is quite a bit of pressure from the medical personnel to breastfeed exclusively for at least six months. In my first month of confinement, I was very motivated to breastfeed as much as possible and even tried to latch-feed every time. I broke out the electric Medela FreeStyle pump by the second week because it seemed like the baby wasn’t drinking enough. I had to rely on at least one feed of FM per day and I didn’t know how much milk he was drinking when he latched on. Pumping out the milk to bottle-feed would allow me to track his intake.
To help increase my milk production, the confinement lady would apply a hot towel and massage my breasts while I pumped. The massage was so intense that I would be wincing in pain and often end with a bruise or two. I learned how to ruthlessly squeeze out every drop of milk and will continue doing that for as long as I continue to breastfeed.
Massage aside, here are some other tips to increase your milk supply:
1. Drink the red date/longan/dang shen drink like water for as long as you can. I drank this everyday for 3.5 months and am now drinking it every other day. I expect to stop soon because the herbs that make this drink are really expensive but I truly believe it’s the reason for my baby’s chubbiness despite his relatively low intake of milk. He drinks only 130-140ml every 3-4 hours but is almost as chubby as a baby two months older than him, who was chugging down 150ml each feed at the same age.
2. Take supplements. During my most fanatical period, I was drinking Mothers’ Milk tea, taking motillium (also known as domperidone), as well as popping fenugreek and blessed thistle capsules. My milk supply went up but that was also right about the time that I got breast infection. I recommend taking fenugreek or motillium on its own for a week and then gradually adding other supplements if you don’t see a marked improvement in your milk supply.
3. Latch as much as you can or as long as baby is willing, even if there’s no milk. Nipple stimulation is key to increasing milk supply. This is evidenced when every time my baby latches onto one breast to feed, the other one starts to leak.
4. Pump regularly, especially if you have trouble latching or just want to bottle-feed so you can track your baby’s intake. Try to latch/pump every 3-4 hours. Or if you have the energy, even every 2-3 hours in the first few days. I recommend power pumping where you pump for about 20mins, rest 10 minutes, then pump again for 10 minutes, rest 10 minutes, and pump again for 10 mins. Usually takes about an hour. In my case, I pump for about 30 minutes, rest 10 minutes and then pump again for 10 minutes.
5. Eat lots of fish and drink lots of soup. Better yet if it’s fish soup.
6. When your supply finally ramps up (and this could take weeks), be sure to empty your breasts if you want production to keep going up. For example, if your baby latches and drinks for 15 mins but your breasts still feel like there’s milk, use your pump to express as much milk as possible. That will signal your breasts to produce more milk.
7. Hire a massage lady who is experienced with postnatal massage. She will know how to massage your breasts in addition to giving you a body massage. After the first month, I would engage a massage lady to massage me once a week for another two months and I would always have an easier time nursing the baby after she worked her magic fingers.
Other random bits of information:
- Size really does not matter. My breasts are a decent size but I struggle to generate as much milk as others with breasts approximately two cup sizes smaller than me. If anything, the larger breasts probably just means they will sag a lot more. Sigh…
- Take good care of your nipples or you may risk a nipple infection. Wash/clean your nipples after each pump/latch and apply nipple cream regularly. I like Lansinoh because it’s very thick.
Tags: breast milk, breastfeeding, formula milk, latching, massage, milk supply, nipples, nursing, pump