What can increase my milk supply? Breast milk is the food that the human body makes to nourish children, and it is produced in response to pregnancy and breastfeeding. However, non-pregnant women can also produce it with the help of hormones, medications, and suction stimulation. Breastfeeding benefits both mother and child in many ways, and many of these benefits continue long after breastfeeding has ended. In this text, we will discuss what can increase my milk supply.
what can increase my milk supply?
What can increase my milk supply? Many factors affect milk production in breastfeeding women, and milk production can be increased by following the following tips:
- Breastfeeding the child frequently, approximately every two hours.
- Breastfeeding the child each time from both breasts.
- Breastfeeding the child only from the mother’s breast and avoiding formula and other foods if the child is less than 6 months old.
- Get enough sleep and rest.
- Drink enough water and fluids.
- Include fennel and fenugreek seeds in the diet or take nutritional supplements that contain fennel and fenugreek.
- Add oats, whole grains, and brewer’s yeast to your diet.
- Eat garlic, and ginger in your diet.
5 Ways to Increase Breast Milk Production
What can increase my milk supply? Regarding the importance of breastfeeding, many mothers are looking for what can increase their milk supply. So, according to Lana Life Care for Home Health Care Services, here are the best ways to increase milk production.
1. Eat nutritious foods
The answer to what can increase my milk supply?Is to eat healthy foods rich in multiple nutrients, so be sure to follow a healthy diet.
2. Using a breast pump
What can I do to increase my milk supply? Breast milk provides all the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that your baby needs. It is important to increase breast milk, which is very valuable for your baby, and not waste it. For this reason, it is beneficial to increase the amount of milk and extract milk through a breast pump when your baby cannot be breastfed.
However, mothers who have had a cesarean section should use a pump to open the milk ducts after birth. Using a double breast pump can create a twin-baby effect. Thus, you can increase the amount of milk and get more milk for your baby.
2. Start breastfeeding early
Breastfeeding a new mother’s baby immediately after birth helps to activate the milk glands in your breasts more quickly. Moreover, in order for the mother’s body to fully understand that the mother’s body meets the baby’s body.
Breastfeeding the baby by placing the mother on her chest immediately after birth will be supportive of milk production. In this way, both the baby and the mother will have established an emotional bond and the baby will be effective in producing more milk while developing the sucking reflex.
3. Experiencing different breastfeeding positions
It is important for mothers to be aware of breastfeeding positions. The time of breastfeeding, the duration of breastfeeding and the breastfeeding position play a decisive role in this regard and are important for both the mother and the baby in terms of comfort and milk production.
Applying special breastfeeding positions for newborns can be effective in milk production. It will be appropriate for the mother to find the position that is suitable and effective for her and her baby by trying different methods.
4. Trying to reduce stress
Reducing stress after childbirth as much as possible will be beneficial for milk production for mothers. It will be difficult for mothers to control stress and stay away from stress in life. However, it will be good for the health of the mother and the baby to stay away from anxiety and stress so that it does not negatively affect the breastfeeding process.
In this process, it is recommended that the mother live a calmer life by avoiding stress with the support of her environment and her own suggestions. The mother should stay away from things that worry her and turn to thoughts and activities that will improve her psychologically.
5. Get enough sleep
What can increase my milk supply? Sleeping for a longer period helps you produce more milk, so if you suffer from sleep, you can request the newborn care service provided by Lana Life Care for Home Health Care.
Also Read: Benefits of massage for infants
Potential causes for low milk supply
What can increase my milk supply? In contrast, some reasons lead to decreased milk secretion:
- The common cause is the lack of breastfeeding frequency; this is because frequent breastfeeding stimulates the breasts to produce milk, and the baby may not breastfeed frequently enough because he feels sleepy, or because he is separated from his mother, or is fed formula milk which makes him less hungry.
- The breast (milk-producing tissue) did not grow enough during pregnancy.
- Previous surgery (breast reduction surgery) or radiation therapy to the breast.
- Hormonal imbalance in the mother.
- Taking some medications that interfere with milk production.
Misconceptions about low milk supply
After we talked about What can increase my milk supply? Here are some common myths about breastfeeding:
- The size of the breast after birth does not reflect the amount of milk produced by this breast. Many mothers reject the idea of feeding their children additional milk on the pretext that their breasts have grown a lot after birth, and this is a wrong idea.
- Many mothers do not have much breast size and feed their children more than those whose breasts have grown a lot, so the size of the breast after birth has nothing to do with the amount of milk it produces.
- In the case of diarrhea, the child must continue to be breastfed by the mother and the mother should not listen to any doctor who asks her to stop breastfeeding her child to stop the diarrhea because this is wrong, as breast milk is very beneficial in the case of diarrhea.
The mother’s sadness, anger, or nervousness does not harm the child if he breastfeeds from her while she is in this state. Therefore, the idea that the mother was upset and then breastfed her son and caused him harm is a completely wrong idea, but sadness and nervousness affect the amount of milk secreted by the mother because the issue is hormonal and emotions interfere with it
Also Read: How To Decrease The Risk Of SIDS
When to seek help
Although most breastfeeding women search for What can increase my milk supply? Some cases require the intervention of a lactation consultant, and among these cases are:
Breastfeeding pain
Breastfeeding pain is not normal. The causes of pain include the baby’s incorrect position during breastfeeding, incorrect latching on the nipple, or congenital problems such as tongue-tie or lip-tie. These problems will be evaluated by an IBCLC, and tongue-tie is diagnosed by a pediatrician.
The inability of the baby to latch on to the breast
The baby can’t latch onto the breast for several reasons. Some of the reasons are related to the shape of the mother’s nipple, such as inverted or flat nipples. Other reasons include tongue-tie or lip-tie as mentioned above, cleft palate, or other problems such as Down syndrome or others.
Regardless of the cause, an IBCLC can detect the problem and help the baby breastfeed. The breastfeeding specialist may resort to multiple methods to help the baby. As an attempt to extract or protrude the nipple before placing the baby for breastfeeding through gentle suction.
Weight loss
All babies lose between 7-10% of their birth weight during the first week. If the weight loss exceeds this percentage, this may mean that there is a problem with milk production or the baby’s inability to suck milk from the breast. In this case, the specialist can assess the problem and provide support when needed by increasing milk production, improving the baby’s position, or requesting a tongue or lip tie examination before resorting to artificial feeding.
A few dirty diapers
In the first days after birth, the newborn’s diaper will be soiled (with stool) a number of times equal to his age in days (one diaper on the first day, two on the second day, and so on…), and after the fourth day the stool should be yellow and the baby should come out 3 to 4 times a day.
Some babies come out after every meal, and the stool of a breastfed baby is liquid and not cohesive. If this is not the case, a breastfeeding specialist should be consulted to ensure that there is no problem with milk production or any other reason.
How to increase breast milk naturally at home
What can increase my milk supply? Some women suffer from low milk production, and it is rare for a mother to produce less milk than her child needs. Usually, low milk production is a temporary condition that improves when dealt with appropriately. The following tips may help in what can increase my milk supply:
- Drink plenty of water and eat a healthy and balanced diet.
- Use medications or herbal supplements that increase milk after consulting a doctor.
- Eat certain foods to increase milk production, such as barley, fennel, fenugreek seeds, oats, whole grains, brewer’s yeast, papaya, dill, apricots, red beets, garlic, caraway seeds, anise seeds, and coriander seeds.
- Ensure that the child holds the nipple in his mouth correctly and that the sucking process is done efficiently.
- The mother breastfeeds her child frequently, approximately 8 times a day at least.
- Change the breast that the child breastfeeds each time.
- Ensure that the breast is completely emptied in each breastfeeding or milk-pumping session.
- Do not exceed 5 hours without breastfeeding or expressing milk.
- Compress your breast to help your baby’s milk flow well.
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Lana Life Care: Helping You Boost Your Milk Supply Naturally!
At Lana Life Care, we understand that breastfeeding can be a very challenging experience for first-time mothers. Our board-certified lactation consultants provide inpatient and outpatient breastfeeding consultation services.
All of our consultants are educated and trained in lactation management. As a patient at Lana Life Care, we will provide you with a complete breastfeeding assessment for you and your baby to help with your baby’s nutrition and growth.
We also help you develop feeding plans and provide counseling and support to reach your baby’s appropriate feeding goals. Our outpatient breastfeeding management services include helping mothers with milk supply, addressing issues related to sore nipples, breast pumping, baby’s refusal to breastfeed, and more.
Conclusion
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that babies be breastfed for the first six months of life. After that, you can continue breastfeeding along with introducing solid foods to the child, and you can continue breastfeeding until the child is one year old or more, depending on the period that the breastfeeding mother sees as appropriate for her and her child. So in this guide, we have provided you with a lot of information about what can increase my milk supply.
FAQs
What is the 5 5 5 rule for breast milk?
Milk should be used within 5 hours at room temperature, 5 days in the refrigerator, and 5 months in the freezer.
What is the 2-hour rule for breast milk?
It is feeding the baby every two hours, as this contributes to milk production
What food helps produce breast milk?
Eating vegetables and drinking plenty of water contributes to increasing milk production
