| The best way to increase your milk supply is to breastfeed the baby more. The more you breastfeed the more milk your body will make. Is your baby still willing to latch on and feed? If not seek specialized help from a La Leche League Leader or a professional lactation consultant. (Leaders contacts are Sarah 2548-7636, Maggie 2817-7475, Judi 2987-5809 and Tanja 2259-3081.)
At around three months the breasts begin to become accustomed to being lactating breasts. This means that a number of things happen. First the breast usually stop leaking, also the full feeling of the first few weeks goes. This often makes mothers think they are losing their milk supply when in fact it is just a sign that the body now doesn’t have to work at producing the milk. Also at around this age – or a little later – the baby starts to notice everything around him. This means that he is much more distractible and sometimes harder to get to settle down to feed.
The amount of milk that you can express is not an indication of the amount of milk you have – only an indication of the amount you can express. Such things as tiredness and stress will affect the amount of milk you can express but it will not affect the amount of milk the baby can get when feeding.
I remember two days very clearly when I was working and expressing milk. The first day my boss shouted at me in front of my collogues and I found that I was so upset that I couldn’t express any milk at all that day. Then a few months later I was given a promotion and a large rise in salary. That day I went home with over 16 ozs! Stress really does affect the amount of milk you can express.
If you want to see how much the baby is drinking watch him as he feeds. When you see the rhythmic suck-suck-swallow you can tell he is getting lots of milk.
If you are busy at work and don’t express for a long time your body will assume that you don’t need milk at that time. However, your body will continue to make milk for the times that you do express or feed your baby. I have lots of friends who have not expressed during the day when working and been able to feed their babies in the evening and at weekends.
Once the milk supply is established at about six weeks it is actually quite difficult to get rid of it. One estimate was that mothers have milk for 42 days after the last feeding. Before the six-week mark, however, missing feeds can very quickly lead to a reduced milk supply. But remember there are ways to increase the supply. The best way is to feed the baby more. There are other techniques, such as breast compression and switch nursing. It is best to talk to a La Leche League Leader or a professional lactation consultant to explain how to do these techniques.
Best wishes,
Barb  |