[mammalicious]

im looking to buy some supplements to help

a) increase my milk supply
b) increase the supply in a faster period.. ie if my baby feeds in 2-3 hour intervals how can i make milk faster so its there for her?

i know fennelgreek is one?

thanks!

[Valencia]

Try eating papaya and fish soup. The mothers in my ward had people bring them fish soup to help breastfeeding. You have to fry the fish with ginger and wine before boiling them. You can boil soup with fish and papaya and ginger. Buy sea water fish since fresh water fish contains mercury and possibly the now famous harmful chemical. If this is too much work, just eat papaya.

[mammalicious]

i am already drinking that thanks!! but didnt know just eating papaya works??

[Valencia]

I had serious stomach ache in the first few months of my pregnancy, and ate papaya to alleviate the problem. I noticed my breasts just grew. Then after I stopped eating papaya, they shrank.

[rani]

mammalicious,

fenugreek worked for me. used to be able to pump 6-8oz at a time. also don't forget to drink lots of water. you can also try Mother's Milk Tea which is available at Healthgate in Central.

Rani

[Wee Kean]

Hello mammalicious, I drink lots of milk, soya milk and water. I also drank papaya and fish soup in the first month after delivery. You can also check this website for information about increasing supply: www.lalecheleague.org.

[barbwong_130]

Why do you want to increase your milk supply? Usually if a mother has breastfed for three months her supply is just right for her baby. If your baby isn’t growing well I would suggest getting help from someone who can help with breastfeeding either a lactation consultant or a LLL leader.

The way the breast ways is that the emptier it is the faster it makes milk. So a full breast makes milk slowly and a breast which is nearly empty (it can never be totally empty) makes milk quickly.

The breast works like a factory manufacturing soft toys. There is a factory and the warehouse. Usually the factory makes the toys at a similar rate to the order coming in and the factory is not working too fast or too slow. Likewise the breast usually makes the milk in line with the speed of the feeds – not too fast so you get engorged or too slow so the baby has to work hard.

If lots of orders come in suddenly and the warehouse starts to empty the manager increases the speed of production to meet the demand from the orders. Likewise if the baby suddenly has a growth spurt and starts to drink a lot the breasts increases production and increases the speed of milk production.

As the warehouse fills up with no new orders the manager slows down the production and eventually stops it altogether until the next order comes. The breast is like that as it fills the production slows down and then stops until the baby feeds again.

So a baby feeding often is not a problem for the breast but skipping feeds and giving supplements or formula top up is. Because the breast being empty means you’ll make more milk but the breast being full means the production stops.

The other thing to take into account when you are trying to pump milk is your breast capacity. Some mothers have a small breast capacity – say 3 oz. Thus this mother will need to feed her baby 10 times in 24 hours to give him the 30 oz he requires.

Other mothers have a larger breast capacity – say 6 oz. This mother will need to feed her baby only 5 times in 24 hours to give him the 30 oz he requires. That is assuming the baby can manage 6 oz at once – most can’t.

Usually a breastfed baby will feed between 8 and 14 times in 24 hours –no matter what the mother’s breast capacity is. If, however, you are exclusively pumping to provide milk the size of your breast capacity makes a difference to the number of times you have to pump. The first mother with capacity of 3 oz will have to pump 10 times and the second mother, with capacity of 6 oz, will only have to pump 5 times.

Best wishes,
Barb

[mammalicious]

i seemed to have milk before but now i feel my breasts are always empty and not producing fast enough.. i have to top up with expressed milk from my freezer storage (thankfully i have some but running out fast!) after feeding 20min each side. i can feel it is empty the breasts are very very soft. also i cannot pump very much out anymore. Baby is going through her 12 week growth spurt as well. i have hired Mrs Chee now and she's recommended i take a whole bunch of stuff.. i just hope that it will boost it up again quckly!! i really prefer to stay away from having to go to formula but i can't let her starve either. i prefer to even not top up with formula if i can.

but i just called my pediatrician and he recommends i think about going formula... why do they so easily just tell patients to go formula even when the mom is so willing to go so many extra miles to get breastmilk for her baby?