Raising the Milk: 5 ways to increase your breast milk supply

Raising the Milk: 5 ways to increase your breast milk supply

“I don’t think I’m making enough milk to satisfy the baby”

I cannot tell you how many nursing moms have told me this!  The first point I have to make is that not all moms are successful at breastfeeding. It is not a complete science and not quite an art. As far as I’m concerned as long as you give it your best try then I am happy. I am here to give you my tried and tested methods of keeping my milk.

First, a little background. I am a mother of two children both of which I have successfully nursed. The first child I nursed for 16 months and the second child I nursed for 12 months. When my first was born I had a very hard time establishing my milk and I almost gave up. I would pump and get maybe ½ an ounce. So I started to research every possible way to make more milk. In the end I was able to raise my milk supply and start producing 8-12oz each time I pumped out of each breast.  This is the nursing mother’s guide to raising the milk and producing a healthy supply for your little ball of sunshine.

1.       Consistency

With most babies you will typically need to nurse once every two hours to establish a pattern with your body. Nursing is a supply and demand issue. Your body will supply as much milk as your baby asks for. So take baby to breast often from the start and your body will continue to produce at that rate.

 If you are just starting out, now is the time to nurse often. Start as soon as you can after birth and continue the pattern until your baby has settled on a nursing schedule that works for both of you. Even when my daughter was older (10-12 months) I still continued offering at least every four hours. Even if she didn’t want it, it helped to stimulate my hormones to make more milk. That doesn’t mean you have to force your baby, it just means sitting down and trying.

If you are lost somewhere in the first year after the establishment period (first 6 weeks) have no fear, you too can re-establish your milk in the same way. Begin offering your baby the breast once every two hours. If the baby completely ignores it, then pump for 10 minutes.

2.       Save for a not so rainy day

When the baby refuses to nurse, pump for ten minutes. In my early days of nursing I would pump and get only ½ oz at the most. I thought that this was not significant enough to store for the baby. I was wrong! Any amount, big or small is better than nothing. No matter when you pump or how much you pump, ALWAYS save the milk. It will be handy if you end up in some event that makes it impossible for you to nurse. You can also use this milk for supplementing your regular nursing sessions. 

3.       Baby is Best

I had a friend that “nursed” her daughter for a several months. She would go to work and pump (very commendable) then come home and pump as well. Instead of nursing her daughter to the breast she would give the baby the bottle so she had a chance to pump. Don’t get me wrong here, breast milk is the same from the bottle or the breast and pumping for months on end is impressive. However, the key to increasing your milk supply is to stimulate the nipple. Pumping does this too, but not nearly as efficiently as an actual nursing child. The nursing child’s mouth is shaped perfectly to get the most bang for your buck.

4.       Bread and Water

I cannot stress enough the importance of drinking enough water and eating enough of the right calories. Try to think about the foods that you would like to give a toddler when you are picking your diet. You would not be feeding a one-year-old chips, soda, fast food and the like. You would be trying to feed them vegetables, fruits, lean meats and whole grains.

In addition to eating the right foods, it is equally important that you drink your daily water. I will be the first to say that drinking water sucks. I always forget it, it is boring and the thought of drinking 64 oz of it a day is just disgusting to me. However I will say that drinking water has been the most important aspect of keeping my milk supply and when I am nursing I do anything necessary to drink it. That might mean flavoring it or even breaking up the water into three ounce “sips” every couple hours. I don’t care how you get there, you just need to drink as much water as you can make yourself consume.

5.       Have the right mindset

In my first nursing group I met a woman who was desperately trying to nurse her baby. After two months of trying to raise her milk supply, she was still only producing two ounces per feeding. She said to me, “I want to nurse this baby and I am not giving up!” That was the perfect mindset for the job. 

A lot of women will think that nursing is very hard, or time consuming or that they are inadequate to nurse a child. I will tell you that a good mindset will take you very far. It does not matter what size breasts you have, what size nipples you have or how long other family members have nursed. You can do this if you set your mind to it. If you make nursing a priority then you will be successful.