Getting my milk back

[cmroark]

so.. i stopped breastfeeding my daughter right when she hit 3 months, but i want to start nusring her again.. mainly because i can't stand to see her constipated all the time and she gets little hemroids everytime she poops. plus.. i miss having that closeness with her. i only stopped because she fell asleep everytime i fed her so i was pumping every 2 hours, but this time i don't care.. i will do whatever i have to do to get my little girls bowel movements back to normal! she just turned 5 months on the 25th of june [2007] and i was wondering if i started pumping again would i be able to get my milk back?!? i'm really determined and will do wahtever i can or have to do to get my milk back.. so some advice please and thanks!

[chellybeans]

I would like to resume breastfeeding after an interruption. How do I relactate?


Sometimes a mother decides to resume breastfeeding, whether due to an emergency when there is a shortage of other food, after a separation, etc. Often a mother can rebuild a milk supply very successfully, with patience and determination (and a cooperative baby). La Leche League's BREASTFEEDING ANSWER BOOK (p. 52) recommends the following strategies for relactation and induced lactation, to stimulate milk production:

Putting baby to breast to suck at each feeding and for comfort  between feedings as often as possible.
Using hand expression or a breast pump.
Using a nursing supplementer (if available and if conditions are sanitary enough to make its use safe) to provide expressed milk at the breast while baby sucks at the breast.
Taking herbs/medication that increase milk supply (herb resources are listed in the resources collection).
If you do use herbs or medications to increase your supply, be sure to put the baby to the breast frequently, to remove as much milk as possible. This will help avoid breast infections or plugged ducts.

Our FAQ on increasing your milk supply also contains valuable hints for re-starting breastfeeding, and our article on how the human breast works contains valuable information on how milk supply is built up and maintained.

their website is really helpful

[mgi]

my nursing book says you can have her suckle till milk comes back
you can use electric pump every so often (2 hours etc)
you can ask your doctor to prescirbe a medicine that will bring mil bak
you can take herbs fenugreek and blessed thistl and also pump or suckle

[proudmami]

it has been a year since I stopped breastfeeding, and I was wondering if there is any way of starting again?