How to increase breast milk?

[radhika28]

Hey Girls,
Happy new year to all of you!
Didnt know the Forum is still on, its such a blessed feeling to have all of you here. I was wondering where to post & check.im GLAD to find you all back :-)

my daughter is nw 18wks. Iv resumed work since Mon,im expressing milk at work, but i find that the flow has reduced :-(
She is demanding more and my flow has reduced lesser than normal.
Earlier i was expressin about 260 ml/cc per day, now it doesnt go beyond 220ml/cc per day :-(

Im a vegetarian and dont know what to do to increase the milk. Im not very keen on puttin her on formula so early.
Any suggestions?

cheers!
Radhika - mum of Kisori

[radhika28]

Hi Michele,Katy...thanks so much for the information.

Latrice, a BIG hello to you,hope you are doing good! How was your delivery? Dont stop breastfeeding untill ur baby is 6 months, its v useful for your sweetheart! Just be positive that milk is gonna flow when she latches on & IT WILL.

Juana, thanks so much, im having soaked fenugreek seeds each day in the morning as it is an indian spice & iv been aware of it. Its v rich in iron as well!

[Juana824]

Fenugreek is the name of the herbal supplement....

[Latrice414]

I just wanted to say HEY Radhika glad to hear from you and glad your little one is doing well, it is a blessing that these wonderful ladies have kept this forum going.

Drink tons of fluid, i agree with what Michele said.

When i went back to work i could not keep up with the pumping at work or even pumping at home to store milk, so i made the choice to breastfeed when i get off work until its time to go back to work and she gets formula while im at work.  She will be 4 months friday and im thinking to switch her to strictly formula around 5 or 6 months.  Even when i try to nurse her during the day when im off, she doesnt get a lot bcuz my supply is super low during the day from not nursing or pumping:(

[Michele, Katy, TX]

I also wanted to add that I know that I nurse at home more often than I was able to pump at work, so I know that that did cause my milk production to go down.  Unfortunately, you probably won't be able to help that.  After my stockpile of milk that I had in the freezer was gone, I did have to end up supplementing w/ formula.

[Michele, Katy, TX]

I know these are all difficult things to do but make sure to drink tons of water, eat plenty of calories and try to get plenty of rest.  I know it's hard right now.  I struggle w/ it too but those are the things I know to do.  There are also natural herbs that you can take but I can't remember the name of them.  I know it starts w/ an F though.  There is also a medication that you can take but some people say no.  I took it for a short period of time w/ my last baby after going back to work.  It's called Reglan.  Milk production is not the purpose for the medication.  It's just a side effect.  You may want to also check on the breastfeeding forum.  They may be able to tell you the herb I was talking about.