How to Increase Milk Supply Naturally
As mentioned in some of our other articles, your body produces milk on an on demand basis. This means it produces the right amount of milk your baby needs for each feeding. It can produce more milk if required, and it can also lessen milk production (usually when mixed feeding or weaning begins.) There are times though that your breasts produce too much milk which results in overactive ejection or produces too little milk for the demand.
There are several available medicines your doctor can prescribe in order to stimulate or increase milk production. However, to increase milk production naturally, the first technique you can try is feeding more frequently. More frequent feedings can signal your breasts to produce more milk in order to meet the demands of the baby. This is a very natural way of increasing milk supply, and it usually works for many mothers.
If frequent feedings did not solve the problem, try using an electric breast pump. Electric breast pumps suck milk from your breasts at a faster rate than your baby would. Much like the more frequent feeding technique, using the breast pump can signal your breasts to begin producing more milk as the demand is increasing in both speed and quantity. You can use the breast pump for as long as you feel you have a problem and simply store the milk for your baby to drink while you are away. This will be discussed further under the section of milk pumping.
Another option is to turn to herbal remedies. You can drink herbal teas or ingest herbs in your food in order to increase milk production. Some herbs also come in capsule form. Try drinking raspberry leaf tea or cooking foods with fennel. More popular to increasing milk supply however are blessed thistle or fenugreek capsules. These remedies are more natural than pharmaceutical drugs, but their effects on increasing milk production are not entirely proven because they don’t work for all women.
Sometimes women believe that they are not producing enough milk, but the baby is just not latched on properly or their ducts are emptying at a slow rate. You can try massaging the breasts in order to stimulate milk flow or use a breast pump. If the problem of low milk production persists, you can consult your doctor for help. You may need to change your diet or your manner of feeding.
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