More Reasons for a Decline in Milk Supply (Milk Pumping Problems You May Encounter continued)
Your milk supply may also go down if you go through some changes in lifestyle. For example, a change in diet can affect the amount of milk your body produces. If you go on a diet, your body may not have enough nutrition to nourish you and produce milk. When breastfeeding, stick to healthy foods, and make sure you get the right amount of calories each day. In fact, a few extra calories will not hurt!
Also, make sure you are well hydrated and are getting enough fluids. Drinking good amounts of water will aid your body’s systems, making each one more efficient, including milk production. Apart from this, get a lot of rest, and sleep enough hours each night even if it means sleeping early. A nursing or pumping mother needs her rest because her body is supporting both herself and her child.
Stress and pressure from work as well as being sick can also affect your milk supply. Try to find time to relax yourself, and avoid getting sick. There are some medicines that can affect milk supply, and if you are on medication for an illness, you can ask your doctor if it will affect your milk supply and if it will affect your baby. To avoid getting sick, take a multivitamin or eat foods high in vitamin C in order to keep your immune system up.
Another reason that you have a drop in your milk supply is because you baby is nursing less when you directly breastfeed them or has changed the nursing schedule. A drop in the amount your baby feeds can signal your breasts to produce less milk. The change in nursing schedule can do the same because you may have skipped a nursing or pumping session without realizing it.
To keep your supply up, you will have to keep your pumping often and frequent. However, if your baby is already transitioning into solid foods or is being weaned, and may not need breast milk for much longer, you can welcome this drop in supply and slowly decrease your pumping sessions.
Finally, some women notice a drop in milk supply for none of the reasons above, but because their breast pump has become less efficient. If your breast pump is old or if some parts need to be cleaned or replaced, this could be the reason behind your drop in milk supply. Also, you may not have chosen an effective enough pump for the amount of pumping you want to do, and the pump may be overworked. This often happens with electric pumps.
To choose a good pump for your needs, talk to a lactation consultant and explain to them what your pumping requirements are. They will be able to recommend some breast pumps for you. You can also choose to read consumer reviews on various breast pumps available in the market so you can see how happy other women are with certain pumps, and what they think about its efficiency.
Next Article: Increasing the Amount of Milk Pumped
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