Tips for Breastfeeding and Milk Supply

I thought I'd start a new thread, where we could all put down our tips for helping all you new mums with feeding and supply.. A few of us on here have had some real problems in the past with feeding, but sorted it out one way or another. Lots of us seem to have expressed and bottle fed as well as breast fed, so I thought we could pass on some inspiration...

FYI: My problem (really edited version) was Jacob could feed, but refused to, and also, I got no milk in.   With the help of Domperidone and expressing, I was able to feed him my own milk, until I got him on the breast finally at 6 weeks, with the help of a lactation consultant and perserverance. Have had no problems at all this time around, and have had more milk than I knew what to do with. Lactation consultant said it was perserevering with feeding Jacob that laid down receptors for milk making for this baby, hence being able to feed without the help of drugs and pumps!

Anyhow. My big tips

Oatmeal and almonds and loads of water for milk production. Also brewers yeast, or, even a beer. There are lots of natural aids you can take as well. Alot of supply problems are percieved, your body actually makes most of the milk after you have started feeding.
Make sure you get lots of rest. Dosent have to be sleep, just rest.
Don't forget to eat
If you can, spend a day in bed, just you and baby, feeding all day. The best breast pump is your baby.

Im finding power shakes help alot - complan, banana and an egg with milk in the blender - I have one for breakfast and sometimes afternoon tea if Im feeling 'drained' ...

I agree on the Lots of water too ... if I forget to drink I really notice the difference ....

Crackers or pretzels are good to snack on too. A bit of protein can give you a kick if you're starting to feel drained - scrambled eggs were always my favourite.

Lightly beat an egg with 1/2 eggshell of milk or water, tip into a normal bowl and microwave for 1 min on high. Beat lightly and repeat if there is any liquid in the bottom of the bowl.

ETA: When cooking beyond the first minute, do it for shorter periods (20 seconds is ideal) or risk having the whole thing go "pop!" in your microwave, making a big mess!

Edited by daikini

The background to my feedings probs with Han (many of you have heard this all before!)
After having a huge and hungry baby, I was devastated to find that I had little to no colostrum and definitely no milk. The midwives I had up at the hospital were fabulous and we ended up having to express a few drops of colostrum and feed that into a tube into Hannah's mouth - and then ended up giving her formula top ups. I maintained that the top-ups were just that - to keep her from starving until my milk came in... but that also required keeping Hannah on each breast for 5 minutes every 3 hours to help stimulate milk production. This hurt like a mo' fo' but was absolutely essential. Anyway, finally on the 3rd day my milk came in! Over-freaking-joyed at finally being able to feed my babe and ditched the formula - must to the Lactation Consultant's delight.

And the tips - having baby on the breast is the best way to stimulate milk production - psychologically and physically. While a breastpump does a great replacement job, if possible - get babe on boob.

The pain does go away. I promise.

Eating scroggin mix is a great way to spend time while feeding.

Get Sky Digital - it's the only thing that kept me sane while feeding at 3am. Normal TV just doesn't cut it.

DVDs?

I thought I would BUMP this up for us new mums

Hi ladies! Personally my background so far is it took an agonising week for my milk to come in (after a c section and being separated from bubs who was in SCBU), but no real problems since then except we got to about 4 weeks and I started having issues with oversupply (too forceful a letdown), which are coming right now.

Anyway I posted this link in the July babies thread but I found this website really helpful for breastfeeding info:

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/index.html

This is a brillian thread, like weegee my milk took about 5 - 6 days to come in after my c section, I tried expressing collostrum in the hosp but didnt get any results so after 24 hrs we gave Hayden fomula top ups but still put him to the breast hoping his skill was better than the pump lucky his latch was good but I still got a bit of nipple cracking (use a lanolin product for this, one that you dont have to wipe off before feeding).

We continued to put him to breast and gave formula top ups for a few days at home and then was advised that the best thing you can do for your milk supply is to stop the top ups and go to bed with your baby for a day or two. Put baby to the breast any time he fusses, rest rest and rest, skin to skin feeds are lovely and stimulate something or other, lots and lots of water, three meals and three snacks a day (go the cheese on crackers and choc nesquick snacks). Those 24/48 hrs will be exhausting so make sure you have some support at home, there were lots of tears for us but DH fetched and carried for us and baby and I just stayed in bed I read magazines when he was sleeping and let him have the boob whenever he wanted.

Blimmen hard work in that first week or so but so worth it, was really tempted to give in and go full time on formula and that would have been fine as its always more important to have a happy baby but I['m really really pleased I didnt as in the end it only took a few days for things to come right.

Now he feeds on one breast for 30 mins has a nappy change and play then back on same breast for 10/15mins and off to bed for 2/3 hrs during the day and 4/5 hrs during the night (most of the time!!!!) We do our night feed lying down in my bed and I find that less tiring than getting up and sitting in front of the tv, Hayden goes back to his bed easily afterwards.

Oh and I started taking Fenugreek as they dont have Blessed Thistle here in the UK.

Edited by kiwikid

My milk supply is ok, but not great, so Ive started taking naturopathic drops, making sure I drink a glass of water at each feed, having protein at each meal, having a banana or nuts and raisins to snack on while feeding and generally ensuring I rest, drink, eat and sleep enough. We will see tomorrow if all is well when Hayley gets weighed!

How is everyone else going?

Great thread Annie!

I found getting into the habit of having a glass of water before or during the feed and a glass of water right after helped me make sure I was drinking it enough.

These cookies are often recommended on another forum I visit, I've made them several times myself and found them pretty good - easy to munch on while feeding, anyway! You can use rolled oats instead of the ones indicated, and apparently adding cocoa is yum too.

Housepoet's Famous Lactation Boosting Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip & Flaxseed cookies ™
Ingredients :

* 1 cup butter or marg
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 4 tablespoons water
* 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal (can use LSA)
* 2 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 2 cups flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 3 cups oats, thick cut if you can get them
* 1 cup or more chocolate chips
* 2 tablespoons of brewers yeast (be generous)

Directions:

Preheat oven at 375 degrees F. Mix together 2 tablespoons of flaxseed meal and water, set aside for 3-5 minutes. Cream (beat well) margarine and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, mix well. Stir flaxseed mixture and add with vanilla to the margarine mix. Beat until blended. Sift together dry ingredients, except oats and chips. Add to margarine mixture. Stir in oats then chips. Scoop or drop onto baking sheet, preferably lined with parchment or silpat. The dough is a little crumbly, so it helps to use a scoop.

Bake 8-12 minutes, depending on size of cookies.

Serves: 6 dozen cookies

Preparation time: 15 minutes