You’re a new mom that has chosen to breastfeed and all of a sudden you notice that your breastmilk supply has dipped. You’re panicking because you’ve never had this happen before! Well, you’ve come to the right place! I’ve composed 10 tips to help you naturally increase your breastmilk supply.
1.) Hydrate.
When attempting to increase your breastmilk supply, you need to make sure you are hydrated. I make sure to drink at least 96 ounces of water a day. My real goal is to drink a gallon. Some will refute this, but I know I see a major difference in my supply when I don’t drink enough water.
2.) Increase Calories.
This was actually hard for me when I started breastfeeding. Initially, I felt like I was eating so much food. Then I found that increasing my caloric intake had a positive effect on my breastmilk supply. In my research, I found that I was supposed to be eating 1800 – 2200 calories a day to maintain a strong supply. The fact shocked me! That seemed like so much, especially since I always felt hungry! Haha. So, I started snacking every time I pumped and I saw an increase to my supply overnight.
3.) Eat Coconut and Oat EVERYTHING.
I am a firm believer in coconut milk and oats will help increase your breastmilk supply. I can see a stark difference in my supply when I don’t consume either of these. Once I researched that these two foods can help increase one’s breastmilk supply, I started finding ways in which I could incorporate it into my meals. So now I make my oatmeal with either coconut milk or oat milk and I make my vegan rice pudding with both milks!
4.) Power Pump.
I will admit I was kind of leery when I first heard of power pumping. It’s supposed to mimic cluster feeding which has been known to help increase one’s breastmilk supply. The power pumping method I follow goes like this: Pump for 20 minutes, break for 10 minutes, pump for 10 minutes, break for 10 minutes, pump for 10 minutes. Yes, that equals to an hour of your time. If you’re serious about increasing your supply, sometimes you have to make sacrifices. I suggest doing it when you know you’ll have an hour of free pumping time.
5.) Manage Stress.
I know this can be hard for some people, especially during this pandemic. As a new mom, I used to worry abut every little thing pertaining to my baby. Why’d she sneeze? Is she eating enough? Everything I didn’t know the answer to. I am a witness that stress definitely puts a dent in your milk supply. SO SIS RELAX. When we were traveling internationally and finally got to our destination, my stress level was so high from traveling and being worried about being infected by COVID 19. I was pumping just enough milk for my baby girl. That had never happened before. As soon as I started to manage my stress, my breastmilk supply increased by almost 10 ounces.
6.) Pump at least 7x.
When I first decided to start pumping, I remember almost EVERYONE and EVERYTHING said to pump 10-12 times. I started off doing 10 pumps but I felt like I was attached to the pump and didn’t have time for my baby girl. So, I cut it down to 7x and my milk supply didn’t drop any so I knew this would work!
7.) Massage and Compress.
This tip is one that really worked for me when I was researching ways to increase my breastmilk supply. It’s pretty simple. While you are pumping or nursing massage your breast to help get your milk flowing. You can even massage your breasts before you start and during. In addition to massaging, occasionally compress your breast in areas where your breast may still feel firm. This may be an area where your breast needs a little help to release some milk. I’ve do this every time I pump and it definitely helped increase the amount of breastmilk I pump during each session.
8.) Do Skin to Skin.
Performing skin to skin from the moment your baby is born has so many benefits. It was and still is one of my fave things to do. When you find your milk supply is dwindling a little, hold your baby close and watch your milk supply increase.
9.) Choose your pumping hours wisely.
I found that I pump the most breastmilk during the morning and afternoon. So I make sure to pump longer during those times. Some people swear by MOTN (Middle of the Night) pumps, but I found that my golden time was anytime before 7am. To increase your milk supply, pay attention to the hours your pumping and how much milk you get!
10.) Focus on your breastfeeding journey.
This has been crucial for me with increasing my milk supply. I got to consumed with trying to make a freezer stash but Susie and Karen did, that it was stressing me out. As I mentioned before, stress decreases your milk supply instead of increasing it. So, I had to focus on my own breastfeeding journey. I might not be an oversupplied, but I am providing food for my baby and that’s a blessing!
Breastmilk supply still not increasing?
When is the last time you replaced your pump parts? If you’ve tried all my tips listed above, then I’d replace my pumping parts. Click here to view some in my Amazon Storefront.
I really hope this blog post helps you or someone you know that is struggling with increasing their supply. Has your breastmilk supply dipped before? What did you do to get it back?
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