Tips for increasing your milk supply

There’s nothing more discouraging than pouring all your time, energy and hope into something and not seeing the result.

Supply worries are one of the most common things mothers bring to us. Sometimes there’s a real shortfall to address. Often it’s a perception — and we get to tell a mother she’s making plenty. Both of those are worth finding out.

Why supply drops

Not enough feeding or pumping. If sessions get fewer or further apart, production follows. Typically, once four or more hours pass without nursing or pumping, your supply starts to slip.

Latch or feeding problems. Your baby may not be drinking well at the breast. Milk that isn’t removed tells your body to slow down.

Ineffective pumping. Wrong flange size or wrong settings means the pump isn’t actually removing much — even though you’re putting in the time.

Plugged ducts or staying overfull. Firm areas in the breast, or being regularly overfull, both slow production.

Dehydration or illness. Not getting the fluids you need puts a real strain on supply.

Every one of those has something you can do about it. Here’s where to start.

Give your body the right message

Nearly everything that works comes down to one principle: frequent milk removal with breast stimulation makes more milk. The methods below are all different ways of saying that.

If you’re nursing. First make sure your baby is nursing well and swallowing regularly through each feeding. Gentle breast compression while he feeds helps him take more.

Then pump for about 15 minutes after nursing, using massage and compression while you pump. If you can’t manage it after every feeding, do it as often as you can — some is much better than none.

If you’re pumping. Massage your breasts before and during pumping — active pumping. Pump about 15 minutes with compression and massage throughout.

A pumping bra helps, as long as it isn’t too snug. And the mechanics matter more than most mothers realise: correct flange size, right settings, right timing.

The full active pumping routine →

Hand expression. A few minutes of hand expression before you pump increases how much you get. The mechanical motion stimulates supply differently than a pump does — which is why doing both beats doing either.

How to hand express →

Power pumping. Pump 10 minutes, rest 10 minutes, and repeat for an hour. If you’re watching something with ad breaks, pumping through the commercials for an hour does the same job.

Once a day, until your supply responds.

Food and fluids

Making milk costs you roughly 500 to 800 calories a day.

That’s worth taking seriously, especially if your body has other demands on it — recovering from birth, or going back to work. Underfeeding yourself while asking your body to produce more is working against yourself.

• Galactagogue foods: oatmeal and barley are the best known. Also sweet potatoes, eggs, whole grains and leafy greens. Basil and fennel are helpful herbs.
• Fluids: about 8 ounces every time you nurse or pump is the minimum. Coconut water, milk, and electrolyte drinks like Gatorade or Body Armor all count.

Herbs and medications

A lot of herbal preparations exist now, with ingredients like moringa, shatavari, fenugreek, fennel, blessed thistle and goat’s rue. They may well increase your supply.

The complication is that they each work differently, and they suit different people — what transforms one mother’s supply does nothing for another’s. This is worth talking through with a lactation consultant rather than working through the shelf at the co-op.

Heading back to work and wanting a stash set aside? A day or two of feedings stored ahead makes the whole transition less fraught — and it’s much easier to build before you go back than after.