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How To Increase Breast Milk Methods, Home Remedies and Techniques

 

 

Removing More

Perhaps one of the most effective ways to increase breast milk is to be sure that your baby is efficiently nursing.  This is what is referred to as “removing more breast milk”.  The mother's supply of milk will decrease if the milk is not efficiently and properly removed from the breast.  This can be the result of improper latching and poor positioning of the baby.  Babies can also suffer from various anatomical and health problems that can cause inadequate removal of milk from the breast.  Babies are also inefficient at removing breast milk when they are sleepy or when nipple shields are being used.  One of the most accurate ways to compare the improper and inadequate removal of breast milk is to liken it to draining a swimming pool through a drinking straw – the process will take an incredibly long time and isn't being done properly or efficiently.  When the removal of milk from the breast is inefficient, then the baby won't be getting enough milk, which causes the baby to want to nurse constantly.  If this is the case, then you'll want to pump between nursing sessions to keep an adequate supply of milk on hand while you address your breast feeding issues. 

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Frequent Nursing

As long as your baby is actively nursing, be sure to nurse frequently.  This is important for increasing breast milk because you are removing more milk from the breasts.  If you find that your baby is struggling to gain weight, try to nurse approximately every one and a half to two hours and at least every three hours throughout the night. 

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One of the best ways to naturally increase your milk production is to take a “nursing vacation”.  Retire to bed and take baby with you.  Stay in bed and relax with your baby for about three days.  Do nothing during this time but rest, nurse and eat.  Be sure that you are nursing frequently. 

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Increase your breast milk supply by offering both breasts during feedings.  Let your baby finish nursing on one side, then offer the second.  This allows more milk to be removed from the breast and can increase the amount of milk. 

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Nurse Both Sides

If your baby is easily distracted during feedings, falls asleep, or begins to revert to “comfort” sucking, try switching sides.  You should do this about three times during each feeding.  Try to use each side twice during a feeding.  Breast compression is also an excellent way to increase breast milk production. 

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No Pacifiers to Increase Breast Milk

Babies are inclined to suck on things, and this need should met solely by the breast.  Do not use pacifiers or bottles.  If you need to supplement baby's sucking with something other than the breast, try using a spoon, cup, dropper and nursing supplementer. 

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To increase your breast milk, be sure that you are only giving baby breast milk.  If your baby is younger than six months old, avoid formula, water and all solids.  When your baby is older, you can begin to add solids.  A good way to increase your breast milk production is to challenge your breasts to create more.  To do this, try to wean your baby from formula, which forces your breasts to produce more milk

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Water and Diet

Breast milk is better produced when mom is well taken care of.  Be sure that you are always sleeping when baby is sleeping.  Drinking extra amounts of water does not increase breast milk supply, but drinking adequate amounts of liquids is imperative.  It is also equally important to consume a well-balanced diet. Avoid eating meat and dairy products.  See the video Forks Over Knives.

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Breast Pump

You can also try increasing your breast milk by pumping.  Pumping is excellent when your baby isn't nursing frequently enough or efficiently enough.  By adding a few pumping sessions between nursing sessions with baby, you'll be surprised by how quickly your breast milk will be increased.  A great way to be sure that you are increasing the amount of milk produced by each breast is to continue pumping for about five minutes after the last few drops of milk have been removed.  This is very helpful for removing the optimum amount of milk from each breast.  If you don't have enough time for a full pumping session, consider adding a few short ones.  This is also great for increasing the frequency of emptying the breasts, despite the fact that the milk is not being completely removed. 

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A galactagogue is an excellent option for those looking to increase the amount of produced breast milk.  A galactagogue can be a prescription medication, herb or other substance that increases your milk supply. 

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Increase your breast milk production by pumping or nursing about eight to twelve times daily.  When babies haven't nursed for some time, it can take lots of consistency and loving persistence to get them to nurse naturally once again.  With a little time and lots of patience, you'll find that babies are able to comfortably return to breastfeeding.  It may also be a good idea to review latching and positioning techniques if the baby is having trouble latching onto the nipple. 

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It is important that baby gets a good balance of both foremilk and hind milk in every nursing session.  You can increase your breast milk by being sure to offer both sides during each feeing.  Lots of mothers time their feedings, but this is a mistake.  Instead of timing, wait until your baby unlatches from the breast.  When baby does this, offer the other breast. 

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Breast Compression

Breast compression is an excellent way to increase milk flow and milk production.  This is a wonderful way to help baby continue feeding and to stretch out the times of feeding and nursing sessions. 

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Mother's Milk Tea is a wonderful natural way to promote healthy lactation and means to increase the amount of breast milk produced. 

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Fenugreek

Fenugreek capsules are a wonderful natural way to increase breast milk production.   To utilize this excellent natural remedy, take three capsules three times daily for ten days.  After the initial ten days, cut back the amount per dosage to two capsules.  After ten additional days, change the dosage to one capsule three times daily.  After this treatment, most mothers will see an increase in milk supply in about 72 hours.  Commonly women report an increase in sweating and some claim that they have excretions that smell like maple syrup.  If you have diabetes, this treatment is not recommended as it can lower blood sugar.  It is also advised that those suffering from asthma should also avoid this remedy as it can aggravate symptoms.  If you are considering fenugreek as a way to increase your breast milk production and supply, be sure that you speak with a lactation consultant or health care provider. 

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Keep in mind that you should be drinking at least eight glasses of water every day.  Too much water will not increase your milk supply (it can actually have the opposite effect), but too little will cause your production rates to fall.  Another effective home remedy for increasing breast milk is to eat oatmeal.  This hasn't been proven to be a huge contributor to milk supply rates, but can help a small but noticeable amount. 

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Stress will keep your milk from fully coming in.  Try to let baby fall asleep during the nursing session.  It's encouraged to switch sides and offer both breasts during nursing sessions, but don't offer the other side until your baby has stopped sucking on their own.  Don't remove the breast prematurely.  If baby doesn't like switching sides, you can even try only nursing with one side each session.  The most important thing to keep in mind is to just relax.  Don't rush through your nursing session and you'll find that your milk production will greatly increase and baby will eat much better. 

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Oatmeal as How To Increase Breast Milk

As soon as I began nursing, I started eating oatmeal.  This is an excellent home remedy for increasing milk production.  This is a great way to keep your milk supply up. 

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Avoid Stress

Your milk production can be directly (and negatively) effected by stress.  Don't have a drink to relax, as alcohol makes milk production much more difficult.  You'll need to find a different way to get the stress out of your life.  One of the best ways to unwind and de-stress is sleep.  Of course, you should sleep whenever the baby is sleeping, but this can be difficult to do.  Try hiring a baby sitter to watch the baby so you can take a nap.  Another good idea is to join a car pool so that you can rest or sleep on the trip going to and from the office.  Keeping up with a household is difficult to do, and can only cause more stress and less sleep.  Instead, maybe you relax your tidiness standards for a bit and rest and relax instead of cleaning.  This is an important time in your life, and you can always vacuum later!

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One proven way to increase and stimulate breast milk production is caffeine.  However, you'll need to use caution with this treatment.  Caffeine will stimulate you, but it has the same effect on your baby.  This is because caffeine will actually make its way into your breast milk and is then passed to your baby.  Caffeine also stays in your baby's system longer than it stays in yours, so the effects of caffeine are prolonged.  Not only does caffeine stimulate baby, but it can interfere with their sleep and make them irritable.  If you are only drinking about one caffeinated soda or one cup of coffee per day, your baby won't have a big problem with the amount of caffeine passed onto them, however, large amounts of caffeine (more than five caffeinated beverages a day) will have prolonged effects on your baby. 

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Positioning

The most effective way to increase your breast milk production is being sure that your baby is eating properly.  A baby needs to be well-positioned and well-attached.  If this happens, then the baby will be effectively sucking and is then able to fully remove all of the milk from the breast.  This is because the baby will be able to nurse for longer amounts of time.  This is even more important than your diet. 

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Adding a pumping session for about five to ten minutes after you are finished nursing, you'll find that you can increase the production of breast milk.  This is a great way to increase your supply.  You can even add extra pumping sessions after your baby has gone to bed, or you can pump early in the morning before baby wakes up.  One of the best things to keep in mind is that you should be using a good pump.  Try to find one that is hospital-grade so that your milk is being efficiently and fully removed from the breast. This is one of the best how to methods to increase breast milk.

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