How to increase Milk Supply

Many mothers worry about their milk supply, especially in the early stages of breastfeeding. You are not alone if you are questioning whether or not your milk supply is low.

When a baby's fussy or wants to nurse just an hour after eating, this can increase parents' natural worry and anxiety over the amount their little one is eating.

If you are not quite sure if your baby is getting enough breastmilk, one of the easiest ways to tell is with regular weight checks. Keeping track of your newborn baby's weight is very important, especially in the first few weeks of life.

Using a traditional baby scale to weigh your infant is a sure way of telling if your little one is getting enough breastmilk. Another indicator is checking to ensure your baby is having an adequate number of wet and dirty diapers.

Keeping track of every diaper along with regular weight checks will give you some important insight into how much they are eating, and whether or not having low milk supply is an issue.

Many of the signs, such as softer breasts or shorter feeds, which are often interpreted as a decrease in milk supply are simply part of your body and baby adjusting to breastfeeding. Knowing true signs of low breast milk production is a significant step to increasing breast milk supply.

❌ Not producing enough wet/dirty diapers each day

This is especially crucial in the first few weeks of life; the number of wet and dirty diapers your child produces is an indicator of the amount of food they’re getting.

❌ Lack of weight gain

Your little one will lose some weight right after birth, but if they aren’t back to their birth weight by 2 weeks or steadily gaining weight after those first few weeks, it’s time to speak to their medical provider.

❌ Signs of dehydration

If your baby hasn’t produced urine in several hours, has no tears when crying, has a sunken soft spot on their head, and/or has excessive sleepiness or low energy levels, they may be dehydrated. This is considered medically urgent and you should not wait to seek immediate help.

Using the preceding cues, if you continue to suspect a low breast milk supply, here are some of the most common reasons for low milk supply and some helpful strategies that can increase your production:

For various reasons there are times when women’s breasts don’t develop in a way that makes enough “milk-making” ducts to meet their baby’s needs.

Ducts do grow during each pregnancy and breastfeeding stimulates the growth of more ducts and tissue, so this may be less of a problem with a second or third baby.

There are certainly steps you can take to maximize your milk production such as pumping and taking a prescription medication, but you may also need to supplement a low milk supply with formula because milk production often is very low.

Endocrine disorders such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a low or high thyroid, diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure) or other hormonal problems may also contribute to low milk supply because making milk relies on the hormonal signals being sent to the breasts.

In many cases, treatment of your health problem will help you to boost milk production but temporary supplementation may be needed depending on the severity of milk depletion.

A visit to a breastfeeding clinic or lactation consultant can help you find an approach that will work with your specific condition.

The problem may not even be a low milk supply, but lie with your little one getting the milk from your breasts efficiently.

If you suspect low milk supply, have your lactation consultant or pediatrician check your baby for a tongue-tie. A tongue-tie is simple: the thin membrane of tissue at the bottom of his mouth is holding the baby’s tongue too tightly, so that he’s not able to use it properly to extract the milk.

In many cases this is fairly easy to see, and just as easy to rectify.

Your breasts make milk continuously, but the rate at which milk is made depends on how empty they are. You’ll make more milk when your breasts are close to empty and less milk when they are already filled up.

When your baby is feeding infrequently, because you have put him on a three- or four-hour schedule for example, or because you are giving him a pacifier to stretch out the time between feedings, your breasts are fuller for longer periods of time. This drop also includes leaving out night time feedings.

To remedy this is simple: feed on demand. When babies are breastfed in response to their cues, they tend to have shorter, frequent feedings and this means the breasts are emptier most of the time and so they continue to produce plenty of milk.

Some studies show that birth medication effects can last as long as a month, depending on the medication used in the epidural and the length of time the mother received it.

Likewise, jaundice, a common condition in newborns, can also make your baby sleepier than usual, so that he doesn’t wake up to nurse as often as he would otherwise.

In both cases, you may need to pump your milk to build up a good supply. Once your baby has cleared the medications from his system and the jaundice has been treated, your little one will increase nursing. You will want to make sure you have the supply to keep up.

If you do experience low milk supply and supplementing with formula is necessary until your own milk supply increases or until your baby starts enough solid foods that the supplement isn’t needed, there are ways to successfully combine feeding and still keep breastfeeding.

Supplementing at the breast with a feeding tube that has one end in a container of formula and the other slipped into the baby’s mouth as he breastfeeds. Some mothers will tape the tube to their breasts, while others slide it into the corner of the baby’s mouth as he nurses.

This method ensures that the baby gets both formula and breast milk at the same time all while encouraging your little one to continue breastfeeding and stimulating the hormones that increase breastmilk production.

When supplementing with a bottle, find a baby bottle that resembles the shape and feel of the breast as close as possible. Many parents find that giving the bottle first and breastfeed second, the baby is not as frantically hungry when he comes to the breast and may be more willing to work at learning to breastfeed well.

Bottle feeding first also allows your infant to experience having a full tummy while he’s at the breast, which gives him positive feelings about breastfeeding.

Most importantly, let your little one nurse as long as they want. This will stimulate the hormonal and milk duct production needed to increase milk.

Adding pumping sessions after or between nursing sessions can be very helpful.

Pumping is very important when baby is not nursing efficiently or frequently enough, and can speed things up in all situations by removing more milk from the breasts and increasing the frequency of breast emptying.

When pumping to increase milk supply, to ensure that the pump removes an optimum amount of milk from the breast, keep pumping for 2-5 minutes after the last drops of milk. You can also add even a short pumping session that does not remove milk but stimulates the hormonal let down signals during the day.

Encouraging plenty of breastfeeding times that are not immediate feedings is also very important to boosting your milk supply.

If your baby gets fussy an hour or two after formula and nursing or perhaps they just need some snuggle time, offer the breast.

These impromptu nursing sessions may only last a short time, but these frequent feedings actually do a lot to encourage milk production and continued breastfeeding.

During the process of trying to increase breast milk it is not uncommon to wonder if you have lost your supply all together. The good news is milk production is a demand & supply process. It can take up to 10 days or longer to lose your milk and that is only if you completely stop nursing.

For parents and caregivers, low breast milk can be a trying and difficult time. We are here for you.

With the very best in European baby formulas to meet your supplementing requirements in a way that will meet or exceed your expectation.

My Organic Company only carries infant nutrition that is free of unwanted ingredients such as heavy metal, non-lactose sugars and chemicals. We only carry pure, organic baby formula that mimics mother’s milk in taste, texture, and nutrition.

Please reach out to our team of moms and European baby formula specialists to help you find the perfect supplementing formula as unique as your baby.