Are you regularly taking your lactation supplements but not seeing any difference in your milk production? Making milk may be a matter of supply and demand, but there are also many variables involved. Factors such as the age of the mother, general health, and others can affect milk production. While taking location supplements can aid in your milk production, there are other steps you can take to help make sure you are giving your baby the nourishment it needs.
If you are looking for ways to up your milk production, consider these tips for more robust lactation experiences and check out additional information on the topic at pickyeaterblog.com.
1. Keep It Coming
While you probably know that you should regularly empty your breasts, either by nursing or using a pump, you may not be doing it as frequently as you could. It would help if you drained your breasts every 2 to 3 hours. While this is easy to do during the day, nighttime is where it can get tricky. Until you notice a change with your output, you need to nurse or pump just as often at midnight as you do during the daylight hours.
Forecast when your child needs to feed and then set a dedicated alarm for pumping in between those feeding sessions. That may sound odd, but this is a short-term annoyance to solve your long-term supply problems. If you keep up the routine and stick with it, you will soon find yourself falling into a rhythm of nursing and pumping.
2. Nurse Efficiently
If you are not removing all the milk from your breast from inefficient feeding, your body will interpret this as needing to produce less milk. Consider talking with a lactation consultant to see if your child is appropriately latching onto your nipple. If the child cannot grab on properly, you may as well hand the kid a straw and tell them to drain a lake.
Inefficiently transferring your milk can lead to an underfed child or even having the child continually wanting to nurse to fill up. There are many techniques available to help your child latch properly, and while it may seem frustrating at first, know that your child will eventually get the hang of it. Being able to latch correctly will not only ensure your child is well-nourished, but that your body will continue to produce milk efficiently.
3. Do Not Forget Self-Care
It may sound cliché, but self-care is incredibly important to anyone experiencing lactation. If you are not taking care of yourself, you will struggle to take care of your child’s needs. A few simple things can help you in being the best you can be. Make sure to rest. Get in a nap whenever your baby is asleep. Take time for yourself when you can to relax. Make sure to keep yourself hydrated by drinking plenty of water. Also, maintain a balanced diet and avoid alcohol while nursing; remember whatever you put in your body will transfer to your milk. Note that drinking extra water does not mean you will make more milk.
4. Switch Up During Feedings
Whenever your darling child nods off, switches into comfort suckling mode, or loses interest, switch breasts. You want to make sure you are using each breast evenly to make sure your production is best. When you are looking to up your output, it is a good idea to nurse each side at least twice per feeding session. Breast compression is also a way to prolong your baby’s feeding sessions; this practice also helps when dealing with sleepy or distracted babies is also a benefit.
5. Pacifiers and Bottles Are the Enemies
Your breasts are all that your baby’s mouth needs, especially if you are in the market for lactation supplements to generate more milk for your baby. You want your child on a diet of just breast milk. Breast milk provides all the nutrients your child needs for the first few months after birth. Do not even consider solids, water, or even formula if your child is under six months. Avoid solids as your child may not chew and process these foods properly.
In a diminished capacity, solids are alright for children that have reached at least six months of age. The formula should not be your child’s primary source of nutrition, as the artificial ingredients in some can be harmful if taken in large quantities. If you use more than a few ounces of formula each day, wean your baby away from supplements to send your breasts the message that they need to up their production. Pacifiers not only can cause issues when teeth come in for your child but may affect their way that they latch on to your breast when nursing.
6. Watch What You Put into Your Body
Be aware of what sort of supplements you decide to take. Determine what your lactation needs and do your research on products to find the one that suits you. While there are plenty of snacks and tinctures on the market to promote lactation, some of these herbal supplements you can buy toward this goal get specifically engineered to cover all your lactation needs.
If you happen to be taking one of these herbal approaches, there is no need to “double-up” by consuming lactation-boosting drinks and treats. Doing this can cause you to spend more money than you need to help your milk production. When you consider some of these products’ prices, it makes more sense to buy one dedicated product and spend the rest of your money elsewhere.
Lactation can be a difficult period, and it can be trying when you are having trouble producing enough milk to fit your child’s needs. Location supplements can help to boost your milk production, but they are not miracle supplements. However, by building good habits with feeding and pumping and proper nutrition and self-care along with your lactation supplements, you will see improvement in your milk production.
