The Truth About Low Milk Supply
Last week was officially “World Breastfeeding Week” but many organizations are celebrating all month long. If you are or have breastfed a baby (regardless of how long you did it) give yourself some credit. Breastfeeding can be really hard! In honor of Breastfeeding Month I wanted to write about a topic that affects a lot of breastfeeding moms and after spending considerable time talking with other moms and doing “research” in my online mommy groups I found that questions about low milk supply came up again and again. Low milk supply is commonly misunderstood and many moms quit breastfeeding because they don’t think they are producing enough to feed their babies. Before you give up, please make sure you aren’t selling yourself short.
Low milk supply is commonly misunderstood. While it IS a very real issue, many moms think they have it when they really have more than enough milk to feed their little ones. I think Kelly Mom describes the truth about low milk supply best: “It’s important to note that the feel of the breast, the behavior of your baby, the frequency of nursing, the sensation of let-down, or the amount you pump are NOT valid ways to determine if you have enough milk for your baby.” The only way to really know if you are producing enough milk to feed your baby is by your baby’s weight gain. If they are gaining weight then you are producing enough! That said, and as a mom of a baby who was on weight probation for quite some time, each child has his or her own growth curve so my best suggestion is to see a board certified IBCLC before you assume that you have low milk supply. Not sure if your baby is gaining weight? I totally understand that too! One of the things I loved about attending my breastfeeding support group every week was getting to weigh my son each week on the hospital scale so I could see if he was gaining. If you don’t have access to a baby scale though, consider tracking how many diapers your child is producing. Kelly Mom has some great information about what can cause low milk supply and things that are commonly mistaken for low milk supply. You can find the link Here. For example, frequent nursing sessions DO NOT mean that your child is starving. That is normal behavior for a newborn but many new moms don’t know that.
It’s important to acknowledge that there are those DO who suffer from low milk supply though and suffer with guilt in knowing that the really cannot produce enough milk for their babies. Some of these women have “insufficient glandular tissue” meaning that they physically cannot produce as much milk as needed but there are also other medical and physical causes of low milk supply that we should not discredit. I personally have a friend who suffered from one of these conditions and tried every trick in the book including a prescription medication to try to increase her milk supply to no avail. While she did breastfeed for a while as much as she could, she had no choice but to supplement with formula and felt a lot of unnecessary judgement from other moms. If you know someone who is suffering from low milk supply please be kind and supportive rather than judge them for something which you may not know anything about.
On another note, it’s totally possible to experience periods of low supply or to feel like your supply has gone down due to either less frequent nursing or even the return of your period. In addition, some women just want to increase their supply in general so that they can produce a little bit more than their child needs in order to build up a “stash” so that when they return to work they have some milk stored up. Whatever your reason, there are some tried and true methods to increase your supply (without medical intervention).
The best way to increase milk supply is to NURSE NURSE NURSE and then nurse some more. Breastfeeding is all about supply and demand and the more demand – the more your body will make. To this end, many moms also have good luck with power pumping. Power pumping is basically a way to mimic cluster feeding in order to encourage your body to produce more milk and consists of pumping for a full hour (10 minutes on, 10 minutes off) for three to five days – ideally at the same time of day until you see an increase in output. You can read more about power pumping here from Mama Natural. One of Rumina’s pump and nurse bras would definitely make power pumping easier and more convenient! If you try power pumping – turn it into mommy time – make it a time when you get to zone out and watch a show on Netflix or read a book so that you get to relax and enjoy some you time while you pump.
A note about pumping – if you are trying to increase supply because you do not produce a lot of milk when pumping – that doesn’t mean that your baby isn’t getting sufficient milk when nursing. Pumping and nursing are actual two pretty different things and in my own personal experience, I did not respond well to my pump at all. Personally I could hand express milk before my son was even born but when I tried to pump in the hospital (because my son was struggling to latch) I could barely get a few drops to come out. Two things drastically changed my relationship with my pump. The first is really two fold – I discovered Rumina pump and nurse bras and I found out that I was using the wrong flange size for my body. I also switched pumps which had an impact but even with my first pump, using the correct flange size with a bra that actually fit, made a huge difference. If you haven’t already read my posts about pumps, pumping bras, and flange sizes I highly recommend checking them out. The second thing that dramatically changed my relationship with my pump was when I discovered pumping and nursing. Literally – pumping and nursing AT THE SAME TIME. You can find some instructions on how to start on Kelly Mom Here. My IBCLC suggested this when I was trying to build a small milk stash since my baby was on weight probation. By pumping on one side while nursing on the other, my body was essentially tricked into thinking that I was nursing twins and seeing my son triggered my hormones to send the milk flowing. I was able to get an extra 2-3 ounces on each side and that is a big deal! When the milk stopped flowing on the pump side I would swap with my son. Babies can extract milk when a pump cannot. Some people think that pumping at the same time as nursing “steals milk from the baby” but nursing is about supply and demand and even if you breasts seem soft… you are never really empty so while it may take a little longer – milk will keep flowing until baby is satisfied.
If you are trying to increase pumping output you can also try hands on pumping. Hands on pumping is a way of massaging and hand expressing while pumping to encourage more milk output. You can read more about it and other suggestions on Kelly Mom here.
In addition to increasing nursing and pumping, another way to increase milk supply is to introduce galactagogues to your diet. These are foods which encourage milk production. Common galactagogues include oatmeal and brewer’s yeast. You can also make or buy lactation cookies and teas. I’m personally a fan of Mommy Know’s Best lactation cookie mix. These cookies are easy to make and are very yummy. A wonderful treat that no one else in my house would steal! Private cookie stash? Yes please! There are also some who say that Ben and Jerry’s “Oat of This World” ice cream works…. There’s no scientific evidence but hey… an excuse to eat a pint of delicious ice cream guilt free? Ummm yes please! Sign me up!
At the end of the day, try not to get discouraged. Seek out help from a breastfeeding support group or an IBCLC if you need help – there is NO shame in that! We all need help and encouragement on this journey. If you are reading this and feel like you have the opposite problem – oversupply – stay tuned next month as I will be addressing that issue in my next post. Nurse on mamas.
Image Courtesy of Kellymom.com