If you tried to increase your supply...

[chicago]

What helped you the most, if anything? I don't think I've ever been a huge producer, but I've made enough for dd. When I went back to work at 11 weeks I was pumping enough for the next day's bottles and sometimes a little extra. Now that my supply has regulated I'm sometimes needing to pump multiple times to get the same amount (all pumped milk right now is adding to the freezer stash). I'm going back to work in two weeks and this has me a little stressed out.

I have a freezer stash to supplement and I'll go to formula if I need to, but since I want to keep bf and pumping I figure I should try to amp it up.

What worked for you?

[vmars]

I've not had any supply issues yet but I am adamant about drinking a ton of water. I have 32oz before my first pumping session at 10am. I have another 32 oz throughout the rest of the work day and maybe 24oz when I get home. I also eat a lot - I try and keep it healthy but filing.

[mrsg123]

Tons of water, tons of fenugreek, tons of blessed thistle. The supplements as per kelly mom.

[dottyblue]

Drink a ton of water. I was drinking 100 oz per day, PLUS 4-5 cups of Mother's Milk tea.
Lactation cookies
Extra pumping session 3 hours or so after DS went to bed, including on weekends.  That was enough to keep add a few ounces to my freezer stash right up until we started to wean.

[kaycee]

Mother's Milk Tea and oatmeal. Oh, and having a burger and fries always seemed to give me a boost!

I literally pumped like 20oz total while on maternity leave even though I was pumping all the time to try to build up a stash. I was really stressed because I only had enough milk for the first day when I went back. Somehow my body figured it out and I was able to pump enough for her and managed to make it the full year.

[ringstrue]

I did oatmeal and fenugreek last time. I also added a pumping session one day during the weekend.

I think this time I might try to add pumping sessions to the weekend first and then try the food supplements if it doesn't help enough. I had a bit of blood sugar issues (from them, I believe) which kept me eating all the time and I think contributed to me not losing weigh as much.

[chicago]

Jul 30, 2014 9:39:36 GMT -5 pennypenny said:

Drinking ~100 oz. of water a day.
Pumping after each BF session and power pumping.
Brewer's yeast

What was your power pump regimen?  

[kitty]

Eating oatmeal every.single.morning plus a lot of calories throughout the day seems to work best for me.

[zarapipe]

oatmeal. I always had a good supply but if I would eat oatmeal for a few days in a row my boobs would be exploding.

[lilac05]

Eating LOTS of calories is the best thing for me.
I don't see much difference when I try to drink extra water (& read an article the other day that suggested water doesn't do much...just makes you pee more, after a certain point, of course!)
Oatmeal
Lactation cookies

[soozy87]

Oatmeal and eating a lot

[chicago]

Jul 30, 2014 11:12:31 GMT -5 pennypenny said:

Jul 30, 2014 10:15:43 GMT -5 chicago said:

What was your power pump regimen?  

Pump 20 minutes, rest 10, pump 10 minutes, rest 10, pump 10 minutes.
Some people do 10 on, 10 off for one hour.

How often did you do this?

[persa]

Domperidone

Power pumping (I only did 2 back to back not 3)

Water

Oatmeal

Lactation cookies

[pyramidsloth]

I saw a LC when my daughter was 8 months old. I noticed that my supply was dropping, and my suspicions were confirmed by our pediatrician (she didn't gain as much weight as she should have). Her suggestions were as follows:

1. Take GoLacta (this is amazing, and I really noticed a difference), Fenugreek, and More Milk Plus. Not in the pill form; it isn't as effective.
2. Oatmeal, leafy greens, nuts, lactation cookies. Also Mother's Milk tea.
3. Drink plenty of water. This was always my problem. I never kept myself as hydrated as I should have.

She has a Pinterest board with a lot of great suggestions! www.pinterest.com/BDaltonIBCLC/

[Brie]

Jul 30, 2014 11:02:57 GMT -5 @littlemoxie said:

Ice cream

YES.  I always had my best pump output the morning after I'd eat some sort of giant fatty ice cream concoction.  So bizarre.

[Deleted]

Oatmeal and mothers milk tea. And eating a lot. I notice a difference in how much I get on days I don't eat as much.

[cilantro]

More Milk Plus Special Blend

[scsarah]

Drinking lots of water and eating healthy but large quantities of food helped me. Funnily enough, though, the thing that helped the most was starting to supplement. I think I was putting so much stress on myself to meet his needs (which were huge, he drinks 3 6 ounce bottles at daycare alone) that I actually ended up tanking my supply. I had a hard time deciding to supplement, but in the end, it's one of the best things I've done for my supply.