how to increase breast milk production?

Dear diva,
thanks for the nice reply. Extracting and storing milk to feed the baby while the mother is away is a good practice. I wish mothers here also do this.
More than the pump or the baby, it was the ayahs (who pressed the breast manually to extract the milk) did the damage. A mother can never even think for a minute that the child's feeding could do such a thing. Lack of proper training on the part of the ayah.
It is nice to know that so many young mothers are taking so much care . Keep it up and all the best to you people. Happy parenting.
With warm wishes,
varloo

 

Pumping

Varloo,

Yes. Pumping is a valuable resource here in the US. I do not know if they have it in India or not, but atleast manual pumps should be introduced. Breast milk can be frozen and if propoerly stored, can be kept for months. So mothers who have an over supply problem find that they can save all the milk for later days when they need more milk for their children.

Technology has done so much for us mothers - it is indeed great.

 

Nursing mothers: Diet suggestions and increasing milk supply

I would like to give some tips for new moms.
They are
Never take anything spicy.If you want something spicy add pepper to your diet instead of chillies.Do not take food very late in the night.As far possible finish your food by 7 in the night.Drink some liquid or the other every 2 hrs.Take Horlicks or any other health drink.Eat well cooked rice.Take high fibre vegetables like beans,avarrakkai,snake gourd etc.,.you can prevent constipation.Make some angai powder.Ithink chitvish madam has given it in misc.recipes.Boil a pod of garlic in milk and have it.Have garlic rasam ,millagu rasam regularly.Having betel leaves after food helps in digestion.Legyam can be had every other day.

 

Re: Diet For Breast Feeding Mothers

Thanks a lot :2thumbsup:

 

Re: Diet For Breast Feeding Mothers

hi

Along with this even drumstick leaves help.....

 

Re: Diet For Breast Feeding Mothers

Loads Of Garlic is also very good, but the thing is you must like it.

 

Re: Diet For Breast Feeding Mothers

Hi!
I want to add some points:
1) Garlic is very good, but be careful - some babies don't like the taste of breast-milk after it.
2) Take no less than 1 litre milk or milk products (dahi, cheese, etc.) everyday.
The only contraindication for it is lactase deficiency of the child.
3) Don't eat daal too often, because your child may suffer from stomache pain after it.
4) Peanuts may cause allergic reaction, so be careful.

 

Re: Diet For Breast Feeding Mothers

One point I'd like to add to all the above: never compromise on the water intake. Back home some people believe drinking water will thin out breast milk but on the contrary you must continue with drinking whatever you drank during pregnancy to help lactation. My mom used to make me drink omam water (water boiled with omam and strained)... my boy never had any gas and burps.

 

Increasing Your Milk Supply

INCREASING YOUR SUPPLY:
There are wonderful tips on increasing milk supply below - those that work for nursing mothers also work for mothers who exclusively pump, the biggest "difference" is that nursing mothers are encouraged to put baby to breast often, and pumping mothers are encouraged to pump often. Probably THE most important thing to remember is to pump often and pump long enough to soften (or "empty") the breast.
"Some little tips to help increase your supply if you really need it. It's nice to have these on hand just in case:

First drink plenty of water. I don't drink a ton but I make sure to stay hydrated. Check your pee when you go (I know, sounds funny!). If it is light yellow to clear, you are plenty hydrated.

Make sure you eat! While you are pumping, you will keep the weight off, I promise! It makes you hungry as a horse and it does that for a reason. You need the extra calories because you are burning so much off! When I didn't eat enough, I would get really light headed and feel like I was going to drop my baby…not good! Eventually, your hunger should taper off (mine has).

Eat REAL oatmeal, not the instant. You can eat the quick oats (the ones that cook in 1 minute) or the old fashioned oats (that cook in 5 minutes). You can also make cookies that have oatmeal in them and get oatmeal that way (I prefer this way! Ha!). The way they process the instant oatmeal, it doesn't give you the same results. No one is sure how the oatmeal works but it does!

Get some rest (yeah, I know easier said than done!) If you are exhausted and have the opportunity to take a nap (even if it pushes your pump back) do it! You will actually get more milk that way! Even if you're not sleeping, rest by sitting down a lot. Conserving energy is important.

Don't stress too much. This all depends on how you personally handle stress. I tend to be a thinker, so I think things out a lot. It has to be some MAJOR stressful situation for it to hurt my supply.

Some suggest drinking beer with, or without alcohol. Some say it's the barley in it or something, that helps to increase supply. Plus some women just swear by the relaxation it gives them! You can have 1 or 2 beers without much crossing into your milk. If you plan to get smashed, on the other hand…well…you will have to pump and dump!

There is a tea called Mothers Milk Tea and it is supposed to increase your supply if you drink it.

There are herbs like Fenugreek and also prescription medications that will increase your supply if you really need it. I would use these as a last resort but they can be effective and are available!
Most importantly, good pumping habits will keep your supply up and increase it!"
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a simple recipe to aid lactation

Dear mothers,

I learnt this recipe from my mid-wife. Haven't tried this personally yet, because I drink readily available herbal tea for lactation and also to prevent colic in the baby.

250g wheat
150g barley
100g oats

Grind the above finely (don't use chapathi flour if you intend to use store-bought wheat flour)

150g butter
150g raw cane sugar
1 handfull cashewnuts, chopped coarsely

Now before explaining the method let me tell you that the addition of butter and sugar is not stated clearly in the original recipe. I would think that we could make ladoos indian way with ghee and jaggery (powdered gur). Now for the procedure:

Dry roast the powdered cereals and cashewnuts till lightly browned and smells good (raw smell gone... but don't end up burning). Remove from heat and while still warm mix in the gur/jaggery. Add warm ghee sufficient enough to make balls out of the mixture. Don't make big ladoos.. each ball must be just 2.5-3 cms in diameter. Eat not more than 3 balls each day for good lactation.

I'll do some more research on english names for the tea mix and post it later... scared of misleading

Happy breast-feeding!
Latha