I got so depressed about my milk supply this past week. I worked really hard to increase my supply with Charlie, but like with most things parenting, I think I forgot just how hard it was the first time around.  Maybe I got cocky because I was able to increase my supply so much last time, I thought it wouldn’t be that hard to do it again. I started taking More Milk Plus recently, but I wasn’t doing much more than that.  And since I first posted about trying to increase my supply 11 days ago, it’s actually decreased slightly!

To increase your supply, you have to make sure your breasts are empty often.  But trying to balance both breastfeeding and pumping has been really a real challenge.  Most people trying to increase their supply pump every 2 hours — that’s 2 hours from when you last started to pump.  But I’ve found that Olive doesn’t get full if it’s only been 2 hours since I last pumped, so it’s been really difficult to squeeze in extra pumping sessions.  I’ve been pumping and nursing around 8 times a day, but I remember I had to bump it up to at least 10 times a day to start seeing an increase in my milk supply.

I was stressed out, and that only made my milk supply decrease even further.  I have no extra milk right now, so I can’t leave Olive except for very brief periods unless we give her formula.  I really don’t want to supplement since she’s so little, I feel like she really needs the breastmilk.  I have absolutely nothing against formula — it’s just that I’ve been able to provide her with exclusive breastmilk up until now, and I’d like to keep going.

I knew I needed to redouble my efforts and even posted on the boards to see what worked for other mamas who successfully increased their supply.  Just taking More Milk Plus like I did last time wasn’t going to cut it.  The mamas had some great tips, and I was remotivated!  This is my new plan of action:

– Take More Milk Plus Alcohol-free Tincture 4 times a day (the alcohol one tastes like crap, and the pills may be easier to take)
– Take 6 capsules of Blessed Thistle/day
– Take 9 capsules of Fenugreek/day
– Drink 3 cups of Mother’s Milk Tea/day
– Stay obscenely hydrated.  I carry a glass of cucumber water with me everywhere and force myself to drink it all day long.
– Pump every 2 hours except before breastfeeding (my goal is 10x/day)
– Power pump a couple times a week – stimulate cluster feeding by pumping on and off for every 10 minutes for an hour

I had a brand new bottle of Blessed Thistle from my Charlie days so I started taking that last night, along with Fenugreek and Mother’s Milk Tea.  I also drank 2 bottles of nonalcoholic beer.  Anecdotally a lot of moms believe beer increases your milk supply, but recent studies have shown that it has no impact. Since it was nonalcoholic though, I figured it couldn’t hurt. I’m not sure what worked since I tried a little bit of everything, but for the first time last night I saw a slight increase!

Typically you see the effects of supplements within the first 2 weeks, so I will keep you guys updated. Making more milk is no easy task, but I’m committed!

Pumping & Increasing Milk Supply part 10 of 11

1. Increasing Your Milk Supply by Checklists
2. Pumping Up the Volume by Mrs. Bee
3. My Pumping System by mrs. wagon
4. Don't Pay for a Breast Pump Until You Read This by Mrs. Tricycle
5. More milk, more milk, more milk! by Mrs. Hopscotch
6. Building up a Breastmilk Freezer Stash by mrs. wagon
7. Exclusive Pumping vs. Breastfeeding by Mrs. Bee
8. How To Clean a Medela Pump by Mrs. Bee
9. My Pumping, Freezing, and Defrosting Strategy by Mrs. Bee
10. Project Milk by Mrs. Bee
11. Feeding and Storing Expressed Breastmilk by Checklists