Don’t hurry up to give formula to your child

Some mothers can breastfeed their multiple children and even never experience any lack of the milk supply or have any other problems with breasts. When your child was just born his/her stomach was very small and he/she consumed a little bit of milk, but with time your baby start to grow and his/her tummy start to grow also more and more. Therefore, your infants need of food increase also with age. If after some period of time you might feel like you don’t have enough milk to feed your baby it is not all the time a good idea to introduce formula to your newborn right away even if your child remains hungry after feeding and fussy because of that. You might want to talk to your health care provider or any lactation consultant first before making any decisions.

Warming up your breasts

In order to get some more milk for your child you can put very warm compresses (but not hot) or clothes on your breasts. When it cool out you should repeat the procedure for about 5-10 minutes right before the breastfeeding. As other alternatives, you can take a hot shower for about 10 min. or lean over the think which is almost full of warm water and soak your breasts there. If it is might not convenient for you, other method that you might want to try is to pour warm water in the large mixing bowl, bend over it and soak your breast in it.

While trying to warm up your breasts you need to gently massage them from time to time. You should do some circular movements towards nipples. Whatever you want to do or feel like suit or work for you better, but you need to make your breast warm which in its turn should help porous to open. That way your baby might empty your breast more and easier. Your child even can get more hidden milk which may keep him/her not hungry for a little bit longer.

Adjust your breast milk supply

In order to manage your milk supply according to your baby’s needs it is recommended to feed the child more frequently in the period of the adjustment. The rule of thumb is that the more often you empty your breasts the more your body will secrete milk. It is a good idea in that time to stop from all your haste that you have and relax, maybe even go to bed with your child and offer to eat your baby from time to time as much as he/she can take. You can also try to pump, but do it only after consulting with your doctor or lactation consultant because you might end up producing more milk that you need.

What to do to increase your breast milk supply?

It is also important to watch your diet and eat balanced healthy food. Drinking lots of fluids is also helpful for the level of your milk supply. You can drink whatever you want; it is not supposed to be just cow milk, for example. Your consumption of cow milk won’t affect much your milk supply anyway. It is important that breastfeeding mothers won’t forget about necessary prenatal vitamins intake. In addition, it is essential to have good night sleeps at least 8 hours a day. Of course, it is hard to achieve sometimes with a newborn baby at home, but you should ask your husband or other family member to help you at least on the period of the adjustment of your milk supply. In most cases, it should not take you too long to do it. Normally you may feel that your milk supply increase in as little as couple of days.

Medical Disclaimer

The author is not a doctor and the information in the article is general in nature with no medical advises given or imply. Talk to your doctor, nurse or medical advisor how to treat health related problems.