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Infant feeding

Drink milk to make milk?

7 replies

nymph · 04/05/2007 10:44

I've recently (yesterday) gone back to work and I'm trying to ensure that I can express enough milk for my ds. I'm working at home two days per week so have four fully BF days to express for the three days he is in the nursery. Luckily the nursery is quite close to my office so I can make it there for one feed but I still need to provide two bottles each of the three days he?s there. So I'm trying to express enough for a 6 oz bottle each day, but finding it quite hard. I'd also like to have enough so I can have an 'emergency' stash if I want to go out.
I'm on herbal tinctures and 'milkmaid' tea and drink so much water that I'm not sure if I'm a cow or a camel , but I'm still not happy that I have enough. I desperately want to continue breastfeeding as long as possible though. I know one suggestion to increase milk is to 'get loads of rest', but unfortunately being a BF, working mum that's really not a workable solution!
Does anyone know if drinking milk helps? If so, full fat or semi-skimmed?
Any other hints would be appreciated.
Thanks
N

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tiktok · 04/05/2007 10:53

Nymph, drinking water won't make any difference, and milk won't, either, and nor will extra rest...the thing that will make a difference is more frequent feeding/more frequent expressing. The only thing that really 'makes' milk is frequent, effective milk removal.

Few women will get 6 ounces out in one go - 3 ounces (in total from both breasts) is very respectable, though there are some expressing stars who can do a lot more.

So you may need to express three or four times a day on the days you are with your baby, and the same amount when you are not with him - as your supply will drop if you don't pay attention to it when you are at work.

It's hard work - no one should deny that. You don't say how old your baby is, but the older he is the easier it gets, as you can leave less milk when you are not with him (as he will be taking other food and drink) and very well established bf does not need as much constant stimulation to kep going.

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bitzermaloney · 04/05/2007 11:09

Nymph, tiktok has said it, really. My HV told me to drink milk to make it, too, and it was only through MN that I found that was rubbish. Although... I did take fenugreek tablets at one stage when I was having trouble expressing enough, and it seemed to make a significant difference within a day or so. In fact I had to stop taking it as I started to feel uncomfortable between feeds. On the other hand, a friend in my postnatal group tried the same and it didn't make any difference to her.

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tiktok · 04/05/2007 11:29

Anyone telling a mum to drink milk to make milk needs to ask this helpful person what cows drink to make milk....maybe we should tell mothers to eat grass?

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mears · 04/05/2007 11:33

nymph - try not to think of expressing 6oz in one go. Express 1-2 oz off at a time - try doing it by hand reather than a pump because it is less time consuming. All the small amounts soon mount up. Do you leak at all? Catch the dripmilk in a sterislised breast shell when you are feeding or expressing from the other breast.

I used to express small amounts off at various times during the day, usually when baby was sleeping. Don't worry if your ds wakes looking for a feed just after you have expressed - you will still have plenty of milk for him.

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mears · 04/05/2007 11:34

And agree with Tiktok. You definitely do not need to drink milk or rest to make milk. You just need to stimulate your breasts to do the job by feeding or expressing

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nymph · 04/05/2007 12:44

OK thanks all. I am expressing with each feed and making up the additional bottles over the day. I'm just finding it hard not having much 'spare'. My ds is 4 months so not on any foods yet. I suppose there is no easy way....although that field of grass is looking fairly good....

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mears · 04/05/2007 17:16

nymph - I personally expressed inbetween feeds as I found I didn't get very much after a feed. Any time I felt a bit fuller, i whipped some milk off

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