One Woman's Experience with Increasing the Milk Supply

I had a problem a few weeks ago in keeping up with Kaileigh's demand. I would pump at work and get maybe 5 ounces while she would be with my mother drinking 16 ounces. So I went to my "Nursing Mother's Companion" book to see what I could do to increase my milk supply.

I started by taking fenugreek (3 capsules 3 times a day) and that in its own helped within a day or so. The only drawback to fenugreek to me was that it made my sweat and urine smell a bit like maple syrup. No one else seemed to notice but I felt strange! So that was my first step.

Then I changed my pumping technique. Generally I would only pump at work because it just seems so bovine to me to attach myself to these tubes and pump. I much prefer having Kaileigh feed since that felt so natural! But in order to keep her fed I thought I would give it a try. I was willing to supplement if necessary but I like the convenience of having everything right at the ready with the lift of a blouse! These are the steps that my book recommended.

1. Pump your breasts right after each nursing to stimulate further milk production. Unless you have a double-pump kit, pump each breast for five minutes, then return to each breast a second time for a few more minutes. If you have a double pump, pump both sides for 5 to 10 minutes after nursing.
2. Pump more often. At work I was pumping every 3-4 hours. I switched for the short-term to pumping every 2 hours and it made a big difference. If you do not work and are with your baby for every feeding it is sometimes hard to know when to pump so that you don't take anything away from the baby but you need to have 8 nursings/pumpings in 24 hours for the fastest increase in the milk supply. At least I needed that! Kaileigh has been sleeping through the night for awhile so I set my alarm for 3:00 am each day and got up and pumped then also. That gave me "bonus" milk!

That first hint of pumping for 5 minutes on each side was important for me. I used to pump and as soon as I saw nothing coming out I would quit. But then I devoted a half hour to pumping one day and while there was nothing coming out to start with (since Kaileigh had just stripped me clean!) after 5 minutes I was getting a fair amount. This was true on both sides. And switching back to the other side gained me even more. I would usually only get 1 - 2 ounces but that was milk that I didn't store before!

Now I'm freezing my milk again. I get around 10 ounces at work and in the course of a day I probably pump 10 - 20 ounces. Plus Kaileigh no longer is eating as much at Mom's. She must have been going through a growth spurt. So now I've backed off a little bit and am no longer so obsessive with all that pumping. I did it religiously for a few days and noticed a marked difference and my production has stayed up. I'll do it again if my supply falls off again.

Dorinna & Kaileigh

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