What Can You Do To Make More Breast Milk?
The amount of milk produced by mothers depends on the frequency of sucking and the effectiveness of the baby’s breastfeeding. When your baby is sucking on your breast, this action causes the release of two hormones: oxytocin and prolactin. However, what can you do to produce more breast milk?
The first thing you should know is that prolactin is the milk-producing hormone. Also, the more the baby breastfeeds, the more the mother’s breasts produce milk.
If the child is in need of more milk than the mother produces, she should suck more often or more efficiently in order to make the production increase.
The second hormone, oxytocin, causes muscle contractions in the breast that cause milk to start flowing through the breast ducts and nipple while the baby sucks. This is called the ejection reflex.
In some cases, the mother may not produce enough breast milk to satisfy the baby’s insatiable appetite. However, there are several ways to help increase breast milk production.
What to do to produce more breast milk?
There are some tips you should keep in mind for developing and maintaining a healthy supply of breast milk. This will allow you to build up a healthy, strong supply or increase it naturally.
1. Help the baby to suck the breast correctly
It is possible that the production of breast milk with regard to the mother is perfectly correct and in sufficient quantity, but that the baby does not suckle the breast effectively. Therefore, he cannot suck and extract the amount of milk he needs.
In this case, the main factor to be improved is, of course, helping the baby to breastfeed correctly. For example, a midwife or doula can guide you on how to best position the baby in a way that allows you to breastfeed in the best conditions.
2. Use breast compression or massage
Breast compression is a technique used to help the baby get more breast milk while breastfeeding. It is also a way to extract more milk from the breast when a pump is being used.
It consists of holding the chest with one hand and placing it close to the chest wall. So, you should press it with your fingers, firmly but not hurting. When the baby starts to breastfeed, it’s time to release the breast so that milk can flow through.
3. Make changes to your lifestyle
You may not realize it, but some of your everyday habits can affect your breast milk supply. Things that can interfere with breast milk supply include smoking, birth control pills, stress, and fatigue.
There is no doubt that it is possible to increase your breast milk supply naturally by making some changes to your daily routine!
4. Respect meals and do not use powdered milk
Your body makes more breast milk when your baby suckles. If you skip feedings or give your baby formula milk instead of breastfeeding, you are not telling the body that you want to make more breast milk.
The amount will decrease unless you use a firecracker to extract it.
5. Breastfeeding with both breasts
During the first few weeks, breastfeeding on both sides during each feed will help create a greater supply of breast milk.
You just need to alternate which breast you start to breastfeed with whenever you feed your baby, as the first breast to be sucked usually gets more stimulation.
If you always start on the same side , this breast will produce more milk and be bigger than the other. After the first few weeks, when you are comfortable with how much breast milk you are producing, you can continue to breastfeed on both sides or one side with each feed.
6. Eat well
While it is possible to have a full supply of breast milk for a baby on a poor diet, it is certainly a good idea to try to eat a little better while breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding and producing breast milk require a good deal of energy. Therefore, to develop and maintain a healthy supply of milk, feed your body with balanced, healthy meals.
You can even add to your daily diet some foods that increase milk production, such as oats, vegetables and almonds. This is, of course, to help you get the extra calories you so desperately need right now.
7. Drink water
Breast milk is 88% water. So if you’re not drinking the ideal amount of water with each feeding, your body will soon become dehydrated!
Finally, remember that in order to produce more breast milk, it is very important that you have healthy lifestyle habits. With the above advice, most breastfeeding mothers are able to get enough breast milk to feed their baby.
