Re: herbs for increasing milk production

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Hi Marcia,

My son is 15 months old and still an avid nurser, even though the bulk of his caloric intake is from solid foods. I wanted to make a few comments. First, it's normal for you to not have an over-abundnace of breastmilk by this time. I found that my supply basically evened out totally acccording to Max's "demand". At first, I thought it meant my supply would steadily decrease, but I've continued nursing him and things are fine. When he was 10 1/2 months old or so, he started morning-only daycare and I was very nervous that he would not want to nurse as much which would lead to a supply decrease. I pumped once every day while he was gone for a couple months, then I realized there wasn't really any need - the supply evened out.

Around this age, many babies appear to not be as interested in nursing, what with all the expansion of their world and being busy busy. But if you don't want to discontinue the nursing relationship yet, don't assume he's just not interested! Many moms assume that this is their child's "natural" weaning time, but that's rarely the case. I would recommend continuing to offer him the breast and maybe nursing him when he's calm (ha!) or nursing him without other distractions. My son does a lot of "suck-look-suck-play" stuff - when I really try to limit the distractions (take him to a quiet, dim room, etc), he seems to nurse more efficiently. It also helps if he nurses when he's hungry.

The best cure for increasing milk supply is simply to put him to breast more often. Does he get any formula or other liquids? You may want to try eliminating or at least reducing the amount of non-breastmilk-liquids he's taking (especially formula or cow's milk). Also, nurse him before giving him his solid meals to encourage him to take more milk in. He'll probably still be quite interested in solids after his nursing, and even if he's not, breastmilk is still the number one food for babies under age one. But I doubt he'll "give up" solids, if he's anything like my son!

Also, it may help to pump at least once (or maybe more) every day with a high-quality double-electric breast pump. (I use a Medela Pump-in-Style which is pretty good - I hear you can rent those, too, as well as hospital pumps). If you're separated from him during the day, maybe it would be good to pump at least once during that time. I don't know how your experiences with pumping have been, but I've never gotten tons of milk pumping, which used to discrourage me. Pumps are not as efficient as babies sucking at the breast, so don't be alarmed if it seems like you are only getting a small amount when you pump. You can be sure that baby is probably getting more when he nurses. Also, to increase supply when pumping, try pumping more frequently instead of increasing the amount of time of each pumping.

As for herbs, have you tried Mother's Milk tea (made by Traditional Medicinals)? It has fennel seed, anise seed, coriander seed, spearmint leaf, lemongrass, lemon verbena leaf, althea root, blessed thistle leaf and fenugreek seed. I haven't used mine - I bought it when Max started daycare and I was nervous about supply issues, but then I got pregnant and couldn't take it during pregnancy (because of the blessed thistle and fenugreek). It might be worth a try for you, though, combined with more frequent nursings, possible pumping, etc.

I would suggest you pick up a copy of the book "Mothering Your Nursing Toddler" (I forget the author, but it's put out by La Leche League).

>I could probably limp along like this, but if there's anyone who knows
>what I can do to get a boost, I would appreciate it.

Well, like I said, maybe it's not really "limping along" but instead just your supply "evening out". I rarely feel that very full feeling anymore that I used to feel -- at first, that scared me because I figured that was "the beginning of the end", but it's all supply & demand and things seem to be on an even keel. Offer your kiddo the breast more often - even though he's in that gotta-interact-with-the-whole-world-right-now! stage and may appear uninterested, and I bet everything will be fine and you can continue to enjoy your breastfeeding relationship.

Good luck!

--
Noelle Haland
Mama to Ethan (stillborn 12/2/96), Max (born 10/28/97)...
...and new babe due 4th of July 1999
<noelleh@earthlink.net>

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