How to Build an Effective Milk Supply

The body of a breastfeeding mother is truly amazing!

As is the body of every baby! Mothers and babies partner together to produce and deliver to baby, his / her optimal food supply.

Mother's bodies respond to baby's sucking by either increasing or decreasing the milk supply.

This is called the Supply and Demand Mechanism of Breastfeeding.

The more that baby nurses, the more milk will be produced.

The less that baby nurses, the less milk will be produced.

After birth, the mother is often blessed with an overabundance of milk, but baby's nursing will soon customize the quantity of milk to meet his / her needs.

This can take a few weeks but usually by 3 months the mother notices that she no longer feels overly full or engorged.

This is Nature's way of not over producing, of not wasting resources.

Mother has not 'lost her milk' as some may say. 

Her milk supply is now in sync with baby's needs, as directed by baby's sucking.

At birth, and in the later part of pregnancy, colostrum is present in mother's breasts. Colostrum is another amazing part of breastfeeding. It is full of antibodies and is the optimal 'starter milk'.

The first days after birth are the ideal time for baby to learn how to latch on and nurse.

The breast is less full, with just colostrum in it, and baby quickly learns how to correctly latch, when held in the Cradle Hold or Lap Nursing Hold positions.

Around day 3-5 after birth, the amazing mature milk arrives!

The mature milk, which is also full of antibodies, is higher in protein and fat.

 It is what packs the weight on baby. Once the mature milk has come in, a newborn will typically breastfeed every 1-3 hours.

Recall that baby was fed continually in utero via the umbilical cord.

It takes time for baby to grow so that he can handle feedings that are spaced out.

Some nursing sessions will be longer, some shorter. 

And just like an adult who will have some full meals every day, some snacks, and sometimes will just need a drink of water, a baby's nursing sessions will vary throughout the day.

How do you know that baby is getting enough breastmilk when you cannot see the amount that baby is drinking?  

When there is enough input of breastmilk, there will be plenty of output of wet diapers and bowel movements.

What goes in, comes out...

Babies should have wet and BM (meconium) diapers from birth.

Around the third day, when the mature milk comes in, I recommend counting

diapers, to ensure that baby is getting enough.

If using disposable diapers, baby should have 5-7 wet diapers with 2 or more bowel movements on them, in every 24-hour period.

If using cotton diapers, baby should have 6-8 wet diapers with 2 or more bowel movements on them, in every 24-hour period.

As babies mature, they get more efficient and effective at nursing.

They can get more milk in less time than they did as newborns and can control the milk supply by their nursing, according to their developmental needs.

We recommend that you follow your baby's cues, to listen to your baby. 

What is he / she asking for? More nursing? More in-arms time? A clean diaper? Movement? Keeping baby close helps moms to see and hear baby's cues more quickly and to act as needed. 

Reading baby's cues is part of keeping the milk supply in sync with baby's needs. It may seem like he is nursing all the time, but he may be going through a growth spurt and needs more milk. The increased nursing is the 'demand' in the Supply and Demand Mechanism of Breastfeeding.

Once the milk supply meets his needs, nursing will return to a

relatively 'less intense' schedule.

Breastfed babies usually average a gain of 4-7 ounces a week,

once the mature milk is in.

Try not to compare your baby with the growth patterns of other babies.

While it is fascinating to watch the way babies grow, I don't make any weight predictions because each baby has their own unique growth schedule.

Even within the same family, with the same mother and same father, babies often have a wide variety of developmental growth calendars, each one unique.

'You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb.

I praise you, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are your works!'

Psalm 139: 13-14.

Sometimes a baby will gain a pound (16 ounces) in a week and another time he may not gain any weight in a week but may grow in length significantly.

One needs to look at all areas of growth over the course of time and make sure that he is growing in weight, length, developmental steps, etc.

If he is not gaining an average of 4-7 ounces a week then a red flag should go up.

-Make sure that the Cradle Hold or Lap Nursing Hold is being used.

-Make sure that no products are being used.

-Make sure that a health care professional is monitoring the situation and checking for other possible health problems.

Usually, health problems are identified at birth (but not always)

and your doctor would have told you about them.

For positioning help see Breastfeeding Positions that Help.

To Make More Milk and / or Maintain the Milk Supply

Baby 'demands' that more milk be made by his nursing.

Follow baby's cues as to when to nurse him / her.

The milk supply will increase when:

1. The baby nurses more, more times in a day and for longer sessions

2. When you switch sides while nursing. 

If baby is awake, keep offering the breast, switching sides about every 15 minutes.

3. Offer lots of skin-to-skin contact.

Closeness to mother during the day and at night, and mom's body scent and sounds (heartbeat, breathing) will stimulate baby to want to nurse.

4. Mother drinks lots of pure water.

Many nursing moms drink one gallon of water a day. This keeps moms hydrated properly.

Drink water and other healthy drinks before, during and after nursing.

This helps the milk to flow and mom's body to stay healthier.

Lactating moms may feel their mouths and throats are dry, this is a sign that you are getting dehydrated. This is a sign that you are not drinking enough water.

5. Mothers should eat enough healthy meals and snacks.

Breastfeeding burns off a lot of calories.

As baby gets bigger, your body works to produce the increasing amount of milk for his needs. Enough healthy foods aids in this process.

Cautions

Mothers are sometimes told to 'space feedings out so that their breasts have time to fill up again'.

Because of the Supply and Demand Mechanism of Breastfeeding, 

spacing out feedings will actually reduce the milk supply. 

The less a baby nurses (demands milk), the less milk (supply of milk) will be produced.

Pacifiers may reduce the milk supply.

The sucking a baby does on a pacifier is not telling the mom's body to make more milk.

Many people try to differentiate between nutritive sucking and comfort sucking, and they use a pacifier for comfort.

Actually, ALL sucking is both nutritive and comforting, as there is always some milk in a lactating breast.

If there is a concern about baby's weight and the milk supply, hold off the pacifier, offer the breast instead, and see if that helps.

Nipple shields can reduce the milk supply because the mother may not be getting sufficient stimulation through the nipple shield.

CAUTION, CAUTION, CAUTION:

Birth control pills can decrease the mother's milk supply as they affect her hormones.

Many mothers are using Natural Family Planning methods instead.

And, Natural Breastfeeding helps space out babies in a process called

'Lactational Amenorrhea'. When the baby is totally breastfeeding, day and night, mom's ovulation is suppressed. Many moms go 12 to 24 months or longer without having a period or ovulating, while breastfeeding. Even after the baby has started solids. 

Every baby is a blessing!

For more information about product and technique cautions see 

Product Cautions and Technique Cautions.

If baby is losing weight and mother is told that the problem is her milk supply, I recommend the following.

1. Of primary importance is that baby must eat enough, one way or another!

2. That being said, we have worked with over a thousand mothers whose milk supply was corrected and baby learned how to nurse effectively after they stopped using the Cross Cradle Hold and Football Hold, and 

started using the Cradle Hold position.

The breastfeeding problems ended, soreness was healed, baby started thriving and no products were needed.

We have never seen anyone who used the Cross Cradle Hold that did not have breastfeeding issues.

3. So, if someone says that a mom has a milk supply problem and wants her to pump, please know that there is more to the story.

And that natural breastfeeding techniques will help to heal the problems.

Weaning - Part of the Lactation Journey

As baby grows, his needs change. 

Weaning officially begins with the first bite of solid food and ends with the last nursing session.

As baby transitions to solids, he will nurse less, (over time). He will demand less milk by his diminished nursing and mother's body will supply less milk.

The weaning process, ideally, is gradual.

Gradual weaning helps baby to go onto the next developmental steps without regrets.

Baby-led weaning allows mother's body to gradually decrease the milk supply.

This means no discomfort, no engorgement for mother.

Nursing sessions are fewer in number each day and shorter in duration.

When the baby / child is no longer interested in nursing he will stop, and if you have gone through this process, you can understand that the child truly is NOT interested in nursing anymore.

He's all done.