This blog post on how to increase your milk supply is from 2014, how crazy is that?! I get so many questions about boosting your supply so I figured that I would update this and put it as a new post for 2019! A lot has changed since I last wrote this and I have also learned a lot along the way as well! I used to take fenugreek when I was nursing my first but it doesn’t ALWAYS boost your supply and it can also make a few babies fussier than usual. I have seen come across some better ways to increase your milk supply, should you need to!
As always, feel free to add ways that have worked for you in the comments below!
How to Increase Your Milk Supply || Lactation Cookie Recipe
One of the most frustrating moments, as a new mother, can be battling with your milk supply. As baby O rounded her 4th month, my supply started to drop drastically. How did I know this? Here are the signs that told me that my supply was dwindling:
* a sudden drop in weight (we are talking 8 ounces in one week)
*”empty” feeling all day/all night long
*baby was never satisfied || prior to my drop in my supply, baby O would nurse 1 side and sometimes a 2nd side (because she was always so full after the 1st) || After the drop, she would nurse both sides for an eternity, hoping more milk would come and it never did
*She would wake up 5+ times per night to get in extra feedings because she was not getting enough to eat during the day
*I started supplementing with a few of her feedings and she guzzled it down
Now, please note that I am not a lactation consultant or pediatrician and all of this is from experience. It may work for you, it may not. But I hope that it does! π
What I should have done when baby O was only taking one side, would have been to pump BOTH sides afterwards to completely drain them. If you do not do that, your telling your body that she only needs one side every few hours and your milk supply will drop like crazy (as mine did). She would have been fine with it, if she wasn’t growing – because she obviously needs much more now – then she did 2 months ago.
I was also sick during this time with an upper respiratory infection, which makes you even more dehydrated. It is important to drink, drink, drink!!
So here is what I did to increase the boobie juice(I started this on a Saturday and saw an increase in my supply mildly by Tuesday and drastically by the end of the week)
- DRINK a crap ton of fluids. We are taking gallons. Like so much water that you think you might just burst at the seams π Even better than water, is BODY ARMOUR. This stuff is GOLD. So many of you have recommended it and have had great results with it!
- Legendairy Milk Supplements // These all natural supplements have done wonders for my supply now that I am working out. I am talking the liquid gold but they have a few different options to choose from and it depends on your tolerance of certain ingredients, so just read all about them here! You can also use the coupon code: lynzy fo 15% off your order!
- Rest. Your body cannot make the milk your baby needs unless you are getting the rest that you need. My lactation consultant is adamant about this. Give the babe to the hubby/grandma/someone and GO TO BED girlfriend!
- Eat. Now, I should tell you to try to eat as much as possible and try to eat healthy….but to be honest, I just ate whatever. I ate like a horse. Seriously. Every hour, a snack. Increase your GOOD fats. Eat all the avocado toast and extra olive oil in everything! π
- Steel Cut Oats need to become your best friend. I had a bowl of this twice a day. I LOVE this stuff. I put organic maple syrup and berries on mine!
- One bottle of Guinness per day. Yes, beer. It’s yummy, it relaxes you, and it increases your boobie juice (or at least my LC told me that) π I’ll take it!
- Eat dark leafy greens. I was making spinach salad with tuna/carrots (also increase your supply) || You can also eat asparagus/brown rice/hummus
- Lactation Cookies || The best damn cookies you’ll ever eat. Seriously, I love these and I ate like 4 a day. I swear they helped to increase my supply!
Here is the lactation cookie recipe I used:
Ingredients you will need
3 cups of steel cut oats
2 cups of almond flour
1 1/2 cups of brown sugar
1 cup of chocolate chips
1 cup of butter
4 tablespoons of water
4 tablespoons of Brewer’s Yeast
2 tablespoons of flaxseed meal
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon of baking soda
How to whip them up
1. Preheat oven to 375Β°
2. Mix together 2 tablespoons of flaxseed meal with the water and set aside for 3-5 minutes
3. Cream the butter and brown sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beat well.
3. Stir in flaxseed meal mixture with vanilla to the butter mix. Beat until blended.
4. Stir together your dry ingredients separately (except oats and chips)
5. Add to butter mixture. Stir in oats and then chips
6. Scoop or drop onto baking sheet.
The dough can be a bit crumbly, I used two spoons to scoop and transfer to the baking sheet.
Bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies. It makes approximately 3-4 dozen (!!)
(recipe borrowed from here)
9.) Lactation Energy Bites
How to make:
Combine together 2 tbsp honey, 2/3 cup peanut butter, 1 cup old fashioned oats, 1/2 cup chocolate chips, 1/2 cup ground flaxseed, 2 tablespoons coconut oil and 2 tablespoons of brewers yeast
To make it easier to roll into balls, refrigerate dough for an hour!
Oatmeal always helped bring mine back up!
Me too! I donβt really eVen like oatmeal but ate And craved it while nursing.
Oatmeal always helped bring mine back up!
Great tips! I did all of the above except the Guinness…really though??? Wow…I will have to try this with the next bubba π
Linh
http://abeautifulrawr.com
this post came at the perfect time and i feel like my supply is dropping!! definitely going to put these tips to use mama!
hope all is well! xox
Great tips! I did all of the above except the Guinness…really though??? Wow…I will have to try this with the next bubba π
Linh
http://abeautifulrawr.com
This post was perfect timing! Headed back to work this week and nervous about supply drop. Baked these tonight- DELISH!
this post came at the perfect time and i feel like my supply is dropping!! definitely going to put these tips to use mama!
hope all is well! xox
i’m so glad you upped your supply! i can’t imagine losing mine (although my freezer is literally bursting with milk so i’d probably be okay for a while). such a disappointing thing, i’m sure.
i’m so glad you upped your supply! i can’t imagine losing mine (although my freezer is literally bursting with milk so i’d probably be okay for a while). such a disappointing thing, i’m sure.
thanks for sharing! I don’t have an issue with my supply but would like to keep it high as my little lady gets bigger. Made an oder and plan on baking soon!
xo
Natalie
thanks for sharing! I don’t have an issue with my supply but would like to keep it high as my little lady gets bigger. Made an oder and plan on baking soon!
xo
Natalie
Have you tried Motherlove More Milk Plus? It has Fenugreek, as well as other things. I still take it everyday and it doesn’t leave me with that maple syrup smell!
xx Viv
joiedeviv.blogspot.com
Have you tried Motherlove More Milk Plus? It has Fenugreek, as well as other things. I still take it everyday and it doesn’t leave me with that maple syrup smell!
xx Viv
joiedeviv.blogspot.com
Yes the Beer????????????????????ββοΈ Totes believe it helps! Except I’ll replace yours with Summer Shandy daily… I’m stocked up being as it’s seasonal lol!
Just made these cookies, delicious. I baked them at 350, not 450 ( the first batch burnt because it was a bit high).
Does it have to be the Brewer’s yeast? Is there a difference between that and regular active yeast?
Question… the steel cut oats still feel tough after I bake them. Is this normal?
I just made them and am having the same trouble. They are very tough.
Thank you for always being so helpful, and so much fun to follow on IG. Thank you for being real!! Canβt wait to try making these cookies in the morning. Could not have come at better time. ????
Great post! Thank you! If any moms are trying to cut back on sugar, try making the cookies with banana instead of sugar I havenβt made your recipe yet but I have a similar one & they turn out great with banana. π
Just made these and my mixture was really wet. Ive re read the recipe several times and didn’t miss anything. anyone else have a similar outcome?
Hey Lynzy, love your blog! Just wanted to share with anyone reading that I think the best way to know how much milk your baby is getting is by how many wet diapers they make per day.
Other things like frequent night waking (becomes common at 4-months-old), feeling empty, and chugging a bottle are not reliable ways to guess if your milk level is too low. I just don’t want anyone to read this and worry unnecessarily. Of course, you can always talk to your pediatrician for professional, personalized advice.
really cool site
Do you have to use almond flour or can you use regular flour? Can’t wait to make these!
I almost never leave comments, but i did a few searching and
wound up here How to Increase your milk supply. And I do
have a couple of questions for you if you don’t mind. Is it simply me or does it look like some of the responses appear like they are left by brain dead people?
π And, if you are posting at other places, I
would like to follow everything fresh you have
to post. Could you list of the complete urls of all your social pages like
your Facebook page, twitter feed, or linkedin profile?
What color GATORADE did you find to be most helfpul?