So you’re here because you’re trying to figure out how to produce more breast milk fast. Maybe you feel like your milk supply is dropping, or you’ve seen other moms out there pumping 10 ounces in a session and you’re wondering why that’s not you. There may be a number of reasons you want to increase your breast milk production quickly.
As a registered nurse and lactation counselor, I want to give you the REAL ways you can increase your breast milk production. As well as a realistic timeline for increasing breast milk production.
In this post, we’ll talk about how to produce more breast milk, signs that your baby is getting enough milk, and factors that may cause your milk supply to decrease!
How to Produce More Breast Milk Fast
If you’re looking to increase your milk supply, there are a few things you should keep in mind. Milk removal is the most important factor in your breast milk supply. Breastfeeding is all about supply and demand. The more your baby (or breast pump) demands breast milk, the greater your supply will be.
Although this may not be a “quick fix”, it is definitely the most effective way to increase your supply. However, if you are looking for quick ways to produce more breast milk, I’ve included the best tips to help yield more breast milk.
Fastest Result
Breast Compression
This is one of the fastest and easiest ways to produce more breast milk fast. While nursing or pumping, gently massage your breast in a downward motion towards the nipple. Get all angles of the breast (top, sides, bottom) to help push breast milk out of the ducts.
Make sure to switch breasts when doing compressions to help fully empty both breasts. If you’re doing this while pumping (which you definitely should!), a hands-free pumping bra is really helpful!
breast Massage Before Feedings/Pumping
Similarly to breast compressions, you’ll want to massage your breasts before feeding or pumping sessions. This helps loosen the fatty breast milk from the milk ducts and allows for milk flow to come out easier.
Attempt to Get Multiple Letdowns
You can do this while nursing or pumping, but it’s especially easy to try while pumping. Depending upon the breast pump you have, you will have a button that switches you between stimulation and expression mode. Stimulation mode is the mode that mimics baby’s sucking when they are attempting to elicit a letdown.
Once you’ve gone through a full phase of pumping and you see your milk flow slowing down, try switching back to that stimulation/letdown mode. You may be able to encourage your body to give another letdown which will produce more breast milk.
When nursing, you may elicit another letdown with breast compressions, warm compresses, or vibration.
Warm Compress
Using a warm compress before or during nursing or pumping can help you produce more milk. The warmth helps increase circulation which in turn encourages letdown and increased milk flow.
Lactation Massagers
These lactation massagers provide multiple vibration modes to help you better empty the breast. Not only are they amazing at producing more breast milk, but they also work so well for common breastfeeding challenges like clogged ducts and mastitis.
They’re small and can be placed in your hands-free pumping bra while pumping, or you can even use them to massage while doing breast compressions. They also offer a lactation massager that uses heat as well! So you can get that 2-in-1 heating and vibration.
More Ways to Increase Milk Supply
Staying Hydrated
You may have heard that drinking tons and tons of water or other special drinks will increase your breast milk supply. But this is actually false.
What’s actually most important is drinking to thirst, meaning you stay hydrated and drink enough water before you become thirsty. If you want to learn more about how much water you should be drinking while breastfeeding, check out this post here.
I recommend keeping a water bottle with you at all times and near your pumping or nursing station.
Galactagogue Foods
There is no magical food that is going to increase your milk supply and give you a huge milk stash. There is also not much research out there to prove that these foods cause an increase in milk supply. However, there are certain foods that anecdotally many mothers claim gave them an increase in their breast milk production.
These foods include oatmeal, nuts, flax seed, brewer’s yeast, carrots, sweet potatoes, and dark, leafy greens.
Lactation cookies are also really popular among breastfeeding mothers. That is because they contain many ingredients that are thought to boost milk supply such as flax seed, oats, and brewer’s yeast.
Skin-to-skin
Skin-to-skin contact is another great way to increase your breast milk supply. Try doing skin-to-skin before the feeding and after the feeding is finished (or before and after pumping)!
Just undress baby down to their diaper and place them directly on your chest. If you’d like, you can drape a blanket over top of baby to keep them warm.
Power Pumping
Power pumping is a great way to increase your breast milk production. It can however take a week or so to see the results!
Power pumping is a technique designed to mimic cluster feeding, which is what a baby does to naturally increase breast milk supply. There are different methods for power pumping but one of the most common includes the schedule as follows:
- Pump 20 minutes
- Rest 10 minutes
- Pump 10 minutes
- Rest 10 minutes
- Pump 10 minutes
And then you’re done. It should take about an hour total. You can do it once a day for a few days.
Pump After Breastfeeding
Pumping after a nursing session is another way to signal to your body that you need more breast milk. This all comes back to supply and demand, If you demand more milk, your breasts will in turn increase the supply.
You can pump 10-15 minutes after the nursing session. And you can do this once to a few times a day for a few days to see an increase in about a week’s time.
Frequent Feedings
As mentioned before, the key to success is frequent milk removal. So making sure you are nursing or pumping at least 8 times in a 24-hour period will ensure you’re making enough milk.
Some mothers may have a lower capacity, meaning there’s less milk in the breast at a time. These new moms may need to nurse or pump 9-10 times in a 24-hour period. As long as you are making enough milk for your baby, that’s all that matters.
Signs That Your Breastfed Baby is Getting Enough Milk
Breastfeeding can cause a lot of worry for new moms. When you’re nursing, it can be hard to determine exactly how much milk your baby is getting. And how to know if they’re full and being well-nourished.
However, there are ways you can determine if your baby is getting enough milk. One of the most important things we look at is diaper output. If your baby is over one week old, they should have at least 6 wet diapers and 1 poop diaper a day. When breastfed we like to see around 3 stools per day ideally, but every baby is different so if you have any concerns speak with your little one’s pediatrician.
Along with dirty diapers, we like to make sure baby is having good weight gain. You will visit your baby’s pediatrician frequently those first few weeks to make sure they’re gaining weight as they should.
A few other ways you may be able to determine if your baby is transferring milk well is if you can hear baby swallowing milk while nursing or your breasts feel softer after nursing.
Factors That May Cause Your Milk Supply to Decrease
If you’re hoping to increase your milk supply, there are a few things you should know about that can actually cause a decrease in your milk supply.
For instance, if your supply has not regulated or your baby is still little and you’re feeding or pumping fewer than 8 times in a 24-hour period, you may notice a dip in your supply. If your baby has an improper latch and they aren’t transferring milk well, that will also cause a decrease in your supply.
Another mistake many new moms make is supplementing with formula without guidance from their baby’s pediatrician or a lactation consultant. When new moms see a baby cluster feeding or crying after feeds, they may assume baby is still hungry and “top them off” with some formula.
However, what this is actually doing is preventing the baby from demanding more milk from your breasts. Which will in turn decrease your breast supply. This also may happen when starting solids too early or feeding solids before breast milk.
Breast milk should be baby’s primary nutrition source for their first year of life with solid foods being complementary. Once they get closer to 9 months or a year, then their solid intake may increase and their eating patterns will slowly change.
A few other things that may cause a decrease in your milk supply include:
- Birth control
- Menstrual cycle (period)
- Pregnancy
- Smoking
Takeaway
I hope after reading this you feel reassured that either you really are making enough milk for your baby, or you now know some actionable evidence-based ways to increase your milk supply.
Lactation cookies and drinking plenty of water can definitely help, but they’re not the magical fix that you’ll see some people advertising. It’s all about that milk demand!
And I want to note that if you’re trying all of these things and still dealing with a low milk supply, definitely reach out to a lactation consultant for help. You may be dealing with a problem that can cause a primary low milk supply such as PCOS, insufficient glandular tissue (IGT), thyroid issues, etc.
