When a breastfeeding parent asks how to increase their milk supply online, they will reliably get three answers that will probably do no good whatsoever. Here are the three things that have been shown to have little or no effect on milk supply:
- Drink more water: the studies on this have found no difference in milk production when mothers drink more fluids vs. just drinking to thirst. In fact, one study from the 80s found a decrease in supply when mothers forced themselves to drink more than they felt like.
- Eat nutritious foods: A mother’s diet has very little effect on the quantity of her milk, unless she is living in famine conditions for three weeks or longer or is on an extremely calorie/fat-restricted diet. Even milk quality doesn’t change much with diet when it comes to macronutrients (fat, protein, and carbohydrates).
- Get more rest: First of all, this advice better come with an offer to come over and hold your baby so you can take a nap. Secondly, there’s no evidence that increased rest increases milk supply.
Now, obviously, rest, good food, and enough fluids are good for YOU, so you should do them anyway as part of taking good care of yourself. But the problem with giving this advice is that it makes moms think they’ve done everything they can when they haven’t done anything that will actually make a difference.
So what does help supply? First, make sure your supply is actually low. If it is, try these tips:
- Breastfeed early and often in the first 40 days.
- Increase the number and length of effective breastfeedings.
- Get latch and positioning help from a lactation consultant (IBCLC) or La Leche League Leader.
- Nurse your baby for any reason or no reason at all.
- If baby is not nursing effectively, consider pumping during, after, or in between feedings.
*Source: Breastfeeding Made Simple by Nancy Morbacher and Kathleen Kendall-Tackett
Paisley Doula 