TIPS ON HOW TO MAINTAIN MILK QUANTITY

Caution: These recommendations are from mothers who had tried and tested the food/drinks. Remember that these are for nursing mother. Pregnant mothers are advised NOT to consume these recommendations as some may not be suitable for your pregnancy.

First of all, every mother must bear in mind that her milk supply is always adequate for the baby if she nurses often and regularly. On the first few days, the milk quantity may be slow but it will pick up gradually as you nurse. If you are worried, do check with your respective lactation consultant, breast-feeding counsellor, paediatrician, mid-wives and even the district clinic bidan who makes house-calls. (At least where I come from, Penang, the nurses from the Govt. clinic will pop in to my house to visit me.) All the women who have succeeded in breast-feeding their babies will have one very important advice "DO NOT LISTEN TO ANYONE WHO TELLS YOU THAT YOU ARE NOT CAPABLE OF SUPPLYING ENOUGH MILK." We know that you will be having a host of senior relatives, old friends, clueless women who will keep harping to you that your baby is fussing because you are starving him! Baby cries for several reasons and he/she will nurse if he/she is hungry.

Anyway, on this page we are giving out some of the methods, recipes, tricks, tips about how to increase your milk quantity. Many working mothers who went back to work after their maternity leave will inevitably notice the reduction/increase of the quantity of milk they expressed. I must tell you a funny observation I made through this group of nursing mothers in our group. If we are given a choice of 'How to increase your money' and 'How to increase your milk', I bet that all the women will run for the milk over the money. This is how deep our obsession over milk quantity is. (Lilian)

MEMBER'S RECOMMENDATION
(tips gathered from our emails. Name of contributor in brackets)

RECOMMENDATIONS ON MILK ENHANCING FOOD/DRINKS FROM SEVERAL WOMEN

Japanese green tea, camomille tea, Marmite, Brewers Yeast, pucuk manis, kangkung, sawi, roselle, chlorophyl drink, drumstick (a kind of pea) - the list is endless....

More food to ponder over - green brinjal, lima beans (pic. below, thks to Nirmala, Sathiya and Ninuk), tosai and idli (the accompanying curry is power-packed with fenugreek)

You should be able to get fenugreek at any grocery store or else at an Indian store (used a fair bit in Indian cooking)... Try steeping fenugreek in hot water (like tea) or perhaps boil the water with fenugreek - my sister used this method and felt that it helped. (Nazreen) 

I bought a big bag of fenugreek … and diffuse it as tea. It taste okey and my milk flows immediately! Probably because of the hot drink. (Lilian) 

a Malay friend told me that eating daun pegaga (can be obtained in Malay market/stall) as ulam and white radish (lobak putih) in soup are very effective in increasing milk suppy. I am also told that cooking drumstick tree leaves as a soup, in dhall curry does also help with the supply. I tried the salted fish soup and … notice that the supply has increased somewhat. (Shahareen) 

The (Fenugreek) seeds are quite hard & bitter. I tried crushing them with the batu lesong & diluting them in water, but it was so bitter & tasted horrible. …My hubby suggested to make your own capsules .I think you can get empty capsules from the pharmacy & put in your own fenugreek which you can ground it yourself (Sheela)

I started drinking green tea (partially replacing my water consumption) yesterday, and weird enuf, McBoobies seemed to function more efficiently, not always so-low in supply. Wonder if there's anything in green tea that stimulates milk production? (Audrey)

The Nursing Mothers' Teas are unique blend of herbs* made with the post-partum, nursing mother in mind. They are designed to enhance milk production and supply, promote a restoration to health after the trials of labor, as well as calm, soothe, and lift the spirits of the nursing mother. All the herbs in the teas are organically grown and entirely earth and animal friendly. These teas contain no caffeine, black tea, or orange pekoke tea. These teas are NOT reccomended for pregnant women. (Sze Sze)

My sister, Nazreen (discovered that expressing while nursing worked wonders. (Shahareen)

Regarding food, I remembered eating a lot of garlic & shallots. We Indians believe eating shark will increase your milk supply. So I had a lot of that. Besides that I had oats & horlicks. (Sheela)

My advice to all you mums who are serious & commited to breastfeed your baby is that you should NEVER supplement with formula during the crucial early months. If you do your milk supply will surely diminish. Feed on DEMAND & not the clock! The more your baby suckles, the more your body will produce breastmilk.To build up your milk supply, eat a healthy & nutritious meals & let your baby feed on demand. During the night your body produces more milk. Due to the fact that breastmilk gets digested fast, your baby will be waking up very often. To make it easier, you should cosleep with your baby so that you can nurse on demand. (Sheela)

Since I intend to bf full time, the chinese sinseh recommended that I should consume cordyceps ("tung tong cho") for alertness ("ching son") and energy ("hei pak") For those of you who really need the "ching son" can try. (May Mei)

…I bought many of the tiny sharks with their skin ripped off and made soup with them after the Indian nurses told me that it is good for breastmilk. The fish is easy to eat because it does not smell and the bones are still very soft. (Lilian)

Yes , Lactare is suppose to increase milk supply. I think it should not be a problem to take it during confinement. Anyway you could check it out on the instruction on the box. I used to take (I think ) 3 x a day, 3 tablets each time. You can take it together with your beverages also… had used Lactare for more than a year & find that it increases milk supply. (Sheela)

Christina Kwan just email me giving me a recipe for fish tail bones (buy the big fish ones like garoupa) and half-ripe papaya. For flavouring, add a few pieces of ginger and white pepper corns. Boil them till mushy and milky. Papaya has enzyme (papase) which dentists always give after some dental treatment. So I guess it is the enzyme that makes the glands secrete more milk. Try it! (Lilian)

I too used to take papayas to increase my milk supply. (Sheela)

Have u all tried dates (kurma)? My milk surprisingly increased during fasting month. Usually in the month of Ramadhan, we Muslims take dates twice daily, once during 'sahur' (early breakfast) and another during fast breaking. Until now, i still take it at least once a day. Manage to express 6-8 oz in 15 minute session. Do try, probably it works on some of you. (Fiza)

For new mommies who want to increase their milk supply, a surefire way is to express after you've finished nursing your babies ...Our body produces milk based on demand and by expressing (even if you only get a little initially), you're able to trick your body into thinking that you need to produce more for your growing baby. (Min)