HELPING YOUR BREASTFED BABY TO GET ALL THE MILK THEY NEED

Screen Shot 2020-03-28 at 13.54.09.png

A mother’s milk supply is established & increased by regular and effective milk removal

If you need to increase your milk supply:

1. Be sure your baby is latched on well Good attachment at the breast is key to good effective

milk removal. Signs of good attachment include: wide gape, chin indenting the breast, head

slightly tipped back. Feeding is more effective when your baby is positioned facing the breast

with its head, neck and body in line, is in close contact with mum and well supported. Feeding

should be comfortable, seek skilled support if discomfort continues.

2. Be sure that baby is actively swallowing and you should be able to hear or see this. Look

for deep, rhythmical, jaw dropping movements, with pauses, that are sustained for a period

of time.

3. Nurse frequently Your baby will usually feed 8 – 12 times in twenty four hours. The more

often the breasts are stimulated, and milk removed, the more milk they will make. Follow

baby’s feeding cues, which include tongue darting, lip smacking, head bobbing and do not

try to schedule feedings. Crying is a late hunger cue.

4. Offer both breasts at each feed this will ensure that your baby gets all the milk available and

that both breasts are stimulated frequently. Allow your baby to indicate they are finished on

the first breast, and then offer the other breast.

Some babies are sensitive to milk flow, and can lose interest in feeding when the flow slows,

but before they have had enough milk. Breast compression and Switch feeding can help your

baby to get more milk at the breast and can increase milk supply.

5. Breast compression helps to keep your baby interested in nursing and increase fat

consumption. Squeeze the breast firmly with your thumb on one side and fingers on the other

to increase milk flow. Hold the pressure & keep squeezing until your baby is no longer

actively sucking; then release. Rotate fingers around the breast and squeeze again. Squeeze

firmly but be careful not to cause injury to your breast tissue.

6. Switch feeding can help your baby actively feed for longer by taking advantage of the first

stronger milk ejection. As your baby’s jaw dropping movement slows, and before they go into

a deep sleep, switch to the second breast for as long as they actively feed, and then return to

the first again. The baby can nurse at each breast several times during one feed.

7. Sucking needs to be at the breast where your baby will be getting food and stimulating

your breasts to make milk. Try and avoid using a dummy in the first 6 weeks as it could result

in missed feeding cues and feeding opportunities.

8. Skin-to-skin is always valuable and helps support breastfeeding It stimulates your

baby’s neonatal feeding reflexes. It increases your oxytocin and is an opportunity for you and

your baby to connect. It is your baby’s natural habitat.

9. Keep your baby close. Your baby will have easy access to the smell, taste and feel of your

body and milk. This can help you be responsive to your baby’s feeding cues so they may feed

better. Some baby carriers, slings or wraps are a great ‘hands free’ way to keep your baby

close.

10. Expressing Frequent effective milk removal (8 times in 24 hours) is key to increasing and

maintaining a full milk supply If a baby is not able to do this well enough or weight gain has

not been at the expected rate, expressing milk can be an effective way to increase milk

supply. It also provides additional milk if you need to supplement.

Understanding what you might expect

Your baby may lose weight during the first three or four days and from day 5 we expect steady

weight gain. They should regain their birth weight by the time they are 21 days old or sooner. After

that, most breastfed babies gain an average 170 grams (6 ounces) per week.

By day 5 your baby will be feeding 8 -12 times in 24 hours. You can expect 5 – 6 really wet nappies

per day plus a minimum of two bowel movements of at least as big as a £2 coin. The stool should

be runny, yellow and no longer black or green. Around 6 weeks old they may poo less often and still

gain weight well but until then poo is a good way to check how much milk is going through.

Your baby’s behaviour will tell you that he is satisfied and full. He will come off the breast

spontaneously and will seem contented.

Information from B & H Breastfeeding Team; Deborah Robertson,IBCLC and West,D&Marasco, L.

The Breastfeeding Mother’s Guide to Making More milk;McGraw-Hill, 2008. Updated March 2020.

Previous
Previous

Tantrums!

Next
Next

Specialist Team Support