Question and Answer!

I recently had an acquaintance post on my facebook wall. I thought why not create a blog post of questions and answers! Hopefully, these will help at least one mother out there who reads my blog.

Question: Since you're basically the only breast feeding mother I know, does kai have a favorite breast and is it hard sometimes to get him to take the other?

Answer: Kai's favorite is the right. Usually babies have a favorite because either the milk flows faster and you have more milk in that one breast. I'd try to offer the boob he rejects first, put him on the other one, and then put him on the one he rejected to build up your supply in the one he doesn't like to take

Statement: I don't want to breastfeed because I like to have a drink or two occasionally.

Answer: It is completely fine to have a moderate amount of alcohol, especially if your baby is an older baby as newborns have immature livers and it is harder for them to process it.

Pumping and dumping is not necessary unless you need to pump for your milk supply, pumping will not get rid of the alcohol in your milk if it is still in your blood. So only pump if you are going to miss a couple of nursing times and want to keep up your supply or to relieve any engorgement you might have while you are away from your baby.

Nursing while you are drunk or frequently nursing when you've been drinking -- those are problems. But, according to Newman, "Reasonable alcohol intake should not be discouraged at all ... Prohibiting alcohol is another way we make life unnecessarily restrictive for nursing mothers." In all, breast milk with alcohol in it, is still superior to formula.

Question: I feel like I am not making enough milk for my baby, what can I do?

As a breastfeeding after reduction mother, I know all the ways to increase your milk supply. I have not used all of these methods as some are much more expensive than others, or they have risky side effects I don't want to mess with. I have not listed them all but I have listed most of the common and most widely and useful ones.

Things that I have tried:

Fenugreek- you can order this herb online or in a healthfood store, or you can buy it as a herb in bulk and add it to your foods, or put it in capsules yourself. They worked best for me used at 3 610mg capsules a day, 3 times a day. You can buy a bottle of 100 of them for around 5 bucks. It increased my pumping output about an oz or so.

Blessed Thistle- This is another herb that is supposed to increase milk supply. I have noticed a bigger difference when I combine this with Fenugreek. This herb runs about 7 dollars for a bottle of 100.

Oatmeal- Eat this in the morning, I don't know why it works but it does!

Things that are great to use if you can afford them or want to risk not feeling to hot!

Domperidone- This can get expensive as it is not FDA approved in the United States :(. It should be approved by the FDA as it has little to no side effects, as it does not pass the brain-barrier, unlike reglan. You can find this drug online, it will be shipped to you from countries like Mexico or Canada. It hits the pocketbook though at 100 tablets for 25 dollars. They usually come in 10mg pills and the recommended dosage is 50-80 mg per day.

Reglan- It is known to cross the brain barrier which can cause undesireable side effects on you . Including, depression. Severe side effects of long-term Reglan use include tardive dyskinesia , the jerky muscle movements associated with Parkinson's disease.The cost depends on your insurance.

How to increase your Milk Production:
Things that have WORKED for me.

• Keep the baby at the breast as long as he wants to nurse.
• Pump after you are done feeding your baby for 5-10 minutes to get any extra milk to save, as well as to make your body produce more milk.
• Rent a Hospital grade pump (ex. a medela symphony)
• If your baby sleeps through the night, wake yourself at least once to pump
• Take a nursing vacation, keep your baby with you for the whole day, no solids, or anything, just nurse your baby whenever he displays any need for food.
• REMEMBER, the more milk you remove from your breasts, the more it will make.
• RELAX! Your body will not let your milk ejection reflex let down if you are not relaxing, try not to be stressed out.
• Use sensory imaging, to get your milk flowing. Imagine you are sitting on the Niagara falls, and you are producing so much milk that your milk is falling down Niagara falls causing them to be white. You could visualize your breast milk raining, pouring, etc. BE CREATIVE, it works!
• Get a breastfeeding pillow to make nursing more comfortable for you.

I am *NOT* a lactation consultant, I am a very educated breastfeeding mother, if you have a serious issue or problem, please contact a health professional, or a certified lactation consultant.

If you have a question, please post it below and I will include it in my next question and answer blog post.