After giving birth, some women have a hard time breastfeeding. Some do not produce enough milk to feed the baby and are forced to supplement breast milk with formula milk. For some, however, the problem can be solved allowing the mother to breastfeed exclusively for the recommended six months.
If you are having a problem producing enough milk for your newborn, don’t rush to use formula milk. First seek to know what the problem is and try to solve it since even though formula milk works, breast milk remains to be the best for your young one.
Try these tips that are known to boost the production of breast milk:
1. Don’t wait too long after birth
One of the causes of a low supply of breast milk is waiting for too long to breastfeed your baby after birth. Mayo Clinic advises that it’s best to have skin to skin contact with your baby after birth. This, they say will help you nurse your baby within one hour after birth.
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2. Look at your baby’s photo while away
Breastfeeding might not be an issue when you are home with your baby. However, pumping can be difficult when you are away from them. To make it easier, have your baby’s photos and look at them as you pump. Anything that reminds you of your baby is likely to trigger your hormones to produce more milk.
3. Breastfeed often
Make sure you breastfeed after every two or three hours. While this seems like too much, doing this in the first few weeks helps in maintaining a and boosting the production of milk. In a day, experts recommend breastfeeding for between 8-12 times.
4. Pump when not breastfeeding
If you are away or can’t breastfeed your baby for whatsoever the reason, make sure you pump the milk. This makes sure that your milk supply is not affected.
5. Don’t just take any medication
Unless it’s prescribed by your doctor, you shouldn’t just buy drugs over the counter since some of them are likely to affect the milk supply.