And so it seems as though my worst fear is coming true. After starting baby food at six months, I noticed (here it is five weeks later) that my breastmilk supply is starting to diminish. What used to be a 3 oz each breast pumping session, is now a 3 oz total(1.5 oz each breast) pumping session. When baby nurses he gets a full gulp and then starts this procedure of squeezing pinching and compressing the breast. I guess it's his way of trying to squeeze every ounce that he can get.
Now I need to start making sure I am routinely pumping what I do have and pumping more frequently than every four hours between each pumping session. This will hopefully help me increase my milk supply and be able to keep up with babies demand. I also plan to invest in some galactagogue's. Brewer's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is used in beer brewing. It is sometimes used as a food additive and is also available as a dietary supplement for B vitamin. I plan to try this to increase milk supply and maybe I will venture into making my own lactation cookies. If there are galactagoghes that have worked for you , drop them in the chat feature.
When life gets hectic and baby starts gaining a little more freedom from mom, mom also gets freedom baby by returning to work, there will be a slight decrease in milk supply. This does not mean that all is lost with breast-feeding. In order to keep up with the demand, you have to continue to breast-feed whenever you are with the baby. It is also important to make sure you're emptying out the breast when you are away from the baby. This is the body's way of sending signals that the body needs to make more breastmilk. Your take away message is if you want to keep making milk...keep feeding the baby and emptying the breast!
Keep following my blog and I'll let you know how we made out.
