Mother's Milk Tea or Fenugreek

[dominodong]

Hello everyone! I am back to work and having trouble pumping enough milk to fill my son's bottles while I am away. Although I have a great Medela Pump-in-Style and pump 3x a day at the highest setting, I find that I only pump 11 oz and he drinks 18 oz! A lactation consultant recommended taking fenugreek capsules or drinking mother's milk tea to increase my milk supply. Has anyone tried this? Do you know anything about how these herbal remedies work?

[egoldber]

Fenugreek is supposed to help. Also make sure to drink plenty of water. Try to pump when you are not stressed. Having a picture of your baby or visualizing your baby helped me when pumping also.

But the reality is that some women are never able to get as much milk from a pump as they can when actually nursing. You may want to try renting a hospital grade pump for awhile and see if that helps. These pumps are much stronger than the PIS.

HTH,

[dubbogod]

I've used both and had good success. I took 3 Fenugreek tablets 3 times a day, plus drank the tea at least a couple of times a day. It took about 2-3 days to notice a difference, but I definitely did notice. I wasn't pumping so I just noticed a difference in my supply, which had been very low. Be alert for any side effects like diarrhea and gas, which may also affect your baby. I didn't experience any of these side effects at all, mind you. Also, don't take fenugreek if you have low blood pressure as it can lower your blood pressure some. You will also acquire a very discernible "maple syrup" smell, and your baby will too. It's kind of a sweet smell, but some women don't like it. I didn't mind it, and once you detect this smell you know you are taking enough fenugreek to affect your milk supply. You can find a lot of information on fenugreek on the web, such as at http://users.erols.com/cindyrn/feungr.htm and http://lactinv.com/milksup.htm. Hope this helps!

[dominodong]

Thank you for your help!