This is for mommies to be, on ways to increase breastmilk after baby is out.

Firstly, mommies to be should know, baby will be doing fine within the 1st 3 days after birth even without milk.. Because they are born with the required fats and water deposit. After birth, your breast will have colostrum, a kind of clear yellowish liquid, its will be very sufficient for your baby although it will only be around 5ml - 10ml at a time. It is full of antibodies for the baby to build up the immunity.. Jus try to direct latch the baby on as much as possible.. The suckling of the baby will signal to our body to match his demand.. Trust your body to do its job..

Personally, I practice latch on demand.. Meaning, I latch baby on whenever she wants, be it 30mins interval, 2 hours interval, or 4 hours interval.. This helps our body to establish and maintain our milk supply.. What other mommies do is that they would pump out the remaining milk after their babies feed.. But I doesn't recommend this as this would means baby would be drinking from bottles too.. I have encountered nipple confusion with Darling Darrielle before, so i'm very scare of it.. To avoid nipple confusion, only introduce teat and pacifiers after baby is 6weeks old.. Although I have met other mommies whom babies are fine with both breast and bottle even at very young age..

Build or join a group of mommies who are also breastfeeding. You need all the support, assurance, and advice to help your pull through the tough period. Yes, although breastfeeding is the most natural thing to do, but mommy and baby both need to learn and train.. Trust me, the words on assurance and encouragement will do great help even when you feel like just giving up.. http://www.breastfeeding.org.sg/ is the breastfeeding support group of Singapore.. http://www.idobaby.com/forum/ and http://www.moms4moms.info/sg/index.php are two forums that I visit and find very good breastfeeding support there.. Any questions or doubt on breastfeeding will get very good advices from mommies there..

Try not to supplement with formula, if can, try to not give any formula at all.. As less demand from baby on the breast means less milk production.. Ample of rest is very important for good milk supply too.. How? during the first few weeks, its very likely that baby wakes up very often in the night.. What I learn is, to sleep when baby sleeps.. Catch any opportunity possible.. It will helps u get the rest you need, and not get wear out from those night wakings..

Why I emphasise alot on direct latching is because the action of baby suckling stimulates the production of prolactin and oxytocin. Prolactin level is the highest during REM sleep, and in the early morning (thats why alot of women find their breast damn filled with milk in the morning). Oxytocin is responsible for the letdown effect. This effects is not as strong as if its a breast pump instead of a baby's mouth..

Other than that, diet can also helps alot on milk supply.. Papaya fish soup is very effective.. TMC got very yummy papaya fish soup.. Its made from green unripe papaya,fish bones or tail (cod fish, promfet, carp, threadfin), ginger as basic ingredients.. wine and red dates, wolfberries, tangerine peel are optional.. But unripe papaya is not suitable for pregnant woman as the papaya latex can cause uterine contractions.. Some mommies swear by milo and oatmeals.. I drink milo, i think it helps abit.. I tried oatmeal, i took too little to tell coz i didn't like the taste.. haha..I personally tried peanut pork trotter soup.. I think it helps, anyway, its a good source of collagen for good skins.. hahahahha.. Fish! plenty of fishes.. I remember when Darling was full month, i took alot of salmons for lunch celebration, i ended up with 3 days engorgement from oversupply.. muahaha.. And of coz, tonnes of water water water.. Fenugreek is a kind of herb that helps increase lactation too.. It's available at GNC or Nature's Farm.. Start by taking 2 pills a day first, then increase dosage if effect not enough.. 14 capsules (500mg) a day is maximum. You know you are overdose when your sweat, urine, and milk smells like maple syrup.

Possible side effects and cautions

* Sweat and urine smells like maple syrup; milk and/or breastfed baby may smell like maple syrup.
* Occasionally causes loose stools, which go away when fenugreek is discontinued.
* Use of more than 100 grams of fenugreek seeds daily can cause intestinal distress and nausea (recommended dose is less than 8 grams per day).
* Repeated external applications can result in undesirable skin reactions [Wichtl 1994].
* Ingestion of fenugreek seeds or tea in infants or late-term pregnant women can lead to false diagnosis of maple syrup urine disease in the infant due to presence of sotolone in the urine. See [Korman 2001] and other studies on fenugreek and maple syrup urine smell.

Use with caution or avoid if you have a history of:

* Peanut or chickpea allergy: Fenugreek is in the same family with peanuts and chickpeas, and may cause an allergic reaction in moms who are allergic to these things. Two cases of fenugreek allergy have been reported in the literature. [Patil 1997, Ohnuma 1998, Lawrence 1999]
* Diabetes or hypoglycemia: Fenugreek reduces blood glucose levels, and in the few studies using it as a hypoglycemic, also reduces blood cholesterol. Dosages higher than the recommended one (given above) may result in hypoglycemia in some mothers [Heller]. If you're diabetic (IDDM), use fenugreek only if you have good control of your blood glucose levels. While taking this, closely monitor your fasting levels and post-prandial (after meals) levels. Mothers with hypoglycemia should also use fenugreek with caution. For more on fenugreek and glucose levels, see the references below.
* Asthma: Fenugreek is often cited as a natural remedy for asthma. However, inhalation of the powder can cause asthma and allergic symptoms. Some mothers have reported that it worsened their asthma symptoms. [Dugue 1993, Huggins, Lawrence 1999].
* Abnormal menstrual cycles: Fenugreek is considered to be an emmenagogue (promotes menstrual flow). Per [White], it may cause breakthrough menstrual bleeding; this source recommends using fenugreek with caution if you have a history of abnormal menstrual cycles.
* Migraines: Fenugreek is often cited as a natural remedy for migraines. However, [White] indicates that it may trigger a migraine and/or contribute to the duration and severity of a migraine.
* Blood pressure problems or heart disease: Fenugreek is commonly reported to lower blood pressure and LDL blood cholesterol levels. [White] indicates, however, that it may cause or contribute to hypertension (high blood pressure) - this source recommends avoiding this herb if you have a history of hypertension, or if there is a strong family history of hypertension or heart disease.

extract from http://www.kellymom.com/herbal/milksupply/fenugreek.html

thats all for now.. so tired liao..


For me, the benefit of breastfeeding on my Sayang and the bond, its priceless.. =)