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Feeding your breast milk to the newborn is an essential part of motherhood. It also becomes a challenging task to ensure that your milk suffices the hunger needs of your infant. In order to keep up with your child’s growth requirements, here are a few tips on foods to eat to enhance breast milk production.
Tips for Increasing Breast Milk Production:
1. Consuming Garlic:
Consuming Garlic is known as a great tip to increase breast milk supply. You can crush the garlic in small pieces, grate it or slice it in small pieces and add it to your food. You can also chew garlic cloves directly. This direct consumption is better than adding garlic to the food.
2. Fenugreek Seeds:
The benefits of Fenugreek Seeds are innumerable. Right from being a fiber rich source of food, to preventing bloating, fenugreek seeds have been very versatile as long as their nutritional benefits are concerned. It is also an effective ingredient for increasing the breast milk production for mothers. This is how you can use fenugreek seeds for lactation. Soak a spoonful of fenugreek seeds in a cup of water at night. Next day, boil the seeds and strain the water. This is fenugreek tea. Drink this tea on an empty stomach in the morning. You shall notice visible changes in your breast milk supply and your child shall feel more satiated than ever.
Consuming the fenugreek vegetable also serves the purpose. The reason that fenugreek works is that it contains phytoestrogens which have been believed to increase breast milk supply.
3. Fennel Seed Tea:
Fennel Seeds are another power pact seed with various health benefits being imparted from them. Making tea using this seeds is a very effective remedy for increasing breast milk. Boil a table spoon of fennel seeds in one cup of water. Cover for five minutes and let it steep. Strain the seeds from the water and drink this tea while it is warm. Drink fennel seeds tea daily for best results.
4. Barley:
As per studies, Barley is responsible for increasing the secretion of prolactin, which is a breastfeeding hormone. You must make stews with barley seeds, make breads, add them to risotto, stews, soups and even salads. Eat more of barley to increase the supply of breast milk instantly.
5. Oats:
Oats have a higher concentration of beta-glucan as compared to any other food items. Bet-glucan enhances breast milk in lactating mothers. Eat a bowl full of oats for breakfast. Add dried fruits and nuts for extra nutrition. Your child shall enjoy more milk and shall grow very fast.
6. Wheat:
Wheat flour is the best food to consume. In the first six months after birth, the child is wholly dependent on mother’ milk for food. They may feed on your milk at an interval of an hour. They keep the feeding mothers feel fuller for a long time and does not feel too hungry too often. This is why wheat is recommended for lactating mothers. Also, wheat is one of the lactogenic foods. It increases the supply of milk in the breast and supplements for the child’s nutritional needs.
7. Green Leafy Vegetables:
Green Leafy Vegetables like spinach, fenugreek, mustard greens, etc are rich sources of iron, calcium and folates. It contains Vitamin A like betacarotene and riboflavin. These nutrients enhance breast milk and when the baby breast feeds, they are also imparted to the child. These nutrients help in growth of your child. Have two portions of green leafy vegetables daily for bet results.
8. Dill Seeds:
The dill seeds induce milk production. They are soaked in water overnight and are fed to the mother next day in the morning. This water is fed to all mothers as soon as they deliver the child. It accelerates the flow of milk in breast. Dill seeds are a rich source of iron. They increase the metabolism of the mother and keep the digestive system of the mother very strong. As a result, whatever the mother eats, it is digested easily. It is a popular drink to be consumed during postnatal period.
9. Gourd Vegetables:
A lactating mother’s first priority is digestion of the food she eats. The faster the food is digested, the quicker is the process of milk production in her body. Hence, eating gourd vegetables like bottle gourd, apple gourd and sponge gourd are beneficial to her system as they get digested quickly.
10. Nuts and Dried Fruits:
They are renowned as traditional methods of increasing milk production in mothers. Nuts like almond, cashews enhance the production of breast milk. They must be added to milk, sweets, porridge and also can be consumed as a snack when the mother is hungry. They have lots of nutritional benefits that accelerate the development of the child.
11. Let your child Suck directly:
The dynamics of breast milk is like economics. The more your child demands, the more of it is supplied from your breast. Let the child use his lips to suck the milk. Do not pump the breast milk using artificial methods like using breast pumps. This is due to the secretion of hormone oxytocin in your body. Oxytocin enhances the supply of breast milk for your child.
Check if your Milk suffices your child:
- Breast Feeding does not feel uncomfortable and painful.
- Your baby feeds atleast 6 to 8 times in the day. Usually babies feed more than this but this is the bare minimum.
- Your breast feels light and empty after feeding.
- Your child does not cry after feeding
- When you hold your child up every time after feeding, he/she burps.
- Your baby comes out spontaneously after he/she is done feeding.
- You can see your child swallowing milk while feeding.
- Your baby passes urine atleast seven to eight times in a day. The diapers feel heavy after change.
- The stool of your child is yellow in colour. It looks like curdled milk. A healthy child that breast feeds properly, poops more than twice in a day.
- Sometimes, if your milk is not sufficient in supply, you may get confused. Do not worry. Pump the milk from your breast using a pump and check for the quantity of milk. Check with the pediatrician if its enough for your child.
- Feed your child for nearly 30-45 minutes at a stretch. that ensures that all the milk is emptied from that particular side of your breast. Your baby is said to have fed completely if he/she feeds for this long or more.
Physical Tips for Breastmilk enhancement:
To ensure that your breast milk is adequate for your child, you need to start early. There are tips to adapt to as early as third trimester of pregnancy. Take the steps as mentioned here under:
- Massage your breast from the onset of seventh month of pregnancy. This will ensure that the ducts carrying milk expand and the milk can flow through them when the baby sucks the same.
- Drink a glass of water just before you sit down to feed your child. This makes the thickness of the milk very thin and easy for the child to feed.
- Massage the nipples of your breast to ensure they are soft enough for your newborn to suck. A lot of kids are unable to feed due to nipples that are too hard for the child to suck milk from. The struggle may not seem as much to you but it is quiet much a task for your new born to do.
- Your child will need you to support your breast while he/she feeds. That means you will have to hold your breast in position. Ensure you learn the act well from your elders.
- Stay away from the problem of cracked nipples. If your nipples have been injured due to the new act of pulling and sucking that your child indulges in, apply prescribed ointments instantly to treat your nipples. You will no be able to feed your baby if your nipples are not healthy.
The tips shall help you to understand the dynamics of breast feeding. Calm down if it is not sufficient either. Take the above food items for consumption to increase the milk flow. Make the best use of what you read for yourself and your child. There are various supplements available to increase milk production as well.
