Increasing supply- Fenugreek?

[MollyNorwood]

Hi ladies
I have an (almost) 1 month old and while I want to EBF my supply is shocking. I express all my milk over the course of a day and am lucky to reach 120mls which is just enough for her night time feed. All other feeds she is on A2 platinum formula.
I have tried drinking heaps of water, I am eating well and resting when I can as well as massaging my breasts and expressing every 3 hours to try and stimulate and making sure I empty each breast properly- I literally pump every last drop I can. Nothing is working. I am expressing because LO has colic and she screams and throws her head around and when I get her latched correctly she will suck for 30 seconds and start thrashing and comes off again so that isn't an option at the moment.
Anyway I have read around online and it seems Fenugreek seeds or tablets have been promising in helping increase breast milk supply, so I have just started taking it. Has anyone tried this> did it make a difference?
Thanks

 

[MindUtopia]

Try it. It's worth a try. You might also want to just check that your pump is right for you, fitting right and as efficient as it possibly could be. I had to switch to expressing around 6 weeks because I got mastitis (really badly, like I was in bed with fever and chills and so sick I was delirious and hardly remember any of it). We had latch issues anyway, which no one could seem to work out, and my daughter struggled to latch and feed enough. So I started to pump when I got sick so that I could get my supply up and hopefully her weight up as well. I think in the end, my pump was just crap and I should have had something better if I was planning to pump all the time (I really wasn't but had to at the time). It was just the single pump Medela electric. It did nothing for me. I was pumping for an hour at a time (30 minutes per breast) at least 6 times a day. On the best days, I would get maybe 100ml. Within a few weeks, I could pump for an hour and get maybe a few drops. I should have had a double pump, and I probably should have had just a better one, if I was going to be pumping that much. But the one I had just didn't suit me. My friends could pump and get 100ml in 15 minutes. So I would recommend that, first of all. Do you have a BF counselor or someone you can see? They might be able to advise on if your pump is working efficiently or if you might try something else.

Otherwise, yes, fenugreek is worth trying. It didn't do anything for me, but I think it can't fix a bad latch and make a pump work that isn't working for you. So your body can only produce as much milk as is being demanded, even with natural supplements, so would take both approaches if you want to continue to express.

 

[Eleanor ace]

Fenugreek worked really well for me. I had low supply and my BF consultant suggested Fenugreek capsules (I bought them in Holland and Barretts) and within 1.5 days I was producing a significant amount more milk. I was also recommended to eat lots of oats so I made a tonne of flapjacks to munch away on.

 

[ourturnnext]

I second the oats, flapjacks and porridge are great for increasing supply. So is fennel tea. No experience of fenugreek but those two things were what always helped to boost my supply when bf x

 

[mara16jade]

Yup, when my supply is starting to go down (or in the very beginning to get it to be higher) I use:

Fenugreek (3 pills, 3x/day)
Oats
Lactation cookies (https://www.bellybelly.com.au/breastfeeding/lactation-cookies)
And I just got my Mother's Milk tea in the mail so I'll start on that as well.

Oh and of course no dieting and drink lots of water.

I'd agree with checking your pump to make sure it fits. My recent issue about a month ago was all of the sudden I had a huge decrease in suction. That was due to the little silicone flange part on the inside/bottom of the part that attaches to your bbs, there were little cuts/slits in the silicone from normal wear and tear. I replaced them, and the suction is back to normal now.

 

[Miss Magic]

Fenugreek worked really well for me ! i read this thing about powerade/ Gatorade apparently increases milk supply ... After awhile I stopped fenugreek and my milk went back to normal , I gave powerade a try and IT increased my milk supply too ... I found it much easier to drink it then to remember to take a pill .... I would recomended trying it ! I guess the electrolytes increase milk supply , after drinking 1 bottle I noticed it working !