Many mothers worry that their babies aren't getting enough to eat because they think their milk supply might be low. However, Baby Center says that proper nutrition and adequate fluid intake usually allows a woman to make plenty of breast milk for her baby. While Dr. Sears says that the best way to increase the milk supply is frequent nursing or pumping, dietary changes can increase and decrease milk supply.
Calories
Baby Center says that breastfeeding mothers need about 300 to 500 extra calories per day while nursing with a daily intake ranging from 2,000 to 2,700 calories daily. Hunger should guide a woman to eat and cutting calories can reduce a mother's milk supply, which can result in not enough to meet the needs of her infant. Eating a healthy and balanced diet and drinking plenty of water are the best ways to keep milk supply up, and mother and baby healthy.
Dieting
Dieting while nursing is not generally recommended, according to Breastfeeding Basics. This is because the mother's body needs the extra calories to produce enough milk. That being said, a mother naturally burns more calories while nursing and dieting too extremely can reduce the supply of milk the mother makes. Baby Center says that moderate exercise two months after the birth is healthy and won't affect milk supply, but will help a mother begin to get back in shape.
Increasing
If calorie intake is where it should be and a mother still feels that she needs to increase her milk supply, there are several dietary ways to this that are not detrimental to the mother or her baby's health. But contacting her doctor or a lactation consultant is always a good idea, says Dr. Sears because he states that there are no studies to back up the use of foods or supplements in the diet to increase milk supply. Supplements that seem to help a mother make more milk include fenugreek, blessed thistle and red raspberry. In addition, brewers yeast can sometimes have a positive effect on milk production, says Breastfeeding Basics. Finally, adequate intake of protein and calcium can help increase milk supply.
Alcohol
Baby Center says that one alcoholic drink per day is probably not detrimental to milk supply, and more than that can reduce the milk supply and interfere with letdown, making it harder to get the milk out. Besides these effects, excessive alcohol consumption while nursing can have negative health effects on an infant because some alcohol transfers to a mother's milk.
Decreasing
On the other side of the milk supply issue is when the time comes to decrease the amount of milk that a mother is producing. This usually occurs when a mother is weaning her infant to a regular diet where he doesn't need breast milk any longer. If taking supplements they can be stopped. The La Leche League recommends slowly cutting out feedings to help the body naturally stop making milk and reducing the amount of discomfort a mother feels while allowing her milk to dry up.
Member Comments