[Knowledge: Baby] ECB3: FEEDING AND NUTRITION – Ensuring a Good Milk Supply

Looking after yourself properly is the key to a good milk supply. If you stay relaxed, eat well, and drink enough fluids, you will have plenty of milk for your baby.

1. Rest as much as you can, particularly during the first weeks, and try to get plenty of sleep

2. You produce most milk in the morning when you are rested. If you become tense during the day, your supply could be poor by evening. Go through your antenatal relaxation routines and have a lie-down everyday

3. Let the housework go; do only what’s necessary

4. Try to give yourself a few treats; relax with a glass of wine at the end of the day

5. Eat a well-balanced diet that is fairly rich in protein. Avoid highly refined carbohydrates (cakes, sweets, biscuits, etc)

6. Ask your doctor about iron and possibly vitamin supplements

7. Drink about 3 litres of fluid a day

8. Express any milk your baby doesn’t take in the early feeds of the day to encourage your breasts to keep on producing milk

9. The combined contraceptive pill decreases your supply, so avoid it for five months after delivery

10. Avoid spicy foods, which could affect your milk and upset your baby’s stomach

Note: Milk is produced in glands that are deeply buried in the breast, not in the fatty tissue, so breast size is no indication of how much milk you can produce; even small breasts are perfectly adequate milk producers.