Here’s what worked [for me]

From the beginning, I struggled to produce enough milk for my preemie twins. Between my twins’ long NICU stay–and the fact that I couldn’t hold them for weeks, I spend lots of time trying to boost milk supply. Let’s just say my body never got the memo there were two babies.

Obsessed with producing more, I scoured the internet for advice. Here’s what worked for me. Though your experience may differ, hopefully this helps some other mamas out there. 

---

Eating Oats

Oats are supposed to increase milk supply, and a daily half cup of oats was an easy swap. I even made up a great recipe called “oat and egg” I could eat daily.

I bet you can guess how that’s made. There are only three ingredients and one is a pinch of salt.

---

egg and oat recipe

• Mix 1/4 cup of dry oats with some amount of water in a coffee cup
• Microwave for somewhere between 40 and 50″
• Crack an egg on top and microwave another 45 – 60-ish”
• Let it sit for a variable amount of time so the egg cooks a bit.
• Add a pinch of salt and enjoy

---

Results: mixed. I did feel like I may have possibly kinda made more on the days I ate oats. Or, it could just be those were the days I’d pay attention, or I’d pump longer because I wanted to win? Overall, this is an easy, low-cost way to boost supply. Recommend!

---

Lactation Cookies

I bought these cookies made with more oats, brewer’s yeast, fenugreek and other items that were supposed to boost supply. They are delicious, like a box of Famous Amos cookies, so there is that.

Also, the term “lactation cookies” tends to dissuade others from getting high on your supply. I loved these cookies so much that it was easy to justify grabbing a bag a few times a day in lieu of a healthier snack.

Results: It seemed like I produced more on the days I ate cookies, but I wasn’t sure. I enjoyed every one of those delicious morsels, but my weight loss stalled–because it was so easy to eat multiple bags per day!

I’d recommend at least trying these. If they weren’t expensive for “just cookies” I’d probably still eat them!

---

Lactation Smoothies

In a moment of desperation, I amazoned these pre-made smoothies. They tasted like sweet applesauce and were full of fenugreek.

Result: Again mixed. Sorry. I wish I was able to reveal the secret by now. I *may* have made more on those days. They were delicious, but again, I couldn’t justify consuming them on a regular basis if I wasn’t sure they were working. Definitely worth a try!

---

Renting a hospital grade pump

At home, I had the spectra S1. It seemed pretty good, but “everyone” said I should try a hospital- grade pump. So I rented an Ameda Platinum, their top of the line, big-daddy from a local lactation company. These pumps are made to roll around the hospital, not be discreetly brought to work, so it came in a giant duffel bag and had to be plugged in to work.

Result: This worked…at first. I so wanted it to be a miracle supply-booster. Then I figured out my main issue was using wrong-sized flanges. After ordering way-too-many sizes, I achieved just as good a pump from the spectra as from the Ameda.

And the spectra has batteries and can travel around the house, in the car, and everywhere else. I can even hold it in one hand while I empty the dishwasher in the other. So the Ameda eventually started gathering dust in the corner until I finally returned it.

---

Check out a comparison of breast pumps I tried.

---

Power-pumping

This is sometimes called “power hour,” a term that makes me think of that game in college where frat boys of dubious intelligence would take a shot of beer a minute for 60 minutes. Or was it one hundred minutes? At any rate, power pumping is less exciting, but also less likely to lead to puking. You merely pump on and off–time guidelines vary–for an hour-ish.

Result: It was good excuse to sit on the couch and watch an extra episode of something, but it didn’t lead to greater milk production for me. Wah wah.

---

did anything work?

By now, you’re wondering if this post is gonna stay a downer. Lady. Was there anything at all that helped? I am happy to say yes, but it’s not what you think.

In the end, the only thing that made an appreciable difference was getting the twins home and “getting the baby to the breast” as the lactation consultant would call it, every day. My twins were never great nursers, but even five minutes as a warmup to a bottle seemed to charge things up.

I never ended up being a super-producer and by the time my babies were four months old, I had stopped obsessing about milk supply as the be-all-end-all and got used to the idea I was always going to have to mix breast milk and formula.

Of course, YMMV.

---

If you’re tried any of these methods for boosting your milk supply, what worked for you? Anything I should have tried along the way? Let me know in the comments!

---

join 1009 other bold, goal-getting mamas receiving tips, advice, and commiseration weekly

---

---

like this idea? pin it!

---