increasing milk supply for 5pm

Hi,

When DS was younger and hard out cluster feeding from around 5pm I made sure to drink plenty of water through the day, snack on healthy stuff through the afternoon(I got through a lot of banana sandwiches!) and to try and get an afternoon rest. For a time I would have a complan drink mid afternoon, or you might find a tigers milk drink would help, you can google for the recipe. But letting him cluster feed on demand will help increase your supply as well.

How old is your baby? I found at around 4 months my supply settled and before then it often felt very much as though I had nowhere near enough by the end of the day. But once it settled (and DS figured out he had to work a bit harder and got used to it) my supply seemed fine regardless of the time of day.

Hope that helps

I find if I breast feed straight after the feed for a few days then my body makes more milk for that particular time. You expressing later just tells your body that it needs to have more milk at that time.

Also so long as baby is suckling at your breast he is getting milk, hth it just might be not as fast as he likes.

Hi nannyabbey I wouldn't recommend basing your supply on what you pump babies are far more efficient than pumping and you often get a varied amount. I pump twice a week at around the same time and a 'normal' amount for me is about 180mL however yesterday I got 120mL and in the past I have only managed to get 40mL!

If you are topping him up I would suggest pumping at the same time as breast feeding is demand driven. Also the nature of BF is that baby takes a different amount at each feed.

If he is feeding lots in the evening this is normal and doesn't reflect your supply. I would get in touch with your local La Leche league or a lactation consultant if you are worried as they will be able to give you more specific advice. kellymom.com is also helpful.

Rovic wrote: The lactation consultant I have been seeing told me that low volume of milk means there is higher fat/calories and that I shouldn't worry about not having the same amount of milk available as DS would get full with less volume. Hope that makes sense.

Yep I second this. And what Lil_Nic9 and EsmesMum have said too.

Jackson used to cluster feed in the evening from 6 - 9pm at that age so I just went with it and let him feed when he wanted booby. My boobs often felt 'empty' but really they were just producing what he was demanding.

If baby is demanding milk your body will be producing it even if your boobs feel empty.