How to restore lactation - 10 main recommendations

Why lactation is fading

Thanks to active propaganda and information, most modern mothers themselves want to breastfeed, because they realize that it is important and useful for the baby. Sometimes the circumstances are such that, despite the great desire to feed, lactation fades and it needs to be restored. This usually happens in the following cases:

• Lactation crisis. A temporary decrease in milk volume is normal. It is associated with hormonal restructuring, growth spurt in the baby, the restoration of the menstrual cycle in the mother and even the phases of the moon. If you do not “miss” the moment of crisis (and it lasts 2-3 days), then you can avoid the consequences by additionally stimulating the breast and often offering it to the baby. After 2-3 days, the volume of milk will be restored, and feeding can be continued calmly. If milk is missing and the mother immediately transferred the baby to the mixture - lactation will decline;
• Termination of feeding for medical reasons. For example, if a mother is sick and takes medications that are prohibited for HB. Also, feeding should be temporarily stopped if the mother underwent breast surgery. After the disease, breast-feeding will have to be re-established;
• Separation of mom and baby. It happens that a mother or baby gets to the hospital and feeding becomes impossible. Sometimes, due to the mother’s busyness (study session, personal files or the need to temporarily go to work), the child cannot receive breasts on demand. In such cases, usually the relatives feed the baby with expressed milk, but due to poor stimulation of the breast, lactation decreases. To preserve hepatitis B, it is very important after a break to closely engage in the restoration of lactation;
• Wrong organization of GV. It has long been known that the rules of feeding the times of our mothers and grandmothers only harm breastfeeding. If a young mother begins to feed by the hour, drink it with water, give a dummy and wean the baby from night feedings - the baby will suckle little and milk will start to disappear. (We are reading a large memo article - Fundamental advice to nursing mothers on breastfeeding);
• Stress and overwork. If mom literally drives herself into a corner, trying to “pull” the whole house on her shoulders and keep the exemplary wife and mother high, she begins to live in constant tension. If milk is burnt out, it means that stress hormones “inhibit” lactation in the mother’s body. (We read on the topic: how not to go crazy after childbirth).

How to restore breastfeeding

The reduction and even complete cessation of lactation is a problem, but it is solved. Even a woman who has not given birth can establish lactation, and even if mom was breastfeeding and temporarily stopped, the chances of success are very high.In addition to specific actions aimed at restoring lactation, it is very important to create a favorable environment around mom and observe some conditions:

• Realistically look at the situation and, if necessary, get patience. The smaller the child’s age, the easier it is to “accustom” him to the chest again: for babies up to 3 months this is a matter of 1-2 weeks, for children closer to six months it takes much more time. On average, breastfeeding can be restored in the same time that was "spent" on the extinction of lactation;
• Arrange with your relatives for help. Establishing lactation requires a lot of time from mom. With the baby at the chest, you need to spend literally all days and nights, so you will have to entrust household chores to someone else. You can attract dad and negotiate with your grandmother, so that she will housekeeping at your place for several days. (We read: Help of the husband during GV);
• Just in case, find the contacts of a breastfeeding consultant. In general, all actions to restore lactation are quite simple, but if there are doubts whether you are doing everything correctly, specialist advice will be helpful.

Now that all the conditions for the restoration of lactation are created, you can proceed to specific actions.

1. Continually offer your baby a breast. Baby sucking is the most important “tool” to restore lactation. In response to sucking, the hormone prolactin is produced, which is responsible for lactation. It is necessary to offer a breast to a child even when he himself does not express a desire. At the same time, it is absolutely necessary to abandon the dummy, because in case of restoration of lactation, it is a serious competitor to the breast (We read: how to wean a baby from a dummy) Let the baby suckle, not only from hunger, but also to satisfy the sucking reflex. If the baby does not take breasts - do not stop offering, but take advantage of additional stimulation. To do this, you need a breast pump. Can manually expressed, but it’s not always effective, so it’s better to get an “assistant”. In this case, you need to express milk at least 8 times per day. (On this topic: how to choose a breast pump and how to express breast)
2. Gradually reduce the amount of feed. During a break in feeding, you will have to feed the baby with a mixture. When you start to restore lactation - do not remove the mixture abruptly, you need to do this gradually, using the scheme "breast - feeding - breast". This means that breastfeeding should begin and end. By the way, so that during the relaxation period not to embarrass the baby with a confusion of the nipple and the bottle, you can give the mixture using a special feeding system at the chest (This system is a container for milk, from which a thin tube leaves. The container has laces, which are put on mom’s neck, and the tube can be attached to the skin of the breast with a band-aid so that its end is at the top of the nipple. Thus, when feeding in the baby’s mouth, both the tube and mother’s breast are: from the tube, the child sucks the mixture and at the same time sucks the breast. Video clip below ...).
3. Watch out for food. There is no need to do anything supernatural. During lactation recovery, a nursing mother needs to drink enough water and eat a balanced diet (there must be protein in the menu). This does not so much affect the production of milk, but simply provides the body with the necessary resources for establishing feeding.
4. Refer to folk and traditional medical supplies. Traditional medicine recommends for the restoration of lactation special lactogon teas and decoctions. Plants that can help return milk are caraway, anise, fennel and nettle. You can buy dried pharmaceutical products and make decoctions yourself, or you can use ready-made ones Lactogon tea bags. There are also hormonal drugs for lactation, but they can be taken only as directed by a doctor. (See the block with links below ...)
5. 24-hour bodily contact. During lactation, mother and child should literally “stick” to each other. Body contact, especially on the principle of “skin to skin”, stimulates the production of lactation hormones in the mother, and instincts in the child. Even if the baby himself refuses to breast, constantly being in close proximity with his mother’s body, he will smell her, the smell of milk and necessarily instinctively begin to be interested in breast again. It is advisable not only to constantly be around the baby during the day, but also at night. For example, organize a joint dream.
6. Warm shower. A gentle massage of the breast with trickles of warm water several times a day improves the outflow of milk. The volume of milk from this will not increase, but it will be easier for milk to flow out of the breast, which means it will be easier for the baby to suck. This is especially important after the bottle, because many children choose the bottle precisely because they can not be strained with it: everything flows into the mouth itself, while milk from the chest has to be “extracted” in the sweat of the face.
7. Massage of the thoracic back. Massage of the zone between the shoulder blades and the collar zone is able to activate the process of milk production. It is better if the massage is done by a specialist, but it must be warned that you are breastfeeding.
8. Full relaxation and lack of stress. Mom needs to get enough sleep, walk in the fresh air and avoid stress. Stress hormones “block” lactation.
9. Breast massage - read how to do breast massage.
10. Drink fenugreek.

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You can breast-feed a child, even if there is little or no milk at all:

During the recovery period of lactation, the psychological mood of the mother is very important: she needs to act calmly and confidently. There are practically no irreversible situations with breastfeeding, so you just need to follow all the rules and wait for the result. It is not always fast, but if you do everything consistently and patiently, it will certainly be.

We also read:

• How to increase lactation of breast milk at home (folk remedies and tablets) - https://kid.htgetrid.com/en/kormlenie-grudyu/kak-povyisit-laktatsiyu-grudnogo-moloka.html;
• Lactation Teas – https://kid.htgetrid.com/en/kormlenie-grudyu/chai-dlya-laktatsii.html;
• Dill for breastfeeding - benefits for mothers and babies - https://kid.htgetrid.com/en/kormlenie-grudyu/vsya-polza-ukropa-v-period-grudnogo-vskarmlivaniya.html
• Does beer help to increase lactation - https://kid.htgetrid.com/en/kormlenie-grudyu/pomogaet-li-pivo-dlya-povyisheniya-laktatsii.html.

What else you need to know about restoring lactation

• Stagnation of milk in the chest is not a contraindication for feeding, so lactostasis will practically not affect the ability to feed. On the contrary, the frequent attachment of the baby to the chest - the best way to treat lactostasis;
• Sometimes, to suppress already established lactation or to prevent its occurrence immediately after birth, women are prescribed drugs Dostinex or "Bromocriptine". Both of these drugs reduce prolactin levels and thus stop lactation. The need for such a gross cessation of lactation is medically indicated. When the problems are behind, mothers wonder:Can lactation be restored after Dostinex or Bromocriptine? - Yes, it is really possible, and recovery methods are no different from those listed above. Lactation is a physiological process, there are no special secrets in its establishment after preparations, you just need to start this mechanism again. The main assistant here is the baby himself, but you must follow all the related recommendations.

And finally: the most important thing is the desire of mother to breastfeed. Women restore lactation after illness, heavy operations, prolonged separation from the baby. The examples of those who succeeded are very inspiring, because if others succeeded, then you will surely succeed!

Little milk or 13 ways to increase lactation

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