make more milk – Bottle ‛n Boob

If you’re expecting, you’ve probably heard about “colostrum harvesting,” and how you need to do this to get ready for breastfeeding. This is not true. There is nothing you need to do while pregnant in order to successfully breastfeed.

Let’s separate the fact from the fiction:

Fiction:

You can start pumping while pregnant and fill up your freezer with milk before the baby even arrives.

Collecting milk while pregnant will help boost your milk supply, so that you will have plenty of milk by the time the baby is born.

If you collect colostrum while pregnant, there will be no need to use formula, should your baby need a supplement.

Fact:

You have colostrum from around 16 weeks of pregnancy. You may see it leaking, or may not, and both are normal.

If you hand express at any point after 16 weeks, you will probably see a few drops. However, your pregnancy hormones will not allow your supply to increase at this point, because your body is super smart and knows when to grow a baby (when the baby is inside) and when to feed a baby (when the baby is outside). Until you deliver the baby and your lactation hormones “come online,” you will probably only ever see a few drops at a time during a hand expression or pumping session.

You probably don’t need to fill up your freezer with milk, but that’s a post for another day. (Contact me if you need to talk through the freezer stash situation.)

Should your baby need a supplement, it is usually ordered in the amount of 10-20 ml per feeding, and babies eat at least eight times a day. Most parents expressing colostrum while pregnant collect around 1 ml per session. When you consider the math, you can see that unless you are spending most of your maternity leave pumping, it is unlikely that you will have enough colostrum to feed a baby who needs a supplement. The good news is that when you hand express or pump after the baby is on the outside and your lactation hormones are flowing freely – it is now possible to see higher volumes of colostrum that will increase over time.

Please note that high risk pregnancies are typically advised not to pump or hand express while pregnant, as breast stimulation may trigger contractions.

For these reasons, if you’re enjoying a healthy uncomplicated pregnancy,* I don’t recommend prenatal milk expression. There will be plenty of time for pumping later, and it will actually work to produce decent amounts of milk once the baby is out. Also, remember that if your baby is latching well, you won’t even need to pump for the first few weeks.

So let’s not make baby feeding any harder than it needs to be: Sit back, relax and enjoy your pregnancy! And if you want an individualized breastfeeding or pumping plan to stack the odds in your favor, let’s work together to create it!

*Pregnant parents with a medical conditions like gestational diabetes have more of a reason to be concerned about their baby needing a supplement. Please reach out to me if you’d like to talk through a plan to get breastfeeding off to a great start, that may include some prenatal milk expression, depending on your preferences.

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Colostrum Harvesting – Should you, or shouldn’t you?

If you’re breastfeeding or pumping, you’ve probably heard about lactation cookies. They sound a lot like chocolate chip cookies, only lactation cookies contain a few mysterious ingredients that supposedly boost your supply. As you’re always looking for ways to make a little more milk, you think, “Heck, why not?” and give them a try. After a few days of snacking on these magical morsels, you notice your supply IS going up a bit. Problem is, the SCALE is definitely going up a bit, too.

And so now you’re wondering if you can somehow harness the benefits of the lactation cookie without including the parts that aren’t working for you.

So let’s hack the lactation cookie by breaking it down into its main ingredients:

Sugar – not helpful in milk making
White flour – not helpful in milk making
Chocolate Chips – delicious…but not helpful in milk making
Eggs – A great source of protein…but you don’t need to eat them in cookie form.
Butter/Coconut Oil – Fats are a necessary part of a healthy diet…but you’re probably getting plenty outside of cookie eating.
Brewer’s yeast – High in protein, minerals and vitamin B and therefore...helpful in milk making!
Flaxseeds – Contain essential fatty acids and phytoestrogens and therefore...helpful in milk making!
Oatmeal – High in iron, magnesium and zinc and therefore...helpful in milk making!

And so we’ve identified brewers yeast, flaxseed and oatmeal as the lactation cookie ingredients that are actually working to give your supply a slight boost.

Cool! So how can you incorporate these ingredients into your diet in non-cookie form?

An easy way to get all of these ingredients into the same place is to make a smoothie. Put all of these things into your blender:
- 2 cups of the milk of your choice
- 1 banana
- A handful of berries
- 1 TB of nut butter or a half an avocado (for healthy fat)
- 1 tsp ground flax seeds
- ¼ cup oats (raw, toasted or cooked)
- ½ tsp of brewers yeast
- ½ tsp of vanilla
- 1 TB of honey if desired

Make homemade granola that includes the three magic ingredients. Stir together:
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 3/4 cups chopped nut pieces of your choice
- 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1.5 TB ground flaxseed
- 1 TB brewer’s yeast
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
- 1 TB molasses
- 1/4 cup + 1 TB melted coconut oil
- 1 cup chopped dried fruit
- 2 tsp vanilla or almond extract
- Once combined, spread the mixture on a baking sheet, and bake at 325F for about 30 minutes. Stir it a few times while it’s baking, and watch carefully after 20 minutes to make sure it doesn’t burn!
- (Mix this granola with yogurt and some fresh berries for an out-of-this-world snack!)

Eat a bowl of oatmeal every day, adding a ½ tsp of brewers yeast and/or ground flaxseed to it.

Sprinkle ½ tsp of ground flaxseed and/or brewers yeast over soup, salad, yogurt, or hummus.
If you don’t like the taste of brewers yeast, you can take it in tablet form. Talk to your doctor about the right dosage for you.

Note on amounts: Most moms do fine with adding up to about one tablespoon of brewer’s yeast daily. Any more than that and you or your baby might have some GI issues. If you have any concerns about adding brewers yeast to your diet, talk to your doctor. Flaxseed is super healthy when consumed in moderation, so feel good about adding one to two tablespoons to your daily diet.

And there you have it! A few easy ways to get some milk making foods into your diet, without packing on the pounds. Happy eating!

Please note: There is no hard scientific evidence that lactation cookies or the milk making ingredients they contain increase milk supply. However, many moms over many years have said these things have been helpful for them, and so it doesn’t hurt to give it a try! If you are having issues making enough milk for your baby, please call a lactation specialist to get some professional help.