Hello. By no fault of my own, my breast milk supply is starting to become low as I had difficulty in the past so I am taking a number of supplements to help build supply and also expressing. I'm a single mother and after being locked in the house for a number of months, I let loose after meeting someone and just doing things to make me feel good and increae my confidence but in the same, I really let my supply suffer by allowing DS to have formula, very little rest, poor diet etc.
So my plan of action is to start tomorrow. I am currently taking the following tablets three times at day at 6am, 2pm and 10pm:
2 X 10mg Maxalon
2 X Alfafa Capusles
2 X Fenugreek Capusles
2 X Blessed Thistle Capusles
1 X Blackmores Breastfeeding Gold Vitamin Supplement
1 X Iron Supplement (I am very low in Iron)
1 X Emu Oil Supplement (Rich in Omega 3,6 & 9)
1 X Calcium Supplement
I plan to have oatmeal for breakfast in the morning and try to drink at least a minimum of 2L water per day. I will try to eat lunch and dinner with snacks. I have no appetite and sometimes it was 4pm by the time I thought to have something to eat. I just wonder if anyone could recommend any foods that are thought to be helpful in increasing milk supply.
I also desperately wanted to know if anyone could recommend when I should express milk. My C&FH Nurse recommends expressing 5 mins of each side after feeding and I have heard other people recommend to express each side approximately 1 hour after a feed. DS feeds every 2-3 hours and I have no issue giving him an artifical comp as a BF. Any other suggestions would be great. . . I am more or less planning to stay at home and do nothing but focus on feeding. I feel terribly guilty about "going off the rails" but sometimes we all need to get out for our own sanity, not that it was out all the time but just going out shopping or meeting friends during the day. Oh mother's guilt, what a fabulous thing.
Looking forward to any and all suggestions xoxoxo