Why milk does not come after the birth of a child: possible reasons. Lost milk: what to do? How to Maintain Breastfeeding During Feeding Crises

Temporary deficiency of breast milk is a very common problem that occurs in every breastfeeding woman. This is especially true for primiparous women who are developing lactation function.

Reducing the amount of breast milk should not be the reason for switching to artificial formulas. A young mother should make every effort to maintain natural feeding.

Causes of breast milk deficiency

Various factors can cause a decrease in lactation. In most cases, these factors depend on the nursing woman, who does not comply with the conditions necessary to maintain lactation function.

Wrong feeding regimen

Many women practice breastfeeding according to an hourly schedule. This technique has not justified itself over many years of use, and most doctors recommend abandoning it.

It is necessary to apply the baby to the breast on demand. Only in this case will there be mutual benefit for both the mother and the newborn child. In the process of feeding, you can not independently wean the child from the breast. It is recommended to wait until the baby is satiated and throws the breast.

Nipple use

The use of artificial nipples is permissible only if the breastfeeding woman has enough breast milk, and there are no prerequisites for its reduction. With a shortage of breast milk, it is recommended to completely abandon the use of nipples and bottles.

Regular breastfeeding promotes increased work of the mammary glands and has a calming effect on the baby.

Feeding the baby with water

The body of a newborn child is not able to distinguish between hunger and thirst. The intake of water in the body can make the baby feel full, and therefore the baby begins to eat less breast milk. A decrease in the need for breast milk causes a decrease in its production.

Failure to adhere to the technique of applying to the chest

Attaching the baby to the chest in an uncomfortable position for him is a gross violation of the breastfeeding technique. The child begins to poorly grasp the nipple and halo, which leads to partial emptying of the mammary glands. A woman masters the basics of breastfeeding even within the walls of the maternity hospital, where obstetrician-gynecologists and breastfeeding specialists help her.

Saving breast milk

Some women try to save breast milk in order to save it. This tactic works exactly the opposite, since the lower the consumption of milk, the lower its production. If the baby is applied to the breast on demand, then the problem of milk deficiency does not arise.

stress factor

Constant emotional overstrain has a negative impact on the lactation process. Only in a calm atmosphere is a woman's body able to produce enough breast milk.

How to stimulate lactation

The issue of improving lactation function must be approached comprehensively. A breastfeeding woman will need to review her level of physical activity and diet. There are simple rules that allow a woman to cope with this problem.

Physical exercise

A passive lifestyle can play a cruel joke with a nursing mother. During lactation, dosed physical activity is very useful. In this matter, the measure is important, since excessive overloads lead to the opposite effect.

It is useful for a nursing woman to swim in the pool, walk in the fresh air, as well as light morning exercises. It is forbidden to lift heavy objects, do squats and jumps.

Massage

In order to make up for the lack of milk, it is useful for a nursing mother to perform self-massage of the mammary glands. Before the massage, it is recommended to take a warm shower, wipe the chest dry and lubricate it with cosmetic oil. Self-massage techniques begin with gentle stroking of the mammary glands. After that, you can proceed to light kneading.

The duration of the procedure should not exceed 5 minutes. Massage should be performed 2 times a day, in the morning after waking up and before going to bed. During the procedure, sudden movements and strong pressure on the mammary glands should be avoided.

Feeding mode

It is necessary to feed a newborn child exclusively on demand, without observing certain regulations. Attaching the baby to the breast is the best stimulator of lactation. This is due to the fact that as a result of stimulation of the nipples during feeding, an increased amount of the hormone prolactin is produced in the woman's body.

Nutrition

Sometimes, a lack of milk is due to insufficient intake of certain substances in the mother's body. With normal lactation, the female body consumes 700-800 calories daily from its reserves.

For full breastfeeding, it is not necessary to increase the caloric content of food. To do this, it is enough to ensure that all the necessary useful components enter the body.

products containing cocoa (chocolate, sweets, ice cream);
salty food (salted fish, homemade preserves);
fruits from the citrus family;
spicy food;
smoked products;
alcohol.

Breastfeeding mothers are allowed to eat the following foods:

fresh vegetables and vegetable dishes;
fruits and berries;
protein-rich foods (beef, chicken, fish, cottage cheese, hard cheese);
cereals and cereals (muesli).

If a nursing mother produces a small amount of breast milk, then she should pay attention to her drinking regimen. For normal lactation, it is recommended to drink 1.5-2 liters of fluid daily. The total volume of liquid includes first courses and all kinds of drinks.

From drinks it is recommended to use green tea, which has a beneficial effect on the process of milk production. You can also use compote from fruits and berries, as well as a decoction of oregano. A nursing woman can not deny herself the use of gourds. Watermelons and melons should only be consumed in season to avoid chemical fertilizers entering the body.

Drug therapy

If a woman has not been able to overcome the lactation crisis by improvised means, then after a preliminary consultation with a doctor, she may need drug therapy. You can enhance the synthesis of breast milk with the help of such medications:

homeopathic preparations;
vitamin complexes created specifically for lactating women;
phytopreparations and herbal preparations that improve breast milk production;
natural food additives (Laktogon, Femilak, Apilak).

All of the listed drugs are of natural origin, however, it is recommended that a nursing mother coordinate the intake of each drug with a medical specialist. Independent choice of the name and dosage is strictly prohibited.

Alternative Methods

You can increase the amount of milk produced by using the following recipes:

200 g of sour cream must be mixed with 15 g of cumin seeds. The resulting substance is heated over low heat. It is recommended to take the remedy for 1 tsp. 3 times a day 15 minutes before meals.
A mixture of milk and honey effectively stimulates lactation. To do this, mix 250 ml of cow's milk with 1 tsp. honey. It is necessary to drink the resulting remedy in a warm form 2 times a day 30 minutes before meals. The product should not be used if you are allergic to bee honey.

Prevention

Dosed physical activity, proper diet, and maintaining an emotional background are the best prevention of this problem. Nursing mothers need to observe the regime of work and rest.

It is strictly forbidden to accustom the baby to bottles and nipples. Such experiments inhibit the sucking reflex in the baby, as a result of which the stimulation of the mammary glands of the nursing mother is disturbed.
To stimulate blood circulation, a nursing mother should take a contrast shower daily and perform self-massage of the mammary glands.
Before transferring the child to mixed feeding, it is necessary to coordinate this moment with the pediatrician. Reduced consumption of breast milk is the reason for the inhibition of its production.
It is strictly forbidden to independently wean a child from the breast. When satiated, the baby will do it himself.

If a woman has not normalized the production of breast milk, then she should consult a doctor for an additional examination. In rare cases, some diseases of organs and systems become the cause of this problem.

The young mother believes that she has a shortage of valuable breast milk. This situation is familiar to many parents of newborns. The amount of this product, which is very useful for children, may decrease slightly at the very beginning of the lactation period, and maybe even a few months after the birth of the baby. Lactation may decrease due to stress or as a result of lack of sleep. There is a concept of a lactation crisis. In many cases, the primiparous woman invents a problem for herself, but in fact there are no violations. Without understanding the issue, the mother begins to supplement the baby with milk formula, which really leads to a decrease in milk production.

Supplementing a baby with formula can be a fatal mistake that will really disrupt milk production.

Myths about the lack of breast milk

So, to begin with, we will dispel common myths of “lack of milk”:

The baby does not observe the interval between feedings, he asks for a breast 1-1.5 hours after the previous feeding. It doesn't say anything. Children have periods of rapid growth, when they need more food than they should by the norms. He may have sucked badly last time because he was sleepy. There are many reasons, and none of them speaks of a decrease in lactation.
Stop milk leakage. At the beginning of breastfeeding, fluid from the nipples leaks from the nipples of recently born mothers, this gradually stops, the linen remains dry. This only says that the muscles responsible for opening the channels in the nipple are strengthened and do not allow fluid to flow out of the breast between feedings.
Feeling of an empty chest. Shortly after childbirth, when the breasts fill up, swelling of the mammary glands is felt. It is associated with edema. The body of a woman has not yet adapted to feeding. Previously, a nursing mother did not have to store a supply of milk in her breast. Gradually, the mother adapts to lactation, she becomes mature, and the breast is able to produce more valuable fluid in the "empty" state than before in the swollen state.
Worried about the lack of milk women with small breasts. Breast size is not related to milk production capacity. Volumetric breasts contain more body fat, and nothing more.

It is scientifically proven that breast size does not affect the amount of milk and the establishment of lactation.

The time spent on feeding has decreased. There are more active children - they suck out their norm in 10 minutes, and not in half an hour. The same baby starts sucking faster as the breast develops and the baby gains strength over time. There is nothing to worry about.

Violation of the feeding regime - a sign of shortage?

This article talks about typical ways to solve your questions, but each case is unique! If you want to know from me how to solve exactly your problem - ask your question. It's fast and free!

Maintaining the feeding regime after 2-3 hours in a grown child does not mean anything. Some children continue to ask for food every 2 hours even at night. It becomes their habit. They need to feel the presence of their mother day and night.

Many babies fall asleep after feeding. This is very convenient - mom fed, put in the crib and is free until the next feeding. Some babies, as soon as they are put into bed, wake up and look for their mother's breast. This does not indicate a decrease in lactation. It's just that the baby calms down when feeding, relaxes and falls asleep. As soon as he is torn from the chest, he begins to worry. Some people like to sleep with their mother's nipple in their mouth.

Mom found that in the evening she began to receive less milk than in the morning. This is quite natural. The total amount of this product per day is approximately constant. The baby sucks more vigorously during the day than in the evening. It is not necessary to accumulate food in the chest in order to feed the newborn tightly at night. It is better to let him suck in the early morning - at 3-5 in the morning.

In the morning and daytime, the baby sucks the breast much more actively than in the evening

At the first time of the lactation period, a woman feels a tingling sensation in her chest when a liquid valuable for babies comes to the mammary glands. Gradually the sensation disappears. This is also associated with the body getting used to a new state and does not indicate a decrease in lactation.

What is a lactation crisis?

The concept of a lactation crisis is associated with a temporary decrease in milk production in a nursing woman. It occurs either for physiological reasons, or is associated with the circumstances of a woman's life. It lasts from 3 to 7 days. There are also critical periods with HB. They are associated with an increase in the need for food of a growing baby. The baby has periods of rapid growth at 3, 5 and 7 months of age. These periods last no more than 2 weeks. Mom notices that the amount of natural nutrition is not enough for the child in:

3 months. The tingling in the chest stops. The mammary glands become soft. The kid himself orders the amount of food by the volume of her consumption last time. In fact, there is no shortage of female breast milk in this case. The body is just adjusting to lactation.
6 or 7 months. At this time, complementary foods are introduced with vegetable purees. The baby needs less mother's milk than before. If a woman thins out the number of attachments to the breast, lactation decreases.
9-10 months. This period is characterized by an increase in the motor activity of the baby. As a result, its growth rates decrease. The baby needs less nutrition, lactation is reduced.

Real signs of decreased lactation

Reducing baby weight gain. The norm is such that in the first 2 weeks, by the end of the second week, he is gaining the weight with which he was born. Then, up to 4 months, he gains from 150 g per week. After that, body weight gain decreases. When a child at the age of six months gains less than 125 g per week, he is malnourished - a woman has reduced lactation.
The child should write 10-12 times a day. Nowadays, when everyone uses disposable diapers, it is easy to determine if the baby is eating normally. It is necessary to weigh all wet diapers per day with the same amount of dry ones. The difference in weight must be at least 360 ml. Many parents use cloth diapers, then you need to keep an eye on the baby, unrolling it every half hour. If in 12 hours he peed 10 times or more, everything is in order with feeding.

Understanding that milk production is reduced is simple. In addition to the above 2 signs, there are no signs that would indicate its decrease. Moms should not listen to neighbors and relatives, run to the doctor for other reasons. It never hurts to consult with a specialist, but he will bring these 2 points to the mother.

When there is really little milk, you do not need to immediately buy milk formula. A child, starting to suck on a nipple, may refuse his mother's breast. Try increasing your milk production.

The main sign of a lack of milk is a lack of weight in a child

Should I be concerned if milk is delivered unevenly to the breast?

It happens - one breast is more filled with milk than the other. There is only one reason for this situation - an inexperienced mother puts the baby to one breast more often than to the other. Breasts that are suckled more actively are more involved in the lactation process. It is necessary to observe an even number of attachments to both breasts.

When the mother felt an uneven flow of milk into the mammary glands, it is necessary to offer the baby a breast in which there is less milk, then attach it to a more milky breast, then return to the first breast again. In this case, the sucking activity of the low-milk breast increases, and the amount of milk production in it also increases. Another plus is that the baby will receive more fat-rich milk from the first breast.

There is also a downside to this situation. It can be avoided by trying to feed the baby to the end of the first breast. This situation lies in the fact that when applied to different breasts at one feeding, the baby receives only low-fat drinking milk from each, sucking out each breast incompletely.

Even if there is a little less milk in one breast, the baby must be allowed to dissolve it.

How to put the baby to the breast correctly?

the baby should be tightly pressed to the mother's chest with the chin;
his tummy should touch the mother's body tightly;
the baby's ear, shoulder and hip should be on the same axis.

Proper attachment implies that the baby's body is tightly pressed against the mother's body, his nose and knees are directed in the same way, in other words, his head is not turned. The baby's lips should wrap around the areola of the nursing one, the lower lip is slightly turned inside out. Try not to interfere with feeding. It is better to feed the baby in the bedroom, where there is no TV and no one is talking loudly.

Contributes to milk production. Sit in a comfortable position with your body relaxed. The baby should also feel comfortable. A comfortable posture improves mood and increases milk production.

Do I need to follow a feeding schedule?

There is no schedule for breastfeeding. Mom should give the child to eat when he cries. This can be both day and night. A woman can change the schedule only in the direction of increasing the number of feedings - to offer the newborn to eat more often.

Night feedings are important for both mother and baby, as it is at night that prolactin is produced. It is a substance necessary for life. Lactation intensifies when the baby sucks mom at night. When a child is fast asleep and does not wake up, how to behave? Some doctors believe that it is not necessary to wake the baby. Others give a counterargument that with more frequent application, milk production increases, so it is necessary to wake the child at least 1 time per night.

The role of the pacifier and milk bottle

Why not give your child a pacifier or a bottle with a pacifier if it is not urgently needed? The baby receives the fluid required for the body from human milk. When breastfeeding is replaced with bottle formulas, the baby will get used to being fed from the nipple with ease and will refuse the nursing breast.

An alternative to a bottle is a teaspoon or a special drinker. If the baby needs to take medicine, give him some boiled warm water from a spoon.

When complementary foods are introduced, the amount of milk in a nursing woman decreases, it becomes necessary to supplement the baby - let him drink from a spoon or from a drinker.

So that the baby does not get used to the nipple, you can give him water from a spoon

Is it necessary to pump after feedings?

With full breastfeeding, you do not need to express, but there are situations when such a need arises. If a woman feels that one breast is empty, she should express it to increase milk production.

Usually you need to express for no longer than 10 minutes. In the case when the process dragged on for half an hour, and there is no result, rest for a while. Poorly developed breasts can be treated with a warm compress before pumping. You need to do it for 5 minutes. With low milk production, it is recommended to express once every 1 hour. Use a breast pump if you can't develop your breasts with your hands. Express milk for 10 minutes, then rest for 5 minutes, repeat all over again. Such procedures will help maintain milk production.

Nursing mother's menu

In order for milk production not to decrease, it is necessary to take seriously the diet of a nursing mother. A woman during this period should receive a full hot meal at least 3 times a day.

Nutrition must be balanced. To obtain complex carbohydrates, it is necessary to enter into the menu bread with bran, whole grain cereals, products made from durum flour. Carbohydrates have a positive effect on milk production. Protein will help your baby grow. They are found in vegetable oils, dairy and other products.

Proper nutrition of a nursing mother is the key to a good supply of milk

A woman should introduce lean meat and fish into her diet. If the baby does not have allergies, you can eat an egg once a week. Be sure to eat vegetables and fruits. Milk, cottage cheese, kefir will also play a positive role during breastfeeding.

A woman should drink fluid as needed. Too much fluid harms milk production, as does too little. It is useful to drink a weak hot tea with milk some time before feeding.

The opinion of Dr. Komarovsky

The well-known pediatrician Komarovsky not only practices, but also gives valuable advice to young parents. He notes the particular importance of breastfeeding in the first 2 months after the birth of a child. It was at this time that mothers fear that they have little milk, and by mistake they can transfer the child to artificial feeding. The pediatrician advises not to worry, but to increase the number of attachments to the breast, which will lead to increased milk production. The doctor advises trying to increase milk production for 3 days. If all else fails, only then transfer the baby to artificial mixtures.

The doctor notes the importance of the psychological factor in increasing lactation. The baby sucks hard at the breast, that is, does everything in his power. A woman, on the other hand, torments herself with thoughts that her child is hungry. A lot depends on relatives. Try to set the mother up for a positive result, let her relax by taking on homework and walking with the baby. Let the woman sleep peacefully during the day for a couple of hours. Her mood will improve, milk will begin to come. If nothing helps, although the woman slept and rested for 3 days, transfer the child to milk formulas. Consult in the children's clinic, which mixture to choose.

Sometimes households just need to unload mom and let her rest.

GW duration

Dr. Komarovsky believes that six months is the minimum age when you can stop breastfeeding. If a woman has a lot of milk, no one bothers to supply the child with this useful product further.

Starting from 6 months, the child is introduced complementary foods. HB can be continued up to 2 years of age. At 2 years old, the baby should receive meat, fish, vegetables, cottage cheese, eggs in the diet. Some children are in no hurry to give up their mother's breasts. From 2 to 3 years, you can reduce the number of feedings to 2 times a day. This will help the nursing mother to stop milk production, and the child will get used to adult food.

Medications and herbal preparations during lactation

There are medications that increase milk production, they are called lactagons. Your doctor will prescribe a specific drug for you. These remedies are used when other methods of increasing milk production have failed.

Among such medicines, herbal preparations and homeopathic medicines are the safest. Some of them are presented in this article:

Lactogon contains royal jelly and herbs such as dill, nettle, ginger, oregano. Contains carrots. This remedy can cause an allergy in a baby, so only a doctor can prescribe it.
Femilak, it contains milk protein and taurine. It is prescribed even before childbirth. It strengthens the health of the expectant mother and enhances lactation after childbirth.
Apilactin contains flower pollen and royal jelly. He, like Lactogon, can cause an allergy in a newborn.
Mlecoin is a homeopathic remedy. The drug can be used during the entire period of breastfeeding.
The Milky Way preparation contains galega extract. It is well tolerated by nursing and child. Women who have little milk, it is prescribed immediately after the birth of the child. The rest can take it during lactation crises.
Lactic teas are made from herbs. For their reception it is necessary to be convinced that your kid well transfers the herbs which are their part.

Which doctor will help when the milk disappears?

The main thing is not to panic. All problems are solvable. First of all, you can contact a consultant on GV. There are also breastfeeding support groups where you can get advice on a specific situation. The consultant will tell you what mistakes you make, what points to pay attention to. It would be best if, even during pregnancy, you find a person or group of people to whom you can turn for qualified help.

Hello dear readers! I am sure that among my readers there are newly-made mothers who are faced with a situation where there is no milk after childbirth. This is always a very sad situation.

After all, breastfeeding is incredibly beneficial for the child, it contains the whole complex of useful vitamins. But! Do not despair, let's better think about how to deal with this situation.

So, many women immediately after giving birth may find that they cannot breastfeed their baby. Often this situation occurs after a caesarean section, when the child does not immediately contact the mother. What to do in this situation?

First, the new mom needs to calm down. That’s what definitely won’t fix the situation - it’s stress, and on the contrary, it can worsen it. Such fear can settle in the head due to incomplete information about feeding a child.

Also, a woman may worry that there is too little food for the baby. It may seem so, because first the mother has colostrum. There is not much of it, but it is extremely satisfying and nutritious.
Milk comes directly 4-6 days after the birth of the baby.

When milk appears, the woman's breasts increase, swell, there is a feeling of fullness. It is also considered normal if the mother's body temperature rises slightly.

And after a few more days, the woman produces the so-called mature milk.

Its composition is perfectly balanced in fats, nutrients and other components and is ideal for feeding your baby.

After some time, after about six months, the amount of useful substances will gradually decrease in this ideal product.

Just at this time, you can introduce complementary foods with cereals, vegetable and fruit purees, industrial dairy products.

When the alarm is false

So, now we know at what stages and what kind of milk appears in a woman in labor. But what if the mother still has fears that there is too little food for the baby? About two or three times after it appears, a woman may begin to worry that her breasts are no longer feeling full or that milk is no longer oozing on its own.

But this is the normal state of affairs. This means that you have entered the normal mode of a nursing mother, whose body has understood how much nutrition needs to be produced for her baby.

False alarms can also be provoked by the behavior of the infant. He may suckle too actively at the breast, demanding more and more as he grows older. But this does not mean at all that the mother does not have enough milk for the child.

A nursing woman is, first of all, a living organism in which some temporary disruptions may occur. And this suggests that if at a certain moment there is really less than what is needed, then this does not mean that it is worth panicking. This is just an occasion to remember what milk comes from.

What needs to be done to produce milk

We transfer the baby to artificial milk formulas

If you have tried all the ways to increase lactation, but breastfeeding is still not enough, then you need a baby. Of course, before doing this, consult your doctor.

It will take approximately 1-2 weeks for your baby to fully transition to a new food. And you need to start with the fact that after each meal, while he is still breastfeeding, at the end he needs to be given a little new food - literally 1-2 teaspoons.

Don't worry if your baby doesn't eat the adapted formula at first. Keep offering her: someday he will agree. And yet try not to wean the baby from the breast at all. Continue to do everything possible to restore lactation.

Be sure to express your breasts, preferably with a breast pump, this must be done even at night. As often as possible, put the baby to the breast - on demand. And then you will definitely be able to keep the GW and give your baby all the best that mom can give.

Browse our large selection of breast pumps at this store . There are both manual and electric - for every taste and budget.
Read the reviews of other mothers and choose the most suitable for yourself.

I'll tell you about two of my mistakes with GV

Seems like I'm such an experienced mom. Yes, now, 20 years after the birth of the oldest child. But I also did some stupid things:

I was not able to feed my eldest daughter, which I am very sorry about.
If I suspected a lack of milk with the third child, I introduced supplementary feeding with the wrong mixture - which I also really regret.

And now in more detail. I fed my daughter only the first 6 days in the hospital. After being discharged home, I had to go to the hospital urgently for 2 weeks. They were on antibiotics, it was impossible to feed. And if only someone smart and adult told me, a 20-year-old girl, that I need to express my breasts every three hours. If only someone would bring me this breast pump.

Manual pumping definitely does not give the desired result. As a result, after discharge from the hospital, there was simply nothing to feed my girl. And she no longer took a breast, after she was fed from a bottle.

With the middle son, everything went more or less smoothly. Fed up to 1.5 years.

But with the younger one again there was a jamb. At 1.5 months I decided that I did not have enough milk. And I thought of supplementing my son with an adapted mixture. But, my God, for some reason they chose the most simple mixture for him - our Russian "Baby". I still blame myself for this. There is so much sugar in it that the child still has an allergy.

Then, realizing what I had done, I completely removed the mixture from the diet. I drank lactogenic tablets, special mixtures and teas for nursing mothers, applied the child at the first squeak - and everything worked out. The youngest fed up to 3 years.

Therefore, girls and boys, if you ever decide to formula feed your heir - choose only the best , a famous brand, no palm oil, no sugar and other nonsense. The future health of the baby depends on this.
And never take Russian-made mixtures for anything.

Maybe, of course, they are suitable for your child (like one of my friends, on whose recommendation I fed my son this muck), but it’s better not to experiment - it can go sideways. Read reviews about mixtures and choose the best ones.

But, once again, I urge you to establish GV using the methods described above. The best thing for a baby is mother's milk. Fact.

By the way, I highly recommend signing up for a free webinar for moms " Life after childbirth ". On it, you will learn about the emotional state of a woman who has recently given birth, about the physiological characteristics of the body after childbirth, about caring for a newborn in the first year of life, and much more. If at one time I had learned about such a webinar, I would never have missed it!

And finally, watch the video about how to behave during a lactation crisis:

On this we will say goodbye. If you liked the article, share it using the social media buttons below. And do not forget to subscribe to - there is a lot of useful and interesting information ahead.

The problem with the lack of breast milk is familiar to many mothers during breastfeeding. Someone has little breast milk from the very beginning of feeding the baby. For some, its amount decreases periodically during periods of lactation crises. And for some, it almost disappears at some point due to stress or violation of the regime. It happens that the problem is generally far-fetched, and it just seems to the mother that she does not have enough milk. In each of these cases, you need to act differently.

Not enough milk? Need to check

The main reason for the transition of children to artificial feeding is hypogalactia or, in common terms, a lack of breast milk. But according to research by doctors, in fact, only 3-4% of women have little milk. And even they can most often provide their baby with at least mixed feeding.

Usually there are two situations:

it just seems to mom that there is not enough milk;
the amount of milk actually decreased due to improperly organized breastfeeding, too much work on the nursing mother or stress.

So the first thing to do is to determine if there is really not enough milk. There are several simple methods for this.

If a small child under 6 months gains less than 125 g per week, then this means that he really does not have enough food.
The baby should urinate at least 12 times a day. This can be checked by counting wet diapers. A sleeping baby should be checked every 20-30 minutes to make sure you don't miss a pee. Better start in the morning. And if the baby wet 10 diapers in 12 hours, then you can no longer count further. Everything is fine. If there were 7-8 signatures, then you will have to continue counting.
Since almost everyone now uses disposable diapers, it is quite possible to weigh them to determine the amount of sucked milk. To do this, put all the diapers per day in a bag and weigh it. Place the same number of dry diapers in another bag. The difference will be the amount of urine per day, which should be at least 360 ml, i.e. about 30 ml per pee.

Previously, the method of weighing the child before and after feeding was used. Now it is considered uninformative and its use is not recommended.

There is no point in worrying if:

the breast has ceased to fill, which means that mature lactation has come;
little milk is expressed, a healthy baby sucks more efficiently than a breast pump;
the child very often asks for breasts, for him suckling is not only food, but also communication.

What and why should be done so that there is enough milk?

If it turns out that there is really little milk, then you do not need to immediately buy the mixture. Having started to feed, it is very easy to transfer the baby to completely artificial feeding. It is necessary to try to increase the amount of breast milk and increase the efficiency of sucking in the child.

To do this, several conditions must be met:

Breastfeeding needs to be supported in the family. Otherwise, at the first problem, the young mother will be so nervous that the amount of milk will actually decrease. To do this, during pregnancy, it is necessary to prepare those closest to the fact that the baby will eat exclusively breast milk in the first months, and the mother will need help and support. We need to explain to everyone why this is so important. With relatives and friends who do not support breastfeeding, it is better not to communicate for some time, or at least not to discuss the topic of breastfeeding. Naturally, we believe that the mother herself wants to breastfeed.
At the time when breastfeeding is being established, the little one needs to be fed on demand, i.e. give him the breast as soon as he wants, and let him suck until the baby himself gives up the breast. The more the breast is stimulated and emptied, the more milk it produces. Feedings during this period should be at least 12 per day. Lots of feedings, lots of milk.
It is necessary to master the correct attachment to the chest. The position can be any, the main thing is that both mother and baby are comfortable. But at the same time, the baby's knees and nose should look in one direction, i.e. the head must not be turned. The tummy is pressed against the mother. The child should capture almost the entire areola. His mouth should be wide open and the bottom lip turned out. There should be no extraneous sounds. Mom shouldn't be in pain.
The baby should only suckle at the breast. If you have to supplement, then you need to do this with a spoon, cup, syringe or supplementary feeding system at the breast. It is convenient to use special soft spoons. In the life of a baby, there should be no place for a pacifier. If he is used to falling asleep and calming down with a pacifier, then it should be replaced with a breast. The more it is stimulated, the more milk it contains.
The child cannot be fed. He should drink breast milk, not water.
Be sure to put the baby to the chest in the early morning. This allows you to stimulate the production of the hormone prolactin, and hence lactation.
Mom should eat right and drink enough fluids. Be sure to eat hot food 3 times a day, and lightly snack three more times.
Just before feeding and during it, you can drink any warm liquid. This will not increase the amount of milk, but it will make sucking easier for the baby.
A breastfeeding woman needs to rest and get enough sleep. This is where families need to help. After all, if you feed day and night, then you will have to sleep with the baby during the day. Someone at this time should be doing household chores.
Thinking about breastfeeding, and indeed about everything, needs to be positive. In a nervous, anxious mom who constantly thinks about not having enough milk, the release of oxytocin is suppressed by stress hormones. This means that there will actually be less and less milk.

nesting method

To establish lactation, you can try the nesting method. At the same time, the mother spends 2-3 days in bed with the child. It is desirable that she be dressed in a thin shirt, and on a small one there was only a diaper, in order to ensure constant skin-to-skin contact. The baby suckles the breast as much as he wants. This is a very good method to restore physical and emotional contact between mother and child, and to improve lactation, but it requires help from someone close. These days, someone needs to take care of mom and the house.

If a baby was born weak or premature, then he may not have the strength to suck milk from his mother, even if there is enough of it. In this case, the woman will have to pump for some time to feed the baby. But, if the condition of the child allows, it is better not to use the pacifier and the bottle. As soon as the child gets stronger, he will be able to suck out the amount of milk he needs himself.

lactation crises

It often happens that at some point the child suddenly becomes short of milk, although before that there were no signs of a shortage. Such moments are called lactation crises. They are usually associated with growth spurts in the child. Those. the amount of milk is not reduced. It's just that the baby begins to grow rapidly, and he needs more milk. Mom's breasts do not have time to adapt so quickly to the needs of the baby. She needs 2 to 7 days for the amount of milk to increase according to the needs of the baby. That is why there is a temporary shortage of milk.

Lactation crises usually occur at 3-6 weeks, as well as at 3, 6 and 12 months, but each child is individual. During a crisis, the baby begins to act up, hang on his chest for a long time, and ask for it more often. The baby is crying and obviously not eating enough.

Another common cause of lactation crises is the psychological state of the mother. Constant fatigue, chronic lack of sleep, lack of communication, inability to devote enough time to yourself lead to a constant bad mood. He is especially spoiled by the lack of understanding and help from loved ones.

During a lactation crisis, the child should not be supplemented. A healthy baby is quite able to endure a temporary lack of milk for several days. But if you give the mixture, then you can easily make it from the baby an artificial one. Supplementation reduces the time the baby sucks at the breast, which means that less milk is produced. The baby must increase the amount of milk himself, which he does when he “hangs” on his chest.

Drugs that increase lactation

If it is found that there is really little milk, then you can try to increase its amount with the help of herbs and medicines. Usually, fennel, anise, dill, Apilak, Lactatosan seeds are used for this. Some benefit from breast massage with special breast oils during lactation. They contain essential oils of anise or fennel.

For mothers at risk, the use of special nutrition already during pregnancy is justified. This includes women who had problems feeding a previous child. The same funds can be used by mothers who slowly receive milk after childbirth. Just do not forget about the basic rules for successful breastfeeding, and use medications with them, and not instead of them.

Nuts, especially walnuts, fatty fish, cheese, ginger, lingonberries, honey, royal jelly, bee bread are considered lactogenic products. But, unfortunately, most of them are highly likely to provoke allergies, you can’t eat a lot of them. In this case, you need to carefully monitor the skin and stool of the child. At the slightest sign of an allergic reaction, stop eating dangerous foods.

Here are some medicines that increase the amount of breast milk:

Femilak. It can be used already during pregnancy. Improves the health of the expectant mother. Increases lactation in lactating women. Contains milk protein and taurine.
I thought mom plus. Increases the amount of milk, and is also used to prevent osteoporosis and caries.
Lactogon. Contains royal jelly, as well as herbs that stimulate lactation: dill, ginger, carrots, oregano, nettle. May cause allergic reactions in children and mothers who are sensitive to bee products.
Apilactin. Contains royal jelly and flower pollen. Can be used immediately after childbirth by women at risk. But, just like Lactogon, it can cause allergies.
Milky Way. Contains galega extract. Well tolerated, designed specifically for nursing. Women from risk groups can use it immediately after childbirth. And the rest during periods of lactation crises.
Mlekoin. A homeopathic remedy that can be drunk throughout the breastfeeding period.
lactogenic teas. They are produced by various companies: Grandmother's basket, Hipp, Fleur alpine and others. They are very good to drink warm before and during feeding. But you can also make homemade herbal teas from rose hips, cumin, anise, oregano, nettle, dill. They work no worse than industrial ones.

The problem of lack of breast milk is most often far-fetched. Quite often there are situations when the mother believes that there is not enough milk, and the child at the same time adds one and a half kilograms per month. But even if there is really little milk, in most cases the problem can be dealt with by eliminating errors in the organization of breastfeeding and adjusting the mother's daily routine. And lactation crises can simply wait out.

Everyone knows that breastfeeding is very beneficial for the baby. With mother's milk, the baby receives all the necessary nutrients for his development, his immunity is strengthened.

Therefore, if a woman does not experience problems with feeding a child, milk flows from the nipples in sufficient quantities, then it is better to breastfeed the child for as long as possible. But what if the mother wants to feed the baby, but the milk does not flow from the breast or there is too little of it or it has changed color? This will be discussed in this article.

One of the main fears of pregnant women and young mothers is the fear that they will not have milk. Women, especially those who have given birth for the first time, immediately after childbirth begin to panic that they do not have breast milk. These fears are most often groundless, because it is known that the process of lactation is getting better gradually, in the first days after childbirth there is no milk in the mammary glands yet, it appears later.

A woman thinks that little milk is secreted and the child does not eat up, but the fact is that the body produces as much milk as the baby needs for one meal. Naturally, in the first days after birth, the child eats a little, respectively, and milk is produced in small quantities. When the baby grows up a little, the milk will also become more.

It is known that in the first few days after childbirth, women do not produce milk, but colostrum. This yellowish, clear liquid contains all the nutrients your baby needs. It is these yellow drops that, once in the child's body, prepare his digestive system for breastfeeding and help form primary immunity.

The main reasons for the lack or absence of milk after childbirth:

lactation crisis. A short-term decrease in lactation, which can last from several days to a week, can occur at 3-6 weeks after birth, at 3,7,11 and 12 months of a child's life.
It is believed that lactation crises occur during periods of intensive growth of the child, when the mammary glands do not have time to immediately respond to increased demands and are gradually rebuilt. During a crisis, the composition of milk may change, it may slightly change color and taste (it becomes salty in taste, but this is not scary, salty milk is not harmful to the child).

Moms are advised not to panic if the milk suddenly disappears or changes color. You should not rush to extremes and immediately transfer the baby to mixtures, because in this case it will be very difficult to restore breastfeeding. A temporary lack of milk will not harm the baby. At this time, it should be applied to the breast more often and soon there will be a lot of milk again. And the fact that it changes the taste and becomes a little salty is even liked by many kids.
Difficult childbirth during which a large number of drugs have to be used. The use of drugs during childbirth causes a violation of the hormonal balance in the body of a woman, which leads to a violation of the production of breast milk. In addition, the taste of milk (it becomes salty or bitter) and its color may change.
Lack of early attachment of the baby to the breast after childbirth. Now in maternity hospitals they try to put the baby to the nipples immediately after birth. It is believed that this starts the process of milk production in the woman's body. If this is not done, then the woman may have problems with the amount of milk secreted in the future.
Until recently, things were different. Immediately after birth, babies were taken for standard medical procedures and only a few hours later brought to their mothers for feeding. Perhaps it was the late attachment of the child to the nipples that caused the mass early cessation of lactation in women in those years.
Psychological problems. One of the main reasons for the disappearance or lack of milk in women is psychological. Unrest, stress, poor microclimate in the family - all these factors can cause a young mother to lack milk.
In addition, the fears of the woman herself play a large negative role, when she sees that the milk has changed color or is gone for a while, she begins to panic, creating a vicious circle from which it is difficult to get out. At this time, the support of relatives plays an important role, which should calm and support the woman.
Early start of complementary foods. It often happens that the mother, thinking that the child does not have enough breast milk, begins to supplement the formula too early, which leads to the fact that her own milk begins to be produced less, and over time it disappears altogether.
Scheduled feeding. More recently, doctors advised to feed the baby 5-6 times a day according to the schedule, so that his body gets used to the regimen. But now the opinion has changed. It is believed that if you put the baby to the nipples when he asks, including at night, then the milk arrives faster and lactation can be completely restored over time.
Taking hormonal drugs. When taking drugs containing estrogens (for example, contraceptives), lactation decreases. In addition, milk can change its color and taste (it becomes salty or bitter). Salted milk is safe for a baby and many children even like it. But bitter, discolored milk can be dangerous.

The main thing is to choose the right drug and calculate the dosage!

Signs of a lack of milk

Often a young mother, believing that her child does not have enough milk, is mistaken. There are four main signs by which you can find out whether the baby really does not have enough milk or the mother's fears are in vain:

Child weight gain. The baby should add at least 500 grams per month.
The number of urination should be at least 12 per day. You can find this out by counting the number of wet diapers.
The child's stool should be every day, have a mushy consistency and be yellow in color. The feces of a malnourished child are slimy, scanty, and greenish in color.
Activity and general well-being of the child.

How to induce milk after childbirth?

Special means to stimulate lactation

If a woman has lost her milk or it is too little, then in order to restore lactation use:

Special teas and decoctions. Pharmacies sell special herbal preparations to stimulate lactation. They usually include seeds of cumin, anise, dill and so on. How to use and prepare such decoctions can be found in the instructions.
Vitamins for pregnant and lactating women (Complivit Mom, Centrum, Vitrum Prenatal and a number of others).
Dietary supplements for lactation ("Laktogon", "Apilak").
Powdered milk mixtures to stimulate lactation ("Femilak", "Olympic" and others).

Before using this or that remedy, you should consult your doctor and carefully study the instructions for use of this drug.

And in conclusion, advice to young mothers. If you have lost milk after childbirth or it suddenly changed color for a short time, do not worry. By following all the above recommendations, you will again establish the process of milk production and provide the child with the most healthy food for his health!