How much Fenugreek & Mother's Milk Tea should I have?

[sherahtaylor]

Hello ladies ~

My baby was born 17 days ago (#6) and I've always had a hard time producing milk that nourishes my babies. They don't usually thrive, they end up being really skinny, and as soon as I introduce formula - boom, they are rolly polly happy babies. I HATE that!

This is my first raw baby (the previous five were all SAD) - I was raw for 8 months before getting pregnant, and was raw this entire pregnancy (95%). It is my prayer and hope that being raw will help my milk. It's not that I don't have enough - he nurses about 15 minutes on each side, completely empties the breast to where he is sucking 5 strong sucks or so, before he gets a nice gulp so I know he's gotten the hindmilk. Once he's emptied both sides he is very content, and actually has no interest in sucking more - his body language tells me he is full. So it seems like he's getting enough, BUT - he's really not gaining much weight. Or is it just too early to tell?

I haven't actually weighed him, but it just seems like he isn't gaining much - 8lb 2oz. at birth. He still has that wrinkled old man look, like the preemie very skinny monkey look almost (he was 7 days late, fullterm) and it seems like he should be filling out a bit more now. He HAS been sleeping alot, quite commonly going 4-6 hours between feedings, so now I'm waking him up every 3 hours to nurse in hopes that will also help (except at night).

Anyway - my question is: how much Fenugreek & Mother's Milk Tea should I be having? I sent DH to the store and got some of each last night - I wanted Nettle Tea instead of MMT, but they didn't have it. I've been taking 3 capsules 3x a day, and 4 cups of the MMT per day. Is that what I should be doing? I've never tried it before, always just given up the breastfeeding to formula.

I also haven't been getting much greens so starting today, I'm having a big entire bunch of greens per day in a green smoothie. I do juice wheatgrass every morning, 2-4oz, and drink 32oz. of water every time I nurse.

[elfinbaby]

I'm sorry - I don't have the info. I wanted to bump this up though. Maybe someone will.

I've used Blessed Thistle tincture with success. My sister ate oatmeal with success. It wasn't raw but raw oats should have the same result.

I'll look this up in my Susan Weed book.

April

PS I'm recently pregnant (15 wks.) w/#4. I really enjoy perusing your blog. Good stuff!

[Anastazia]

Hi,
I don't know about amounts for these particular things, but i DO know that fennel seed tea really helps with milk production!
You could Google the La Leche League site, they'll have info there!
& make sure you eat/drink/sleep enough!
~Anastazia~

[elfinbaby]

Weed says that comfrey, Rasberry leaf, nettles, alfalfa and red clover encourage supply. You can rotate each one each week. She doesn't give a "dosage."

Leafy greens, apricots, carrots, pecans ,beet greens, parsley, watercress, and dandelion leaves are helpful.

Blessed Thistle tincture - 20 drops 2-4 times a day.

Oh yeah. Hops! Have a beer! JK. I wonder if Odoul's would work?

Duh - I just googled and found this

http://www.susunweed.com/Article_Breastfeeding1.htm


Good luck
April

[zannster]

I thought MM tea contained fenugreek...? Not sure. I never supplemented with fenugreek, but I drank MM tea - usually 3-4 cups/day.

My son was 9 lbs 1 oz at birth, which was a high percentile (95% or so) but he quickly fell to about 30-40% and stayed there for many months. Since it was consistent for him, the pediatrician thought it was fine. So don't panic yet. ;)

DS nursed every 1.5-2 hours nearly round the clock. Six hours is too long for a newborn to go without nursing - even three hours seems like a long time compared to my baby! LOL!

[Raw Angel Mom]

You should consider to get a pump and pump more after he is done nursing. I was recommended to nurse or pump 20MIN each side not less not more. The milk will come with the demand. At first you won't have much milk but you will see, he will have several period of burst of hunger and it will continue. This is mother nature helping the mommy to produce more milk. Just hang in there and you will see you won't need that formula. I feel that the medical put pressure on us to make us feel that we don't produce enough milk and we need to use formula. Your baby is healthy, he pees, and does the number 2, this is great indication that all is well. Formula will constipate him.

Best wishes

[coletteh]

Have you been to a lactation consultant? I had to see one with my second baby. With my first I could pump 10 oz in as many minutes. Producing milk was NOT a problem. However with my second she was always hungry and had "colic". I went to see a LC and found out she wasn't getting more than an oz after nursing both sides for 10 min. I did the MM tea, took the Fune. pills, pumped after every feeding (which was exhausting since she ate every hour), I even tried drinking a beer each night, none of it worked. The LC eventually got my OBGYN to write a Rx for Domperidone, worked great. I realize this isn't a popular choice, but it was that or fomula. If you can't afford a LC try going to the pedi's office to have your son weighed, with a fresh diaper, before and after you nurse him to see how much he is getting. If he is getting around 2 or 3 oz he is getting plenty. If not go crazy with the tea. I was told to drink as much as I could stand, but at least 3 servings a day.

IMHO: If he acts full, is going 2 hours or more between feedings, and doesn't show any signs of failure-to-thrive, I wouldn't worry about it. At 17 days they can still look pretty wrinkled and tiny. Mine didn't start to pulmp up until 2 or 2.5 months. Based on what you are eating it sounds like he should be getting lots of great stuff!

[Imani]

1st nurse on demand as often as possible. My sone is 6 weeks. i am a lactation cons.
DO NOT LET THREE HOURS PASS
BABIES WILL EVENTUALY GIVE YOU THEIR SCHEDULE. IT TAKES ABOUT HTREE MONTHS FOR MOST TO FIGURE THIS OUT.
NURSE, NURSE NURSE.
IT MAY SEEM LIKE A LOT IN THE BEGINNING BUT I AM AT SEVEN WEEKS AND I AM NOT TO THE POINT WHERE I KNOW HIS PATTERN, BUT I RECOGNIZE WHEN HE IS IN A GROWTH SPRUT ABOUT EVER 7-9 DAYS RIGHT NOW.
YOUARE TO SUPORT AND GUIDE HIM. RELAX AND OFFER THE BREAST EVERY HOUR UNLESS YOUR GUYS ARE NAPPING UNTIL YOU NOTICE THE nEH, NEH SOUNd HE MAKES. This means he is hungry.
when you are resting, do not go past 3 hours.
when youare up nurse every hour.
Breastfed babies do not nurse if they are not hungry. so when you offer there are times he will not take it. you have to learn to distinguish between not wanting breast now and learning to suck.
he knows to suck but is not efficient in sucking.
He must suckle to learn the skill of nursing. You must nurse him to learn how to be tummy to tummy,
mouth level.
Let him open wide and smush.

You sound fearful, understandable.
Eat much fat, not to mean cabbage like greens right now. Oils and fats avocado, apples oranges, oils nuts seeds sprouts. Eat, drinl, 3-5 cups do not replace meals with this tea thing nurse nurse and eat and nurse.
Imani
eamail me directly if you wan tto talk and I wil call you

[mousebandit]

Bump - just wondered how things are going for you Sherah! You and your blog are an inspiration to me during my high-raw pregnancy! (hmm, maybe I should check your blog for an update, eh? no, I'm not the sharpest crayon in the box when I'm pg!)

Tracey Mouse

[sherahtaylor]

Aaack! I just wrote a long post and then my 3 year old who loves to hang out with mom, leaned over my mouse and did something to completely close my browser. So I lost everything. =(

Bottom line is - I'm doing OK, hanging in here, and remembering that it gets easier when the baby is 2 months old. Or at least, that's what I remember and am hanging on to. He's 7 weeks old now, so almost there. Mostly the lack of sleep is KILLING me - I'm good for nothing during the day, trying to keep up with everything but on the verge of losing it often!

Eating raw definitely helps, so I'm trying to keep up with that too. But anyway, what has helped me is - I've taken 4 tablets of Fenugreek 3 times per day for about 2 weeks. My milk supply is ample for what the baby needs - but I'm still waiting for that 2 month growth spurt that my kids seem to go through, at which point my milk supply usually doesn't perform. So we'll see.

I also have been taking Nettle Tea steeped for 10 hours, twice per day. I ended up discontinuing the Fenugreek because I feel like my milk supply is stable now...and just do the Nettle Tea. I like steeping it for so long because I feel like I'm really getting a good, strong dose of it...the water turns very dark after that amount of time, instead of a week tan-ish color.

Thanks for checking! =)

[rawfoodmommy#1]

You are doing great!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep nursing and eating well.
And what a beautiful baby you have.