16 Natural Ways to Produce More Breast Milk

Breastfeeding or chestfeeding provides plenty of benefits for you and your baby, but it doesn't always come naturally. Some parents worry they're not producing enough breast milk to sustain their little one. After all, it's not easy to track your milk production and your baby's intake. Below, we summed up the most natural and effective ways to increase breast milk supply.

Keep reading for an in-depth look on our top 16 home remedies and natural solutions.

How to Know You Are Producing Enough Breast Milk

For starters, it helps to know if your breast milk supply could use a boost. Your body will likely make enough milk to meet your baby's nutritional needs—research shows that only 10 to 15 percent of women are unable to produce enough breast milk to provide sufficient nutrition for their babies. Here are several signs that you are, in fact, producing enough breast milk:

• Your baby is swallowing during feedings
• They seem full, tired, or content when they're done with feeding
• They're making regular wet and dirty diapers
• Your baby is growing and gaining healthy weight: Babies gain about 1 ounce every day until about 4 months old, but your baby's weight will be checked by their pediatrician

How to Determine If Your Milk Supply Is Low

The first thing to keep in mind is that crying and fussiness after feedings isn't always related to hunger, so don't worry about milk supply in these cases. Instead, try to find the underlying cause, which could be teething, gas, or other health concerns.

Otherwise, you can track the number of feedings and diaper changes and convey that information to your doctor, who can help determine if your baby is taking in enough nutrients. Keep in mind, too, that your baby's pediatrician will check their growth at each check-up.

If you have concerns about low breast milk supply, don't hesitate to ask for support from your OB-GYN, midwife, or a lactation consultant, and discuss your options. If do you want to breastfeed, try not to give up without first experimenting with different potential solutions, which might include supplementing with formula.

How to Increase Breast Milk Supply

Boosting your breast milk supply at home typically begins with nipple stimulation and increased milk removal. But you also need to address the most common causes of low milk supply, such as not eating and drinking enough, feeling fatigued, being stressed, and nursing too infrequently. Read on to learn more home remedies for increasing your breast milk production naturally.

1. Eat a nutritious diet

Breastfeeding and making breast milk requires a good amount of energy. So, to build up a healthy milk supply, fuel your body with well-balanced meals and healthy snacks.

Following a healthy diet plan, like an anti-inflammatory diet or the Mediterranean diet, can ensure you're getting proper nutrition. Choose meals heavy on fruits and vegetables, whole grains like brown rice, foods rich in omega-3s like salmon and flaxseeds, and vegetable proteins. Add some milk-boosting foods such as oatmeal, dark green veggies, and almonds to your daily diet to help you get those much-needed extra calories.

Most breastfeeding people aim for about 2,000 to 2,800 calories per day, but your health care provider can give you more definitive advice since your specific caloric needs will vary based on your height, weight, metabolism, and physical activity.

2. Drink plenty of water

Breast milk is made up of about 90% water, so don't forget to drink enough fluids every day. People who are breastfeeding should drink an extra eight cups of water a day, in addition to the recommended eight, 8-ounce glasses per day for adults. If you're feeling thirsty, drink more. And if you're dizzy, or you have a headache or a dry mouth, those are signs you might not be drinking enough.

One way to ensure you're getting enough fluids is to drink a glass of water with every meal and nursing session. Likewise, you can try eating foods that contain a lot of water like watermelon, cucumbers, and berries to help you stay hydrated.

3. Sleep whenever possible

Get restorative sleep as often as possible and nap during the day when the baby is sleeping. (That saying about sleeping when the baby sleeps is not just an old wives' tale!)

Getting enough rest helps your body to recover from pregnancy and childbirth—and prompts your body to produce more breast milk. Meanwhile, the lack of sleep can negatively impact your milk production, so it's important to prioritize sleep as much as you can.

4. Find ways to stress less

Learning to breastfeed can be challenging, and it's understandable to feel stressed about your breast milk supply. But being chronically stressed can impact your milk production—especially when you have lots of body processes competing for limited resources.

Regularly practice healthy stress-reduction techniques and activities, such as breath work, yoga, light exercise, talking with friends, self-care, and relaxation. Also, be patient with yourself as you work on building up your breast milk production.

5. Delegate what you can

Feel free to let go of household chores. Caring for your baby and yourself, including making time for calming activities, is more important than whether the dishes or laundry are done. You can also ask for help with household duties from friends, family, or cleaning services.

Ordering takeout on occasion can also help you save energy. Research shows that when breastfeeding parents don't have a support system, their success with breastfeeding dwindles.

6. Breastfeed often

Breastfeeding works on a supply-and-demand system. What does this mean? The more often and the longer your baby latches on to suck, the more milk you'll produce. If you're having trouble getting comfortable or finding a position that works, a lactation consultant can teach you the proper techniques.

You also should plan to feed your baby pretty consistently—especially in those first few weeks. Expect to breastfeed every two to four hours around the clock. If this time has passed since your last feeding, you should consider waking your baby up to feed (though you can stop this practice as they grow, based on recommendations from your health care provider).

The bottom line is—your body makes more breast milk when your baby nurses at the breast. If you skip feedings or give your little one formula instead of breastfeeding, you aren't telling your body that you want it to make more breast milk. Your supply will decline unless you pump in place of that feeding.

7. Use both breasts

Additionally, make sure you're breastfeeding from both sides during the first few weeks, as it will help to build up a stronger supply of breast milk. You just want to be sure to alternate the breast you start breastfeeding on each time you feed your baby since the first breast usually gets more stimulation.

If you always start on the same side, that breast may make more milk and become larger than that other one. After the first few weeks, when you feel comfortable with the amount of breast milk that you're producing, you can continue to breastfeed from both sides or breastfeed from just one side at each feeding.

8. Talk to a health care provider about herbal remedies

Some health practitioners swear by herbal remedies such as fenugreek and ginger to boost milk production. Fenugreek is available both as an herb, which can be made into a tea, and a supplement. People have long used fenugreek to produce more breast milk, but there are limited studies on its safety for both parent and baby.

There's also some evidence that ginger may increase milk production. Consider chopping or grating fresh ginger into some of your favorite dishes or making tea out of it. Ginger is even available in oils, capsules, tinctures, and extracts.

While there is a rich history of use for these agents, there have been only a few human studies on their safety and effectiveness. Be sure to check with your healthcare provider and your baby's pediatrician before using any supplements.

9. Try breast compression

Breast compression involves using your hand to manually massage and compress your breast in order to remove milk. This technique is useful if your breasts are engorged and you need to remove some breast milk, but you can also use it when you have a sleepy baby who isn't effective at nursing yet. It's also a way to remove more breast milk from the breast when you're using a breast pump.

Try gently compressing your breast while your baby is feeding to keep the milk flowing. Of course, this approach will take some trial and error—especially since you don't want to express more milk than your baby can handle.

If you prefer, you could try hand expressing your milk once your baby has finished eating and storing it for later use. The more milk you release at a time, the more your body will produce for the next feeding.

10. Consider limiting caffeine

If you find that you need to produce more breast milk, you can also make a few simple lifestyle changes like reducing the amount of caffeine you consume. While caffeine may not directly impact your breast milk supply, its impact on you—and your baby—could lead to milk supply issues. For instance, caffeine is a natural diuretic, which means it could lead to dehydration if you drink too much.

Likewise, your baby may refuse to nurse if you drink too much caffeine. And having too much coffee or soda could impact your sleep, which in turn can alter your milk supply. In fact, one study found that drinking caffeine six hours before bed reduced total sleep time by one hour. While you don't have to completely eliminate coffee from your diet, you may want to limit it while trying to increase your milk production.

11. Massage your breasts

Massaging your breasts between feedings also may help you produce more breast milk. For instance, one study found that using circular breast massage increased the amount of breast milk produced by nearly 23%. It also is useful in decreasing breast pain and swelling.

To massage your breasts, you want to choose a comfortable and quiet place with soft music. You can start by placing warm washcloths on the breasts. Then, place one hand on top of a breast and place the other hand below the breast. Gently massage back and forth, moving your hands in opposite directions. If you find that your hands don't move as well across your skin as you might like, you can use a small amount of olive oil to promote movement.

12. Boost skin to skin contact

Originally a treatment for premature babies, skin-to-skin contact has many benefits for full-term newborns, too. Skin-to-skin, also called kangaroo care, is a way to hold a baby. The child, wearing only a diaper and a hat, is placed on the parent's bare chest and covered with a blanket. The direct skin-to-skin contact lowers a baby's stress, improves their breathing, and regulates their body temperature.

Skin-to-skin also encourages bonding, and it's great for breastfeeding. Studies show that kangaroo care can encourage a baby to breastfeed longer, and help a parent to make more breast milk.

13. Use a breast pump

While it may seem counterintuitive at first, pumping or expressing milk frequently between nursing sessions can increase your milk supply. Many first-time parents worry that pumping will deplete milk for their baby, but your body will simply produce more. Talk to your health care provider or a lactation consultant to determine when you should start pumping.

14. Evaluate your baby's latch

Make sure that your baby is latching on to your breast correctly. Latching your baby on properly is the most efficient way to increase your supply. A poor latch is often the main reason a parent's supply of breast milk isn't as abundant as it can be. Without a proper latch, your baby cannot remove the milk from your breast well.

However, when your baby is latched on correctly and draining the milk from your breast, it stimulates your body to produce more. If you are not sure how to determine if your baby is latching on correctly, talk to your doctor or contact a local lactation consultant.

15. Hold off on the pacifier

Studies show that breastfed babies can use a pacifier. However, it's best to wait until after your milk supply is well established before starting to use one. If you give your newborn a pacifier during the early days of breastfeeding, they might not be nursing as much as they would without one.

When your baby seems to want the pacifier, put them to the breast instead. The additional nursing will help to increase your breast milk production. You can then introduce the pacifier once you've built up your milk supply. 

Now, there are certainly some babies who can benefit from the use of a pacifier right from the beginning, and that's OK, too. Only you, your partner, and your baby's doctor will know what's right for your family.

16. Work with a lactation consultant

A lactation consultant can teach you techniques and positions for nursing your little one. Often, simple, slight shifts in your baby's latch and how you hold them can make a world of difference. Your baby's pediatrician and other nursing parents can also offer helpful guidance.

The key is that you reach out for help early rather than waiting until the situation seems insurmountable. Making little changes here and there can help you build a milk supply that nourishes your baby and meets your needs for storage.