Fenugreek to increase supply??

[cosmic]

I have just bought some Fenugreek to help with my milk supply. I thought it was common knowledge that it helps, but the chemist phoned a naturopath who told her that it doesn't. hmmm... anyone know for sure? I bought it anyway. :)

SO... what I want to know is. Have you used it? Did it help? How much do you need to take? (the bottle says one tab x 3 times a day but that's for bronchial infections! :D) And most importantly how long does it take to work??!

Thanks.

[munchkin05]

i bought it on advice from lac comsultant

but i never got around to using it cause i spoke to a few mums that had used it and they said it works great but you have a weird horriable body odour from it

i ended up getting some med from my doc on advice from aba and i used then for 2 weeks and ive never had a problem with my supply since

[sopolicha]

I used it with DD1. I think it does work, I can't remember the dosage, but I do remember thinking that I started to smell like celery.

Blessed Thistle is another one that apparently works better than the fenugreek.

(Maxalon works a real treat, almost immediately, but can understand if you want to stay natural)

[cheezelkat]

I've heard wonderful things about Fenugreek - and because you have to take it in large doses, you smell like maple syrup.

[annb]

I took it, didnt smell like syrup tho!! It might hav worked but maybe my supply just increased of its own accord and I thought it was the fenugreek...I was still b/f 9mths later so something worked!

[Harmony83]

I knew a mum that took fenugreek and blessed thistle (sp?) and swears by them!!

[Tamz]

apparently using it with blessed thistle makes it work a treat :)
also have some mothers tea and make oatmeal coookies.when i went back to work i would have oatmeal cookies for morning tea - tha helped iwth my supply too! :thumbsup:

TAmz

[Frazzled]

I didn't try and meds or herbal remedies but wish i had. Make sure you really take good care of your self and eat lots and drink heaps of water. I now know this was my problem. I remember reading the weight watchers guide for lactating mothers and i nearly died at the amount they suggested to eat - while aiming to lose weight - let alone normally! It was five times as much as i was eating.

Sustagen drinks, cashew nuts and stout are all suggestions i have heard that work. A friend of mine was taking some med that they CHN suggested and it worked for two weeks but she then ended up the same within a fortnight. (i dont remember what it was?)

Good luck Cosmic, and congratulations - a beautiful name for a beautiful angel i am sure!

[Spewiesmum]

I tried it and it didn't work but I had a quality of milk issue to contend with as well. My doctor suggested it and a naturopath also suggested blessed thistle.

Good luck.

[Goosie22]

Hi,
It does work but it is usually recommended after the intitial stimulation period unless you have seperation problems(special care or sick). Unrestricted access to the breast in the early stages is usually all that is needed and remember its usually to feel like you are feeding all the time with no relief the first weeks are the hardest.

The dose depends on what kind of Fenugreek you buy. I have been told that some times you take a loading dose then keep on with 1000mg x 3 day, others have said 80mg was enough, probably best to get some advice from a naturopath, herbalist.

Herbal (http://www.kellymom.com/herbal/milksupply/herbal-rem_j.html) ways to increase your milk.

G:)

[cosmic]

Good luck Cosmic, and congratulations - a beautiful name for a beautiful angel i am sure!
Thanks Kate. :) And everyone else for your advice. I got some from the chemist. They didn't have blessed thistle but I will try the health food store.

Goosie - I don't have the problem of bub at my boob constantly - quite the opposite. She has 6 feeds a day (she's 5 weeks old) and has always been a short feeder but has lately become more and more fussy and whingey at the breast. She is gaining weight very, very slowly (birth weight at 4 weeks) which I know is not the most important thing since she has wet nappies, is sleeping well etc. But she doesn't really have a lot of contented 'awake' time.. if she's awake, she's usually grizzling for food or to go to sleep. That's the condensed version.. and I know there are other issues like fast flow, slow let down etc etc.. that I am working on as well - but in the meantime my breasts really aren't getting enough stimulation to keep producing I don't think. So I'm treating supply as an issue even if it's not.

oh.. and I am giving her much more access to the boob (getting rid of the dummy!) but usually if it's not for food, she rejects the boob and whinges. Sucks happily on the dummy for comfort! :rolleyes: (we only introduced it for a terrible sleeping problem we were having with her but that is a whole other story and thank god it's over!!)

[Priscilla]

Hi there,

I just wanted to share what increased my supply. I didn't actually needed my supply to increase as Cameron is nine months now. My mum had always just mentioned (through conversation not because she was hinting or anything) that fish is good for breastmilk as it increases supply among other things.

Anyway, my father is a keen fisherman and one night he and his mates caught a bucket load of fish. So we basically ate fish for the next week. Luckily we love fish. We had steamed fish, baked fish, fried fish, battered fish, fish stew, fish soup, fish pasta......

After only a few days, my boobs became engorged again. It was painful enough the first time but I never imagined it would get that bad again - esp when my son is nearly one!

Give it a go but I have to warn you that you have to love fish as with most things, you shouldn't force yourself. We made a big batch of fish soup (with the fish heads, carrot and tofu) and drank some at just about every dinner and lunch.

Just keep in mind, that different things work with different people. My supply increased only after a few days....... l

[draught]

Cosmic
Following on from the fish recommendation is one my lc gave me - not to increase your supply but to improve the quality of the milk and that is to increase your intake of animal protein - basically to include meat of some description with each meal. She talked about having savoury mince for breakfast instead of cereal, a sausage roll as your morning tea snack, etc, etc, etc. I certainly noticed a difference in the early days of feeding DD2 on the days that I included more animal protein with my lunchtime meal - my evenings were much calmer - so it is worth a try.

[Tamz]

also another thing. when i had a low supply at the start, i was having to top up with formula. i started to co-sleep with DS and he used me as a dummy. with in 3days i chucked away all the formula!!!!

i think co-sleeping is a great way to help with supply, it depends if your keen on it or not :)

good luck

Tamz

[cosmic]

Thanks everyone.

The meat at each meal sounds like a much more palatable option than the fish! :laughing: Not that I don't like fish mind you.. but I don't like it THAT much!

Tamz, I'm a big fan of co-sleeping. Funny thing is that Annabelle sleeps really contentedly in her cot (next to our bed) so I have been putting her in there for the most part and only bringing her in with us if she is taking a while to settle. Even when she is in bed with us, she doesn't really feed any more often than she would normally. I wonder if her being near me might help to produce those milk-making hormones though.

[claireh05]

Hi Cosmic,

Hope things are going better for you with the feeding. I know you have had a lot of good advice from other bub hub members but I was wondering if you had tried seeing a lactation consultant? I had a similar problem to you - I had major trouble with supply from the word go and my bub put on weight very slowly from about 1 month. I wonder if my supply came in properly at all. Anyway, she was doing the same, fussing while feeding, never content etc but I found the lactation consultants at my local clinic to be very good and also my doctor. They were able to watch my daughter feed and see if they could find the problem.

In fact, one of the problems was that my daughter wasn't sleeping properly and was using me to put herself to sleep and consequently was taking 'little sips' rather than a proper drink and that was affecting my supply. SO, we sorted out the sleep issues first and that helped a bit.

While sorting the sleep issues out I also did the fenugreek tablets (12 a day at one point - yuk!), more protein, resting, expressing milk in the night when my daughter missed a feed but unfortunately, it didn't work for me. However, my doctor put me on Maxalon which really helped - that really increased my supply. There was a huge difference for a while.

WHile in the end, it didn't work out for me and my bub couldn't keep the supply up I had to supplement with formula, the help I got allowed me to get to 4 months before I had to start supplementing, something that I was so happy with because I thought we would have to supplement at 1 month. Also, my doctor assured me at the time that many women respond to the fenugreek and other methods of increasing supply and most definitely the maxalon. So, its worth going to see a lactation consultant or your doctor to get help with your supply if you feel you need it.

Good luck and holler out if you need any more help from us all.

Claire :)

Good luck

[Funkychicken]

Hi Cosmic,
I was having a few issues with supply about 2 months ago and did the following:
Fenugreek supplement (which I wholeheartedly believe in, having taken it)

Taking Hamish to bed throughout the night-again!

Drinking heaps of water. (I mean heaps!)

Letting my milk flow freely. When I feed from one side and the other side lets down, I loosely hold a cloth nappy over my other boob. I learnt not to use pressure to stop this flow-it inhibits the flow.

Rest as often as possible. Forget the housework, it will always be there-but your bubba will grow quickly.

Try really hard not to let it get to you. Relax and don't stress-you are a fantastic mother who is doing the best job she can possibly do!

Good luck!:thumbsup:

[cosmic]

Well, I have started on the fenugreek and also have been expressing and it seems to have worked already! Either that or just the fact that I have been putting her to the breast much more often.. or perhaps a bit of both. I am actually now wondering if there ever really was a supply problem.

Claire, I spoke to a lactation consultant on Saturday who said my supply could be deteriorating because Annabelle is only feeding 6 times a day (the bare minimum apparently) but I also ended up speaking to two separate ABA counsellors (and got an email from another one.. I was very desperate :o) who all said that it sounds like it's not a supply problem at all.

Anyway.. now I'm staying off the fenugreek and hopefully just the more frequent feeding and some expressing and lots of water and rest etc will do the trick to keep it up.

We are still having dramas at pretty much every feed but I have also decided not to give her any more EBM in a bottle since I'm sure that is compounding the problem.

Thanks for the tips everyone. It's amazing how some people say they know nothing about Fenugreek (even an ABA Counsellor!) but so many other people have had great success with it!

[claireh05]

Great to hear things are going well Cosmic! Yeah - I spoke to quite a few ABA councellors too - in addition to the lactation consultant AND my doctor!- you kind of panic don't you?! I mean - how do we know what's right and what's not? I had no clue when my little bub was born!

Glad that it has all worked out. Enjoy your time breastfeeding!:smiliedance: