A word about breastfeeding as well as a plea :)

I was reading in my new favorite book this morning and thought of my friend Teyerra and how I was going to email her this list about how to get your milk supply good. Then I thought, why not post it?

But first I want to give credit to the book. It's called Large Family Logistics by Kim Brenneman. It's only 16.32 on Amazon with the super shipping. So I would recommend buying TWO and giving one to a friend :) If you are a home maker, stay at home mom, thinking about homeschooling, have one or more kids, this book is for YOU. If you have ever struggled with keeping your house clean, felt disorganized, struggled with when and how to get things done and still be able to spend time with your little ones, this book is for YOU.

I want to plead with you to get this book. It has changed the way my house is run in so many ways. She speaks in an easy to read, straight forward manner. She walks you through step by step how to run a household. It's beautiful.

Okay, in her chapter Baby Balance (she talks about how she nursed/weaned each of her nine kids and the different approaches she used) she has a list of ways to increase your milk supply. So I'm just going to put them here.

- Herbal teas such as More Milk Plus and Mother's Milk (find in the organic section at Kroger).
- Fenugreek- two capsules three times a day.
- Alfalfa tablets or liquid.
- Brewers Yeast tablets.
- Oats and/or rice in the diet.
- A tall glass of water or herbal tea each time you sit down with the baby.
- Nutrients that you might be low on include protein, zinc, essential fatty acids (primrose oil, flax oil, cod liver oil, borage oil, walnut oil.)
- Nurse/pump every two house; nurse and then pump.
- "Power Pumping" --- pump for ten minutes, rest for ten minutes, on and off for one hour once a day.
- Going longer than three hours between nursings or pumping is detrimental to milk production -- even affecting how much milk you will produce in the future for an older baby.
- Babies need to eat more frequently in the very early morning hours and again in the late afternoon

I thought all of these were very interesting.

The one about going longer between feedings worries me because Aria is sleeping 10-12 hours at night. I'm praying that won't affect my milk supply too badly. I'm also pumping first thing in the morning to avoid drying up as well as drinking Mother's Milk about once a day. Since it's summer time I am icing it. I brew it with a little bit of honey and then put a bit of lemon in it and then ice it. It's delicious.