When Breastfeeding Seemed Impossible {and how herbs made it happen}
Breastfeeding my babies has never really come easily for me.
In fact, with my fourth baby breastfeeding felt impossible.
Nearly three years ago, our son was born as plump and healthy-looking as you please. Within a few weeks, all his little dimples and rolls had disappeared and I had a very skinny baby on my hands. I spent many frantic weeks researching, reading, and learning all I could to help our son thrive and grow.
My researching led me to believe our baby’s health issues stemmed from a digestive problem caused from food allergies. In time, my hunch proved to be right. (That, in a nutshell, is how our family became gluten-free.)
During the first four months of his life, our son’s weak digestive system simply could not assimilate enough nutrients from my breast milk to meet his nutritional needs. Much to my dismay, a lot of what he did take in came back up through projectile reflux.
Although our little guy was nursing around the clock, he was hungry nearly all the time. Through this grueling process, I simply could not keep up a milk supply that satisfied my baby’s insatiable hunger. He cried and fussed for more after every feeding; I cried along with him.
It became very apparent that our son needed a supplement, and we were blessed to have access to raw goat’s milk. (By this time, our baby was being treated by a certified homeopath, and I was on a strict allergy-friendly diet.) Within a few days of beginning the goat’s milk supplement, our son gained four ounces.
I cried, this time for pure joy. It had been weeks since he had retained any measurable weight gain.
We had a long road of healing ahead of us, but today our son is a thriving, healthy toddler. And wouldn’t you know, I had the hardest time weaning him… at twenty-two months old!
Despite my best efforts, I honestly believe successful breastfeeding would have been impossible without Maxi Milk tincture, from Mountain Meadow Herbs.
This tincture literally made the difference in whether or not I was able to continue nursing our son, especially since my body simply could not keep up with the demand.
Yes, I had to supplement our baby for a long time while his digestive tract healed.
But it was so rewarding to be able to continue to breastfeed, even if I didn’t feel like my supply was what it should have been.
I’ve recommended Maxi Milk to several of my mommy friends because this tincture is the nursing mother’s best friend!
I am breastfeeding our fifth baby now; he is six weeks old and my milk supply is better than it’s ever been. In fact, my milk came in two days postpartum. That is next to miraculous for me!
I love breastfeeding my babies and really love finding herbal products that make it possible.
Do you have a favorite herb or natural product for nursing mothers?
Further reading: The Importance of Breastfeeding, What Every Mama Should Know About Breast Milk
Hi Kiristy Im going to try Maxi Milk also to help my supply issues, just not sure how:) How did you use the tincture? Straight, mixed with water, right before every feeding? Thank u 🙂
I also found maxi milk to work brilliantly-I’ve used it since baby number 2 (we’re 6 & counting now, lol!)
Wonderful! Thanks for commenting, Maureen!
Thank you for sharing. We’ve got so many readers that struggle with this – we’re sharing the post with them!
Thank you for sharing, ladies!
I am still struggling with bfing our almost 4 month old. I discovered that drinking Mothers Milk Tea lead to mastitis, but taking Fenugreek helps a ton.
I’m so glad the fenugreek is helping, Jen!
I could have written this! My 4th was very difficult to get enough milk and I had to supplement a lot. If I had not nursed 3 other babies 1 year each, I would have thought I wasn’t capable and given up. It took a lot of determination and hard work, but he’s now growing like a weed! Now that he’s eating solids (as much or more than his 2 yr old brother), I can see he has a really fast metabolism and he’s finally sleeping, but it was tough there for a long time. I cried a lot thinking I was starving my baby.
When I had to build up my supply, I tried everything all at once. 🙂 I drank 3-5 cups of Mother’s Milk Tea from BulkHerbStore, oatmeal for breakfast, 2-3 eggs, tons of broccoli, a Guiness every night and 4-6 cups of water. This was my daily routine! I felt like I was swimming sometimes from the sheer amount of liquid I was having to ingest. In addition to this, I nursed every other hour whether he wanted to or not then pumped 10-20 min when he was done. Every time. It took about 3 days of this regimen before I started to see results, but it worked.
I still have to drink the tea and lots of water, but he’s not that skinny, lethargic baby anymore. He’s getting rolls again and has lots of energy to play. I am so thankful for people like you who get the word out about how wonderful herbs can be!
Sarah, thanks so much for sharing your story! Sometimes breastfeeding truly does require A LOT of extra time and effort, but it is totally worth it. So very happy that your little man is doing so well!
I tried drinking Mother’s Milk tea (from the Bulk Herb Store) but didn’t like the taste. So I grind up the tea and put it in pills. I take 3pills 3 times a day. I have also taken the tincture but in a pill form. I find on days I drink a lot of water my baby feeds better. Lastly I occasionally make lactation cookies, which have oats, flax seed and nuritional yeast. They really increase my milk, taste yummy and go straight to my hips, lol.
Ashlei, thank you for these great tips! I’ve never made lactation cookies but would love to try them! Do you have a recipe you could share?
The peaceful parenting website has a recipe for lactation cookies. I use them too, and they have really helped my milk production and general feeling of well being while feeding my 5 month old.
Thank you for sharing this. My sister-in-law struggled with not producing enough milk, and she had twins to feed. It was heartbreaking to watching because her babies were constantly screaming for more! She ended up giving up and switching to formula after trying everything a lactation specialist told her to do. But I know she didn’t try anything like this. It is great to know there are things like this out there to help just this sort of issue
Amy Joy, I can’t imagine breastfeeding twins… that borders on heroism! 🙂
Raw goat’s milk has been such a blessing to our babies. I’ve had to supplement four of our five children at some point during their infancy, and raw goat’s milk is so gentle on their tummies (unlike formula which made our first baby very colicky). I love it!
lol- I breastfed my twins for a year, and never any problems. But ironically I did have trouble with my singleton. I tried ALL the tricks I knew, but in the end I found I needed to eat a LOT more (and not junk food, lots of real hearty food), and not even THINK about loosing weight. My two month old can wear 6 month clothes, so I know it’s because he’s growing a lot.