Marie writes:
: In my neverending quest to find *something* that will increase my milk
: supply, I am currently taking: 80mg of domperidone/day, 16 capsules of
: Fenugreek/day and 16 capsules of Blessed Thistle/day. SIGH All this, and
: I'm still oly making *maybe* 1/2 of what I need for my twin boys. While I
: can't find anything definitive--I'm not sure I can/should increase my
: Fenugreek or Blessed Thistle (if any of you know what the max dosage should
: be, please let me know), so I've been trying to find other things I can add
: to my regime that may help.

: Today I read something that suggested raspberry leaf, fennel, and brewer's
: yeast may help. Has anyone had any experience with any of these? What
: about Milk Thistle (something else someone recommended)? I'm wondering
: about dosage, and any side-effects/interactions I should be worried about.

: Any other ideas for increasing supply? The boys *still* haven't latched on,
: so I'm struggling to increase through pumping alone.

: Actually, that raises another question--even if they don't latch, could it
: help supply if they just kinda lie there? I'll put them to my breast and
: they'll mouth it/lick it/fall asleep on it--just not latch DOUBLE SIGH

: TIA

: Marie
: Chris and Alex--born 04/23/03 @ 31 wks gestational.


OK. if they are not latching well, then you must be pumping. What is your
nursing and pumping schedule. I think you are taking enough herbals, so that
if you are recieving adequate nursign stimulation you should be producing
adequate milk.

How well do they latch, if at all? How long do they nurse? How often/many
times a day do you nurse them? Do you pump? Do you feed them EBM? Do you
use a lact-aid or SNS? Do you feed by bottle? (If so, get rid of it.)
How much EBM, and how much formula (if any) do you feed them a day? These
are the kinds of questions we need detailed answers to do give you any
useful help.

Now for some other ralated suggestions to increase your supply.

1. Drink plenty of water. Normally this would mean at least 12 oz (350 ml)
every 2 hours. Keep a sports bottle by your bed at night. With twins, you
may want to drink more.

2. Get plenty of rest. Especially with twins! Nap whenever they do. Don't
do housework, errands, or cook. Let Dh do it all, of if you can, hire help.
Spend a much time in bed with the twins as possible. Lot's of skin to skin
contact, lots of nursing.

3. Nurse as often as possible. Even if it is only comfort nursing.

These things are just as important as the herbals in increasing supply.

Give us a speedy answer and we will try to offer more help.

Larry