Post Punk Kitchen Forum

i have a cold. there isn't much i can take that won't a) get passed through my milk or b) dry my existing supply. i have serious supply issues, so i'm abstaining. has anyone used any of the traditional medicinals cold season herbal teas? are they okay? my doctor is pretty closed minded when it comes to this stuff, and won't give it a thumbs up.

for now, i'm just sipping on celestial seasonings berry zinger.

Are you doing anything to help your supply? I've been nursing for 2 1/2 years now and my supply is starting to dry up so I've been drinking fenugreek tea like woah.

I haven't done medicinal teas, just chamomile & vitamin C lollipops! I normally drink a lot of water with lemon throughout the day and I try to up that as well when I have a cold. Feel better!

i've done all kinds of stuff short of voodoo to increase my supply. rather than driving myself nuts, i supplement with formula. she gets about 70% me and 30% formula throughout the day.

i just wanted feedback on what i could take while i'm sick.

Oil of oregano? Your burps and sweat will smell like pizza, so that could be good or bad, depending on if you like pizza.

I was going to suggest Echinacea, but there are mixed reports on the effects on nursing infants. (Either "We don't know, so stay safe and don't take it" or "We've never heard of complications, so it's probably safe.") Garlic is good. Ginger is good, for sore throat and congestion as well as stomachaches. Commercial elderberry is good too. Fenugreek tea comes highly recommended, but you're probably sick of fenugreek.
I would avoid taking a tea "designed for colds," though. Too many of them want to throw something in there to dry you up, and I wouldn't put it past them to throw an antihistamine in there without noting it specifically.

That's the worst - I'm sorry. I've always been too scared of harming my supply to take anything during colds too. I have found that drinking tons and tons of water made me feel better.

thanks, everyone!

I took some sort of tylenol cold stuff once and it didn't bother my supply at all. But I really only had oversupply issues so probably not any help. Sorry! Hope you feel better!

Chamomile tea with lemon and maybe a shot of agave. Miso broth. Neti pot or long, steamy showers.
Hugs! And cold-repellant vibes to you!

I second the miso broth. Lots of it. And lots of water. And more miso broth. Miso.

Feel better!!!

jewbacca- I am feeling your pain. I have had a sinus thing going on for 3 weeks now. I haven't taken anything because my supply is dwindling plus I don't want to pass anything crazy through my milk. I am hoping to wait it out. I am blocked in one nostril which is totally congested yet runs all day long. What a pain!!

hugs! i wish i could give you the magic bullet, but i've just suffered through. Neti pot helped and i started putting lip balm on my nose, because it got so sore. Extra vitamin c and camomile with ginger was all i felt comfortable trying.

Does fenugreek actually work? I'm suspecting some supply issues as poopiebaby just isn't gaining very rapidly and he nurses a LOT, so I'm trying to figure out what to try first. Are fenugreek tablets better than tea? What about blessed thistle? Should I take them together?

ugh, i feel your pain -- i have been sick for the past two weeks -- but i don't really have any suggestions.

i did notice an increase in supply when i started drinking the mother's milk tea regularly, though.

My LC reccomended taking 3 capsules of fenugreek with each meal. Worked very well for me. And I smelled like a pancake!

They make tinctures too but the alcohol bothered my delicate constitution. I hear they work great though!

the mother's milk tea does work well, i used it during our move, and the stay with my inlaws, when my oversupply went the other way completely. Also fennel in camomile works ok when you are waiting for the mother's milk to come in the mail bc you are in the most conservative town of all time and food lion and piggly wiggly don't have mother's milk tea.

have you been to the kellymom site? you can input all his weights and see how he's gaining. nursing a lot isn't really that indicative of how your supply is doing. he could be having a growth spurt, needing extra comfort, anything really. anyway, that kellymom site has really good info for evaluating whether or not your supply is really having issues.

The Emperor is making me CRAZY lately. We had nightweaned a couple of months ago... then a bunch of shiitake happened. Molars came in, he started walking, he had a cold, my family came to visit, just lots and lots and lots of non-stop excitement. His sleep has deteriorated as a result and part of that deterioration has included a return to night nursing.

The nursing doesn't actually bug me, because I generally sleep through most of it. What DOES bug me is that he doesn't even really want to nurse usually. He just wants me to have the boob out, and then he wants to sorta gently grasp the nipple in between his thumb and index finger. ALL FORKING NIGHT LONG. And THAT wakes me up!

If I put the boob away, he instantly wakes up and starts screaming and rooting around with his face like he wants to nurse. But if I put him on the breast, he'll take four or five sips and then it's right back to grasping the nipple. If I don't give him the breast, he screams and screams and screams until we're ALL totally awake.

I am really not sure what to do about it right now. I miss our night weaning. Anyway, just venting.

Miso!

I had to be on a liquid diet after I had surgery when Zora was seven weeks old and I was terrified I would stop producing milk, so I basically lived off of miso. For variety, I added coconut milk, earth balance, dulse flakes, pepper, nooch, garlic, etc. Even peanut butter. She ended up gaining three pounds in three weeks! I also drank the mother's milk tea, about three a day. Lots of water too.

Good luck- try to do as much self-care as possible and I'm sure the milk will flow!

I can't figure out pumping. I got an ameda purely yours from the hospital (great tip - they gave me a ton of free accessories and I must have saved about $40 from the internet price!) and tried for the 1st time last week. I pumped, from both breasts, maybe 1 ounce. :(

That was last Thursday. I only managed to do it around 8:15 pm. The nurse told me to do it in the morning, since I'm still breastfeeding Kai exclusively and that's when you have the most milk. But he is really hungry and fussy in the morning, plus I'm super tired then because he doesn't sleep at night, so how the heck can I fit it in? I haven't tried again since then.

Also, I don't get the cycle button. Are you supposed to start it fast and then when the milk comes out go slow, then fast again? I'm not sure how to work it. All my milk did last week was drip out a tiny bit.

Does anyone have tips or advice on how to manage this? I'm not going to actually give Kai a bottle for another week or two yet, but I need to build up a supply...

first of all, don't worry! worrying does not help. :)

i definitely have found it true that pumping in the morning gets a lot more milk than pumping at night, so if you can find a way to get it done in the morning that will definitely help. it can be tricky to maneuver, but if you can feed kai on one side & pump on the other side, that might be the way to find the time.

about the cycle thing -- yeah, that's basically it. you don't want to go all the way on the fastest setting or anything, but you want the cycles to be as high as you feel comfortable (turning it up bit by bit until you find the highest level that you are okay with) until the flow starts, then turn it down to slow. when the flow stops again, you turn it back up.

i've also found that the mother's milk tea really does help up the supply; plus, the more you pump the easier it'll get & the more milk you'll get. i think getting a whole ounce the first time you pumped is actually really good! you'll get there, so try not to stress.

you get less milk out pumping than your baby gets nursing. Also, some women just can't pump a lot. I have never pumped more than 3 ounces total from both breasts. Ever. And I have to date 18 months of breastfeeding under my belt.

Something that might help with more milk via pump is larger breast shields. I am not familiar with your brand, but bigger shields (the things your boobs go into) can help yield a lot.

Kai also might be fussier and hungrier due to a growth spurt. cluster feeding is pretty common when they are that wee. Good luck! I hope everything gets easier!

Garlic and hot peppers. I did a lot of Garlic and hot spicy food during my pregnancy and lactation.

I didn't get anything when I started trying to pump. It was so frustrating.

I had a lot of success pumping after I nursed. I did it at times when I had some help. So it was: nurse the baby for 20+ minutes, hand him over to Daddy (or Grandad), pump for 10-20 minutes. Sometimes I got 3 ounces (total) and sometimes I got almost 9 ounces. It seemed to be totally random.

What didn't work was pumping when I "should" be nursing. Pumping a feeding (at the office, for instance) instead of nursing the baby got me very little output. I think my body saw the pump coming and was all, "You can't fool me. This is bullshiitake."

Re: the cycle button. I don't know how it's supposed to work. I just found a speed I liked and stuck with it.

Also, fenugreek worked fantastically well for me, and gave me all kinds of bonus milk. It also made me smell like maple syrup.