My top 3 tips for natural breastfeeding support

When I birthed my first baby, I remember being shocked at how much milk my body was producing. Here are three easy things I did every day that significantly supported my body as it produced milk.

I ate.

I know, it sounds simple. But our culture has this “you need to bounce back” mindset that is generally focused on losing baby weight once your baby is outside of your body.

Here’s the thing, though. There have been zero studies done on what type of nutrition and caloric intake a breastfeeding woman needs. There have, however, been studies done on what type of nutrition breastfeeding farm animals need—cows, for example. That research showed that in some cases, the mother animal needed up to double the caloric intake she required prior to producing milk. A body producing food for another body needs a lot of nutrients.

Woman. Eat.

You burn roughly 500 extra calories a day while you are feeding a baby, if you have a normal supply. If you have an oversupply, you’re burning more than that.

This is not a season where I was overly concerned about losing baby weight. My body was sustaining me, and producing milk to sustain another human being, and it could only do that if it was well fed.

I didn’t follow any special meal plan. I focused on protein and prioritized nourishing whole foods (meat, veggies, fruit, etc) over processed foods. I also ate the occasional donut. :)

I drank.

My goal every day was to drink the equivalent of three or four 32-ounce Nalgene water bottles, so between 100 and 120 ounces of water.

Some of that hydration came from tea (iced and hot), lemon water, and at least once per day I drank an electrolyte replacement. I never counted coffee.

For me, being well hydrated was one of the biggest factors in keeping a healthy supply, and I most quickly noticed a dip in my supply when I was dehydrated.

I supplemented.

I was more intentional with supplements after birth than I was even when pregnant, mostly because the pregnancy-nausea was gone. :) But also, a body sustaining another body needs nutrients.

In terms of breastfeeding-specific supplements, I began taking Legendairy Milk’s Sunflower Lecithin* as soon as Hannah was born. I took a maintenance dose of two capsules per day, and never had an issue with a clog or mastitis, even after more than a year of daily breastfeeding. If you do experience a clog, you can increase the dose to help it clear.

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.