Well, we’re at the end of an era in our household.  After nearly 15 months, Weston is officially done drinking breast milk.  After breastfeeding for 13 months, he’s been chugging away at our freezer stash of over 1,500 ounces for the last two months.  Yesterday, he finished the very last drops of that liquid gold.   I feel so blessed and proud that I was able to produce enough milk to make it to this point, so I’m sharing my tips on how to keep your milk supply up and reach your breastfeeding goals.

Breastfeed on Demand

From the moment our tiny baby entered this world, I breastfed on demand.  In the early days, we dealt with cluster feeding, growth spurts, and comfort feeding.  It felt like I was always nursing my baby.  Once he got a little older (I’d say probably around three months), we were on a pretty regular schedule.  But, this was more his doing than mine.  By that time, he would get hungry every 2-3 hours, like clockwork.  I never stuck to a rigid schedule or refused to feed him because, as you may already know, babies are unpredictable.  You never know when they are going through a growth spurt, a developmental leap, or just need some extra lovin’.  My door was always open (and by door I mean the flap of my nursing bra).  Breastfeeding on demand is great way keep to your milk supply up.

Pump on a Schedule

I honestly believe that pumping played a big role in keeping my milk supply up.  Originally, I was pumping in preparation to go back to work.  But, as the weeks of my maternity leave dwindled, I decided to leave my full time job and stay home to raise Weston.  While I consider myself a stay at home mom, I still have a part time job waiting tables in the evenings to help make ends meet (you can read more about how we transformed our budget so that I could stay home here).  With that being said, there were still times when Weston had to be bottle fed with expressed milk.  My best advice is to find a pumping schedule that works for you and stick to it!  Breast milk works by supply and demand.  The more you demand it, the more your body will work to keep your milk supply up.   If you want to see what my pumping schedule looked like, make sure you subscribe to my free resource library!

Don’t Skip a Feeding

Obviously we’re not all stay at home moms.  We can’t all be at our baby’s beck and call every time they want to nurse.  But, you can make sure you keep your supply up by never missing a feeding.  Just because your baby isn’t with you, doesn’t mean you don’t need to express that mama milk.  Make sure to pump for every feeding you miss.  Whether you’re a working mom or a mom who had to leave the house for a day (or a weekend), try not to throw off your supply by skipping pumping sessions.  Remember that part-time job I talked about?  Well, I would miss a feeding while I was at work.  So, I made sure that I was able to pump at least once while I was at work.  Yup, I pumped my breasts in the office of restaurant.  If you’ve ever worked in the restaurant industry, you know this is probably the last place a woman would want to pump.  I relied heavily on my manual pump.  I didn’t have to lug a heavy pump, put lots of parts and pieces together, and I could be in and out within ten minutes.  The manual pump also came in handy at weddings, on road trips, and even at a football tailgate.  Another thing I relied on when I wasn’t with Weston was my hands free pumping bra.  If I was somewhere where I had a little more time to break out the electric pump, this bra was a life saver!  I could pump from both sides at the same time, and have both hands free to do something else (like scroll Pinterest or social media).

Related: How to Choose the Perfect Pump

Nurse through the Night

I know you don’t want to read this, but nursing through the night is so important when you’re trying to keep your milk supply up.  I had so many people tell me to “just feed him a bottle during the night”, but ensuring I was making enough milk was always more important to me.  Here’s the good news, I only nursed through the night when it was necessary to nurse through the night (i.e. Weston needed to be eating).  When he was five months old, our pediatrician assured me that nutritionally speaking, he didn’t need to be nursing all night long.  So, after months of sleepless nights, we decided to sleep train our baby.  You can read all about the life changing experience here.

Educate Yourself

I didn’t do a whole lot of research on breastfeeding before Weston was born.  I knew the basics, but I didn’t want to over complicate it for myself.  But, after he arrived and I found myself sitting on the couch with a baby attached to my boob for a large part of my day, I started to educate myself.  I learned about supply and demand, warning signs that he wasn’t getting enough milk, and all kinds of other breastfeeding information.  Since then, I’ve discovered Milkology.  Milkology is an online video course that walks you through every phase of breastfeeding.  It covers topics like milk supply, latching and positioning, and troubleshooting common breastfeeding issues (just to name a few).  The entire course can be completed in 90 minutes, but you can go at your own pace and refer back to it whenever you like.

Give Yourself a Little Boost

If you’re having trouble keeping your supply up, give yourself a little boost.  There’s this wonderful thing called Amazon that delivers milk making supplies right to your door.  Products like Let There Be Milk, Milk Dust, and Mother’s Milk Lactation Tea are amazing ways to help you easily increase your milk supply.

Eat, Drink and Be Merry

When it comes to keeping your supply up, you have to make sure that you take some time to take care of YOU.  When you have a new baby, it’s easy to let your own needs fall to the wayside.  Be sure that you’re eating healthy, drinking lots of water (I’m talking more water than you’ve ever drank in your life), and reducing stress as much as possible.

Whatever your breastfeeding goals are, I hope that this and some of my other posts can help you reach them.  Don’t forget to connect with me on Facebook and Instagram!  I love meeting other new and expecting moms.

DISCLOSURE: Coffee and Coos is not intended to replace the advice of a medical professional. Always consult your doctor for medical advice.

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