If you are breatfeeding your baby on demand, you are most likely producing enough milk.

However, should you have any concerns that you do not have enough milk look for the signs that indicate that your baby is getting enough  – such as weight gain, alertness, sleep and general mood. (as well as urination and bowl movements in the early days)

These 6 tips might help you can increase your breastmilk supply :

1.  Avoid all kinds of artifical nipples (bottles or soothers).  All sucking should be at the breast.

2. Additional use of a breastpump may help to stimulate supply.

3. Herbs, such as Fenugreek, Goats Rue, Blessed Thistle and Fennel Seed have been known for centuries to help increase breastmilk supply.

4. Skin to skin contact with your baby will help stimulate your prolactin; invest in a soft sling which will allow skin contact between you both.

5. Co-rooming (and night time feeding) has also been shown to help with supply.

6. Diet – make sure you are getting enough rest, drinking enough and following a lactogenic diet.

If  you are concerned for you baby consult your healthcare professional.

1. Baby’s nursing is characteristic

A baby who is obtaining good amounts of milk at the breast sucks in a very characteristic way. When a baby is getting milk (he is not getting milk just because he has the breast in his mouth and is making sucking movements), you will see a pause at the point of his chin after he opens to the maximum and before he closes his mouth, so that one suck is (open mouth wide–>pause–>close mouth). If you wish to demonstrate this to yourself, put your index or other finger in your mouth and suck as if you were sucking on a straw. As you draw in, your chin drops and stays down as long as you are drawing in. When you stop drawing in, your chin comes back up. This same pause that is visible at the baby’s chin represents a mouthful of milk when the baby does it at the breast. The longer the pause, the more the baby got. Once you know about the pause you can cut through so much of the nonsense breastfeeding mothers are being told—like feed the baby twenty minutes on each side. A baby who does this type of sucking (with the pauses) for twenty minutes straight might not even take the second side. A baby who nibbles (doesn’t drink) for 20 hours will come off the breast hungry.