As we all know, breastmilk is the best food for babies, and breastmilk contains plenty of energy. It provides all the nutrients a baby needs up to the age of 6 months, half of the nutrients a baby needs between the ages of 6 and 12 months, and one-third of the nutrients a baby needs between the ages of 12 and 24 months. Breastmilk contains the right kinds of nutrients that are easily absorbed by babies. For example, the protein in breast milk, mostly easy to digest whey protein, breast milk fat, containing enough essential fatty acids, lipase, conducive to the baby’s brain development, and easy to absorb, breast milk lactose, easy to absorb, and can promote the growth of lactobacilli in the intestinal tract, breast milk also contains a variety of vitamins and minerals. In addition, breast milk also contains many anti-infective substances, equivalent to the baby’s life in the first dose of vaccine, which is any other baby food, including formula, does not have. It is also important to note that when breastfeeding, it enhances the intimate bond between mom and baby, which is conducive to the establishment of parent-child attachment. There are also many other benefits of breastfeeding, such as being less prone to allergies, economical and convenient. Based on the benefits of breastfeeding, the World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months and recommends that breastfeeding be continued until at least 2 years of age. However, during the process of breastfeeding, mothers may encounter various problems that make breastfeeding unsuccessful, and one of the more common is the problem of insufficient breastmilk. Should I add formula milk if I don’t have enough breastmilk? Or give up breastfeeding? I believe that many mothers have had the experience of breastfeeding, and there are many ways to promote breastfeeding, some through traditional Chinese medicine methods of lactation, lactation, and eating some lactation food, such as carp soup, pig’s trotters soup, mash and egg soup, etc., these methods of milk secretion of some mothers is really helpful, but it is not necessarily applicable to every mother. Some mothers after a variety of methods of lactation, milk is still not enough, so there are often mothers consulting that my breast milk is not enough, how to do, should I add milk powder ah, should I cut off the breast milk, artificial feeding ah? In fact, studies have shown that as long as the mother has balanced nutrition, she can produce enough milk. There is no need to consume too much liquid. Even a moderately malnourished mom can produce enough milk. Therefore, when you encounter the problem of insufficient breast milk, don’t add formula milk easily, because adding formula milk may cause even less breast milk to be produced. What’s more, don’t just give up breastfeeding. So, what should we do? To solve this problem, first we need to know how babies get breastmilk? How does a baby get breastmilk? When a baby is hungry, it will instinctively turn its head around to look for the nipple, and when the nipple touches the baby’s mouth, the baby will open its mouth to suck. When the baby sucks, sensory impulses are transmitted from the nipple to the brain, causing the anterior pituitary gland to secrete prolactin and the posterior pituitary gland to secrete oxytocin. Prolactin secreted by the anterior pituitary gland travels through the bloodstream to the breast, where it acts on lactation cells to produce milk, which is stored in the glandular alveoli. Prolactin secreted by the posterior pituitary gland then acts on the muscle cells around the alveoli to squeeze out the milk already stored in the alveoli so that the baby can get milk. So, for your baby to get more milk, you need to rely on your baby’s sucking to produce more prolactin, which produces more milk. At the same time, there is a substance in breast milk that inhibits lactation cells from secreting milk when a large amount of milk remains in the breast, which is actually a protective mechanism. If for some reason you have to stop breastfeeding, this mechanism can effectively protect the mother from overfilling her breasts and reduce distress such as breast swelling. But when it is necessary to increase breast milk production, the breasts need to be emptied to eliminate the inhibitory effect of this substance on lactation. In other words, it is necessary to rely on the baby’s suckling to produce oxytocin and empty the excess milk. So, it is actually the baby’s suckling that really controls breast milk production. A baby not getting enough breastmilk is often because the baby is not sucking enough or is not sucking effectively, and is rarely the cause of insufficient breastmilk production. When the baby is in the right position and sucking effectively, both mom and baby should be comfortable and enjoying themselves. If the baby’s posture is not correct and the breast is not well latched, it will lead to poor milk flow and the baby will suckle more vigorously in order to get milk. Sometimes even vigorously pulling the nipple, and the breast will be damaged and painful as a result, causing the mother to feel intimidated every time she breastfeeds, and the bad mood will affect the production of oxytocin, exacerbating the poor milk flow. In such a vicious circle, the baby may cry more than once while breastfeeding, or even refuse to breastfeed, or have to suck for a long time and remain unsatisfied, resulting in a false breastmilk insufficiency, which, due to the obstruction of breastmilk discharge, leads to more residual breastmilk in the breast, which in turn affects the secretion of breastmilk, and finally really becomes insufficient breastmilk. Therefore, good breastfeeding is crucial for successful breastfeeding. Therefore, in order to produce more breast milk, we can start from the following aspects. 1. Ensure that your baby has achieved good breastfeeding latch. What is a good breastfeeding attachment is that the baby needs to do the following: First, the baby’s jaw is close to the mother’s breast. Mouth wide open, lips turned out, we can see that the baby’s upper lip exposed above the areola than the lower lip below the areola exposed more. Catch most of the areola and the tissue underneath the breast, not just the nipple. The baby’s tongue extends forward over the lower dental bed and underneath the milk sinuses. Because milk is stored in the alveoli and ducts and sinuses, if you just suck on the nipple, you can’t put pressure on the breast tissue to effectively squeeze out the stored milk. In addition to let the baby contain good, the mother should learn to hold the child, breastfeeding the baby’s body should be close to the mother, the baby’s head and body should be in a straight line, the small months of age of the baby to the buttock support. 2, postpartum milk, postpartum milk does not mean that the baby immediately after delivery to eat the mother’s milk. Rather, it means that the newborn baby has skin-to-skin contact with the mom within an hour after birth. Newborns have a strong desire to suck after birth, skin contact at this time, can prompt the emergence of its foraging reflex, but also can prompt the maternal secretion of oxytocin, and, when the baby is close to the mother, the mother is more likely to recognize the baby’s hunger needs, and give timely feeding. Some studies show that early skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby for 1h can significantly improve the rate of first-time breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding after delivery. 3.Frequent and effective sucking. As mentioned earlier, the baby’s sucking can control the secretion of breast milk. The more you suck, the more breastmilk you produce. When some babies enter the neonatal ward after birth for various reasons, when mothers and babies are separated, or when preterm low-birth-weight babies do not have the ability to suck, you can use a breast pump to suckle, or hand milking to promote milk secretion. 4, in the case of insufficient mother’s milk secretion, after the baby sucks the breast milk, and then use the breast pump to suck milk or hand milking, can promote milk secretion. 5.Night breastfeeding, prolactin is secreted more at night, so breastfeeding at night helps to maintain breast milk secretion. At the same time prolactin will make mom feel relaxed and sometimes sleepy, which can help her fall asleep as soon as possible after breastfeeding. So even if mom breastfeeds at night, she can still rest well. There is a saying that mom rests at night, but her breasts do not. 6, Keep a good mood. If the mother is in a good mood and confident when breastfeeding, it will help the production of oxytocin, which is good for the flow of milk. So when the mother is breastfeeding, you can think of some things to make yourself happy, or more look at their arms lovely little baby, touch the baby’s soft and smooth skin, look at the baby satisfied with the sucking of their breasts, the mood will be much more pleasant. 7, back massage. Feeding or sucking milk before the back massage, can let the mother’s body and spirit are relaxed, help the flow of milk. Massage when the mother is sitting, lean forward, arms crossed on the table, resting her head on her arms, take off her blouse, breasts loose and natural sagging, let the child’s father or other family members make a fist with both hands, with both thumbs pointing and massaging the sides of the crest, and do a small circular movement, moving down the crest, and then moving from the neck to the shoulder blades for massage, lasting 2-3 minutes. As long as you master the correct posture of breastfeeding, let your baby suckle frequently, and your mother maintains a good state of mind, as well as getting enough nutrition and rest, most mothers will be able to produce enough lotion. Some moms ask if there is still a point in pursuing breastfeeding when the baby is already 7 or 8 months old. Is it still successful? The answer is yes. Breastfeeding is feasible at any stage of breastfeeding, but it is more effective when it is done in the younger months of the baby’s life. Of course, with the intake of other foods at a later stage, the production of breastmilk will gradually decrease, which is a process of natural selection, and it is not necessary to deliberately prolong breastfeeding at this time in order to pursue breastfeeding, thus putting mothers under unnecessary mental stress. Mothers go through various stages of pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, hormonal changes in the body, the mother’s state of mind has also changed, the love of the baby and their own self-confidence, so that mothers become worried, at this time, mothers are the most in need of help, and the most eager to come from family and friends to support and encouragement, care and love.