What is insufficient milk?
Generally after a woman gives birth, the placenta is expelled, estrogen secretion decreases sharply, while prolactin secretion increases, and with the stimulation of the baby sucking on the nipple, milk is produced continuously for the newborn to suck. The breast will naturally produce milk, but if it is not enough for the baby to absorb it, it is called insufficient milk.
Causes of insufficient milk
1, the mother feeds too few times: long periods of time without breastfeeding or extended feeding intervals are not only detrimental to the secretion of milk, but also lead to insufficient milk.
2, improper feeding: newborns do not suckle at the breast early after birth and do not breastfeed on demand; mother and baby are separated and bottle feeding causes “nipple illusion”, resulting in newborns not wanting to suck on breast milk; mothers are reluctant to let their newborns suck because of nipple pain, and other factors can lead to insufficient milk.
3. Insufficient sucking time for babies: The number of times of breastfeeding and the time of sucking are not enough every 24 hours, so that the baby sucks for 5-10 minutes at both breasts. If the baby falls asleep while breastfeeding, he should be woken up by tapping both cheeks.
4.Inappropriate addition of supplementary food: Some mothers feed their babies milk and sugar water etc. due to low milk production and sucking too little causing a decrease in breast milk.
5.Incorrect sucking posture of infants: It can lead to infants not sucking milk and not stimulating the lactation reflex.
6.Lack of confidence and enthusiasm of the mother: psychological support should be given at this time to inform the correct method of feeding. Such problems can often be avoided if the mother and baby are in the same room as early as possible after delivery.
7.Mother’s poor nutrition and rest: it will not be conducive to lactation reflex, and the quality of milk is also affected.
8, poor oral motor function of the baby: such as facial defects can also interfere with breastfeeding and affect the secretion of milk, when milking or sucking with a breast pump can be used for breastfeeding.
9, mother’s breast dysplasia: breast dysplasia, breast surgery, nipple depression, re-pregnancy, mother’s low thyroid function, etc., can reduce milk secretion.
10. Having diseases or taking drugs that affect the secretion of milk, placenta residue, etc. can lead to insufficient milk.
How to determine insufficient milk
There are four main points to determine the lack of milk.
1. The baby should be able to sleep for 2-3 hours after eating, or eat the next meal every two to three hours. If you have just finished breastfeeding and want to eat again immediately after an hour or even half an hour, it is possible that you do not have enough milk.
2.Baby’s mental condition Baby is especially happy after eating milk and wants to play for a while, which is also a sign that he is full.
3, the baby’s stool situation baby at least six times a day urine, and stool more than three to four times. You can also look at the baby’s stool, which is normally thin and mushy, while if it is very thin and has green foam, it may also indicate that there is not enough milk.
4. The baby’s weight growth, at least 600 grams at full term compared to the birth weight, indicates that there is enough milk.
Signs of insufficient milk
Signs of insufficient milk for new mothers
1.The milk is coming out of the breast but the baby’s swallowing sound is not heard.
2.The mother does not have the feeling of breast swelling before breastfeeding, and the breast changes are not obvious before and after feeding.
3. The new mother cannot express milk from her breasts 5 days after delivery; there is nipple pain and nipple engorgement, and the nipples do not become soft after feeding.
Performance of insufficient milk on the baby’s side
1.The baby urinates less than 6 times per 24 hours after 3 days of birth, the stool is still black, green or brown, and the number of bowel movements is less than 3-4 times per day within 4 days – 1 month.
2.Feeding less than 8 times per 24 hours, or feeding quite a few times but the baby always desperately keeps sucking, sucking each side of the breast for more than 30 minutes.
3.The child still cries after feeding, or soon cries again, turning his head back and forth to look for the nipple.
4.The child sleeps for a short time after breastfeeding, often less than 1 hour.
5.The baby’s daily weight gain is less than 15-30g 5 days after birth, and the baby’s weight does not return to the level at birth 10 days after birth.
6.The baby takes a long time to breastfeed, sucks hard on the nipple but cannot hear the continuous swallowing sound, and sometimes suddenly releases the nipple and cries more than once.
What should I do if I don’t have enough milk?
1. Strengthen the baby’s sucking: Experiments have shown that the prolactin in the mother’s blood will increase exponentially after the baby eats milk. This is because the baby’s sucking on the nipple can promote the mother’s pituitary gland to secrete prolactin, thus increasing the secretion of milk.
2. Avoid taking medication: During breastfeeding, you must remind your wife not to take medication indiscriminately. Some drugs and foods can affect the secretion of breast milk, such as anti-thyroid drugs and hawthorn. When your wife is sick, it is better to take the medicine under the doctor’s instruction.
3. Supplementary nutrition: All kinds of nutrients in breast milk come from the mother’s body, and if the mother is in a long-term malnutrition condition, it will naturally affect the normal milk secretion. You must take up the position of chef and choose foods with high nutritional value for your wife, such as milk, eggs, vegetables, fruits, etc. At the same time, prepare more soups, which can play a catalytic role in your wife’s milk secretion.
4, keep the lactating mother in a good mood: After delivery, the mother, under the effect of physiological factors and environmental factors, has large emotional fluctuations, often in a depressed state, which can restrict breast milk secretion. Medical experiments show that lactating mothers in a depressed mood will have a sharp decrease in breast milk secretion. Therefore, it is your duty to create a good living environment for your wife and keep an eye on her mental health.
5, food therapy: on the basis of taking the above measures, combined with lactation food, the effect will be more obvious. Such as pig’s feet, peanut rice and other foods have a good promotion effect on the secretion of breast milk.
Balanced diet is an important rule for breastfeeding mothers
Nursing mothers should also pay considerable attention to water supplementation. Since mothers often feel thirsty, they can replenish water while breastfeeding or drink more soup drinks such as fresh fish soup, chicken soup, fresh milk and boiled water. This is a good way to ensure that the milk supply is adequate and nutritious.
Mothers who are in a hurry to lose weight in order to get back in shape will have a hard time keeping their milk supply up. It is advisable for breastfeeding mothers to wait for the end of the breastfeeding period before controlling their diet to lose weight. In fact, breastfeeding already consumes a lot of calories, so as long as mothers do not eat too much and do some postnatal exercises, they can avoid fat accumulation.
What to eat for insufficient milk?
Recipes for insufficient milk
I. Mash and egg flower
Ingredients: mash (ready-made from the supermarket), eggs, sugar (or not).
Practice.
1, beat the eggs into a bowl, stir evenly, set aside.
2, the appropriate amount of water to boil, put the mash, the water began to tumble after the eggs will be stirred into the pot (pour the eggs while also stirring, so that it becomes an egg flower).
3, again waiting for the water to boil out of the pot.
4, add the right amount of sugar according to personal preference.
Second, papaya bird’s nest stew
Ingredients: papaya (yellow se cooked, medium size) 1, bird’s nest (the kind bought in supermarkets in small bottles) 2 bottles
Method.
1, wash the papaya, cut horizontally from the upper 1/3 (the upper 1/3 part should also be buckled as a cover), dig out the middle seeds.
2, pour 2 bottles of bird’s nest directly into the papaya with the seeds removed (do not add anything to the bird’s nest), cover the upper 1/3 part as a lid (can be tied into two toothpicks to play a fixed role), place in a dish.
3, put in a pot, turn the pot on high heat and then turn to low heat and steam for 35-40 minutes, let it cool some and you can eat it.
Three, carp soup
Ingredients: one medium-sized live carp, 5 slices of ginger, a little salt
Practice.
1, carp washed, a few cuts on the body spare.
2: Heat the oil in a pan and fry the carp in the frying pan until the skin is slightly golden, then gently turn the fish over until it is also slightly golden (during the frying process, take care to turn the pan so that the fish is evenly fried).
3, after both sides of the fish are fried, directly from the heater to the pot of hot boiling water, water over the fish into (must use hot water, because the use of cold water will make the protein suddenly shrink, meat fibers become old, not conducive to the creamy soup stew out, the taste is greatly reduced. Remember !!!!) ；
4, after adding hot water, put in ginger slices. Cover the pot, bring to a boil over high heat and then change to medium heat and stew for 40 minutes, the soup will be white.
5, add a small amount of salt, and then stew for 2 minutes and you can get up.
Four, pig’s feet soup
Ingredients: two pig’s feet (chopped into small pieces), peanuts (or soybeans) small half bowl (soak in advance), ginger 5 slices, a little salt
Practice: 1, put cold water in a pot, boil the water will be put into the pig’s feet, with boiling water slightly cooked, broken and stretched out; 2, casserole into the boiling water, the blanched pig’s feet into the pot, add ginger, boil over high heat to low heat stew 1.5 hours, add peanuts (soybeans) and then low heat stew 1.5 hours can be, sprinkle a little salt to taste before serving.
Five, pork ribs soup
Ingredients: pork ribs (ribs cavity bone can be) 5, 6 pieces, ginger 5 slices, a little salt
Practice.
1, put cold water in a pot, boil the ribs into the water, with boiling water slightly cooked, skim off the blood foam, cut off and fish out.
2, casserole into the boiling water, blanched ribs into the pot, add sliced ginger, boil over high heat and then change to low heat stew for 3 hours, sprinkle a little salt to taste before serving.
Attention.
1, the water must be added once enough, avoid adding water twice during the stewing process.
2, do not increase the ingredients when boiling soup, so as not to turn the soup yellow, not creamy white.
3, breastfeeding must be light salt.
4, it is best not to use the pressure cooker, although save time, but not with a casserole soup nutritious.
Six, peanut porridge
Ingredients: 30 grams of peanut rice, 8 grams of grass, 12 grams of Wang Bu Liu Xing, 50 grams of round-grained rice, brown sugar appropriate amount
Practice: first the grass, Wang Bu Liuxiang decoction, dregs and juice. Then boil the juice, peanut rice, rice, add water. After the peanut rice and rice are boiled, add brown sugar and it is ready.
Seven, Tongcao Carp
Main ingredients: carp Tongcao
Method: put the right amount of Tongcao (a small handful) in water and soak it for a few hours; boil the water of Tongcao and put the carp; cook it on high heat, then turn to low heat and cook it for about half an hour.
Note: don’t add any seasoning. Carp soup with grass is suitable for low milk quantity, if the milk quantity is more, you can consume carp soup.
Eight, crucian carp soup
Main ingredients: crucian carp auxiliary ingredients: chopped green onion
Method: a small amount of oil to pop the scallions, put the crucian carp and fry it on both sides; pour in water, boil it on high heat, turn to low heat and cook it for half an hour. You can add a little salt to taste, this carp soup can be drunk every day.
Nine, papaya pig’s feet soup
Main ingredients: papaya, pig’s feet
Method: blanch the pig’s feet in water with cooking wine; take out the pig’s feet and put them in the pressure cooker; scoop out the pig’s feet from the pressure cooker and put the soup in a regular pot, pour in the papaya and cook for more than ten minutes.
Ten, millet and red dates porridge
Main ingredients: millet, red dates
Method: millet and red dates boiled into porridge recommended every morning as a breakfast drink, very nutritious and not greasy, or millet and red bean porridge.
Drugs with lactation effect
In Western medicine, there is no good way to deal with milk deficiency except breast massage and prohormone injection, while in Chinese medicine, it is recommended that dietary supplements are more important than medicinal supplements. For example, if you have pregnancy anemia, you should take iron supplements to prevent postpartum hemorrhage, resulting in insufficient body nutrition; after delivery, you should increase nutrition, especially protein-rich foods and fresh vegetables.
If it is for calcium supplementation, it is best to eat more small fish with bones (such as: son of fish), and eat some sesame tofu, sesame mixed vegetables, with oil to vegetable oil is more ideal.
In Chinese medicine with lactation effect of the following drugs.
1, dong quai zi: down the breast smooth, can cure the postpartum milk scarcity or breast discharge difficulties, breast swelling pain.
2, Wang Bu Liuxing, and Panax quinquefolium: women take it, the milk flows long. It can be used to treat scarcity of milk or poor milk discharge.
3, Tongcao: used for maternal milk less, is the common medicine for breastfeeding, often used with Wang Bu Liuxiang, and the penetrating nail, as the next milk formula.
4, Wang Gua, Tu Gua root: lactation medicine is used.
5, slippery stone: lactation and slippery fetus.
6, adzuki bean: down the cell coat, lactation, from the “Compendium of Materia Medica”; boiled adzuki bean juice drink, can be down the milk, from the “production book formula
Commonly used prescriptions in Chinese medicine
1.Milk-pass Dan: Containing angelica and maitake, which can nourish blood and nourish yin, pig’s feet can benefit and promote breast milk, and tongcao also has the effect of promoting luo and promoting breast milk.
2.Yongquan San: Wang Bu Liuxiang, smallpox powder, pig’s feet, has the effect of promoting the flow of Qi and promoting breast milk.
3, pig’s feet soup: useful pig’s feet with peanuts or pig’s feet with Tongcao.
Reference formula: pig’s feet, peanuts, Wang Bu Liuxiang five money, three money, angelica, Chuanxiong, Tong Cao four money each, for many women lack of milk after childbirth are very effective.
The self-care of insufficient milk
1, lactation wear suitable bra: lactation to wear a comfortable fit cotton bra, preferably specially designed for nursing mothers nursing bra. The size and weight of the breast should be changed according to the size of the increase, so that not only convenient to breastfeeding, but also conducive to the recovery of the new mother figure.
2, before and after breastfeeding care breasts: before the first breastfeeding, use clean vegetable oil on the nipple, so that the nipple scabs become soft, and then wash the breasts with water. Before each feeding, wash your hands, nipples and areolas, and wash away any bacteria that may have contaminated your breasts and clothes. Wash with warm water after breastfeeding to prevent the spread of bacteria from your baby’s nose and throat. It is best to prepare a small towel for wiping the nipple when breastfeeding, do not mix it with other towels, a small white square towel is the right size and most convenient.
3, protect the nipple: nipples should be kept clean, such as nipple lacerations, should be suspended from direct breastfeeding, milk can be squeezed out or sucked out after disinfection and then fed to the baby; you can also use cod liver oil ointment or castor oil bismuth agent coated on the nipple to prevent infection and promote healing. Do not let the baby sleep with the nipple, so that the nipple due to longer impregnation leads to breakage or mammary gland mouth blockage, so that the baby’s nasopharynx bacteria can easily spread to the nipple, not only may lead to mastitis, is also one of the causes of vomiting and even induced asphyxia of the baby.
4. Prevent breast deformation: Eating too much nutrients or high-calorie food will not only lead to weight gain, but also be detrimental to the recovery of breast shape after weaning. You can eat more vegetables, fruits and meat, and drink more low-fat or skim milk milk to ensure the calcium content in breast milk. Eating stewed pig’s feet and deer horn powder in yellow wine has a stimulating effect on milk and is good for breast skin health. Keep your breasts fit through exercise. Swimming can play a massage role on the chest through the pressure of water, which helps to even out the chest muscles; usually when watching TV, do a chest expansion exercise, which can forge the chest muscles and make the chest firm.
Ways to prevent insufficient milk
1.Mothers should have self-confidence, be happy, relaxed and not impatient.
2.Feed according to scientific reasoning, open milk early after delivery, feed according to the baby’s needs at any time, and have the correct breastfeeding posture.
3. During breastfeeding, the mother should ensure adequate nutrition and a reasonably balanced diet, not to be picky, not to be partial, to drink more soup and water, etc.; according to the child’s life pattern, synchronize with it as soon as possible, when the child sleeps, the mother also sleeps, and when the child wakes up, make good care of breastfeeding and try to ensure a good rest. In the process of breastfeeding, the mother is inevitably affected by the environment and emotions, and sometimes the amount of milk will decrease, which is called “temporary breast milk deficiency”. As long as you insist on breastfeeding and let your child suckle diligently, you will soon have more milk again.
4. Don’t touch the milk-returning food. If you want to make sure that your baby has enough milk, it is very important to eat the right food. If you have the right food, your milk will be good and plentiful; however, if you eat the wrong food, you may soon have to give up your milk. Breast milk is produced by dopamine to stimulate the central nerve of the brain and order the secretion of milk. It is difficult for dopamine to stimulate its increased secretion, but it is easy to inhibit it, so the effect of food on lactation is often more pronounced than milk withdrawal; so breastfeeding mothers should be reminded not to touch foods that can cause milk withdrawal, such as leeks, malt water, cereals, ginseng, etc.
5. Don’t eat stimulating food. As the postpartum diet should be light, do not eat those stimulating items, including: spicy seasonings, chili, wine, coffee and cigarettes, etc.
(1) wine: in general, a small amount of wine can promote the secretion of breast milk, and no effect on the baby; in excess, it will inhibit the secretion of breast milk, but also affect the contraction of the uterus, so you should drink less or do not drink at your discretion.
(2) coffee: it will make the body’s central nervous system excited. 1 cup of 150 ml of coffee, which contains 100 ml of caffeine, normal people should not exceed 3 cups a day. Although there is no evidence that it is harmful to infants, but for breastfeeding mothers, should drink in moderation or stop drinking.