Who would’ve thought that inducing lactation can be very simple? By stimulating the nipple and Areola, your body will respond to the sensation by producing milk.
This is a wonderful way of inducing milk without the use of drugs and techniques that can be dangerous.
The good thing about this is that it isn’t a strange thing to do. And you can find a lot of health professionals who will be happy to guide you on how to go about it.
One thing you have to understand is that there is a learning curve to this. Therefore, if you’ve not done it before, you may not get it right the first time.
That’s why it’s always good if you can get your doctor or health professional involved at the onset. This ensures that you don’t just do things without confirmation.
Why Is Lactation Important?
If you’re reading this article, it means you already know the usefulness of lactation. And that makes it easy to explain some of the importance of doing it.
Lactation can nurture an enhanced bonding experience between you and the baby. It’s a way of showing the expression of love to the baby. And fortunately enough, babies usually reiterate this even though they’re still so young.
One thing you should know, however, is that you can’t exclusively breastfeed your baby when you lactate.
Why? This is because the milk you produce during the operation is not usually enough to feed a baby.
And: You should know that it can be quite tasking. But even with that, many moms still would want to do it. Probably because it helps them connect with the baby at a higher level.
When you lactate, oxytocin is produced, a hormone called “love hormone”. It drives the feeling of love between two people. And that’s why many want to do it.
Besides… The more you engage in it, the more you develop the skills you’ll use for breastfeeding.
Now: In this article, you’ll learn how to not just do this but also important things to keep in mind before you embark on it.
Here is the step by step guide to induce lactation:
How to Induce Lactation Quickly (In 3 Easy Steps)
1. Preparing the Breasts
Everything about lactation revolves around the chest. Without making adequate preparation, you may not get the desired result.
Even if it feels like you should jump to some other things, this should be the first step. It helps a lot!
Just like a regular pregnancy, you have to prepare your breasts to produce milk. Breast massages, nipple stimulation, and other physical techniques will help the body prepare for inducing.
Other women try milk-inducing drugs and herbal medications.
2. Making Milk Before the Baby Arrives
If you have been preparing for the arrival of your baby and have been preparing for a few months, your doctor might prescribe medications that will produce hormones and mimic pregnancy, therefore helping your body produce milk.
In about two months before you breastfeed, the doctor will then recommend you to stop the medication.
The most effective way to induce milk is having a partner to dry breastfeed eight times a day for 20 minutes. Your partner should latch onto your breasts the same way as an infant would.
Your brain will then send signals to your body thinking an infant is breastfeeding and you will start producing milk.
You can reduce the number of times you need to dry breastfeed in a day but make sure it lasts 20 minutes to achieve the desired effect.
If your partner is not comfortable with this method, you can massage your breasts with your hands, also mimicking an infant breastfeeding.
Remember that this won’t happen overnight and you need to be patient and determined for you to start inducing.
3. Making More Milk While Breastfeeding
Now that you have achieved inducing milk and your child has arrived, you can start breastfeeding even if you are not producing a significant amount of milk.
The sensation of breastfeeding your baby even though you produce little to no milk will also stimulate your breasts and give signals to your brain. Slowly but surely, you can produce milk.
Also, while breastfeeding, you can still use pharmaceutical or herbal medication that is safe for you and your baby, to help you in producing more milk.
Other mothers will still continue breast massages after and in between breastfeeding to stimulate more milk.
To Know What’s The Easiest Way to Induce Lactation, Consider these
1. Don’t do it alone
Yes, it’s important to have someone, an expert preferably, engaging you before and during it. A lactation consultant or doctor can help you plan and guide you along the way.
While it might cost a few more bucks to get one of these to sit with you (sometimes it can be free, especially if it’s your doc). You get expert advice and gems that you may not be able to pick off the net.
2. Use a breast pump
There are a lot of breast pumps out there you can use for lactation. Some are even designed to suit that purpose. This device can help you reduce the time spent trying to produce milk.
Especially if you go with the electric version. That doesn’t mean that the manual hand pumps aren’t good. A lot of people still use them.
Also, there are a lot of brands out there that you can choose from. To learn more about choosing a breast pump for your lactation needs, read this article.
3. Use medicine (or not?)
There are some medicines designed to help you lactate. However, we prefer the above-recommended steps as they’re easier.
And you don’t have to swallow anything. If you’ll go for this though, make sure you get some advice from your doc or health practitioner.
Final Words
If you’ve ever asked yourself, “What’s the Easiest Way to Induce Lactation?” then you are not alone.
Using a breast pump to stimulate more milk is also effective. Choosing the best pump for you is crucial. There are manual and electronic pumps you could use before and during lactation.
This also mimics the sensation of breastfeeding. Breast pumps have a wide range of brands and prices that will best fit your needs as this is most important ever to a number of people who are well known.
More importantly, if you cannot afford high-quality breast pumps or have a second thought on whether to buy, you can rent them.
Hospitals, stores, and pharmacies offer rentals so you won’t have to spend a lot of money.
Don’t fret for they are well cleaned and sterilized so you can safely use them without having doubts.
Now that you know what’s the easiest way to induce lactation, the next thing to do is to get started.