Mama’s little helper

Breastfeeding is one of the most rewarding, but also often one of the most difficult things a new mother will do.  It hurts, it’s hard, it takes a lot of time, and if your milk doesn’t come in right away or in quantities great enough to make you feel confident in nurturing your babe, you worry.

So when someone offers tips for increasing milk supply, all breastfeeding mamas will listen.

From past experience and further research, here are three great products/ideas that I think every nursing mother should know about:

Milkmakers Lactation Cookies

I think these cookies are such a great idea that I did a video on them a couple of months ago (visit http://sarasnow.com/video and search on page 2 of the videos)

Baked into the cookies are oats, brewer’s yeast and flax seed – traditional remedies used to increase breastmilk production.  According to milkmakers, one or two nutritious cookies a day will help breastfeeding moms reap the full benefits of milkmakers cookies.  And who doesn’t love a cookie, especially when you’re nursing?!

Traditional Medicinals   Mother’s Milk tea

Inside this tea is the traditional combination of anise, fennel and coriander, which has been used for centuries, especially among European women, to increase breastmilk production.  All of the ingredients are organic and designed to promote healthy lactation.  The tea tastes sweet, spicy and slightly biter.

Kelapo Coconut Oil

Kelapo Coconut Oil I recently learned that consuming 3 ½ tablespoons of coconut oil daily can enrich your milk supply.  Plus it helps to curb food craving, something any nursing mom knows can get out of hand.

While ingesting 3 ½ tablespoons worth (nearly a quarter of a cup) a day may seem like a small feat, remember that coconut oil can be substituted cup for cup for other oils or butter (liquid or solid….just adjust the form to match) in recipes.  You can also melt coconut oil and blend it right into your smoothies for a delicious, quick enhancement.

Added benefit:  rub a little coconut oil, in place of traditional nipple creams, onto cracked and sore nipples to sooth and heal naturally.

By Sara Snow