My baby is 1 month old . She delivered with a cesarial section. she lost her weight by about 500 gms because of inisufficient secretions.We had to start the infant formula for the 1 month old child in addition to the breast milk. Can anybody suggest something to increase the secretions so that the formula can be stopped? Swati replied. Hi NIMI,

You must try all the natural methods of incresing the quantity! Jeera is good and so are green leafy veggies add to this lots of garlic! Garlic works wonders....! I had the same problem and as someone has suggested that it is a case of demand and supply ! What most of us do is resort to formula immediately which is unfair to the child. Garlic will help in better milk production and also helps in preventing gas in the mother which gets passed on to the child! Just add lots of garlic to your food and otherwise smash a few garlic pods and swallow them with water every morning.

Secondly my gynae had recommended an ayurvedic formulation by the name of LEPTADEN - if you are in India you will get it in any chemist store....the dose I had was two tabs 3 times a day and you will notice a difference in 7-8 hours - these are absolutely safe and will have no effects on your milk or the baby I had this checked out cos' I was paranoid! But pls do not give up brest feeding your li'l one ! It is inconvenient for the mother but so important for the baby. Now let me tell you that I lactated very well after trying out all these remedies and I weaned off my baby when she was a 17 months old and I have had a problem with stopping with the milk flow. Even now after 3 months I find I can squeeze out a little milk! Its not the most fascinating feeling but it reassures me that I have fed my baby well! Jasmine replied. Hi NIMI -

I breastfed my son for the first year.

First of all, all babies lose weight the first month or two. So please don't worry.

I had problems the first couple of months getting milk as well as getting my son to latch on. I also used formula but only after about a week and half of trying. It is painfull watching your child cry.

1) Let your baby suck on one side for as long as they want, do not pull them off and switch sides or do 10 minutes on one side and 10 minutes on another. The milk fat from breast milk only comes after about 20 minutes of the baby sucking. So the 10 minute theory is wrong. Let the baby suck on one side for one feed for as long as they want and then the other side at the next feed.

2) Get a breast pump. Once your baby has finished sucking, pump that breast and the other side so you have some stored in the freezer or refrig. The more pumping and sucking from the baby, the more production.

3) Drink lots of water!! Very important. I used to keep a large jug of water and drink that while my son was nursing. In addition you should have at least 10 to 12 glasses of water a day.

4) Eat lots of jeera (cumin) and green leafy vegetables such as spinach, mustard greens, collard greens, etc. Make jeera roti or poori's (add jeera). Jeera is an herb now reccomened even in the US herbal books to increase milk production.

Don't dispair, lots of patience is all you need. Andrea replied. sorry - I forgot to tell you that after birth the child does loss weight compared to the weight at birth, because the texture of the skin etc all changes - its normal - for more clarification you can also ask your doctor, my baby lost around 400 gms in the first one and a half month, even I got worried but my doctor cleared my doubts. so all the best - read more literature to educate your self as it is very important. Andrea replied. hi

Remember - brest milk is the best - beleive me, I had the same problem - but I advice you to allow you child to suck more on to you, the more he sucks the more milk is produced and vice versa - and beleive me its better to stop other formulas etc. And it did work with me. All the best - try it. Priya replied. Hi
Please have a lot of fluids like Water, Juices ,Milk. Specially half an hour before a feed have 1 or 2 glasses of water. That will definately help as it helped me a lot. aarushi replied. dear nimi
i have heard that eating lots of coconut (nariyal)improves milk supply ,and also that it is a demand and supply funda ,let ur baby suck for as long as he wishes .