Fenugreek seeds – my boobies’ NBF (new best friend)
I had this day last week when, by the end of it, my boobie milk was really low. And while we’ve started Joshi on solids he’s hardly getting a whole lot of non-boobie milk food down that little hole called ‘mouth.’ I was at a bit of loose end though, coz he was obviously hungry and my low supply just wasn’t cutting the grade. Time to go surfing with Dr Google …
I typed in “what to do when your breast milk dries up.” Up came a whole heap of conversations about how to actually dry up your breast milk! How those mammas made me laugh! … all the stories about binding their boobs up in bandage wraps, squeezing themselves into ultra tight sports bras, wearing cabbage on their boobs, downing sage tea and keeping their boobs out of the hot water to avoid letdown! Anyway, I eventually found what I was looking for – a really good galactogogue. Now that’s an impressive word. I’m not so sure I can say it properly yet, but I’m practicing. As you can probably guess, I came across it while I was surfing. It means “a substance that promotes lactation in humans and other animals.” And the galactogogue of the day is … Fenugreek!
I read that fenugreek doesn’t work for every mamma, but it sure worked for this one! I didn’t have fenugreek tea in the kitchen but I did have fenugreek seeds, which I use occasionally when making this lovely Indian dish. So I put a small handful of them in a pot, boiled them up, strained them and then added some cold water once they’d boiled so that I could drink it straight way. According to kellymom’s website, (a really useful site for mammas), mammas generally notice an increase in their milk production 24-72 hours after starting the herb, but it can take two weeks to see a change. Well, my milk came in really fast. A few hours later when Joshi woke me up in the middle of the night my milk was flowing in abundance. Since then I’ve been keeping a flask of luke warm fenugreek tea near my bed every night. I take a few mouthfuls of it every time I wake to feed Joshi. Do be warned though – it doesn’t taste so great. It’s quite bitter, but if it works it works, right!
PS. Regarding dosage, I read that one way to determine if you’re taking the right amount is to slowly increase the fenugreek until your sweat and urine begin to smell like maple syrup! Hmmmmmmm … Nice!
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