If considering relactating, keep in mind that it will take time, patience, and dedication. The sooner that you do this after your milk dried up, the easier time you will have. You will want to invest in a good electric pump. A manual pump will not do enough to bring your breast milk back. These can be purchased or rented through a medical supply store.
For moms that have never breastfed, but are adopting, you can induce lactation by performing the same steps. Since you have not breastfed previously, it could take a bit longer to bring in your production. It's a good idea to get started on this as soon as possible because it could take weeks to get your milk supply going strong.
If baby will still latch, breastfeed daily. This will help your milk supply a lot. If baby won't latch, contact a lactation consultant to work with you on this. After your milk has come in, you will want to mostly breastfeed for the best milk supply possible. A good latch is essential to breastfeeding.
The same herbs that women use for low milk supply are very beneficial for relactation or inducing lactation. They are safe, easy, affordable, and will stimulate your breast milk ducts. A really great product to try is Breastea. Because this product contains several lactation herbs, it will offer you the best possible milk supply. Simply drink daily. You can start this on the day that you begin pumping.
How to Relactate:
- Purchase or rent an electric breast pump. Make sure to get the proper size cups for your breasts.
- Purchase a herbal product like Breastea to increase your milk supply.
- Start pumping. Using a dual pump, do it every 2 to 3 hours for 15 minutes at a time. Overnight, pump every 4 hours. This will be difficult, but it's important to not skip any pumpings.
- Don't forget to work with baby! You will want to get any latch issues straightened out as soon as possible.
- Continue to pump daily and drink Breastea daily.
- Within the first week (or two), you will begin to see that you are pumping a few drops of breast milk. Although it's impossible to estimate how long it will take you to establish a full supply, generally it's within 2 to 3 weeks. Getting baby back on the breast will encourage your milk supply.
- For adoptive moms planning to breastfeed, it generally takes longer. For some moms it takes 4 to 6 weeks to breastfeed if they haven't done it before.
- After you have established your production, it will be up to you whether you need to continue the lactation herbs or not. Most moms will not need to continue using herbs unless they discover they have low breast milk supply. If that is the case, you can use as needed.
