Breastfeeding: Milk boosters

After 8 months of breastfeeding, it eventually comes to a time when the supply is fluctuating (roller coaster emotion and high working pressure for an engineer mom like me). So now I am eagerly seeking for milk boosters to continue breastfeed until baby turns 1 years old.

My daily supplements still continue as normal, only that I consume more milk boosters ever since I started working - including food that I barely take if I have a choice not to -- fish and prawns! Now they have become my priority choice in the list.

Sometimes I would just pamper myself with a decent meal!

Here is a list of milk boosters for breastfeeding mothers to increase their supply.
1. Fenugreek
2. Protein drink - soya milk or ESP (Enterococcal Surface Protein)
3. Alfafa drink - make milk thicker and richer
4. Barley green drink -  make milk thicker and richer

5. Brown sugar and sesame/longan soup

6. Chicken essence (home made)

7. Red bean soup boiled with a handful of black eye beans. A bowl every night before bed.
8. Green papaya and fish/pork rib soup
9. Lactation tea/nursing tea

10. Pork Leg with yellow bean soup

11. Abalone - increase milk by 2 fold for 2 session

12. Durians

13. Fish - 5 most commonly low in mercury: shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish

14. Radish

15. Oats

16. Artichokes 

17. White cordyceps 

18. Bottle gourd

19. Lactation cookies (ensure it consists rolled oats, brewers yeast, flax-seeds and fenugreek)

20. Japanese seaweed soup, eg wakame, kombu seaweed
21. Dark yellow fruit and vegetables - carrot, tomato, unripe papaya

22. Dates/red dates tea

23. Peanuts stew pork knuckle soup

24. Beetroot 

25. Asparagus

26. Black sesame

Common food to avoid and the allergy/intolerance in babies:
1. Spicy foods - cinnamon, onions, chili and peppers may upset an infant's stomach, causing abdominal pain, diarrhea or vomiting
2. Citrus fruits - pineapple, oranges, lemons and other citrus fruits could give the baby an upset stomach or even a rash
3. Some vegetables - cabbage, cauliflower, cucumbers and broccoli and beans may give the baby gas
4. Dairy - some babies can develop colic if you are eating too much dairy products, so avoid consuming large amounts of dairy
5. Mercury-containing fish - king mackerel, swordfish, tilefish and shark contain high levels of mercury that could be harmful to the baby
6. Caffeine - should be limited to small amounts so as to not disturb the baby's sleep pattern, causing nervousness and irritability
7. Alcohol - limit the intake and allow enough time ~2hrs for the alcohol to get out of their system before breastfeeding
8. Chocolate - contains caffeine and may make a baby gassy
9. Peanuts - babymay develop a peanut allergy but no conclusive evidence, so need monitoring
10. Saturated fats and trans-fats - saturated and trans-fats can reduce the production of omega 3s, which are critical for proper infant growth and development
11. Pesticides - many varieties of produce could have pesticides or insecticides on them, so wash them thoroughly or peel them before eating, or opt for organic produce instead

2 days ago I tried making a lactation juice of beetroot + carrot + lemon. Learned it from somewhere but I've forgotten the website link..

So here's my recipe:
Add 1/2 beetroot + 1 carrot + 1/2 lemon into the blender then blend till smooth.
The taste is quite sour but overall it was good.
Not sure how much it helped but my aim is to be able to maintain supply even during high tension at work, and I guess it did work the next morning.

My self made lactation juice. Focus on the juice and ignore the winery flute.