How to Create an Oversupply While Breastfeeding (Safely & Naturally)

Discover nutrition, hydration, and lifestyle tips that support an oversupply without risking the development of negative side effects.

If you’re breastfeeding and wondering how to increase your milk supply beyond your baby’s needs, this blog post was created for you. This was the same exact question I had when I first began my own breastfeeding journey. And truthfully, it seemed like I couldn’t find an accurate answer on how to safely achieve oversupply.

When I first began breastfeeding, my main goal was to exclusively breastfeed for six months. However, after researching the health benefits of breastfeeding not only for Karter, but also for myself, my goal transitioned into breastfeeding for the first year, while creating a freezer stash.

After six months of exclusive breastfeeding while creating an oversupply, I wanted to share some tips and tricks that have helped me along the way, to support other moms out there.

In this post, I’ll break down how to get into an oversupply, while doing it safely and effectively. But please remember to speak with your doctor to ensure you’re doing what’s best for you and your baby.

What Is Breast Milk Oversupply?

Breast milk oversupply means producing more milk than your baby needs, resulting in extra milk for your freezer. While this may sound like a good problem to have, it’s important to balance supply carefully to avoid discomfort or complications.

Top Reasons Moms Want to Increase Supply

• Building a freezer stash for returning to work or for future use
• Feeding twins or multiples
• Preparing for increased calorie needs during growth spurts
• Personal peace of mind or backup for low-supply days (which may happen post-vacation, for example)

My Top 7 Tips to Safely Boost Your Milk Supply

When it comes to boosting your milk supply, it truly is a full-time job. However, if you’re able to, safely getting into an oversupply is a wonderful way to stock up on this nutrient dense liquid.

But before we dive into my top tips, I highly recommend spending the time to check your milk for high lipase amounts in the early weeks of your breastfeeding journey. If you do end up having high lipase within your breast milk, it’s nothing to stress over. It will simply require an extra step before freezing your milk, to ensure your baby will consume it on a later date.

Alright, let’s dive in!

1. Prioritize Frequent Nursing & Pumping

Milk production is based on supply and demand. Because of this, it’s crucial to breastfeed or pump every 2-3 hours, especially when your milk is first coming in. This also means being consistent with feedings at night. Personally, I did the majority of the feedings for the first six months, with Kraig bottle feeding just a handful of times. This ensured I was emptying my breasts as needed, to ensure I remained in oversupply. This worked great for us with Karter, but be mindful, it can get tiring doing all the night feeds.

2. Pump After Nursing Sessions

After your baby is done nursing, pump for an extra 10-15 minutes to completely empty the breast. This will trigger your body to produce more milk for your growing baby. Personally, I tend to pump around one hour after nursing 2-3 times per day. This is a great way to get into oversupply and store extra milk.

3. Add a Power Pumping Session

This type of pumping mimics cluster feeding, which in return signals your body to make more breast milk. An example of a power pumping session would include following this schedule once per day for up to a week.

• Pump for 20 mins
• Rest 10 mins
• Pump 10 mins
• Rest 10 mins
• Pump 10 mins

4. Stay Hydrated

Breast milk is composed of 87-90% of water. By consuming enough water throughout the day, this will help to ensure adequate milk supply. Breastfeeding mothers need around 128-160 ounces of fluids per day! Be sure to review my blog post on 23 ways to stay hydrated throughout the year.

5. Consume Nutrient Rich, Balanced Meals & Snacks

Consuming nutrient rich, balanced meals & snacks is crucial for breastfeeding moms. Not only to promote proper healing and hormone balance, but also for milk production. Consuming an adequate amount of protein, fiber, and healthy fats will ensure you’re also consuming enough vitamins and minerals required to support lactation. If you’re looking for more support in this area, I created Eat Well as a guide to simplify nutrition. In Eat Well, you will discover:

• the importance of creating a balanced meal to promote optimal health and hormone balance
• how to meal-plan effectively – crucial for those busy weeks!
• grocery shopping tips to save you both time and money
• meal prepping suggestions to save time and reduce food waste
• ideas for making healthy choices when eating out and traveling
• snack ideas to ensure you’re consuming an extra 500 calories per day to support lactation

6. Rest & Stress Management

Lack of sleep is inevitable within this stage of life. However, there are tips and tricks we can implement to promote better sleep and lower stress levels. This is crucial as oxytocin and prolactin, milk production hormones, may become suppressed over a period of time.

The best word of advice I received after becoming a mom was to focus on filling up my own cup throughout the day. This may look different from woman to woman, but for me personally, this means getting outside into nature, spending time with loved ones, or cooking up a delicious meal. When you fill up your cup, you’re able to lower stress, while increasing better rest at night. What can you do to fill up your own cup?

7. Be Aware of Signs You’re Producing Too Much Milk

If breastfeeding isn’t already hard enough, you need to be mindful of certain symptoms that may start to cause signs of concern.

• Engorgement: Painful fullness that makes latching difficult.
• Clogged ducts: From milk not being drained effectively.
• Mastitis: Infection that can happen if milk sits too long in the ducts.

If you notice any of these signs, be sure to reach out to a lactation consultant for more support.

How to Store Your Extra Breast Milk

• Use breast milk storage bags and label with the date and ounces. Most insurance companies will provide you with free storage bags.
• Store in 1–6 oz portions for easy thawing. By storing different ounces, this allows you to easily feed your baby with more milk as needed, without wasting an entire bag of milk.
• Freeze flat to save space.

Building a breast milk oversupply takes time and consistency. It truly is a full time job! But don’t forget to remember all the health benefits of breastmilk, including the time bonding with your baby. And most importantly, be mindful of your body’s red flags as needed to prevent issues in the future. If your hospital has a lactation consultant, I highly recommend reaching out to them with any questions specific to breastfeeding and pumping. And if you have any questions regarding nutrition, hydration, or physical activity, you can reach out to me for 1-on-1 time to focus on lifestyle changes needed to promote adequate breast milk supply.

Whether you’re exclusively breastfeeding, combo feeding, or exclusively pumping—you are doing amazing.

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If you learned anything from this post, I would love if you saved this on Pinterest, or shared it with a new mom who’s preparing to build her milk stash. 🤍

Source

Norris, T. (2019, February 22). How to increase milk supply when pumping: 10 tips. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/parenting/how-to-increase-milk-supply-when-pumping