How to Increase Milk Supply During Period

This post is about how to increase milk supply during period.

The return of your period while you’re breastfeeding is something that you may fear. Even throughout pregnancy and before you begin lactating, you begin hearing how different things you may or may not do can lower your milk supply.

If you were like me, a pregnant woman looking to exclusively breastfeed my daughter, then you begin taking notes as to what things can happen that will stop you from achieving your goal of breastfeeding your baby.

One of the things that people warn others about that will decrease your milk supply is your period.

There are a lucky few women who do not get their period well into their year of lactating, but most women are not as lucky and begin having their period as soon as 2-3 months postpartum. If this is you, you are not alone.

How to Increase Milk Supply During Period

Our bodies are designed to cater to our baby’s appetite. And no one eats the same amount of food every day. For that reason, our milk supply does fluctuate daily.

The amount of breastmilk we have is simply supply and demand. When the baby or breast pump empties the breasts, it signals the body to produce more milk. Through that logic, we can see how you can, for example, nurse baby or pump more often will mean a higher milk output.

While yes, it is mostly supply and demand, there are other things that you can do that can help you increase your milk supply during your period, after all, when that time of the month comes, your milk supply decreasing is a result of hormonal changes.

Below you will find 5 different things that you can implement into your life today that can help you boost your milk supply during your period.

How Fast Can I See an Increase in Milk Supply?

Due to how every woman is different and how their bodies work differently than yours, it is hard to put a timeline to it.

But typically, you can see results as fast as 12 hours of incorporating some changes seen below.

It can also take 2-3 days of consistency to see results while your body adjusts to the changes happening.

How to Increase Milk Supply During Period

1. Calcium Supplement

The book The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding states that: “A daily dose of 500 to 1,000 mg of a calcium and magnesium supplement from the middle of your cycle through the first three days of your period may help minimize any drop in supply”.

Calcium is important and can help you because “If a breastfeeding mother is deficient in calcium….Her body will use calcium stores from her bones to ensure there is sufficient calcium in her breast milk production.” (Source)

2. Magnesium Supplement

Per Legendairy Milk, “Calcium taken with magnesium in a 2:1 ratio is commonly used to support milk production and flow during menses. The recommended maximum dose is 1500mg calcium to 750mg magnesium. Some parents take this mineral supplement daily while others take it from their luteal phase through cycles day three.”

They go on to explain that “mineral supplementation can help with water retention, a particularly annoying symptom of the impending menstrual cycle. Water retention in the breast or chest may compromise milk production and flow as can any type of edema in the chest area.”

In other words, when you get your period, you are more likely to experience bloating and water retention. Opting to take a magnesium supplement can help you prevent that and therefore help your body not retain liquids.

3. Nurse Baby or Pump More Often

If you exclusively nurse your baby, before you even notice, chances are that your baby was the first one to notice that your breast milk supply has decreased. When baby notices that there is not enough milk for their appetite, they may get fussy and begin cluster feeding. This means that they are signaling your body to produce more milk. This is an example of supply and demand.

Regardless of whether you are pumping or nursing your baby, when you signal the body more often by emptying the breasts, the body recognizes this as baby needing more milk and will therefore produce more milk.

It can take a day or two to see an increase in milk supply through this method.

4. Power Pump

If you are exclusively nursing and you notice that your baby is not quite satisfied after eating during your period and you suspect they may still be hungry, you can add a power pump session the week leading up to your period to boost your milk supply. You do this a week leading up to your period so that by the time your period comes, your milk supply does not decrease to the point of leaving a hungry baby.

If you are exclusively pumping, replace one pumping session with a power pump session in the days leading up to your period.

5. Take Lactation Teas/Supplements

It can be overwhelming choosing a lactation tea or supplement, after all, there are many lactation teas, snacks, and supplements out in the market these days.

When it came to choosing one lactation tea and/or supplement, I follow just one rule: Choose one of your liking, preferably one that is fenugreek-free*.

Many moms rave about Legendairy Milk’s Sunflower Lecithin, as well as Liquid Gold.

*Fenugreek, which is a common ingredient on lactation teas and supplements, is known to have to opposite on some woman and therefore decrease their milk supply. Just be cautious when and if you choose to consume it. I listed some alternatives here: Best Postpartum Care Package Ideas.

How to Increase Milk Supply During Period

Well there you have it! By incorporating these 5 tips in the days leading up to your period will help you increase your milk supply so you do not see a significant change in milk supply when your period comes.

Furthermore, trust that your body knows best and will continue to provide the perfect amount of breastmilk for your baby. (Please do not be like me, I was exclusively pumping and began obsessing over how many ounces of breastmilk I pumped (thank, postpartum anxiety!). So much so that I ended up with almost 2k ounces of frozen breastmilk!)

I recommend reading Fixing Postpartum Hormone Imbalance After Childbirth & Breastfeeding next.

P.S. If you would like see what other breast pumps you can use, read Best Portable Breast Pumps next.

How to Increase Milk Supply During Period

How to Increase Milk Supply During Period

How Fast Can I See an Increase in Milk Supply?