#338 | Breastfeeding Q&A: How to Night Wean, Delayed Milk Production, Breastmilk & Cavities, Biting the nipple, Strong Let-Downs, Oversupply

Welcome to another Breastfeeding Q&A episode. Today, we start with a conversation on how to night wean and your personal experiences with what worked best.  

For today's questions, Trisha responds to:

• How child-led weaning works at 14 months, 18 months, and 2 years old
• Nursing strikes at 6 months — why they happen and how to respond
• Night weaning tips: gentle strategies without losing daytime breastfeeding
• Why milk supply sometimes doesn’t come in (and hospital factors that affect it)
• How to stop biting while breastfeeding (without turning it into a game)
• Coping with strong or painful letdowns and oversupply
• Breastfeeding myths: Does breastfeeding cause cavities?
• Nutrition for moms: hops, beer, and spirulina for milk supply
• How to manage sleep deprivation, co-sleeping, and even feeding twins

For quickies, we tackle rapid milk ejection, breastmilk and cavities, reducing oversupply, biting, all-night latching, beer & milk supply, nipple damage, feeding twins. 

Watch this episode in full video format on YouTube.

Thank you to everyone for these great questions and remember you can call us any time at 802-GET-DOWN (that's 802-438-3696). See you next week!

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Transcript

I'm Cynthia Overgard, birth educator, advocate for informed consent, and postpartum support specialist. And I'm Trisha Ludwig, certified nurse midwife and international board certified lactation consultant. And this is the Down To Birth Show. Childbirth is something we're made to do. But how do we have our safest and most satisfying experience in today's medical culture? Let's dispel the myths and get down to birth.

Do you remember what it was like to wean your children from breastfeeding? Yes, I remember. Was it easy? Was it hard? Was it natural? It was extremely easy and natural because I I just let them self wean. So they just did it less and less and less and less and less, and they each self weaned at around the same age, which was shy of two and a half years. So at that point, they were only nursing, you know, if they fell down and cried and came for comfort or just that occasional little nursing session. So, yeah, it was very easy, because I didn't have any pressure on me to have to stop. You know, I had children four years apart, so I was long finished with Alex by the time I conceived Vanessa. What about you? How was it for you?

They were each quite different. Lola self weaned around 14 months. And I remember right after she weaned, we went to Jamaica and she got a stomach bug, like I it was a family trip. I just went and met family, and somehow she got, you know, sick, because she was 14 years old and new country had the water I don't know, she started throwing up, and was like, at risk of dehydration because she couldn't keep anything down. I was like, Oh, why am I not still breastfeeding? I literally had stopped weaning. I literally had weaned her for the or breastfed her for the last time, like a week before this trip, and I was so frustrated that I couldn't breastfeed her. The only other thing I could give her was that horrible Pedialyte, because I was in Jamaica and they didn't have any. Well, gosh, they should have, I should have found coconut water. What the heck. I don't know why I didn't at that time, but so that was a little frustrating. But she self she self weaned. I did give her cow's milk, and that's probably why she took to the cow's milk like crazy, and she just didn't want to breastfeed as much. So second one went to two and a half years and had no interest in weaning. And then I had to go on a work trip and was gone for an extended period of time. And that was the end of breastfeeding Ruby, which was a little bit of a tough ending, but at that point, she was only breastfeeding twice a day, same kind of thing, just very occasionally at bedtime or in the morning or in the morning or something like that. But still, it was. I felt a little bit bad about that. Did you ever have moments with her as a teen? Because she definitely needed the most from you of your three children? Oh yeah, moments where you're like, This is all because of how I weaned her. I all the time I say that women torture themselves, and I tell her that, and we laugh about it and we joke and it's okay. But yes, I totally feel like that is true. Some less, some lasting impact there and then north was between 15 and 18 months, and I did a little bit of i Night weaned him, which then led to day weaning. So yeah, I guess I kind of weaned all of mine. Who knows how long they would have gone. Yeah, I thought it was interesting that my children stopped it around the same time. I feel a really normal time. Oh, yeah, is it common? Okay? Yeah, that's a really common time. I mean, I feel like was a little bit of a blend, but with my children, but totally, not entirely. Child led other than Lola, she was quite it was pretty much her choice. I have a quick question for you. My nephew went on a nursing strike at six months, but we didn't know what to call it. I was only I was in my 20s. I wasn't even in this work at all at that point in my life. And I remember my sister in law saying, Yep, he just stopped. He's done. And that was it. That was it. He stopped at six months. And now looking back, I realize it was a nursing strike. Do women usually continue nursing after a strike? Are they usually temporary?

Yes, if you if you navigate them in a way that allows the baby to come back to the breast, yes, if you say the baby is on a nursing strike, and this is the end of the breastfeeding, and you don't try again, then it'll be over. But generally, with a nursing strike you just take for an older baby six months, you'd probably take five to seven days off of any attempts of breastfeeding. And then you kind of have to find the perfect golden moment where they seem interested and you're interested, and the stars are aligned, and they want to do it again. And then you can go right back to it once they do it again once you can usually build on that pretty easily, so supply doesn't totally dry up.

Well, six months, I mean, maybe the baby went on a nursing strike because her supply was already decreasing. For some reason that happens when women start doing sleep training, the supply can decrease, and then the babies can get frustrated. And if, as soon as you offer milk in a bottle they want that, that kind of starts the nursing strike. And then, yes, if she weren't pumping or doing anything to maintain her supply, it couldn't be hard to get the baby to go back. Okay? So I asked the question, because it was a conversation that was came up on Instagram today about weaning. And so I asked, I asked our community about their weaning experiences. And this is what. Yes, they said. First I asked how and when? Oh, I asked specifically about night weaning. Tell us how and when you night weaned. And 36% of our community said they did not have to. 20% said they sleep trained, and 44% said husband or partner, because that's generally how I encourage moms to Nightwing if that's what they need to do or want to do. I think it's definitely easier if there is somebody else to do it, other than the breastfeeding mother. It's not always an option, but it's really hard for the breastfeeding mom to do that, because the baby is, of course, always going to want to debate the baby, the toddler, the child, however old they are, they're always going to want to breastfeed if the mom is in sight or with them, but if it is the mother's choice to really night wean, for whatever reason they're choosing if there is another person who can be with the baby and comfort the baby and help the baby or toddler go back to sleep through hugging, cuddling, laying with them, singing songs, whatever it is, so the baby's not left alone. That is much easier, in my opinion. So some people shared their experiences, and I thought we would share them. Here's kind of a helpful example from a mother who did it herself. Did not have the dad or her partner help. She said, I exclusively breastfed in bed, shared with our first two. So my husband taking over would have just been as traumatic to me as sleep training, because I am their place of comfort and security. I am their home. So we chose to wait to night wean until about 18 months with both of our girls and I talked a lot with them in the daytime, about at night, time when so and so goes to sleep, the milkies Go to sleep too, and when they woke up asking for it, I would say, remember, milkies are sleeping. You can have some in the morning, they need their rest too. Would you like to snuggle in bed or rock instead? They cried the first few nights out of frustration, but I never passed them off to my husband, because he rarely settles them at night up to that point in life, because I have exclusively breastfed. So it would have been really new for the dad to do this. It took both of my girls about a week before they stopped asking at night, and with that came fewer night wakings as well, which was nice. And so she said that she also would make a big deal in the morning of like opening the curtains and acknowledging the day and making sure that the child understood that now night is over and day is here, and so now milkies are awake again, and now you can have milkies. That was a pretty cute idea.

Yeah, that's interesting. That's a trigger. That's called a trigger, right? The signaling of the daylight is there. It became their mental trigger. Now they can breastfeed, right? Another one said, We co slept, and she would be on the boob all night long. She never took a Passy. I was the Passy. Around 15 months I started picking up a night shift one to two times a week, if she stirred, my husband would just pull her close and she would settle easily. He was like, Yeah, we get so much sleep. I decided to sleep on the couch for a week, and that did it. Still she woke up often, because that's her temperament, but she settled easily without the breast. Okay? So those were a couple examples of people who wrote in, like, a long anecdote. And then, of course, tons of people wrote in short, little tips on how they wean. So I'll just read through a few of those, and then we'll get onto the questions. Okay, so this mom says I got pregnant and my supply tanked, so I gave her old frozen milk in the bottle for a few weeks. Okay, that's one way to do it. Supply changing is definitely a way to get them to wean, I used red green lights to show her when it was okay for milk to slowly. Wean, red meant no milk. Green meant go milk.

That's good. I wonder where these lights were. Where were these lights?

One night, my 23 month old just stopped waking up for a 2am nursing, natural, perfect, easy. My daughter weaned on her own at 23 months. See similar time as yours. This is a very common time for weaning. My husband put her to bed from then on. One mother said it was crucial that I wasn't by her. If I tried, she would get way more upset. That was sort of my experience. Another mother said I told her the milk went to sleep when she went to sleep and it wakes up when the light is out, it's okay. So this is a common thing. Technically, I night weaned at six weeks with both my girls laugh out loud only because they didn't wake to eat. Wow, that's that's early. I did it myself. My son was 18 months. Didn't want Dad. Dad had high sleep needs and short tempered when woken. 

I feel so bad for women when they say that. I had a woman in my postpartum group years ago. She was the sweetest thing, and she had a two year old who wasn't sleeping well, and she was pregnant with her next baby, and she was in my group, and I remember she just said, like, she was so painfully tired because the two year old still wasn't sleeping. And she said, Well, my husband said, like, he he really. Needs his sleep. And I just sat there looking at her, like, right? Because you're because he's a human being, like, you are, right? So seven nights a week, she just because he works, because he really needs work, no, because he really needed his sleep. Oh, like, really, apparently, didn't. Yeah, and when, when it's when the consequence is that he's going to be in a bad mood. That's the thing women really don't want. They don't want him. Not worth it, no. So they're, it's, it's a, I don't know it's like a powerful move, intentional or unintentional. On the husband's part, if he makes a big thing about his sleep and he's going to be in a bad mood about it, which I think is very unfair. I mean, you're both, it's reasonable that both of you should be very tired. When you have a baby, you have to take care of each other, and yes, you're both going to be tired. Neither of you will have your needs completely met. So I just think it's so unfair that he just claimed it because moms are already tapped. They're totally tapped, right? Nothing left, you know, but sounds like another one like that, or he'll be in a bad mood. So yeah, she'll How many times do women go to great measures to protect the children from their the father's bad mood? So she'll be more tired, and she'll make sure he sleeps more. And it just feels very unfair when I hear stories like that, and mothers will buy the story that you know the the father is going to work all day, has to work all day, and she is actually not. That's the story that she's told, that her job is not really work. She's home with the kids all day and can sleep or can nap, or can do what she wants. And it's just really not true. Her job is ongoing all the time.

Well, also there are weekends. I mean, at least she should get sleep on weekends, she there should be reprieve somewhere. But also, I used to work in a very demanding corporate job. And there were nights before I had children, there were nights I didn't sleep well, and I was or times I was jet lagged. I got back like I was completely jet lagged. I had to go to work work the next day, if I flew in from another country the day before, and it's like, so you go tired, so you're tired, you go to work and you're tired. And frankly, having been tired at my job, and be having been tired as a mom, it was way more difficult to be tired as a mom, to be tired at my job, so I just had a less productive day. It was still social, it was still, ultimately me managing my own time, I was just a little less productive on those days. Maybe went in late, maybe went home early, and that it. I think that should be more of a consideration, like maybe one night a week if the husband has a traditional job, so maybe on like Wednesday nights, he he does a little more during the night, so he's a little tired on Thursday. But when you're compounding being exhausted day after day, month after month, it's like this is not how humans are supposed to function anymore. It's just brutal I feel for oh, that that's exactly what led to me weaning north at 14 months was the end of the rope. It was just I was working. I was feeding him every couple of hours in the night. The sleep deprivation was so real, so so beyond what I could manage after 14 months, that that's what it came to but, yeah, maybe, you know, had there been a little more balance along the way, maybe I wouldn't have gotten to that point. I don't know, the sleep deprivation is just so challenging for moms, and I do think it's a reason that many mothers end up weaning, although some others find that if they are just co sleeping and feeding on demand throughout the night, that they get more sleep. So it really depends on the baby.

Is that the period of your life that you went into a phase of chronic insomnia that you resolved really well within yourself, but like, Was that what set you off, just the constant interruptions all the time? Wasn't that around the time that that happened?

Yeah, so when I did night we north, I couldn't sleep. So when I stepped out of sleeping with him and my husband took over trying to get him to, you know, go to sleep at night for another three weeks, maybe a month, I couldn't sleep because I was my body was so accustomed to waking up every few hours, but after about three or four weeks, I started sleeping, and then everything turned around. But, yeah, it was just time. You know, at some point your body is just you have to sleep. Okay, last one, because I feel like we could just talk this entire episode about sleep deprivation and how to manage night feeding. So the last one is, I just waited until my toddler was ready and it happened on his terms. I mean, ideally, that's how it goes, right? That's That's awesome. When it works like that. It's just not always the reality. It sounds like a luxury for some women to let it go that way, right? I mean, if she's working, if she's pregnant, if she's pumping, there are other things that can make it harder. I'm sure to those women who work so hard and have to wean, I'm sure they hear that and they're like, oh, great, thanks, because it's so easy for some women. But yeah, if there's nothing else in the way, it's it's easier, and sometimes it's just the the child's temperament. So that, you know, maybe that. That case, that mother's child is only waking up once a night for the last six months. That's super manageable. That works. So there's so many factors that go into it, but in general, I find if you can have a second person to help you with the night weaning, it's definitely easier. Or if you just don't have to do it at all, that's optimal, but if you do, help is really appreciated.

Okay, let's get into our questions.

Hi, I was wondering if you had any advice for how to wean a 14 month old or older baby from breastfeeding during the night. Our baby has been sleeping in his own crib for since he was about like, six months old, he's right across the hall from us. I can hear him very well, and he gets up at least once every single night, and when he's teasing, which he is right now, he's been getting up two to three times a night. And I have two other little kids. I'm just wondering, one, what did I do with those other kids of mine? It's funny how quickly you forget. And two, what are some tips to night wean without sacrificing breastfeeding during the rest of the day. I don't want to lose breastfeeding him throughout the day, but at night, it would be great to get a full night's sleep. Thank you so much. Bye.

Well, apparently weaning is just going to be the topic of this episode today. So okay, well, kind of back to what we were just talking about. First of all, she doesn't have to sacrifice any breastfeeding during the day to wean at night. You can still breastfeed on demand throughout the day, even if you're not breastfeeding overnight, because at 14 months, your breasts are extremely efficient at the milk making. The reason you have to breastfeed around the clock early on is because your breasts aren't quite as efficient yet with the milkmaking and babies need to feed more frequently and around the clock when they're young. But by 14 months, a woman's breast can go 789, 10 hours. I've even known some mothers to go 12 hours without removing any milk and it having no impact on their supply. So she can definitely night wean and keep her daytime breastfeeding going. As far as how to tips for weaning in the night, I think we go back to what we were just kind of talking about. I mean, you either have to make the choice that you're going to do it, or somebody else is going to do it, and if somebody else is going to do it, it's going to be the most trusted, close person to the baby. So usually the dad. If that's not an option, then maybe it's a incredible grandparent who's willing to help, or it's you. And so my recommendation is to go one feed at a time. So if the baby is waking three times a night, you're not going to just refuse to breastfeed three times a night. On night one, you're going to just try to drop one feeding the first time the baby wakes. So if they wake up at 1am then that is the time you try whatever approach you're going to going to use for weaning, and just try to get the baby to sleep through that one waking period, because sometimes that leads to sleeping longer, and then they naturally drop the other wakings. But it's a little much to try to do all at once, so one at a time, first, one, first, the technique that we just talked about with the nighttime versus daytime, like designating nighttime versus daytime and saying no milk in the night. That woman actually said that she learned that from Isadora with happy co sleeper, who we have an episode on co sleeping with. So it sounds like she has some good weaning resources. That might be a good place to start.

Hi, I was wondering what some possible reasons would be for why milk might not come in. For someone I have a friend, who was having a really hard time. Her baby latched great at the hospital, and she thought everything was good to go. But as she came home, the baby started losing weight. This is her first baby, too, and she is not having success breastfeeding right now. Also, I have a sister who had a cyst in her breast, and I didn't know if that had anything to do with why milk just might not be there at all, or if there's some other kind of indication of why that would be. Thank you so much. Goodbye. Well, I mean, there are tons of things that go on in hospital birth that interfere with early lactation, so, I mean, how long of a list do we want? Let's start with the quick answer to the second part of the question about the cyst, I'm not sure. I don't know anything about the cyst, this particular type of cyst, I don't think that's the reason, but I'm not saying it couldn't be. I think I would have to know more about what's going on there. But a cyst, like a common breast cyst, isn't going to have a major impact on milk supply. Now, hospital birth can have a major pain. Impact on milk supply, obviously, a unmedicated physiologic birth sets up the mother and the baby most optimally for breastfeeding and for early skin to skin contact and early latching. Medicated births, cesarean bursts, lots of IV fluids, the medications that might be given in labor via an epidural or even narcotics, all of those are going to interfere with the onset of milk production, not 100% of the time. Some women don't seem to be so affected by it, and for others, it takes their milk until day five. But probably the biggest reason is the separation of mother and baby after birth. I would say that's probably the number one cause of delayed milk production, or, you know, too little colostrum, or milk not coming in on the third or fourth day, milk coming in on the fifth or sixth day, which is definitely delayed and that compromises the baby. That would probably be most often related to not enough time feeding the baby and not enough time being skin to skin. So not enough feeds in the first 24 to 48 hours, not enough skin to skin contact, or the early introduction of pacifiers and formula. Anytime you're giving the baby anything other than your breast, you are going to impact your milk supply early on, what you do in those first few days has a major impact on how your milk comes in, when your milk comes in, and how much milk you're making at seven days and 14 days, the mother's body is so anticipating breastfeeding. I mean, the mother's body is aware that the baby is out and everything is going into its next stage. The placenta is detaching and coming out. I mean, everything is happening in perfect order, and the body is anticipating that skin to skin from the baby and that breastfeeding and that latch, and when that doesn't happen, the body starts actually secreting grieving hormones. It's heartbreaking, and it makes me think of the mother. I think of the mother as such a sufferer. In that case, where she's supposed to be touched by her baby, holding her baby, and her body goes into that state. It just breaks the heart, and you just you realize how important that contact is. And for the women who are breastfeeding and they're putting their baby onto latch, it also underscores the importance of the skin to skin contact. I just want people to understand that it's so deeply linked far beyond our understanding, that we just have to allow it. We can't always explain everything about why this is happening, but nature has an intention and needs to fulfill the intention.

Well, cortisol is a potent blocker of oxytocin, and cortisol is the stress hormone, and that's the hormone you're going to release when you're separated from your baby. And if you don't have enough oxytocin, you are that's what that's what brings the milk in, lets the milk out of the breast. But you also have to have prolactin, and prolactin receptors have to be opened basically on your breast. So if you don't have enough stimulation to the breast, those receptors don't get laid down. And if those receptors don't get laid down early on, this is why women have trouble building a full milk supply, because getting those receptors to come in and do the work later is really tough. It really has to happen early on. You want to recruit all of those receptors, as many as you can in those early days, so that you have tons of prolactin, so that you have tons of oxytocin, so that you have tons of milk. And if you don't get that, it's much harder to get them later. That's such an important point to understand.

All right, is that it for that one? Yep. Okay.

Hi, ladies. My name is Brianna, and my nine month old is biting me really hard and through some blood recently, I really don't want to stop breastfeeding, but I really need some tips on having your older baby Stop biting you so hard. Thanks. Bye.

Well, nine month old babies love to get a reaction out of their mother. So if when a baby is biting you, you are reacting in any way which is really difficult not to do, because sometimes it's quite alarming when they bite, they will pretty quickly turn that into a game. So then the biting is becomes, you know, a chronic problem, because they're like, bite. And then my mom goes, Ah or no, or don't do that, or make some big expression, right? And then the baby's like, wow. Like, look at what I did. I did something and my mom reacted. So they like it. So you see babies laughing when that happens. Basically, those little sons with guns, right? Yeah. I mean, you know, you can't blame them. They're learning how to, how to get react. Actions, and you know, cause and effect, they're supposed to learn this developmentally. This is appropriate, but it's really uncomfortable for the mother. So as hard as it is, you have to not react. You don't need to say no. I mean, some people will tell you, say no and remove them. I say, say nothing, nothing. As best as you can, try not to react. Take the baby off and the feeding. Don't go back to it for 10 or 15 minutes. Put some time and space between the bite, and then going back to the breast. Do something else. You still need to feed the baby. So you don't just, like, drop the feed altogether, but you got to put some space between it. And pretty soon they learn, like, Okay, what's the point of biting? Because nothing happens now, all I do is get off the boob.

They're saying, this just isn't fun anymore.

This isn't fun anymore. I don't like this game.

Give me a new game, right, right, right. That's really fun. That's really that's really funny. I never heard you share that before. It's interesting.

So I got my middle child. Of course it was my middle child. Of course it was. It's always the middle one. Always would be. She bit me one time, and she bit hard, and I got mastitis from it, and that was the only time I ever had mastitis, and it never happened again. But that's can be a consequence, so you don't want them biting. 

Hey, Cynthia and Trisha, I have a question about strong letdowns. I'm currently 11 weeks postpartum with my first and I'm still struggling with my intense letdown. It's quite painful, and my baby still struggles with it quite a bit. He often comes off as soon as it starts, and ends up taking a milk shower. He ends up to he tends to choke and gasp and take in quite a bit of air for the first few minutes of every feed. My question is, will this resolve on its own eventually, or is there any way I can help my baby cope with it a little better? Thanks for all you do, and thanks for all of your help in the birth community. I enjoy your show. Thanks. 

That was nice for her to give a little compliment at the end of the question. That's very sweet. So yeah, rapid letdown, strong letdowns can happen for various reasons. Sometimes it's just the way the mother's breast is. Sometimes it's her milk supply. Sometimes they have an abundant milk production. Sometimes they have oversupply. Sometimes it's from actually the baby. Sometimes the baby has a shallow latch or a tongue tie, and that can cause rapid form of production and stronger let down. Sometimes it's a magnesium deficiency in the mother. Sometimes it's a B vitamin issue. So there are supplements you can take. Magnesium is a smooth muscle relaxant, so it helps the breast relax and helps that let down. Be a little less gentle. But my favorite technique is, first of all, when the baby comes off and the milk is spraying, she should press into her breast and stop the spray. Because if you keep removing all that extra milk through the spray and just let it drip or whatever, you're going to keep kind of producing more milk, which is going to perpetuate this strong let down. So when the baby pops off, you can put your hand over your breast, your palm firmly into your breast. This will stop the letdown, and you put your baby back on and they can finish feeding. You can also try to anticipate these letdowns and get into a laid back position, or even fully reclined position. So when the breasts are hanging down, the milk ejection is going to be stronger. Those muscles contract, and they've got gravity working with them, and so the milk gets kind of squeezed and compressed out faster and stronger. If you lay back, your breast flattens out, and when your breast flattens out, the muscles in the breast have to contract a lot harder, and the milk has to go uphill, and that really slows the flow. So first thing is, laid back nursing. Second thing is, you know, press into the breast and try to stop that let down when it's happening, and maybe do some vitamin supplementation and make sure that there's no oversupply, because if you have an oversupply, that's why you have a strong lockdown.

I've never thought of the physics of breastfeeding like that. Yeah, it makes a huge difference. Yeah, it's really interesting. It's not just that the milk has to go uphill, but when the breast flattens out, it's just harder for the milk to be expressed.

Yeah? All right, is it time for quickies? I think it's time for quickies. Okay, you probably haven't seen these yet, right? You just posted this requesting them. Okay, let's see what came in.

Yes, and as always, we have a ton of quickies that have come in. We can't possibly get to them all, but I will just what do you think every other one, the first eight, first 10? Oh, just, just, just, just start randomly there. Yeah, randomly pick them. Here we go. My nine month old is more interested in solids than breastfeeding. How do I navigate this? So I usually recommend breastfeeding first before solids, and then let them have as much as. Solid food as they want after that's fine. If they are loving solid foods, that's okay. They can do a little bit more solids, but just give the breast first, otherwise you might just wean a little faster than you want. The pediatrician said the night wean at nine months to prevent cavities. Lie. Wrong. Yeah. Just keep it easy and don't get breastfeeding advice from your pediatrician.

Breastfeeding does not cause cavities. It just doesn't, because when you're breastfeeding, the milk goes down the throat. It doesn't it doesn't go in the teeth, it doesn't go in the mouth. It doesn't sit in the mouth. Bottle feeding, yes, bottle feeding, milk pools in the mouth. Breast milk right down the throat. How do you decrease overspy? You have to remove less milk. However you're removing the milk, you have to slowly stop doing that. You can drink peppermint tea two to three cups a day, and you can use cold compresses on your breast. How do you stop your one year old being latched all night long? Wear a bra.

Oh, that's a good one.

Roll over, sleep on your stomach, go back and listen to the beginning of this episode. Does beer really help with milk supply? It actually does, yes, really, oh my gosh, it does Yes.

No, I don't drink beer at all. No, no, I you don't do anything carbonated. I don't do anything carbonated. And I just don't drink beer at all. I don't touch it. I had one sip or two in Germany when it was like, when they they fill it with half, they say lemonade. It's really like a lemon soda. And I had a sip, but I could see liking it. I could see some people liking it. I just don't. I could see, I could understand how people can acquire taste. It's not like I think it tastes like, you know, black coffee, which I don't understand how anyone in the whole world could drink. I could see how some people could like beer. I just, I just do not touch beer ever. I don't drink it. So anyway, do you actually advise breastfeeding women to sometimes drink beer to increase supply.

Well, that has historically been a, you know, a grandmother's remedy, grandmother's advice, for increasing milk supply. But today, we have plenty of other options for non alcoholic beer that actually has it's the hops in the barley that do the job. So I love to recommend hop water. It's hop water.

Hop water is water infused with hops. What's hot water? Hops is the ingredient in beer that helps produce more milk. Where does hops come from? Where do hops come from?

Such a silly word, hops?

Yeah, let's see. Where do hops come from? I'm a hops. It's a plant. It's a plant.

I've never heard of a plant named hops.

It's the hop plant, a fast growing, climbing perennial vine native to Europe, Western Asia and North America. Okay? Hops, the main purpose are for brewing. They add bitterness, flavor, aroma, and they increase prolactin.

Oh, wow. Okay. So, yes, beer works, but alcohol is counterproductive to increasing milk production. So one beer works. Don't get drunk. That doesn't work, and that's not good for your baby. What nimble damage should I push through versus rest pump after fixing latch? Well, pain is a problem in breastfeeding, so you really shouldn't tolerate any pain in breastfeeding. If it's very early on, then usually the first 30 to 60 seconds of mild to moderate sensitivity or discomfort is acceptable, and then it should be pain free after that. But if pain is persistent or beyond mild to moderate, there's a breastfeeding problem and a latch issue, and it should be fixed. I thrived while co sleeping and side lying. I'm curious how to thrive with feeding twins, you're gonna have to sleep on your back, one baby on one side, another baby on the other side.

But then she'll go to that flat breast issue you were talking about. You're joking anyway, right? That would only work for a woman, woman with huge breasts, right? Like, no, that actually, that actually is a breastfeeding position she could use. I mean,

don't you have to have, like, a size D, like, Don't you have to have really large breasts to be able to go off to the sides in order your baby would be, your baby's on top your breast, your baby and your baby's, like, the breath off to the side over onto the mattress. Okay, because that wouldn't work for everyone. Okay, because some women get really large when they're breastfeeding. So that could work for some women, but not for all of us.

So she can lay down on her back, or she can, like, recline and hold the babies each like this, and just really lean back so she can kind of rest, but she's not going to be able to feed them both on her side. That's not going to work. Oh, twins got. Bless those I know, so hard, so tough, amazing women who do that, but totally can be done. Can totally be done. How many spirulina should you take in a day? Well, this somehow came under the breastfeeding quickies, but 10 to 20, I would say, for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, probably 15 to 2010, is the baseline, yeah. And also, just to make very clear, it's food. You can't overdo it. You could have 150 of them in a day. That's right, it's not, this is not a dose anything like that. Just enjoy taking them. Take what you feel like taking. We normally pour a small handful, and just take them so but if you want to have like, a really strong, good boost, then yes, go for 15 or 20 in a day.

Athletes take 30 to 50 before a game or something like that to enhance their performance. So I would say, you know, if you're breastfeeding, mom or you're pregnant, you are a elite athlete. And so that dose is probably a good amount, and use our link. Dose, yes, 20% off. All right. Well, thank you, Trisha, that was awesome. As always, I'm always learning more from you every time. I don't know how, after all these years, I'm still learning more and more from you every time, but well, because I am still learning more and more all the time.

Thank you everyone for the questions. Keep them coming. Call 802. Get down for your breastfeeding and regular Q and A questions. What? What are you laughing at?

Thank you for joining us at the Down To Birth Show. You can reach us @downtobirthshow on Instagram or email us at Contact@DownToBirthShow.com. All of Cynthia’s classes and Trisha’s breastfeeding services are offered live online, serving women and couples everywhere. Please remember this information is made available to you for educational and informational purposes only. It is in no way a substitute for medical advice. For our full disclaimer visit downtobirthshow.com/disclaimer. Thanks for tuning in, and as always, hear everyone and listen to yourself.