How to increase your milk supply

Many mothers worry that they aren’t making enough milk for their baby. In reality, some signs often blamed on low milk supply — such as frequent feeding, fussiness, or wanting to be held — are normal baby behaviour. However, low milk supply can happen, and understanding how milk production works can help you decide what steps might help.

This article explains the common causes of low milk supply, how to tell whether your baby is getting enough milk, and practical ways to increase milk production and support breastfeeding.

Is your milk supply really low?

New mothers who are learning to breastfeed often worry that they might not be making enough milk for their baby. Their breasts may stop feeling full, their baby may seem unsettled, or they may want to be held and breastfed frequently.

In the early weeks, there may be times when even the breast doesn’t seem to calm your baby. If you’ve found yourself wondering whether you’ve run out of milk, you’re not alone. You can read more about this our article on “Fussy Evenings” with a Newborn.

There are many reasons for babies to be unsettled, and breasts usually get softer after the first few weeks as milk production adjusts to your baby’s needs. These things are not reliable signs of low milk supply.

The most important question is whether your baby is growing as expected on your milk alone. If they are, your milk supply is meeting their needs. If they are not growing well (or if they need extra milk to grow well) and no other cause can be found, you may be making less milk than your baby needs.

The most common reason for genuine low milk supply is a slow start with breastfeeding, when not enough milk was removed from the breasts in the early days after birth. Prompt action can often improve milk production. Some other causes of low milk supply, such as previous breast surgery or certain hormonal conditions, may mean there is a limit to how much milk can be produced.

Many nursing parents are able to make more milk than they are currently making, and you never know what you can do until you try

Increasing a low milk supply takes time, energy, and patience. It can help to think about what you hope to achieve, and how much time and support you have available. Many parents find it easier when they have practical help with everyday tasks and emotional support from people around them, so they can focus on feeding their baby and building their milk supply.

Whether your goal is a full milk supply, a partial milk supply, or simply making a little more milk than you are making now, every drop counts. Breastfeeding is about much more than milk alone. However much milk you can make, you can still have a close, happy feeding relationship with your baby.

As you work on your milk supply

It’s important to keep your baby well fed and monitor their growth and wellbeing while you work on your milk supply. These tips can help:

• Monitor your baby’s health and growth. Your baby needs to be weighed regularly while you are working on your milk supply. Your midwifery or health visiting team will usually do this. For more complex feeding issues, you may be referred to a local specialist infant feeding team or clinic. Any baby who is not growing as expected should be under the care of a doctor. This is because occasionally, slow growth can be caused by underlying health issues in the baby, rather than low milk supply.
• Track how you are doing. While you’re working on milk supply it’s helpful to record some daily basics: your baby’s wet and dirty nappies, any expressed milk or formula they take, and how much milk you express (if relevant). Tracking changes over time is useful to show how well your plan is working and can help you decide what to do next.
• Work with a breastfeeding supporter. They can help you make a detailed plan, check how it’s working, and fine-tune as needed. La Leche League Leaders are here to help. You might also like to attend an LLL group meeting to connect with others who have faced similar challenges.
• Think in terms of small steps rather than the final destination. Setting short-term goals, such as the next 48–72 hours, can make progress easier to see and celebrate.

How milk production works

During pregnancy, hormones prepare your breasts to make milk. After birth, milk production depends largely on how often and how effectively milk is removed from your breasts.

Milk supply usually reaches its peak around four weeks after birth, with most of the increase happening during the first two weeks. If milk isn’t removed frequently and effectively during this time, your breasts may settle at a lower level of milk production than your baby needs.

The good news is that milk production can often be increased by removing more milk from your breasts. The sooner you start, the more likely this is to work. Even if more time has passed, you may still be able to increase your milk supply, although it may not be possible to reach a full milk supply. You never know what you can do until you try.

Every drop of milk counts. But breastfeeding is about much more than milk alone. However much milk you make, you and your baby can still enjoy the closeness, comfort, and communication that breastfeeding brings.

For more detailed information about how milk production works see How Milk Production Works.

Possible causes of low milk supply

Most mothers with low milk supply don’t have an underlying medical problem. The most common cause is simply that not enough milk was removed from the breasts in the early days after birth. However, some medical conditions and breast issues can make it harder to build a full milk supply.

These include:

• previous breast surgery (especially breast reduction) or radiation treatment
• retained placental tissue after birth
• breasts that developed differently during puberty (for example, unusually widely spaced, long and thin, or very unequal in size)
• hormonal conditions, such as thyroid disease or polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), previously known as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
• some causes of infertility that affect hormone levels

If any of these apply to you, it doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t be able to increase your milk supply. A breastfeeding specialist can help you understand your individual situation and make the most of the milk-producing capacity you have.

How to increase your milk supply

Most breastfeeding mothers can increase their milk production to some extent. It’s usually helpful to start with the basics – helping your baby attach deeply and removing milk frequently – then add extra strategies if you need them.

Step 1: Help your baby breastfeed effectively

A baby who is deeply attached and actively drinking is the best way to stimulate your breasts to make more milk.

If your baby is not deeply attached, your breasts might not receive such a strong signal to make milk. If your baby does not have a deep mouthful, breastfeeding may also be uncomfortable for you. Squashed (“new lipstick”) nipples after a feed, skin damage, and pain that lasts throughout feeds are all signs of shallow attachment. You can read more in our articles Comfortable Breastfeeding: Essentials and Positioning and Attachment.

If you think your baby might not be breastfeeding effectively, getting support can make a big difference. Your midwife, health visitor, or a breastfeeding supporter such as a La Leche League Leader can help.

Step 2: Breastfeed frequently

While you are working to increase your milk supply, offer the breast whenever your baby shows interest in feeding. Signs of interest in feeding include your baby turning their head and opening their mouth (rooting), licking lips, mouthing hands, restlessness, and making small sounds. Try to offer a feed when your baby is first interested, before they become upset. If your breasts are feeling full or you just feel like feeding your baby, you can offer your baby a feed, even if they are not asking.

• You may want to avoid using a dummy, a baby swing, or swaddling your baby, as these can make it difficult to tell if your baby is interested in feeding.
• Don’t give your baby water, tea, or any other non-milk drinks.
• If your newborn baby is very sleepy, hold them skin-to-skin as much as you can. This helps your milk-making hormones to work well and encourages interest in feeding. Aim to breastfeed at least 8-12 times in 24 hours.

3. Keep your baby actively drinking

Some babies spend a lot of time at the breast, but don’t do much active breastfeeding. If your baby is mostly doing light, fluttery sucks with very little swallowing, they may not be removing much milk.

This video shows the signs of active drinking.

Breast compressions and switching sides can help to keep your baby actively feeding for longer. Start compressing your breast as soon as your baby stops actively drinking.

This video shows you how to do breast compressions.

When your baby is no longer actively feeding even with compressions, you can offer the other breast. Your baby may then be willing to go back to the first side again, and so on.

Moving to the next level

These first three steps are the foundations of increasing milk supply. If your baby is able to breastfeed, start here. For many mothers, these changes are enough to increase their milk production. If you need to, you can then add expressing or other strategies.

4. Express milk

If the steps above do not result in increased milk supply, the next step is to increase stimulation of your breasts by expressing. If your baby isn’t able to breastfeed yet, or can’t breastfeed effectively, you may need to move straight to this step.

Here are some tried and tested tips. You don’t need to do everything at once. Start with the ideas that seem most manageable for you.

• Choose the best pump you can access. A double electric ‘hospital grade’ breast pump is usually the best tool, if you need to increase your milk supply a lot. You may be able to borrow one from your midwife or health visiting team, or they can be rented online. Smaller single electric and manual pumps are designed primarily for occasional expressing, not increasing milk supply. Wearable (hands-free) pumps may not be enough, by themselves, especially if your milk supply is very low. They can be a useful extra to enable you to pump more often.
• Express as often as you can. For maximum effect, aim to express 8-12 times in 24 hours, similar to the number of times a newborn usually feeds. You don’t need to pump after set intervals – just as often as you can. More, shorter expressions often work better than fewer, longer ones and it’s fine to stop in the middle of pumping, if you need to do something. Even if you only have a few minutes, it’s worth pumping.
• Experiment to find what works Notice the times of day or night when you can express most and aim to pump more often then. (First thing in the morning and in the quiet hours of the night often work well). Try pumping for different amounts of time to see what gets you most milk overall. Many mothers find they can get almost as much in ten minutes as they would in 20. If this is the case, try expressing for ten minutes, but more often.
• Use your hands as well as your pump. Try massaging your breasts before and during pumping. You might want to buy or make a hands-free pumping bra to hold your pump in place. It can also be very helpful to use your hands after pumping, to remove milk that the pump can’t get. You can see how to use your hands to express more milk in this video.
• Encourage your letdown reflex. A lot of the skill of pumping is encouraging your body to ‘let down’ milk for the pump. You could try visualisation, such a flowing fountain or milk pouring into a bottle. There are relaxation tracks available online designed to help you pump. Try pumping with a piece of your baby’s clothing near enough to smell, or while looking at your baby or holding them skin-to-skin. Some mothers find it works better to distract themselves while pumping. One way is to cover the collection bottle with a sock so you can’t see it. Music or comedy can also help – see which tracks or videos get you most milk. Once you find something that works, keep doing it.

You can find more ideas in our article Expressing Your Milk.

Balancing breastfeeding and expressing

At this stage, your priorities are to help your baby get enough milk and to encourage your body to make more. This may mean, for a while, limiting the amount of time your baby spends at the breast so you have enough time to express.

This can feel completely back to front – you want to breastfeed, not spend your day attached to a pump. But your baby has plenty of time to learn to breastfeed, whereas the early weeks are the most responsive time for increasing milk production.

Think of expressing as an investment in future breastfeeding. As your milk supply increases, your baby is likely to find breastfeeding easier and more rewarding. When breastfeeding is going well, you can gradually spend less time expressing and let your baby breastfeed as much as they want.

For information on storing and using expressed milk, see our article Expressing and Storing Milk.

You can read about several ways to feed your baby expressed milk in Bottles and Other Tools

5. Extra support

Galactagogues is the name given to medications, herbs, and foods that may support milk production. Many communities have special foods or herbs that are used for this purpose.

Evidence for these approaches is limited, and they are not suitable for everyone. If you are interested in taking medications or herbs, work with your healthcare provider and, ideally, a breastfeeding specialist such as an IBCLC.

You can find more information in Further Reading, below.

Formula milk

Some babies need extra milk for a short time or longer term if their mother is not making a full milk supply. If donated human milk is not available, the only safe alternative is infant formula milk. You can find LLLGB’s information on milk sharing here.

It is never safe to suddenly stop or reduce supplements of formula or donor breastmilk. This needs to be done gradually, to allow your own milk supply time to increase. and it is very important that your baby is weighed regularly, to make sure that they continue to get enough milk. It would usually be appropriate to weigh your baby every 1-2 weeks while working on reducing supplements. You can read about how to use donor milk or formula to support breastfeeding here.

Whether or not you are producing all the milk your baby needs, you can still have a great feeding relationship with your baby. The breast can still work beautifully to calm, comfort and soothe your baby, even if your milk supply remains low. Any amount of your milk that your baby gets will be beneficial to them. Some of the immune components of milk become concentrated so that babies get the same amount, no matter how much of your milk they get each day. Whatever feeding looks like for you and your baby, we are here to support you.

Written by Jayne Joyce and Emily Tammam, LLL Oxfordshire, February 2021

Updated June 2026

Further reading

Other resources

Breast compressions video (La Leche League Canada)

Baby drinking milk video (La Leche League Canada)

Books

The Art of Breastfeeding, 9th edition (La Leche League International, 2024)

Making More Milk: The Breastfeeding Guide to Increasing Your Milk Production, 2nd Edition, by Diana West and Lisa Marasco (McGrawHill Education, 2019).

Relactation: A Guide to Rebuilding Your Milk Supply, by Lucy Ruddle (Praeclarus Press, 2020)

Breastfeeding Without Birthing, by Alyssa Schnell (Praeclarus Press, 2013)