Is it possible to re-lactate?

AmoreVero16 · December 2014

Hi Everyone,

My son is 11 months old and I'm still nursining him. I supplement with formula. On average he gets 60% formula and 40% of my milk. Lately I've been thinking of extended breastfeed but my supply has tanked over the past few weeks.

I work full time and at most can pump 2x a day. Does anyone here have experience with re-lactation or increasing supply at this stage? Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

surpriseaddition · December 2014

You really aren't looking to re-lactate. That is when you have stopped BF and then want to start again. It seems like you're just looking to boost your supply. Many women start to have supply issues around this time. Even this far into it, the regular things that are suggested to boost supply could help. Power pumping, lactation cookies, oatmeal, etc. However, you can definitely do extended BF with a lower supply of BM. The only difference is that once LO is a year, you would just replace the formula with WCM or water. According to my pedi, all a one year old needs is 3 servings of calcium rich foods per day. So, if you were still doing some nursings, and LO had a yogurt and some cheese each day, WCM wouldn't even be necessary. But, you can simply replace the formula with WCM if your LO takes to it. The majority of extended BF stop pumping at work around 12 months, although I continued through until 14 months. Congrats on almost making it to a year at this point!