# how does mother's milk tea work?



## mama_kass (Jan 11, 2003)

My ds has been keeping me up very late in the night nursing. He gets frustrated and presses his head hard into my breasts to get a harder letdown. Well, he is going through a stage where he wants to nurse for literally 4 hours straight. I'm no sure if this is because he dosen't get his fill, or what. I have decided to get some Mother's Milk Tea. How does this stuff work? I eat well and drink about 10 glases of water a day. It is only in the evenings that I experience low supply.


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## captain optimism (Jan 2, 2003)

I'm not an herbalist, but I hang out with some, and I've looked up these herbs on line and in some books I have at home. Mother's Milk tea contains several of the best known galactalogues (milk production stimulating herbs.) From what I can understand of how they work, most seem to be bitter herbs that stimulate the liver, promote digestion of food, and most also promote urination. A few, like fennel, are also described as "weakly estrogenic"--I think they have effects on the body like estrogen. I am guessing that the galactalogues that promote urination and blood circulation promote let-down and circulation of all kinds.

That's why some herbalists are cautious about prescribing fenugreek, the strongest of the galactalogues: it can raise your blood pressure and also may exacerbate migraines and break-through bleeding, because of the way it promotes circulation. (Lactation consultants promote it all over the place though: compared to prescription drugs, it's a lot safer.)

Some of the herbs in Mother's Milk tea and in other teas are galactalogues because they are nutritious. Nettles (which people also take for allergies) red raspberry leaf and dandelion leaf (the last I think isn't in the Mother's Milk tea I have) are all rich in vitamins and minerals.

The advantage of taking the herbs in Mother's Milk tea is that they have been pre-balanced for you, and it's harder to o.d. on any one of them. Also, since many of the herbs are diuretic, it's good to be taking them in water! You will need to drink extra water when you take any galactalogue herb.

Check out the Kellymom website for more information, she has an entry on Mother's Milk tea and a glossary of all the individual ingredients.


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## DaryLLL (Aug 12, 2002)

Jayden is 9 mos? Nursing hard and frequently in a baby that age may be teething. Try giving him a cold wet washcloth to suck on.

If you think it is a growth spurt (and he is not eating much in the way of solids yet), usually a few days of intensive nursing ramps up your supply to a higher quantity. Or he could be coming down with a cold or something and nursing more instinctively for the antibodies.

Or he could be so busy during the day, he is not paying much att'n to nursing while thing sare going on, but when things slow down he remembers, Oh, I'm hungry. Maybe after the fascinating older sibling goes to bed? After the long PM nursing, do you get one longer stretch of sleeping and no nursing?


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## mama_kass (Jan 11, 2003)

Thank you both for your replies. Great info, as always. The ladies here are so helpful.
Jayden is turning 8 months. He has just recently started pulling up on furniture and cruising. He is working on crawling, but not there yet.He will roll from place to place, pivet in the direction he wants to go and will crawl backwards or propell himself forward by pushing off with his feet. So he is very mobile throughout the day. He can get himself from one side of the room to the next in a flash. When he is on my lap he slides off me to get on the floor to work. In my sling he tries to dump himself out so he can master this new found freedom of self movement.
He has no teeth yet, and solid foods are present but not a big part of his diet. Right now it seems to be more for the social aspects and experience of texture and taste than anything else. My oldest did not get a tooth until he was 9 months. Either way, he does seem to be teething for months and I do give him a wet wash cloth to chew on which he finds enjoyable.
I think that because he has mastered pulling up and is learning to crawl he is getting his nursings in an evening cluster. Learning self movement is a huge milestone. One that I'm sure is very exciting to him and that is why he wants to practice it so much.
Also, I have noticed when we have busy days with new places and rarly seen faces he will not nurse much during the day. Which of course means that he is up all night cluster feeding.

Thanks for helping me figure it out, and I do appreciate the info on the tea. Should I give it a try to help with my evening low supply? I am now confused as to who should take these herbs.


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## late-night nan (Jan 28, 2003)

i was also having low-supply problems at night. try taking a hot shower in the evening. I found that the sound of the shower calms DS when he's fussy, so after he settles down, I put him in his bouncy seat and take a relaxing shower.

the first time i did this was at 2.30 in the morning! now i plan it into my schedule at a more manageable hour...


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