How to Increase Your Milk Supply with Lactation Cookes | Just Health

3rd September 2015

Need to boost your supply? Take a look at our article with 10 ways to increase your milk supply. 

Having recently (7.5 months ago, to be exact) jumped into the new world of motherhood with my babe Willow, I am now familiar with a completely different vocab (dream feeding! sleep cycles! latching!) that I was never conscious of before. During those early weeks, much of my energy was spent getting into the rhythm of breastfeeding (which boob did I use last time? Let me check my handy app that records every.single.thing.i.have.done - on a side note, when was Willow's last nap? OH CRAP SHE NEEDS TO GO DOWN NOW!)

To be honest, I spent much of the first month boob out, babe on chest. It was easier, 'spesh since it was summer and I was hot. Modesty flew out the window and visitors copped an eyeful left right and centre. Pre-birth I never would have thought that I would be comfortable having my dad/brother/80 year old neighbour seeing my entire nipple. That shortly changed. And I'm not kidding about my 80 year old neighbour. He decided it was a great time to visit while I was simultaneously pumping and feeding. He has not visited since.

I have NEVER been so hungry (read: hangry) as I was during that first month either. I felt like during a feed I could literally feel my energy draining to the point where I was eating almond butter straight off the spoon at 3am. Thankfully the insatiable hunger seems to have died down. The habit of eating almond butter off the spoon sadly, has not. I started baking things so that I would have quick fix snacks on hand so that I could eat and boob at the same time.

A great way to satisfy hunger AND increase your milk supply is by making your own lactation cookies, that actually taste good. We all know that one of the keys to good supply, is by making sure you're eating, and actually eating the right things. 

Mum's who have used lactation cookies have seen their milk supply increase by as much as 10-15%

Lactation Cookies 
psst... we've put together a handy pack for you with each of the main ingredients. You don't need to schlep around town searching for things. Now if only we could bake them for you...

Here's what one of our customers said:

"Thanks for the recipe, the cookies were delicious and really helped boost my milk supply for my 3 month old. I fed them to my  sister who loved them as well, we will definitely be making more x"

Ingredients

• 4-6 tablespoons of water, depends on if you prefer softer cookies
• 4 tablespoons flaxseed meal
• 1 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 - 1 cup of your preferred sweetener (this could be coconut sugar, maple syrup or rice malt syrup. Adjust the amount used on your sweet tooth. My personal preference is rice malt, because I always have that in my cupboard, but experiment away!)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups of your preferred flour (can be white/wholemeal etc)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder (omit if self raising flour)
• 1 teaspoon himalayan salt
• 3 cups of oats (anything but instant)
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons brewers yeast (MOST CRITICAL PART, must be brewers yeast!)
• 1 cup of additional ingredients that you fancy, suggestions below

Options for additional ingredients

Experiment with what you like! The possibilities are endless. Here are some ideas

• Shredded Coconut
• chopped almonds
• 1 to 2 tablespoons of almond butter
• chocolate chips
• goji berries
• banana
• Cacao powder (a delish chocolatey version)
• Hazelnut meal also gives a nice kick as well

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 celsius (350 farenheit)
2. In a small bowl, pop flaxseed meal and water together and let sit to soften the flaxseed meal
3. Melt coconut oil over low heat on the stove. If using rice malt syrup, I add this at this stage, so that they combine nicely and are both runny
4. Combine coconut oil and your choice of sweetener in a large bowl, mix
5. Add egg & vanilla and mix
6. Add flaxseed mixture & dry ingredients, except for oats and your choice of additional ingredients, mix well
7. Finally stir in oats and additional ingredients
8. LIne a couple of trays with baking paper
9. Spoon out (using a dessert spoon as a rough guide) onto trays
10. Flatten if you prefer cookies, or leave a little rounder if you prefer balls (balls will have a softer centre)
11. Bake for approx 10 -15 mins, depending on how big the cookies are. They should be golden-ish

Voila! Healthy lactation cookies. Try eating one with each feed and then increase/decrease intake depending on how your milk goes.

Check out our Lactation pack! Another GREAT way to easily increase your milk supply is with Weleda Nursing Tea :). 

Have you tried Lactation cookies? What were your thoughts? Do you have any other tips and tricks about increasing your milk supply?

Kaitlyn xo