Lindsay This one is a little bit of a different Tutorial Tuesday! This one is for our new mommas!!! When I was breastfeeding my munchkins I had two distinctly different experiences. With Noah I was a first time mom with a baby that had a terrible case of jaundice and a supply that just never came in (likely due to my PCOS). We made it a month into our breastfeeding journey before deciding fed (and my sanity) was best. As we approached Lia’s birth I was committed to having a different experience (knowing she was our last and this was my last opportunity to experience it)
I researched all the things. From water intake to power pumping and how does one with PCOS ensure their supply is adequate. There’s a standard list of tactics (feeding on demand, adequate water intake, fenugreek supplements, relaxing etc). Then I stumbled across lactation cookies. A cookie? Are you kidding me? Count. Me. In.
The magic of lactation cookies is that they’re packed full of galactagogues which are herbs and foods that promote lactation. So I scoured the internet for a palatable recipe and found one that I altered a bit to taste for me. For this recipe you can sub chocolate chips for raisins (or add them both!). Flakes of coconut add a nice flavor too. I generally ate 1 – 2 cookie a day and this batch should last a week or so. I’ve made a bunch and frozen them. (and they were so tasty that I had to hide them from my husband. No, they won’t make him lactate too:) )
Oatmeal Raising Lactation Cookies:
INGREDIENTS
2 3/4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons brewers yeast
1 cup raisins
2 tablespoons flax seed meal
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup butter softened
1/4 cup COld Pressed Coconut Oil
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix 1/4 cup of water and 2 tablespoons of flax seed meal and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat butter and Coconut Oil together.
Add in brown sugar, eggs, flax seed mixture, and vanilla. Mix.
In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon,and brewers yeast.
Add in oats and raisins. Mix well.
Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined.
Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to divide cookie dough. Shape dough on cookie sheet, spacing cookies 1-2 inches apart.
Bake each batch of cookies for 11 minutes.
I found my brewers yeast at Whole foods and used Bob’s Flaxseed meal from there as well. I also subbed cold pressed coconut oil (the solid stuff) for vegetable shortening to make it a little healthier (I mean, marginally).
Not a baker? Well, the march of time has benefited you new mommas (these didn’t exist when I was nursing). There are commercially available options as well and they don’t just cover cookies anymore! There’s a full array of lactation edibles on the market. I’ve listed a few below that my mom’s have told are tasty and work well.
Boobie make a number of different lactation edibles including gummies, bark, bars, and shakes. I think of the lot, this is the one I hear of the most from my moms.
Munchkin makes a product called MilkMakers that offer cookie like crunches in chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, and chocolate caramel. I’ve never tried them but I’ve had mom’s tell me they’re quite tasty and they work well.
Milky Mamma also offers a variety of treats. They have the Emergency brownie that is packed full of good milk making herbs and ingredients designed to get your milk supply up over night!
Breast or bottle, whatever your choice and whatever your experience, what matters is that your baby is fed (and you are well). You do what works for your family and your situation. I was lucky to have experienced both. I was able to successfully nurse my daughter to 9 months and then provide her pumped milk well past a year. That’s wildly different than with my son who was supplemented with formula at a month and exclusively formula at 2 months. They’re both happy, healthy kids who eat well and run we wild.
