After delivery, breastfeeding is one of the best moments a mother can have with her baby: intimate, connected and healthy. And it is important to continue breastfeeding your baby throughout the first year.

Although breastfeeding has both physical and psychological benefits, sometimes mothers can have difficulties with it. When mothers face issues related to breast milk supply, they shouldn’t panic because there usually are easy solutions.

Here are some tips that you should consider to prevent breast milk from drying up:

Keep nursing

The best way to prevent breast milk from drying up is continuously nursing your baby. Nursing stimulates the production of prolactin. So, by nursing your baby frequently, you can ensure continuous production of prolactin and thereby the constant and sufficient supply of breast milk. When you observe your baby getting uncomfortable with one breast, shift him/her to another breast to prevent one of the breasts from drying up faster.

Pump after nursing

If you want to use a pump to ensure milk supply for any reason, you should do it only after nursing and not before nursing. You should also pump in case your breast feels uncomfortable to minimize the possibility of having mastitis syndrome.

Drink plenty of water

When you are breastfeeding, your body needs extra water. Make sure you provide your body with an adequate supply of water right before and after breastfeeding.

Eat healthy food

Your body needs a good amount of healthy food to produce milk. Moreover, certain foods are known to trigger production of breast milk such as rice, oatmeal, bitter melon, carrot, spinach and sweet leaves. These foods have folic acid, minerals, vitamins, and proteins that your body needs to produce progesterone, oxytocin, and prolactin in order to produce breast milk.

Cut down your caffeine and cigarette entirely

Caffeine can increase your focus and concentration, and cigarette can instantly help you relieve your stress; however you need to give up both of them while breastfeeding. Caffeine is known to inhibit prolactin production. As a result, your milk will dry up gradually.

Avoid stress and have a quality sleep

Both stress and lack of quality sleep can adversely impact your production of milk. To make sure your breast milk doesn’t dry up, make it a point to have at least 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep and keep your level of stress under check.

Breastfeeding is both emotional as well as physical, so you should pay particular attention to your diet, motivation, and emotions to make sure you can feed your baby properly.