Mother's Milk Tea (Does It Work, Side Effects, Recipes, Directions)

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mother's milk tea - does it work, side effects, directions, recipes

When I was looking to increase my milk supply, one of my friends recommended that I try out Mother’s Milk tea. She had seen great results using it. She started drinking the tea after she started back at work around 3 months postpartum. I was a little hesitant about trying herbs to boost my milk supply, so I did some research on Mother’s Milk Tea.

So, does Mother’s Milk Tea work? Yes, many mothers have seen an increase in milk supply after drinking mother’s milk tea. These moms drank 3 or 4 cups of Mother’s Milk tea per day to see a boost. After drinking the tea, moms saw an increase in pumping output of anywhere from 1 ounce to 3 ounces per pumping session.

I was excited after finding out that so many women were able to increase their milk supply after drinking Mother’s Milk tea. I also found that some people experienced some mild side effects. Other women complained about the taste of the tea, so I also found a few recipes to help with the strong flavor.

Does Mother’s Milk Tea Work?

When I started to research Mother’s Milk tea, I asked five of my friends about their experiences with the tea. I wanted to know if it was really worth it.

Most of my friends pumped a few times per day while they were at work and away from their babies. They noticed an increase in the amount that they were able to pump after drinking the tea.

Mom #1: Went from pumping 2 ounces every 3 hours to 5 ounces every 3 hours
Mom #2: Went from pumping 3 ounces each session to 6 ounces each session
Mom #3: Went from pumping 3 ounces per session to 5.5 ounces per session
Mom #4: Increased anywhere from 1-3 ounces per pumping session
Mom #5: Nursed, then pumped. Pumping increased from 1 ounce after feeding to 4 ounces after feeding

All five of the moms I talked to saw an increase of anywhere from one ounce to three ounces per pumping session. This was really encouraging to me. I was excited to try drinking this tea after I noticed a slight dip in my milk supply after I went back to work.

This was not a scientific experiment, but it was encouraging to me that so many women saw that this tea helped with their milk supply.

If you are interested in taking any kind of tea, herb, or supplement to increase your milk supply, it is a good idea to speak with your doctor about it. They can help you make a decision if it is a good fit for you.

How Quickly Will Mother’s Milk Tea Work?

Most women saw an increase in milk supply after 3 days. It takes some women up to 2 weeks of drinking the tea until they experienced an increase in milk supply.

The main ingredient in the tea which helps milk supply is fenugreek. One way to tell that fenugreek is working is that you will start to smell like maple syrup.

If you have not noticed an increase in milk supply or a maple syrup smell, then you may need to increase the number of cups of tea you are drinking.

Directions And Dosage For Mother’s Milk Tea

In order to make a cup of Mother’s Milk tea, follow these instructions:

First, boil 8 ounces of water.
Pour the water over the tea bag.
Steep the tea in the water for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, squeeze the tea bag into your cup to get the most out of the herbs.
Add honey to sweeten the tea to your desired level of sweetness.
Ideally, drink the tea while it is still warm.

The normal dosage of mother’s milk tea is anywhere from three cups to five cups per day. It may seem like a lot of tea, but this amount is what is recommended to boost milk supply.

When I drank the lactation tea, I made a ritual out of it. I would make myself a cup of tea and sip on it while I pumped. This helped me to remember to drink it three or four times each day.

The herbs from the tea are the most potent when you drink the tea while it is still warm. It is best to try and drink the lactation tea as a warm drink for the first several days because this will help the herbs work more effectively.

One of my friends did not like the taste of the tea when it was warm, and she told me that it tasted better when she added apple juice to it. The juice masked the taste of the tea.

Mother’s Milk Tea Side Effects

Some people have no side effects to taking lactation tea, other than the desired side effect of a boost in milk supply. Some other women notice a few side effects from the tea. This can include symptoms such as gas, diarrhea, an upset stomach, nausea, or heartburn.

The side effects of gas, diarrhea, an upset stomach, and nausea are sometimes caused by consuming fenugreek. Heartburn can be caused by the blessed thistle in the tea.

If the side effects you are experiencing are mild, then you can slowly work up to the recommended dose of Mother’s Milk Tea.

If you are experiencing these side effects, try reducing the amount of tea you drink to one cup per day. After 3 days of drinking one cup per day, then add a second cup. After 3 days of drinking two cups per day, add the third cup.

If you are very uncomfortable with the side effects, then the lactation tea is probably not a good fit for you.

You may want to try some more natural ways to increase your milk supply. If you are interested in naturally boosting your milk supply, check out this article I wrote on 18 ways to boost your milk supply.

When drinking the tea, it is normal if you notice that you start to smell like maple syrup. Fenugreek is used to make imitation maple syrup.

Drinking lactation teas with fenugreek as one of the main ingredients can cause you to start smelling like maple syrup.

What If Mother’s Milk Tea Decreases My Milk Supply?

I did some research and found that fenugreek does not work well for some women. In some cases, fenugreek may decrease their milk supply.

This decrease in supply was temporary. Their milk supply went back to where it originally was when they stopped drinking tea with fenugreek.

Most of the women that fenugreek does not work for tended to have a thyroid condition called hypothyroidism.

If this is the case, then Mother’s Milk makes a flavor of tea called “Shatavari” which is free of fenugreek. This may be a good option to try if fenugreek does not work well for you.

Recipes To Help Mother’s Milk Tea Taste Better

When I spoke with my friends who used the tea, most of them were not huge fans of the taste. It tasted a little bit like black licorice.

My friends said that they were willing to deal with the taste because they liked the results when their milk supply increased. I tried out a few different recipes with the tea to see if it would help the tea to taste better.

Note: Do not try all of these at once. Try one option at a time to find the recipe that you enjoy the most. For example, you probably would not want to add apple juice and pink lemonade to the same cup of tea.

Option 1: Add 1 tsp of honey
Option 2: Add some lemon juice
Option 3: Add ¼ cup of apple juice to one cup of tea.
Option 4: Add ¼ cup of pink lemonade to one cup of tea.
Option 5: Make a large batch of 32 ounces of water and 4 tea bags. Allow to cool on the countertop and then store in the refrigerator. The tea may taste better to you as a cold drink.

Mother’s Milk Tea Ingredients

Here is a list of the herbs included in Mother’s Milk tea:

Fennel
Anise
Coriander
Fenugreek
Blessed Thistle
Other Ingredients: Spearmint, lemongrass, lemon verbena, marshmallow root,

Where To Buy Mother’s Milk Tea

I found the tea to be the least expensive when I added it to my subscribe and save order on Amazon. In my subscribe and save order, I would buy 5 items to save 15-20% off on the order price.

Here are the 5 items I would typically buy through subscribe and save:

This brand of Mother’s Milk tea,
Prenatal vitamins,
A pack of regular diapers,
A pack of overnight diapers, and
Baby wipes.

Homemade Mother’s Milk Tea Recipe

If you are interested in making your own mother’s milk tea, most of the herbs can be found online. The benefit of making your own blend is that you can include or remove any ingredients that do not work well for you. For example, you can try out the blend without fenugreek.

I thought that it might save some money by making it myself. However, when I added up the cost of all the ingredients, it ended up being cheaper and easier to buy the pre-made version.

You could also save money by making the tea yourself if you knew a few moms who were interested in the tea. Then, you could make several batches and split the cost of the ingredients.

¼ cup fenugreek seed

¼ cup fennel seed

¼ cup dried blessed thistle

¼ cup Anise seed

¼ cup Coriander seed

½ cup nettle leaf

½ cup dried lemon verbena

This recipe makes 2 ¼ cups of dried tea, which comes out to 108 cups of tea. Mix the herbs and store the mixture in an airtight container.

When you are ready to prepare a cup of tea, Measure out 1 teaspoon of the loose-leaf tea mixture into a tea infuser. Pour 8 ounces of boiling water over the tea infuser. Steep the tea for 10 minutes, then enjoy a cup of lactation tea.