Relactation: How to Restart Breastfeeding After You've Stopped

Plenty of parents stop breastfeeding or cut back for reasons that made sense at the time: a hospital stay, a rough start with latching, low supply, a return to work, or a baby who couldn’t tolerate formula. Later, some want to go back. Relactation is the process of rebuilding a milk supply after you’ve reduced or stopped breastfeeding, and it works for many people, though not always fully.

This guide covers what the research says about your chances, the steps that matter most, realistic timelines, and the limits of the evidence. It’s written for any family considering this, whether you want to restart completely or only a little. There’s no right choice: relactation takes time and effort, and trying, stopping partway or deciding against it are all reasonable. WHO’s review specifically says counselors should not pressure a woman who is unwilling to try.

What relactation is

WHO uses “relactation” for anyone who has given birth at some point and begins making milk again, whether or not she carried the baby she is now feeding and however long it has been. Making milk without a previous birth is usually called induced lactation, a related process with its own challenges. WHO notes that the terms are not used consistently in the medical literature.

The basic idea is the same as in any supply: milk production responds to milk removal. Stimulating the breasts often, by a baby suckling or by hand expression or pumping, signals the body to make milk. That is why WHO’s recommendations are mostly about stimulation and support, not about pills.

What the evidence says

WHO’s review, from 1998, drew these conclusions from studies in several countries:

• Relactation is possible and practical for almost any woman if she is adequately motivated and supported.
• Age, number of previous children, previous breastfeeding experience and the time since breastfeeding stopped are less important than other factors.
• In widely varying studies, most mothers started making milk, usually within about a week. Roughly half of mothers who relactated could breastfeed exclusively within one month. Mothers relactating for their own baby more often reached exclusive breastfeeding than adoptive mothers did.

Newer studies are small. In a hospital study from India, 64 mothers of babies under 4 months old were supported by trained breastfeeding staff, and partial or complete relactation was reported for every mother. Complete relactation was more likely when babies were younger than 6 weeks. There was no comparison group, and the authors did not find a difference with use of a galactagogue. A 2024 observational study of 60 mother-baby pairs found that hands-on guidance with supplemental feeding and nipple stimulation was linked to earlier milk and more sustained exclusive breastfeeding than routine counseling alone. These findings are encouraging, but most come from small studies without randomization, so treat the numbers as signs rather than guarantees.

What affects your chances

WHO’s review lists factors on both sides:

Your baby	You
Willingness to suckle	Motivation
Age (younger babies are generally more willing)	Time since you last breastfed
Time since breastfeeding stopped	Condition of your breasts
Experience with bottles in the meantime	Support from family, community and health workers
Why breastfeeding stopped in the first place	Being able to respond often to your baby

WHO adds that relactation is also possible with older children, especially when the child wants to nurse, and notes that in Peru some mothers relactated for children older than 12 months. Mothers who have not breastfed for a longer time sometimes take up to 4 to 6 weeks to make significant amounts, though in some, milk shows up within days.

How relactation works step by step

These steps follow WHO’s practical recommendations, adjusted for today. A lactation consultant can tailor them to your baby.

1. Get support early. WHO stresses regular, continuing support throughout the process. An IBCLC (see breastfeeding support for where to find help) and your baby’s pediatrician should know your plan.
2. Look for things that cut supply. WHO lists estrogen-containing contraceptives, thiazide diuretics and nicotine, plus bottles, pacifiers and long separations. Don’t stop any prescribed medicine without your prescriber.
3. Stimulate your breasts often. If your baby will take the breast, WHO suggests offering it every 1 to 2 hours if possible and at least 8 to 12 times in 24 hours, with a good latch, and giving plenty of skin-to-skin contact. If your baby won’t suckle yet, express milk by hand or pump 8 to 12 times a day. Our pumping schedule guide and exclusive pumping guide explain how to build a routine, and our hospital-grade pump guide explains what those pumps are and how renting works.
4. Keep feeding your baby enough. Adequate nutrition comes first. WHO’s review favored supplementing by cup or with a feeding tube at the breast, because teats can reduce a baby’s willingness to suckle. If your baby already uses a bottle, paced bottle feeding is another way to slow the flow, and our guides on combination feeding and triple feeding cover how families manage the extra work. Ask your pediatrician what to give and how much.
5. Reduce supplements slowly. WHO suggests cutting back in small steps over days, and only when your baby is showing they are getting enough and gaining weight. Never reduce quickly on your own.
6. Rest and eat. WHO notes rest helps mainly because it lets you respond to your baby often. It found no link between how much mothers drank and milk production.

How long does relactation take?

WHO summarized reports that show wide variation, and says mothers should be patient and not expect precise dates:

Milestone	Reported range
First drops of milk	2 to 6 days (50 mothers in one Indian study); 4 to 7 days (6 adoptive mothers in a Nigerian study)
Partial supply	4 to 28 days; 11 to 18 days
Complete or exclusive	7 to 60 days; 21 to 25 days

These come from small studies, mostly decades old, so they describe what happened to some mothers, not what you should expect.

Medicines and herbs: what’s known

ABM’s galactogogue protocol says medicines have also been used for relactation, but its conclusion is cautious: ABM cannot recommend any specific galactagogue, and medication should never replace evaluation and counseling on factors you can change. In ABM’s review, one randomized trial of metoclopramide in relactating women found no difference from placebo. Domperidone has more high-quality studies than most options, mainly in mothers expressing milk for preterm babies, but it isn’t approved by the FDA for this use in the United States, and ABM notes the FDA recommended against it for increasing milk production. Herbal products are unregulated and lack good evidence of effectiveness and safety. See lactation supplements, fenugreek, moringa and mother’s milk tea for details on each.

WHO’s position is that drugs should be considered only if milk production hasn’t started after at least 2 weeks of using physical methods, and that their effectiveness is not proven. If you and a prescriber decide to try one, follow the prescriber’s directions and the product label. We don’t give doses here.

Tracking whether your baby is getting enough

WHO’s review suggests these checks:

• Wet diapers: 6 or more a day suggests good fluid intake. Our baby poop color chart explains what stool changes to expect.
• Weight: for babies under 9 months old, WHO describes gaining at least 125 g (about 4.4 oz) a week after the first 10 days as adequate. Weekly weighing is usually enough.
• Energy: a baby who is very quiet and undemanding may not be getting enough.

For how much milk babies take at different ages, try our breast milk intake calculator. Our milk supply hub and guide to increasing milk supply cover related ground.

When to call a doctor or lactation consultant

• Call your baby’s pediatrician if your baby has fewer than 6 wet diapers a day, isn’t gaining weight, or seems unusually sleepy or quiet.
• Call your doctor if you have a fever, chills or a hot, red, painful area on your breast. ABM says systemic symptoms lasting more than 24 hours need medical evaluation. See our mastitis guide.
• Check with a doctor or pharmacist before starting any medicine or herb, and before stopping one you take.
• Reach out if the process leaves you anxious, exhausted or low. A lactation consultant can help you adjust your goals, including aiming for partial breastfeeding.