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Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Infant feeding

Am i supposed to leak? should i have more milk??

14 replies

HelenEmjay · 24/09/2005 17:35

My little girl was born on the 12th of september and so far breastfeeding has been going well (dare i say it and jinx myself!) but my breasts never feel really full and i dont leak at all, she was 2 weeks early and the midwife said she may be so sleepy thats she just getting a bit and then going back to sleep, if thats the case is she likely to 'wake up' soon and start wanting more than ive got? - i had that problem with my last baby, he was a very demanding baby and i sat for hours and hours and hours switching from one breast to the other trying to encourage more milk, which was ALWAYS slow coming, and i got soooo tired and frustrated i so many times nearly gave up! this time she seems to take whatever i have and go back to sleep! should i start trying to increase my supply in preparation for a sudden feeding frenzy? will there be one? why dont i leak? is it because there isnt much milk in there? im trying not to be a worrying what if person but i cant help feel its all a little too plain sailing right now! can anyone help? tell me if and where im going wrong? sorry for the long moan!
Helen xxxx

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starlover · 24/09/2005 17:36

i never leaked

if your little girl is feeding well, weeing, pooing and putting on weight then don't worry!

your body will make as much milk as she needs... trust it!

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auntymandy · 24/09/2005 17:37

You will always have enough. the more she feeds the more you make..its magic!
Congrats btw

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NotQuiteCockney · 24/09/2005 17:54

I had some supply issues with DS1 ... at least he didn't put on weight very quickly in the early days. I did leak, though. With DS2, he's been reasonably chunky throughout, and I've pretty much never leaked. I wouldn't worry about it, as long as she's doing well.

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HelenEmjay · 24/09/2005 17:58

lol thanks girls! i had such supply probs last time! she is weeing and pooing well, but she weighed 7lb 5oz at birth and she has gone down to 6lb 11oz and stayed there, she has only in the last few days gone up to 6lb 13oz im not worried about it too much but its making me wonder if she IS getting enough?? i felt like such a crap milk producer last time, i figured id be as bad this time! im still waiting for the hunger screams!........

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starlover · 24/09/2005 18:00

well they all lose some of their birth weight... but if she is gaining now then don't worry!

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HelenEmjay · 24/09/2005 18:13

I feel like such a stress head right now! my sister had a baby about 14 weeks ago and she seems to have never had a problem breastfeeding at all! i think she could feed hers and a hundred others and still have LOADS of milk left over! i have a 2 and a 5 year old also and dp goes back to work on monday, so i just dont want to be sat there all day trying to feed and increase supply and have my 2 year old run riot! i know i sound like such a moaner sorry! but its worrying me abit!

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starlover · 24/09/2005 18:22

it's ok! i had about a gazillion thgreads on here while i was bf!
if you are really worried then try feeding her more often... if she does tend to fall asleep then try taking her clothes off and keeping her awake

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suzi2 · 24/09/2005 22:14

My son is 7 wks and I've never leaked. I found that in the early days he would fall asleep feeding. I would burp him to wake him a bit and then put him back on. If he fell asleep again we did a nappy change to wake him. Feeds took ages but he soon became a bit more wakey.

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alux · 25/09/2005 08:10

you are not a crap milk producer. the best advice you can take to heart is 'trust your body'. your stress levels will reduce to no end. humans didn't evolve over millions of years by being 'crap milk producers'. my dd was born at 7lb 4oz and dropped to 6lb 12oz before she started to put wt back on. was a week early and had severe jaundice too which makes them sleepy. worse piece of advice I was given was by hv who said you will have to top her up with formula.

try feeding her in a sling. I did not have the added concern of toddlers so a sling may be indispensible.

don't bother with trying to 'up your milk supply' dd will do that for you when she needs it. it will just be more work for you at the mo and she will do that for herself when she needs it.

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alux · 25/09/2005 08:10

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alux · 25/09/2005 08:16

oops, double click

ps: no you don't have to leak to have adequate milk and soft breasts make more milk than full ones.

click here for loads of useful information

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HelenEmjay · 26/09/2005 14:13

Oh thanks alux! i spent ages reading through all that last night, and i feel much better with a bit of info behind me! she has started in the last day or two feeding abit more and im finding im only just filling her, i think she would have a fair bit more milk in her feed if i had it but it seems to be enough to make her drop off for a while and she was weighed again today and she now weighs 6lb 15oz which is better, at least she is gowing in the right direction! i just hope i dont get to the point where im tempted to supplement as i would be sooooo disapointed with myself if i did! - i REALLY REALLY dont want to!

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PrettyCandles · 26/09/2005 14:35

HelenE, you're doing extremely well, even though you don't recognise it! The weight of a baby at birth is nothing to do with their later weight - it's more about how healthy their mum was during the pregnancy, so weighing 7lb 5oz at two weeks early is already a very good start.

It's true, IME, about babies taking a few weeks to 'wake up'. My ds was like that, but I only know this with hindsigth, and I was persuaded onto formula. Then with dd I was determined to stick to breastfeeding, and succeeded. Not everyone has massive supply of milk, but you can assure yourself that you will make as much as your dd needs, as long as you keep feeding her as much as she wants.

With ds I leaked, yet struggled to feed, but with dd I virtually never leaked yet managed to feed exclusively. It's not connected.

I did find that in the early weeks I had more milke than she was interested in in them ornings, so I expressed it and froze it. It really was droplets - I would save a day's worth of ebm and freeze it in one go, all 3oz! But the supply built up in the freezer, and it was helpful.

If you're still concerned, try taking fenugreek. You can get it in capsules from healthfood shops. I took about 6 x 500mg capsules/day for 2-3 weeks at a time, on-and-off over a few months and am sure it helped to increase my milk. Here are a couple of helpful sites.

Breastfeeding online
Kellymom

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HelenEmjay · 26/09/2005 16:10

Oh thanks PrettyCandles, i gave up with ds1 after about 3-4 weeks, but like you i was determined with ds2 to stick at it and i fed him myself for 6 months but i did struggle with supply, im finding at the moment she has days where she feeds all the time and then like today she doesnt feed much at all and my poor breasts feel like they might explode - and my stupid breast pump broke last night so im not able to express unless its by hand - which ive never done before! lol! im clearly not having a good day!