How do I get the hindmilk?

[Minkyjj]

Newbie here, first post , luv the site, etc...

Background:-
Our 2 week old dd has started to not sleep from 2am thru to 5am. Has green poo. Is grumpy and grouchy all nite. Falls asleep on the nipple, but when put down screams for more breast. We have been reading your site and it sounds like dd isnt getting enuff "hindmilk" and that maybe the acid in the green poo is why she is so distressed.

Question:-
How do we ensure that she is getting her best "shot" at the hindmilk? She feeds for 10 mins then gives up, she's a lazy sucker. The breasts are full to bursting, and right now we are leaking severley.

Our breast feeding coucillor is away on holiday, and when i phoned the NCT helpline I had to leave my number (no phone back so far)

Any ideas, we are exhausted.

BTW this is the dh writing this message as we can't risk getting milk on the keyboard, its dangerous....

[Minkyjj]

Doh!!! topic meant to read "HOW DO I GET THE HINDMILK"....sorry...

[Enid]

Welcome to mumsnet! Have you tried expressing a couple of ounces off each breast before you put her to it? That might help with the engorgement too. I can recommend the Avent hand pump for simple and easy expressing.

Try not to worry, 2 weeks is very early and bf doesn't really get established for another month or so.

[Minkyjj]

We are expressing as i type! got the medela electric pump and it seems to be doing the trick (a bit of bleeding first time but seems better now). Thanks for the advice.

[Minkyjj]

We are expressing as i type! got the medela electric pump and it seems to be doing the trick (a bit of bleeding first time but seems better now). Thanks for the advice.

[Enid]

ouch, I had the medela originally and it was bloody painful so be careful. Honestly the Avent one is much more mellow.

[Ellaroo]

Minkyjj, have you tried La Leche League? They may be able to help if the NCT are being slow on getting back to you. 020 7242 1278 is the number of La Leche League's 24 hour breastfeeding helpline.

Your baby actually sounds quite normal to me - 2 weeks is still very early and I found that mine wanted to be on the breast almost permantly at this time. She would feed, then fall asleep on it, and then wake a short time later and pick up where she left off. Sleeping on your warm skin will be very reassuring for her and she may simply be grumpy because at such a young age she still needs this comfort. The idea of letting her sleep on you can seem like an absolute drain, but I always found I got more sleep doing it this way. I too had leaking massive breasts at this stage and can remember feeling like it would never get better, my breasts would never regulate themselves, and that dd would never allow me five minutes to myself before wanting another feed. Don't despair - it will get better. Normally by about 6 weeks, babies can last a bit longer in between feeds as their stomachs become bigger and they become more efficient at getting the milk and therefore getting to the hindmilk more quickly. Good luck - hope you get a good couple of hours sleep tonight.

[Ellaroo]

Also, agree with Enid, the Avent hand pump is fantastically painless and quick & easy to use.

[Ellaroo]

Oh, one more thing. I remember now that sometimes dd would sleep not on the breast if I swaddled her really tightly (my mum showed me how - never really mastered the technique that well myself, but whenever mum did it dd looked very snug and always seemed to nod off for a bit!). Hope it helps.

[SofiaAmes]

Minkyjj, it sounds like you have a totally normal baby doing totally normal things. And the good news is that it does get better and soon. Try tickling her feet once or twice to wake her up to keep feeding. If she doesn't, don't despair, she will feed more in a few weeks. Also, as enid said, sometimes when your breasts are very full and a bit engorged it's hard for the baby to get milk out and they just give up and go to sleep. So expressing a little off to make the milk flow more easily can help a lot. I too used the avent hand pump and found it great. I used to run hot water on the rubber bit that goes on your breast before I used it as warming it up like that would help get my milk going.
Don't worry too much about the green poo. I had absolutely no trouble bfing my son and he ate like a maniac all the time (clearly getting all the "hindmilk" there was) and he still would get green poo's on and off.
The leaking will calm down in a month or so as well. I wore a tight undershirt in bed at night to absorb the milk and a bra with pads during the day. I personally found the disposable breast pads got stuck to my nipples with the dry milk and hurt when I pulled them off. So I switched to the washable ones and they worked wonderfully. Good luck and don't get discouraged...it gets better quickly and you will get enough sleep before too long.

[Chinchilla]

Firstly, congratulations on not giving up. I considered it so many times in the first month, but kept going. It will soon become second nature. You sound exactly like me at the beginning; I remember my dh helping me express at 4am, the night my milk came in - I felt like a cow, and kept sitting there mooing! I have no advice other than what has already been said. I used the Avent pump too, and Maws breast pads were the best IMO.

Secondly, I wish I had known about this site at the time, because I spent the first month of ds's life worrying about every aspect of breast feeding. I don't know how I kept going, but I did. As long as your dd is putting on weight, don't worry too much about the hindmilk bit. My ds used to only feed for a few minutes sometimes, but he grew like a weed! He must have been getting enough of everything.

Good luck.

[Minkyjj]

Thanks all for the advise. Tonite we expressed 3oz from each breast. The thing i forgot to mention was that DD was born 6lb 1oz and has gone down a bit and not recovered her full birth weight after 2 weeks (admittedly only a couple of oz below, so she is regaining a lil). How long does it take for the lil gems to get back to birth weight? we've been told 2 weeks, so combining this with the green poo, and sleepless nites, its a bit of a worry

[SofiaAmes]

It totally depends on the child. My friend's ds took almost two months to regain his birth weight (he was a totally lazy breastfeeder) and is now (19 mo.) a chubby healthy kid who eats constantly. My son never only went below his birth weight for a few hours. He is a very healthy eater at 21 mo., but would not be described as having baby fat. I certainly wouldn't worry about a few oz.'s.

[aloha]

Please don't worry. As long is weight is regaining, not losing you are absolutely fine. I recently told a pregnant friend that my only advice was, 'Whatever is happening, however often they wake up, however much/little they sleep, however much/little they eat, it's normal.' The only think that isn't is persistent weight loss and a high temperature. I know that's probably a tiny bit of an over generalisation, but it's 99% true. You have normal breasts, normal milk and a normal baby. She's gaining weight, you have lots of milk. That's excellent. Keep going. I leaked everywhere at first. Just keep shoving the sheets/bra/t-shirt in the laundry and it will all right itself in the end. Breast fed baby poo is so unlike normal poo you think it can't be normal - but it is!

[aloha]

That's 'thing' not 'think'. Typing crap. Your baby, fantastic. Congratulations and welcome by the way.

[Janeway]

Minkyjj - if you're finding your breatpump is painful, and especially if you're leaking everywhere you could try hand expressing (gently massaging your breasts and nipples to enduce a flow - la Leche or NCT could describe better than I can here) this might save some discomfort and save you feeling too much like a prize heffer.

On everything else (poo, feeding patterns, squerty boobs etc) I concurr with the excellent peeps below - my ds fed every 90 mins at that stage - I slept semi propped up in bed (sore from a ceaser and couldn't readily move myself) with ds on my chest held in place by a blanket tucked under my body. He wouldn't be parted from me for long.

I wore bra and pads to bed for the first couple of weeks (washables worked best for me too - green little earthlets do silk ones that are supposed to help with sore nipples, and they stick less too) as t-shirts got drowned out in under 1hr, then bought a vest top with bra shelf that was tight enought to hold pads in place (much more comfy).

By 4 weeks ds was sleeping between dh & I on top of the covers, and somewhere between 6&8 weeks he happily went into his crib.

Keep us posted, and keep up the good work

[tiktok]

Minkyjj, see my response to you on a new thread : )

[mollipops]

Welcome Minkyjj and congrats on your new bub! Good on you for seeking help/advice; this is a great place to find it! Glad to hear the expressing is helping and it sounds like you have a very supportive dh too.

If your dd is falling asleep after only 10mins on one side, try tickling her cheek gently just above the corner of her mouth, to try to keep her bit more awake. Remember her tummy is only walnut-sized atm, so fills up quickly, which unfortunately means more frequent feeds at this stage but your supply and her appetite will sort themselves out soon. Sounds like you are coping well; hope you are getting some rest!