is it possible to not produce any or enough milk?

[BeeWiseMen]

I had it in my head that it's just a myth with no basis in physiological reality but some recent posts on here have set me thinking.

I'm just trying to make sense of what happened to me so I can hopefully finally let it go. I never noticed my milk coming in and at 5 days old, with DD becoming so jaundiced and lethargic it was almost impossible to wake her let alone get her to feed, I made the decision to give her formula. I seem to feel worse and worse about this even though the mw I called out that day in panic at DD's lethargy said at that point I really had no choice as DD had to get some fluid inside her.

Like most failed bfers I could recite a long list of reasons why I failed but this apparent failure of my milk supply baffles me. Can it happen really?

[moocowme]

did you try to express to see if you could get a few drops? babies can nearly always (unless medical problem) get way more out than expressing. i personally dislike expressing but do it now and again to see if i have milk left and am always surprised to get a little bit after a few minutes.

thyroid/pituitary gland problems can affect milk.

[camillathechicken]

I had a client who was unable to breastfeed any of her children... I was with her when she had her 5th, and her milk just never came in.. her breasts were soft, no engorgement, no milk, no leaking, nothing.. not a drop at all. she tried pumping, putting baby to the breast a lot, skin to skin, but nothing happened..

[allIWannaBeForChristmas]

i believe that's what happened to me.

I did produce collostrum (sp?) because ds got that from me and I was also able to express it and he was given it through a suringe when I was struggling with the latch, but after a few days that went and I never got any milk. had no leaking, nothing, and was unable to sxpress anything and ds refused to latch on - couldn't even express by hand. so I gave up.

My sister who bottlefed her ds2 from day 1 however still produced milk and still leaked for days.

[crokky]

BeeWiseMen - it is possible not to have any milk at all. But also in the early days, it can also be very difficult to see it or know that it is coming out.

When I bf my DS, I did not see anything come out for quite a while until the supply increased when he was a bit bigger. The only way I knew he was having some milk is because he was being sick (so I saw the milk that way!), and doing wet and dirty nappies.

[BeeWiseMen]

i expressed on days 3 & 4 and got drops of colostrum. One of the problems I had is that DD stopped sucking at the breast. She just used to latch and then look at me as if she didn't know what to do next.

I just never got that full breast feeling that I was expecting. Never leaked a drop either.

I just can't imagine the evolutionary process that would lead some women to produce little or no milk. It seems self-defeating genetically speaking so assumed that my milk must have come in but I just didn't notice.

[juuule]

There is such a thing as primary lactation failure. But it seems to be rare.

[sherazade]

my friend never leaked, never got engorged (even int he first week!), never felt 'full', couldn't express milk, but she bfed all her kids for 1-2 yrs.

[BeeWiseMen]

thanks for all your thoughts and experiences. I think in all honesty dd and I were just caught in a downward spiral of my supply not being that great and her jaundice lethargy getting worse and worse so she was finding it ever harder to extract milk from me.

Now I just have to work out what I could have done differently to get us a better outcome in case I ever lose my mind and decide to go for no2.

[callmeoverchristmas]

If you go for number 2 have some qualified help lined up to advise you.

A friend of mine has had 2 DC and only one Breast lactates. It is a bit unusual but she has one side that just doesn't produce anything for unexplained reasons. I suppose it is possible to have the same condition in both. I never had a problem and suffered from over supply so I can't give you much more advice. Just remember that you tried and hopefully your DD had some fab colustrum which will have helped her immune system anyway.

[BroccoliSpears]

I think it does happen, but it's not as common as people think.

[BeeWiseMen]

I did find one bf counsellor who was fantastic. I told her dd had had a bit of a rough entry into the world and she said "You look like you've had a rough time of it too". She was the only person who noticed how battered I felt. She was also the only person who gave me a plan for how to get the bf to work. I do wish I'd gone back to her really to tell her the plan was asking more of me than I could give. Perhaps we could have found one that worked better for us.

Some of the health professionals though did more harm than good. A little bf training is a very dangerous thing. The only nipple damage I had was caused by a feed where dd's latch had been 'fixed' by a nurse whose confidence far outweighed her ability.

I'm really trying to let this one go and your posts are helping more than I can say. Thanks all.