When will my milk come in?

[Beccadugs]

I'm on day 8, still colostrum!

I'm struggling with BF, but want to do it. I'm expressing for half an hour after every feed, and getting about 5ml... It's pretty soul destroying.

[tiktok]

:( :(

Bit more detail?

How's your baby doing?

[HumphreyCobbler]

I would talk to the midwife but are you sure that it is just colostrum? expressing does not indicate how much you are making

[HumphreyCobbler]

ah glad you are here tiktok

[Beccadugs]

Definitely colostrum, golden and sticky, unchanged since it arrived, boobs still soft and floppy.

I can only get her to latch in one position which isn't the comfiest, but she feeds for between 20 and forty mins every two/three hours.

She's doing fine, sleeps most of the day and screams most of the night but think that's normal!

[CocktailQueen]

I think that's pretty late. Can you make an appt with a hv or midwife? My milk came in on day 3 iirc.

Does your baby have plenty of wet and dirty nappies?

[KnickersOnOnesHead]

I'd have thought your milk would have come in by now. I'd definitely speak to your midwife/health visitor.

[Beccadugs]

Yes plenty of nappies.

NCT helpline says it can take 14 days in some cases.

Just feeling a bit desperate!

[tiktok]

Becca, it is late, but not off the scale....concern would be your baby's well-being. Sleeping most of the day and screaming most of the night is not a good thing and most babies don't do that.

I agree - get the midwife involved, asap, have your baby weighed, and exactly what is in those nappies?

If you are getting soft yellow poo several times a day, then your milk has come in.

[Beccadugs]

Oh... Should she not be sleeping a lot then?

She has maybe one/two poos a day, yellow, and wet nappies.

Midwife was happy yesterday and is coming back tomorrow. Will ask her about the sleeping again. I suppose I thought she just has day and night the wrong way round.

She wails for food every 2/3hours.

[RoganJosh]

Why are you expressing? Not saying that's the wrong thing to do, just trying to find out a bit more.

[RoganJosh]

Sleeping all day for the first few weeks sounds normal to me. Are you trying to feed her all night whenever she cries? I think you need to be.

[Beccadugs]

Expressing to keep stimulating supply, and to have a but extra for last feed to try and get her to sleep a bit longer st night.
Yes, feeding every time she cries day or night, as long as it's not fixed by an obviously smelly nappy!

[RoganJosh]

You shouldn't be introducing a bottle yet really. Otherwise, keep trying to feed her. At night it has more of an effect on your supply. Even if you end up with her sucking for a long time it's all good.
It should come in very soon, but just make sure you're doing everything you can to help it along.

[Beccadugs]

Unfortunately she has had bottles since day one, as the hospital
Insisted that we top her up.

Good to hear the sleeping is OK, that did make me panic a bit.

[yellowsnownoteatwillyou]

If you have introduced a bottle early its not the end of the world. My milk came in day 4, I have massive boobs to start with but these were off the charts! You are doing really well. I mix fed during the first week due to massive boobs, a baby with a poor latch, and cracked and bleeding nipples. He worked out how the boobies worked about day 10. Loads of skin to skin and if you can feed lying down, so you can get rest.

[tiktok]

There's nothing wrong with babies sleeping :) But you said 'sleeping most of the day and screaming most of the night' and if you meant that literally, it's not normal. That's not 'getting the day and night mixed up' at all - babies don't sleep most of the night and scream most of the day either :)

She needs to be weighed.

If you are topping up and have been since day one, then the delay in milk coming in will not have affected her intake/growth.


It's good the midwife is still involved.

[tiktok]

Crying is a late feeding cue, BTW.

[Beccadugs]

It's difficult over the internet to describe a newborns behaviour properly, especially when you are feeling extremely anxious about every thing, particularly feeding.

What is normal newborn behaviour?

[tiktok]

Totally understand that, Becca.

Newborn behaviour is a range, not really a set of precise behaviours.

That doesn't help I know sorry :(

[RoganJosh]

Sleeping all day can be normal. Mine all have. It's fine so long as they are gaining weight.
When she cries at night will she not feed?

[GimmeDaBoobehz]

My milk came in on day 4. I think it's normally day 3-5 but it can take up to 14 days, but not normally more than 7.

How much does your baby weigh? How much is that compared to when he was born?

Also not trying to pry but was the birth a straightforward one? I have heard delay sometimes happens with complications or quite a bit of prematurity.