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Infant feeding

Day 11 and feel like my milk is disappearing

20 replies

feesh · 26/05/2017 19:20

Had my 9lb 2oz baby 11 days ago (ELCS). He struggled to latch and had low blood sugar at birth, but I had a stash of antenatal colostrum which we used to stabilise his blood sugars and entice him to feed.

Have been reliant on nipple shields (flat/inverted nipples) and he is still losing weight. But he's still within 10% and my private lactation consultant (who is fab) isn't too concerned as he's producing lots of wet and pooey nappies. Also she has diagnosed a tongue tie, which is being snipped tomorrow so she wants to see if that changes things before we worry about weight loss.

Also he was born on 92nd percentile (poss undiagnosed gestational diabetes on my part?) which doesn't fit with his siblings or parental genes so I think he needs to catch down.

Anyway, I saw lactation consultant yesterday morning and she said he might not feed too well the day of his tongue tie snip and advised me to express some milk to have in store and also to keep my supply up.

Last night I pumped for the first time ever at 930pm in between feeds using a Medela Freestyle, only for 5 mins as nothing came out after that, and got 60ml and ended up with two soft floppy boobs for the first time since my milk came in.

At 22.30 I tried to feed DS but my boobs were still floppy and empty. DS got really upset and cross and we ended up giving him half the ebm to settle him.

I fed him every 3-4 hours through the night but my boobs felt soft and empty throughout.

In the morning my milk flow perked up slightly as you'd expect, but as the day has gone on I've had less and less and we had to top him up again just now.

I honestly feel like there's hardly anything coming through. I can tell by the feel of them (both soft and floppy, whereas before I used to weigh them and know which one I fed from last) and because of DS behaviour (frustration, exhaustion).

I know boobs can soften up when supply levels out but that's not till 6 weeks or so.

I'm only 11 days and before I pumped last night I was generally quite engorged.

I haven't needed bra pads at all today and the other nipple doesn't leak when I feed.

Please can someone tell me what the hell is going on? I have been sobbing all evening about it and I don't know what has gone wrong since I pumped.

OP posts:
feesh · 26/05/2017 19:23

Ps he's been sleepy since birth - have been waking him every 2 hours during the day (ramped this up from 3 hours this week) and 3-4 hours at night to feed. Today we had a love in in bed and I've been feeding every 1-2 hours all day and eating lots of porridge and flapjacks and started taking fenugreek

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Cakescakescakes · 26/05/2017 19:25

Are you drinking plenty of water? Dehydration can play havoc with supply and it has been really hot for last few days?

Cakescakescakes · 26/05/2017 19:28

I had a tongue tie baby too which was snipped on day 4. It took him a few days to get the hang of his new latch but from the first feed it was obvious that things were massively improved. Just keep feeding and offering and see how it goes for couple of days after the tongue tie snip. And my DS was totally unfazed by the whole thing. He cries for 30 seconds then was totally fine. Fed straightaway afterwards. Hang in there!

feesh · 26/05/2017 19:28

Yeah buckets. I'm actually living overseas anyway so I do drink a lot anyway (it's hotter here).

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feesh · 26/05/2017 19:29

Thanks Cakes. Did you do the stretches after? I am in two minds about them.

I don't understand why my supply has seemingly tanked overnight though. That's what's worrying me.

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Cakescakescakes · 26/05/2017 19:30

And I would suggest pumping first thing in the morning when your supply is greatest. Pumping at night isnt great because your supply is at its lowest in the evening and I found it always left my boobs a bit 'empty' feeling. In the morning there was always enough milk to feed and express.

feesh · 26/05/2017 19:31

I know about the morning pumping thing but I was a bit scared to do it again this morning after what happened last night. Also in the day his feeds are so close together that I don't really get time.

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TeddyIsaHe · 26/05/2017 19:32

Yes drink tons and tons of water, a pint at every feed and one in between. Make sure you're eating enough calories as well - at least 1800 a day. Lots of skin to skin with baby to help stimulate your milk. Even if your boobs feel empty there will still be milk, and pumping is never as effective as baby, so don't worry too much about that. It may be that his tongue tie is preventing a deep enough latch, so once that is snipped tomorrow you should see a marked improvement. Well done though, I know how horrible it is in the beginning when it doesn't seem to be going right. You can do this!

Cakescakescakes · 26/05/2017 19:34

No we didn't do any stretches. Weren't advised to? But I had read about them online. We were warned that the tie could potentially reattach but it seems to have completely been fine. And it was a really severe one that even I was able to notice literally as soon as he was born and opened his mouth. He is 2 now and I fed him till he was 14 months :)

Oh and he was also a big baby. Nearly 10lb and I'm only 5'3" so he lost a fair bit of weight in first few days but really started to pile it on once his tongue was sorted out.

Cakescakescakes · 26/05/2017 19:37

I wouldn't worry about pumping for now then. Although what I would do sometimes was feed him first thing then pump afterwards. I only ever got about 1oz total from both sides even with a good pump so definitely it's less efficient than your baby is. You could try that in the morning before his snip so you have a couple of ounces as back up but don't stress about it. And honestly my DS fed totally fine post snip so don't worry about having a big back up stash.

feesh · 26/05/2017 19:37

Thanks. So my supply will come back once he has been snipped? He's latched on right now and it sounds and feels so dry. It's so depressing and I just want to know why it's happened and if I can fix it

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Cakescakescakes · 27/05/2017 00:26

The tie is impeding him from latching properly so he isn't able to properly stimulate your supply etc. Once his tongue tie and latch is fixed then things should improve with frequent feeding. It'll take a few days for his latch to strengthen and get used to feeding in an new way. You are doing all the right things :) And sounds like you have great help from your lactation consultant. Let us know how it goes tomorrow/today.

Newtothis11 · 27/05/2017 02:27

Our bodies are amazing when it come to breast feeding (don't think I'd have said that in the early days though). The more he takes the more your body will produce. Thevsucking stinulates more supply. It can take a couple of days for your boobs to feel full enough but they will!

I learnt this week that hot weather changes our milk to more watery to compensate for what baby needs! How clever is that!

Keep with it, hope he improves after TT is cut.

rizlett · 27/05/2017 03:28

This happened to me with my second baby and what helped was to forget about everything else apart from just feeding him as frequently as possible - a couple of days later I was back to normal.

feesh · 27/05/2017 04:42

Thanks. It's morning here now and I woke up with one full and leaky boob. I took 30ml off if with my Haaka pump while he fed from the other side.

Feeling a bit better now - think the fenugreek and yesterday's love in has done the trick.

Hoping today's tongue tie cut goes ok.....

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Calphurnia · 27/05/2017 05:11

Glad things seem to be settling for you. Remember that when it comes to bf, your body is a factory rather than a storage unit, so try not to worry too much about how your boobs feel.

Have you got another pump? I read something about the Hakaa being really good at getting either the fore or hind milk, and not a mixture. Sorry, on my phone so can't link

Hope all continues to go well Cake

feesh · 27/05/2017 07:46

Think I spoke too soon, he emptied my boobs pretty quick and then was still hungry.

I've got a Medela Freestyle as well. Managed a quick pump on it this morning (flow stopped after 3 mins) and got 30ml total from both breasts combined.

We are now at the clinic getting his tongue tie snipped

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bf1000 · 27/05/2017 10:43

Hope snip has gone well. Eat and drink plenty and lots of skin to skin. Will prob feed All the time but this will establish supply so try not to worry, as already said the books are like a river not a lake. So as long as baby latches and feeds the body will continue to produce milk.

Tongue tie does impede this but it's getting snipped so hopefully latch will improve and supply will improve.

Bella1985 · 30/05/2017 12:21

feesh I attend a bfeeding support group and asked the midwives about empty boobs when I was worried about my supply - they said that even though the boobs might be soft and feeling 'empty' the milk supply goes further and baby can still get milk out from them. They're not empty! As time goes by (ds is 5months now) my boobs rarely get to the enormous about to burst stage they used to. They're quite soft and go even softer quickly but DS is thriving. He has to work a little bit for the milk as it doesn't come spraying out but he gets enough. And its the good, fatty, milk that's in the pipes which will fill him for longer too.

Hope the tie has helped your son to latch properly to continue feeding when your boobs feel soft. I think it will help you mentally if you don't think of your boobs as empty, you'll stress a lot less. I've even found that his latch is better on soft boobs and I don't get sore nipples. Obviously keep an eye on the weight of your baby but trust your body- if you're making milk, you won't become empty over night. Also, I rarely manage to express more than 4oz but as I said, DS now weighs 8.6kg which is at 91st centile for his age so he's definitely getting milk out!

susan432 · 08/06/2017 19:38

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