Milk drying up?

[SassyPants87]

Baby is 6 days old and we had a rocky start so I combi fed but predominantly gave breast. I'm sure my milk came in yesterday as this morning they were heavy and leaking. I've since fed her today but she's not really been sucking properly. She's had two wet nappies but no poo

I just tried to feed here again but my boobs have now gone super soft and when I tried to hand express nothing was coming out so I've had to give her formula

Is this my milk drying out? I didn't think it would be so soon and like I said I've been mainly giving her breast. In regards to formula I only give her an ounce or two once or twice a day/ night so it's not a big amount either

Any advice you can give would be great

Thanks

[Russell19]

Hi hun, your milk won't dry up if you keep putting your baby to the breast. Just keep doing that. Often. And you'll be fine.

[Onceuponatimethen]

Aren’t you just experiencing what happens naturally? Boobs start hard due to engorging and then go soft when it settles down to normal.

Expressing is no indication at all of how much milk you have. I couldn’t express with dd1 at all - literally nothing, but actually had over supply! With dd2 my supply was normal but I still could hardly express.

Call one of the bf hrlplines To reassure you but just keep feeding constantly. If baby is weeing and pooing then the milk is going in!

If you keep on giving ff that will reduce your supply of bm

[Onceuponatimethen]

If your baby’s nappies match this sheet here

www.nct.org.uk/sites/default/files/related_documents/What%27s%20in%20a%20nappy%20%28ENGLISH%20VERSION%29%20FINAL%20WITHOUT%20BLEED.pdf

Then everything is fine with how much milk they are getting

[Toebarb]

Your baby sucking is much more efficient than hand expressing. The fact that you didn't get anything that way definitely doesn't mean your milk is drying up

[Aria2015]

Your breasts are usually engorged for just a short time while your milk comes in and then they'll feel softer. My lo is 2 weeks old and my breasts were only hard and engorged for a few hours and then my baby 'drained' them and they've been soft ever since. I've also not leaked which I was worried about but multiple midwives / health visitors have assured me that this is normal and not all women leak. I can't get anything trying to hand express (or pump!) but my lo is putting on weight so definitely getting enough, even if it doesn't feel like it.

If you're frequently feeding and your milk has come in then it's likely you've got enough milk. Try not to worry too much, it's hard I know!

[yikesanotherbooboo]

You don't need to monitor how many dirty nappies your baby has; as long as they have wet nappies they are getting enough. In those first few days and weeks you have to offer the breast constantly in order to regulate the milk supply. What has happened is normal . Don't expect to be able to express at this point either , I could never produce more than a drop but 2 of my DC were champion bfeeders. At this point they are just getting your supply going and may be getting very little volume but that is normal. Your supply hasn't dried up. I think you are hugely complicating matters with the top ups... not that it is wrong exactly , just that it doesn't help the starting to b feed process imo.

[SassyPants87]

Thanks all, super reassuring! My breasts are still soft and nothing comes out when expressing but she seems happy and having wet nappies so I'll take it as a win

[Onceuponatimethen]

You are doing amazing op - just keep up all that good work and watch her getting bigger and stronger every day