help milk not come in yet

[emmylou157]

Hi,
I gave birth 4 days ago and have been breastfeeding exclusively since birth. Today baby has been really unsettled and hungry all the time, she has stopped weeing and pooing as much - only once today and has had crystals in her nappy which the breastfeeding info I have suggests she is not feeding enough.

My milk has not come in yet and I was wondering when others milk has come in. Have had to resort to cup feeding small amopunts of formula tonight after attempting breastfeeding as too worried about her being hungry and getting dehydrated. I am really keen to keep breastfeeding and am getting her to suckle from each breast for as long as she will before topping her up with the formula.

Has anyone else had this problem? It is really upsetting me as feel I am letting her down.

Thanks

Mine didn't come in until Day 5. Might just have been coincidence but on the evening of Day 4, I pumped with an electric breast pump and the next morning there was tons of milk there. Sounds like you are doing all the right things, hope yours comes in quickly now.

Have you had any help with you latch etc?

It may be worth calling La Lache League in the am to see if they can offer any help. Because it might not be that you're not producing milk, rather than the latch being incorrect.

I'm no expert but they are and would really suggest you call them --really friendly and helpful

In the meantime tonight, try raising your baby with pollows etc so they are in line with your nipple

Oh and you're not letting her down! You just need some advice and help!! I never felt like my milk 'came in' but it did... Ididn't get engorged or anything but I could feed DS, so don't worry about not feeling like it's not coming in. It's only 4 days in

Congrats on your new baby

With both of mine it took three days to come in, until then I fed pretty much round the clock in order to bring it in quickly. It's a bit early to supplement as that will lessen your supply. I would just drink lots of water, eat very well, try and get some rest and feed, feed, feed. Once it is established it's not as hard as generally thought to be. I remember expecting all sorts of problems and in the end it was bfing that settled both myself and dd after a traumatic birth.

For the pain of engorgement, use white cabbage leaves straight from the fridge.

In the early days there should be a lot of wet nappies, usually one after each feed. Please don't feel like you're as you say - letting her down, you have just done a wonderful thing giving birth to her!

The night feeds are particularly good for bringing in milk so just make yourself comfortable with water, food, tv remote control withing arms reach and as long as her latch is good everything should be fine. Also maybe a bfing counsellor could help or a local bfing group?

Just speaking from personal experience, I'd say it is def not too early to be supplementing with formula after each BF. My boys had to be readmitted to hospital on Day 5 (ironically the day my milk had finally come in) because had lost well over 10% of birthweight and one twin inparticular was v dehydrated. I wish I'd topped up sooner as it would have saved us a v traumatic week in hospital which REALLY didn't help me establish BF-ing in a calm and soothing manner!!!!

I am feeding on demand, and both breasts each time until she stops. By the end of last night she was just not staying on either. This morning she has had 2 feeds off one breast but won't stay on the other after a few initial sucks which is what she was doing last nighton both. Just waiting for the midwife to come round.

Thanks for the replies.

My milk has come in late on Day 4 both times now. Sometimes it just takes a bit, definitely get the latch checked.

Try not to use the formula because it will fill her tummy and she will not be interested in sucking so your body won't get the feedback it needs.

How is your health otherwise?

How was the birth?

When she's on, how does it feel? Is she sucking hard? Do your nipples hurt? And if so, do they hurt at the start, all the way through, afterwards?

we were readmitted to hospital on day 3 as DS had lost 12% of birth weight and had jaundice, and he had formula top ups that night and until my milk came in which wasn't until day 5. i think, touch wood, now at 16 days we have got bf proper;y established and he is thriving, so don't worry too much. have been astonished at how many people told me they had to give formula before their milk came in - it's really common. try not to worry - as everyone kept telling me, you need to rest, drink plenty of water and eat plenty of good food in order for your milk to come in as fast as possible.

Of course you need to drink, eat well, rest etc, if you are not drinking fluids, eating good protein, your body won't produce fluids/milk.

Emmylou157 hope things are going better today, how did it go with the mw?

even if it is a myth you need those things in order for your body to recover well after childbirth, so it won't do any harm!

6 days here.

My milk came in on Day 6 - I was absolutely fraught with worry that I would starve DD and never produce any at all.

I gave DD tiny sips of water on about Day 4, and she was fine until my milk came in, though obviously hungry.

I have no idea why it took so long to come, though when it did it was fairly plain sailing and DD gained weight at a rate of knots! One thing that might have helped me, or it could be coincidence, was talking about the birth and labour to a friend, going through the story step by step, which was quite cathartic for me and perhaps helped me get over the trauma of the birth and allowed my milk to start flowing.

True, Starlight - eating and drinking is necessary to health and well-being, but fortunately not to breastfeeding which will happen whether or not the mother is well-fed and hydrated or not.

emmylou - where is the midwife? It makes me sad when new mothers are typing out pleas for help and information on their laptops and seeking info from the web when they should have someone whose job it is to get their feeding sorted.

If your baby is having difficulty latching then you can express and give the milk to her - midwife should confirm this and help you to do it.

Hope you see someone today.

Seashore - second what tiktok said. You do not need those things to produce milk, you really dont.

My milk didn't come in until day 5 either. I had an em cs which was probably a factor. She had only colostrum until then.

I do hope that you get some proper help today.

Please be reassured that it is not unheard of for it to take up to 6 days for your milk to come in and while looking after yourself is important for your health and well being, your milk supply is not dependent upon your food or fluid intake as tiktok and starlight rightly point out.

I do hope you are getting proper help/support in rl.

No you don't need those things (sleep, food, drink) to produce milk but you definately do need those things to recover from the birth.

In terms of food/water I have drink tried to "fast" when bfing - the first time tried to fast properly eg no food or drink for 24 hours, after around 18 hours I was so thirsty (and felt faint etc) and DS1 sucking and biting as milk flow was noticeably slower (there was milk just slower than normal). I fasted again this year but got a "dispensation" to drink and although I stuck to water only, I saw no difference at all to my milk supply.

I can't help but say from my personal experience I totally disagree, I exclusively bf two dc.

'Everything in milk costs the mother - she is literally dissolving her own tissue to make it.'

A quote from a v interesting article -

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/breast-and-bottle-feeding/1015975-This-is-just-clever-clever-research-into-suga rs-in-breast

Might be best to rest/drink/eat in order to do this.

Eating, drinking and resting make no difference to breastmilk - they might make a difference to the mother's own well-being, but she does not need to pay special attention to any of these things in order to enhance her breastfeeding.

There is no argument about this - the research on many women and their milk is clear,

Individual women may have individual experiences which do not reflect this - fair enough. But as general advice to everyone, it makes no biological or research-based sense.

The mother 'literally dissolving her own tissue' to make milk ? That's putting it a bit dramatically but yes, the energy for breastmilk production does not come direct from the mother's diet but from her fat, laid down in pregnancy, and hanging about her anyway, 'cos that's how women are made, even skinny ones Women on chronically poor, low calorie diets will still breastfeed ok, but their own bodies will suffer before the breastmilk does.

That was quick. Still disagree.