Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

How do I know she's getting milk

12 replies

crazykat · 16/12/2010 12:29

DD is 3 days old and since she was born has wanted to constantly feed. She seems to latch on okay but will suck well for about a minute then fall asleep but not let go. She carries on sucking a few times then stops and starts. Eventually she'll let go but two minutes later she's screaming for more. So I switch to the other side and the pattern repeats.

I'm lucky if she'll be happy and stay asleep for 5-10 minutes at a time. I just don't know what to do. I've caved in and given her formula just to get a rest as it's getting really painful. She's finally asleep so it makes me think she's not getting enough.

Are there any ways (other than skin to skin and trying to BF) that will increase supply as I really want to BF but I can't constantly feed her.

OP posts:
seeker · 16/12/2010 12:33

It could be that your milk hasn't come in yet - it's often the 3rd day when it does. Once your milk is properly established it gets much easier, hnestly. But you do feel as if you're constantly feeding for a while.
Stick with it - and if you possibly can, don't give formula - you need her to suckle to stimulate your supply.

It sounds as if you've made a brilliant start - and someone more knowledgable than me will be along in a moment. Hang in there - it gets to be second nature incredibly quickly, I promise!

MoonUnitAlpha · 16/12/2010 12:37

You do feed constantly for the first few days to get your milk to come in. Mine didn't come in til day 4, but for the first few days they just get small amounts of colostrum.

If you're really sore, have you had someone check your latch and check your baby for tongue tie?

paarrp · 16/12/2010 12:40

Agree with seeker - you will know when your milk comes in - did you have a c-section? If you did you milk may not come in til day 4/5.

Your dd will be fine on the colostrum til then. It will feel like you are constantly feeding her for the first few weeks, but once your supply is established it'll settle down.

Congratulations :)

MoonUnitAlpha · 16/12/2010 12:41

What are the baby's nappies like? What comes out is a good indication of what's going in!

marzipananimal · 16/12/2010 12:57

The first couple of weeks can be really hard but the feeding you describe sounds normal to me. Is she weeing and pooing? Does she seem well? Is the midwife happy with her? Don't panic and think it will always be like this - they change so fast and quickly become more efficient feeders.
As moonunit says it would be worth getting someone to check the latch to see if it can be improve so you don't get so sore.
Have you tried feeding lying down? If you can get her to latch on that way then you can get some rest while feeding

AppleAndBlackberry · 16/12/2010 13:18

It sounds like your milk hasn't come in yet. When mine did I could definitely hear swallowing and I felt engorged and DD stopped wanting to feed the whole time then but it did take a few days (5 or 6 for me but that's unusual).

MerryElk · 16/12/2010 14:27

The first few days it can feel like time is going s.o. s.l.o.o.o.w.l.y and It's Never Going to End Smile so sympathies.
Your baby is suckling frequently to encourage your milk to come in, which it should do in the next day or two. It's vital that she does this as it sends all the right signals to your breasts to produce more mature milk (rather than colostrum). Lots of skin to skin, lots of cuddling should make this a bit easier for you and gives you time to recover from the birth.
Is she producing wet nappies?
Once your milk does come in, you might be able to hear her swallowing more which might ease your mind.
Re the soreness - how do you think her latch is? Is it sore the entire feed? There's a difference between your nipples getting used to breastfeeding (which can be a little sore but does ease) and the constant pain of an incorrect latch. The latter would need rectifying... Which your MW should be able to help you with...or we can try on here.

You WON'T be constantly feeding her soon - this is a short lived period and honestly it's worth sticking with - she's just trying to get the messages to your boobs...

how are you feeling now?

harverina · 16/12/2010 14:48

Agree with the others, your milk probably has not come in yet. Sorry to hear you are sore. What is the pain like? I recommend lansinoh cream - some GP's will prescribe it. I have never had much pain bf'ing but in the early days my nipples sometimes felt a bit raw from the constant sucking. I found slathering lansinoh on in between feeds really helped and you don't have to worry about wiping it off.

I know its really hard but try not to offer formula - it will affect your supply. No harm done but it could cause problems if you were to keep doing it. The best way to get your supply up is to feed, feed, feed! It will get better soon and you'll start to notice longer gaps in between feeds as her wee tummy will be getting fuller as your lovely milk comes in. In the meantime she will be getting colostrum, which is all she needs. Her tummy is tiny just now.

Have you thought about getting to a BF support group? I go every week to mine and its been great (8 months on I still hate missing it!)

Oh and congratulations! Its fab that your DD is latching on. You sound like your doing great Smile

MerryElk · 16/12/2010 15:42

oh and meant to say give your nipples lots of air and also try leaving some breastmilk on them to dry, seemed to work wonders for me. Lansinoh/gold cream etc are also good but so is their marketing - i've always found breastmilk better (and cheaper) Smile
harverina makes a good point about formula though, no harm done but it could cause problems.
and think about how big her tummy is (good diagram at the bottom)

Original poster
crazykat · 16/12/2010 20:30

Thanks for all the advice. I've been given a number for a local BF group so I'm going to call them tomorrow. I've noticed that I can hear her swallowing at the beginning of a feed so I'm hoping it's the milk starting to come in.

She does have wet nappies, just not as many as DS did but he was FF as there wasn't enough milk for him.

It hurts for a few seconds but eases until the aftrnoon/evening then it hurts through most of the feed. I think it's more from the constant feeding than the latch as she latches on the same every time.

She seems happy whenever she's feeding, it's once she stops and I out her down that she isn't. I think the longest she's gone between feeds was 15 minutes when we were in the car.

OP posts:
Caz10 · 16/12/2010 20:35

Good luck, the BF group will be a good help! Just wanted to say that not everyone gets that massive change/engorgement when their milk comes in - mine came in but my boobs stayed largely the same.

I remember very clearly DD going 20 mins between feeds for quite a few days - exhausting but you get past it!

Squitten · 16/12/2010 20:46

Stick with it!

DS2 is very nearly 2 weeks old now and we are also BF for the first time after FF DS1. The first few days are hard but your milk should be arriving around now and it gets easier from then on and the baby should get more settled.

DS2 was a bit dehydrated for the first few days but recovered very quickly once the milk arrived (beware of the wet nappies - they can start peeing like mad!) If you are in pain, I would get the latch checked asap so at least you can make sure that's not an issue

New posts on this thread. Refresh page