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Infant feeding

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

Milk supply.... Bit confused

11 replies

Kentmummy · 20/12/2010 07:54

Hi ladies. I'm EBF'ing my 7 week old DD. I'm a bit confused though about milk supply. I don't really feel any let down and my boobs don't ever feel full... Unless she goes 7 hours through the night, then and only then do they feel hard.
I tried expressing once with a hand pump and did get milk out but not gallons of the stuff... It sort of trickled out.
My SIL says when she expressed it poured out of her and when she's in the shower it pours out. I don't even need breast pads as it rarely leaks
DD is over 14 lbs at 7 weeks and is thriving, plenty of dirty and wet nappies. On the one hand I can see there is no issue with my supply but on the other, I see all the signs saying I have crap boobs with not enough milk and worry she's not getting enough. She does feed alot, could that be because I don't produce enough?
Any thoughts? Am I worrying too much?

OP posts:
NotQuiteCockney · 20/12/2010 07:55

It sounds like everything is ok.

Whether or not you leak, and how much you can get with a pump, are not good indicators of how much milk you're making.

The best indicator is to look at your DD.

Just to check, though - how are your nipples feeling? And when you say she feeds 'a lot', what do you mean?

Kentmummy · 20/12/2010 08:05

Nipples are fine. I had some pain in the first 2 weeks but no issues now.
She tends to cluster feed. If she's awake she will feed every hour-2 hours but then she usually has a long sleep during the day and sleeps pretty well at night, between 3-7 hours at night between feeds.
DD is my first and I don't know what's normal and feel it's all guess work a bit.
I'm demand feeding and she latched on really well from the very first feed.
She won't take a bottle of expressed milk... She just got very distressed when we tried so I feel like my boobs need to be producing enough or she's going to starve!

OP posts:
MamaChris · 20/12/2010 11:03

If she's thriving, it sounds like you've got plenty of milk, and you must be filling her up for her to sleep up to 7 hours at night :) I think some women are more leaky than others. I've never leaked, but bf a big chunky ds1 and am now bf twins. I've always been rubbish at expressing and my breasts have never been hard past day 3. I don't think these are signs that you are not making enough milk, just signs that each woman is different!

organiccarrotcake · 20/12/2010 11:40

Sounds perfect to me and you're really lucky not to leak as that can be horrible.

Leaking can just be leaking, or it can be oversupply which can cause other problems.

I have never leaked (well, I once dripped, which was a shock!) and struggle to express (by doing it every morning I have managed to do it but it took a lot of work) but have easily fed DS1 to 15 months who was a big baby, and DS2 is nearly 6 months and has always been EBF.

My breasts rarely feel anything other than - um - soggy, flat, and totally un-perky. There was a moment at the 6 week mark when I started to lose faith but stuck to it, and guess what - textbook job, week later he settled again and suddenly went up a babygrow size.

Babies fed on demand may well feed more often than the oft-said 3-4 hours but that's because it's how it's supposed to be. To feed when she is doing, then go for 5-7 hour stretches is absolutely wonderfully brilliant.

Interestingly on that note, when babies are completely allowed free access to the breast they will feed/snack up to 4 times in an hour! Which in our society would be something of a nightmare and unsustainable (I mean, how would you get the dishes done? Grin) but it just goes to show that babies love boobies, that's how they're designed to be, and a more perfect description of a breastfeeding relationship I rarely hear than that which you describe. Lovely :)

Kentmummy · 20/12/2010 14:10

Thank you all so much and especially ORGANICCARROTCAKE.... It may be the hormones but the last part of your reply made me cry! Thank you x

OP posts:
organiccarrotcake · 20/12/2010 14:16
Grin
MoonUnitAlpha · 20/12/2010 14:44

I leaked all over the place til four months but still can't express more than a few drops - how's that fair?!

organiccarrotcake · 20/12/2010 15:44

moon Grin (and sympathy!)

poppydog10 · 20/12/2010 16:03

Hiya, as long as your baby is seems content and has plenty of wet and dirt nappies everything seems normal. As your supply settles to meet the needs of your baby you probably won't feel 'full'. Expressing isn't a good indicator of your milk supply as babies are much more effective at getting the milk out. It's because when your baby is sucking you have more of the hormone oxytocin which is responsible for milk let down. Also some women don't leak/ spray ( never had to use a breast pad in my life and dd is still bf at 8 months). Interestingly I learnt on the course I am doing that different women don't all have the same number of milk ducts. Some have 4 some have 12. I was surprised to learn this. I wonder whether this is the reason some women leak and others don't? Important to remember tho is that it doesn't affect the ability to bf.

poppydog10 · 20/12/2010 16:05

To clarify 4 and 12 aren't the only numbers of milk ducts women have - just two examples. Think the average is 9 or something.

poppydog10 · 20/12/2010 16:10

Pps - also meant to say it sounds like you are doing a fab job. Your boobs are not crap - boobs are fab!!!! Keep up the hood work!

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