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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

Do bigger newborns need more milk?

20 replies

ThisIsYourSong · 29/03/2011 13:49

I had a bad experience breastfeeding my DTs as my milk didn't come in for quite a while and one of my babies got dehydrated (the other was on formula topups from birth due to low birth weight). I found it very distressing. I ended up expressing for about six weeks and then switched to formula.

I am pregnant again (41 weeks) and really want to breastfeed this time. This baby is going to be rather large - estimated 9lb 14oz at 40+6, although I think this is going to be a bit over as it was skewed by a few big measurements including a large stomach (!).

Anyway I guess that a bigger baby will need more milk but am just wondering if this is correct? I know they don't need or get a lot of colostrum in the first few days but am wondering whether being big will mean its more likely that I won't have enough milk for him at first again.

I do know that things may well be different this time. My boobs have got a lot bigger (they didn't change a lot in my last pregnancy) and have had milk in them for a while. I also don't think it will change the way I am planning to do things but am interested in others' experiences or knowledge.

Thanks very much

OP posts:

KnitterNotTwitter · 29/03/2011 13:53

My DS was 10lb 6oz. The only advice I have is to let baby suck at your boobs as much as they want and that'll tell your boobs how much to make. My milk came in on day 3 which is apparently normal. However the 20 hours before it came in were not fun as he desperately sucked on nothing... Have faith in your boobs: the milk will come..

And good luck :)

notnowbernard · 29/03/2011 13:53

my 10lb 2oz baby needed lots of frequent feeding. they told me to offer the breast often as he would need to maintain his blood sugar level (apparently big babies can run the risk of having a lowered sugar levels in the 1st few days)

tbh i didn't need to offer much - he's been a gannet from day 1

still bf now at 7m though so he's done ok!

with all of mine i've fed, fed and fed at first. seems to get bf off to a good start

good luck!

rubyslippers · 29/03/2011 13:56

The size of your boobs has nothing to do with the amount of milk they can produce

A bigger newborn, may have a bigger tummy to hold more milk but I don't think it is a vast difference

Successful feeding starts in the first hour after birth, so get as much skin to sk as you can and encourage your baby to latch well and suckle as much as he needs

Put your baby to the breast at each squeak in the early days - get your latch checked and double checked and find a breastfeeding cafe if possible

Good luck

ILikeToMoveItMoveIt · 29/03/2011 14:01

Both of my babies have been 9lb plus so I don't have anything to compare it to. But thinking about it I don't think the stomach size in a 6lb baby can be that different than a 9lb baby.

Anyway, that is irrelevant because as long as you feed on request your supply will be adequate for the baby. They will take as little or as much as they want/need/like. Also skin to skin and letting the baby just suckle at the breast is good for the supply.

Even though both of my ds's put on weight they didn't pile it on like everyone seems to expect a big birthweight baby to.

The size of your boobs isn't a reflection on your supply either, so even if you don't get watermelon boobs when your milk comes in, please don't think it is always a sign of a low supply.

Sorry, my answers are all a bit disjointed - I'm tired!!

Good luck with the birth

colditz · 29/03/2011 14:03

in my experience, yes. ds1 was 8lb7 and regularly sank 6 oz of milk from 1 week old. he was NEVER pushed - but if i stopped the feed before he was ready (because i was scared of him being sick!) he'd scream the place down.

Ds2, who was 8lb4 but much much shorter - well, I don't think he ever drank 6oz together in his life.

But boobs are creative organs, and the milk should be there if you demand feed.

organiccarrotcake · 29/03/2011 14:05

9Lb 14 isn't small of course, but it's not huge, and mums can feed twins or triplets from birth with a combined weight of much more than this. Also, your baby, no matter his birth weight, will quickly reach this weight (and keep on growing!) and you will make enough milk for him then, too.

When you had your twins, do you know why the milk took a while to come in? If you had a CS this quite possibly affected it, and if the delivery was traumatic in any way, or early, again this could cause a problem. Mums of twins have much less time for (anything!) just "being" with their babies, and perhaps if this meant less time cuddling and skin to skin, this would have affected you.

What I'm saying is, it's very unlikely that you "didn't have enough milk" because you had a problem yourself. It's much more likely to be outside influences that caused a problem. Sounds like your body is doing wonderful things right now so trust in it, it knows what it's doing :) Birth interventions can interfere with BFing so consider trying to have as natural a birth as poss, but certainly skin to skin afterwards and as much time as your twins will let you have just with your baby for the first few weeks.

Keep the NCT breastfeeding line on your fridge door in bit red letters - 0300 330 0771 - and very best of luck :)

notnowbernard · 29/03/2011 14:06

mine piled on the weight from birth - didn't lose, went from 10lb 2oz to 10lb 9oz in 5 days and carried on like that

i agree with ruby - offer at the first squeak

Original poster

ThisIsYourSong · 29/03/2011 14:39

Thanks for all your responses and support, its wonderful. I do intend to offer the breast as often as possible and let him feed/suckle as long as he wants. I might be just over-analysing things due to what happened last time and being overdue and waiting for things to happen!

organiccarrotcake - I think we may have 'spoken' before and you recommended the LLL book The Breastfeeding Mother's Guide to Making More Milk? If so, thanks, I have found it very interesting. I think my milk not coming in was due to being a bit early (37 weeks but no signs of making an appearance themselves) / having a c/section / PCOS (which is a hormonal issue) / not feeding often enough. I'm really hoping to give birth naturally but they've only given me until Friday, otherwise its another c/s.

I'm much more prepared this time and have lots of family support which I didn't have last time, and their priority will be to look after the twins. Plus having a bit more knowledge myself means I will be a lot more proactive about things and am feeling fairly confident (albeit with a few worries) that we can muddle through!

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COCKadoodledooo · 29/03/2011 14:50

Ds1 was 9lb 6oz, and for the first 6 weeks or so fed every 2hrs for 45 minutes at a time.

Ds2 was 7lb 11oz, and fed for only 15 minutes tops at a time, but never more than 1h 30 mins apart.

Athough ds1 clearly fed more, I found the second more exhausting tbh!

organiccarrotcake · 29/03/2011 14:56

thisisyoursong Oh crikey, pre-labour CS, PCOS and not feeding enough are all severe risk factors so, you poor thing, you really did have it all :( Glad you like the book. I find it very useful when talking to mums who for one reason or another found that their milk production wasn't sufficient. So far I've not helped a mum who actually wasn't physically able to make enough when the other problems were removed, which is really positive.

Just a note about "given me until Friday". How do you feel about this? What's their reasoning? I'm at work and struggling to keep up with MN but would like to work through this a bit more if you're ok with that. Would you be able to PM me? :)

cinnamongreyhound · 29/03/2011 18:25

ds1 was 8lb 12oz, he was already 9lb at 5 days old, he had both sides at every feed around every 3 hours and was on 98th centile until about 18 months. Ds1 was 9lb 2oz, lost 1/2oz at 5 days old and only had one side but fed more irratically and has settled on 75th centile. Not much between them I guess but my smallest baby definitely had a bigger appetite!

Fernie3 · 29/03/2011 19:20

I can only speak from personal experience :) but my smallest baby who was 5 pounds 8 at birth was the kne who drank most milk from day one. He was bottle fed and so I could compare directly with my first two and he did drink much more than them both at each individual feed and also had more Feeds during a day. My fourth baby was the first I have breastfed and I have normal (I think - I amm c cup anyway!) sized boobs and I have been totally shocked at the sheer amount of milk that comes out of them!. I'm the first few days though before the milk actually came in it was literally just a few drops and my daughter was just constantly sucking luckily I had some great advice and kept going and finally on day 4 milk appeared. The ONLY problem I have had is that the milk seems slow my daughter often gets frustrated when it takes a while to come - but this may be nothing to do with anything!

pearlgirl · 29/03/2011 20:21

My experience has been that as long as i let the baby feed often and followed their feeding cues my body would produce the milk they needed - and my smallest one (6lb 10oz) and my biggest one (10lb 11oz) both fed frequently and current little one also fed loads for long periods until recently.

moonstorm · 29/03/2011 21:22

I had a 6 lb prem baby and a 9 lb term baby. I don't think it makes a differernce:

The small baby had a tiny stomach so needed to feed often as it couldn't hold much, the big baby maybe needed more milk, so feed often.

Just feed, feed and feed in the early days.

Original poster

ThisIsYourSong · 30/03/2011 10:54

Thanks again for everyone's advice! Looks like I was worrying about nothing, it seems silly now as goodness knows how and how often he's going to feed etc anyway.

I do realise that the size of your breasts has nothing to do with how much milk you can produce, but just for the record there is a link between your breasts not changing much during pregnancy and having problems breastfeeding.

I'm actually not worried about producing enough when the milk does come in, its just the first week or so I am worried about! But am now sufficiently reassured that his largish size shouldn't make a difference.

Thank you all!

OP posts:

KnitterNotTwitter · 31/03/2011 12:03

Thisisyoursong there isn't necessarily a correlation between increase in boob size and milkyness. Much of boobs are fat stores and often your body will use up that fat for baby growing energy so it is entirely possible to loose a cup size while pg. At the same time your milk ducts will be maturing/gearing up for production and for some people this means your boobs get bigger (mine went up one cup size) but everyone is different.

Just let your DC have a really good go at the boobs - leave baby sucking for as long as they want to - they'll start up the communication with your boobs about how much milk to make...

The only other advice I've got is to get a ring sling (Freedom Slings on ebay are great IMO) so you can BF while walking about/doing stuff with your other DC... i remember the happy day BFing while walking round B&Q!!!

KnitterNotTwitter · 31/03/2011 12:06

The other thing that will have a factor is if you're tense about stuff - stops the valves in your boobs opening. Try and relax as much as possible (easier said than done i know) make sure your OH is going to mind the DC's while you're BFing and make life as easy as possible for yourself.

You might also try feeding skin to skin and also try reclining and letting your baby snuffle their way to your boob and do-it-themselves rather than you doing the positioning yourself.

You're going to be great i'm sure - all the best for the birth and beyond :)

MummyElk · 31/03/2011 15:37

this is a good page scroll down to bottom on what size your newborn's tummy is... puts it all into perspective a bit i think...

Original poster

ThisIsYourSong · 03/04/2011 07:25

Thanks! Turned out to be a big one - 11lb 1oz .

He is lovely and feeding well, a very sucky baby which I think helps. I had a few issues with latching and positioning (I think I was too anxious to just get him on there) but things are getting better and better. A bit sore but lots of Lansinoh is helping!

He is feeding well and frequently, especially at night so I am happy with the way things are going. I got lots of help, patience and support from the midwives which was fantastic. Gotta go - looks like its feeding time

Thanks for everything

OP posts:

PenguinArmy · 03/04/2011 16:38

:) congratulations

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