Is there any way to get your milk to come in quicker?

[Zwitterion]

Suspect this is a daft question.....but..,.

I am expecting DC2 in April. DD was a fairly big baby (9.1) and appeared to be starving when she was born - she latched on immediately and stayed there pretty much for the next two days and nights, until my milk came in. She cried and cried if de- latched. I breastfed her for the next 16 months or so,
really enjoyed it, no issues.

This next one is looking to be even bigger, and from what I gathered from the mw's at the hospital, bigger babies have bigger tummies obviously, so get hungry quicker.

Is there anything I can do to speed up my milk coming in, or is it the case that the baby sucking stimulates milk so it's just something I need to get through? Not relishing the thought of 2 nights without sleep after labour, but appreciate this just may be what I have to do.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Your baby did what she needed to do to get the milk - she fed from you often :) Clever baby....its also normal for babies to be like this for comfort and closeness so she was just not wanting you to go away :)

There is nothing you can do to speed up the natural, physiological process of milk coming in apart from feeding - you can feed while asleep yourself, though, or at least dozing. Hospital should show you how to do this safely.

Hope it goes well.

Thanks tiktok that's really helpful. I thought this would be the case!

I'm feeling more confident about feeding lying down this time too, so that should help and I can doze a bit.

No expert but as I understand it, you need to be led by your baby. With my son, also a bigger baby, he was just on my boob constantly for three days, especially at night. A midwife said 'trust your baby, he knows what he's doing - he's building his milk supply'

Sounds like your daughter was as well!