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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

Milk not come in after c-section

27 replies

Whatevertheweather · 18/08/2012 21:44

DD3 was born via elcs on Wednesday morning at 37 weeks. She's on the little side at 6lbs. I'm trying to b/f her - she latched on during skin to skin in recovery but has not really shown a great deal of interest in waking for feeds. I am waking her every 3hrs to try and feed but she is ever so sleepy and as my milk hasn't come in she is having to work quite hard and I don't think she's really getting anything. Yesterday I thought we were getting somewhere as I was starting to leak colostrum quite freely but today I'm struggling to even get any drops when I squeeze.

On the advice of the m/w I gave her 30mls of formula tonight which she took very enthusiastically despite having been suckling on both breasts for about 20mins each side before which indicates to me she really isn't being satisfied by me. Her latch etc has been checked and theres no problem with that just that I'm not producing anything and she's not really waking to feed very often.

Not really sure what I'm asking other than any tips to get my milk to come in? Is it possible that it won't come in at all? I did manage to successfully bf DD1 5yrs ago and seem to remember having a plentiful supply straight away.

OP posts:

mummynoseynora · 18/08/2012 21:48

it will come, can take up to five days I believe, keep offering it to her as the more she suckles the quicker it will come - so every nappy change, every time she is awake,
keep it up you are doing fab! Maybe try offering every 2 hours in the day to help?

Nottigermum · 18/08/2012 21:50

I had similar issue. In hospital the MW gave DS formula out of a little cup, not a bottle, and encouraged me to carry on BF as often and as long as possible. Milk came in on day 5 and then I had no problem with establishing supply after that. But the first few days in hospital were hard because DS was very sleepy, didn't latch on properly, and I produced very little colostrum.

The difference I suppose is that I went through labour, I was induced, and then had emergency c secs.

The MWs encouraged me to have baby in bed with me as much as possible, and to undress him a bit and try to stroke his back / feet to keep him awake during the feeds.

NickNacks · 18/08/2012 21:50

Proper milk comes in at about day 3/4. Until then keep her on the breast for as long as she likes as this will get your supply going. Very little amount of colostrum is needed to fill baby's tummy so don't worry about that.

Oh and congrats :)

fhdl34 · 18/08/2012 22:08

I had an EMCS, don't think my milk came in until day 4/5. Are you letting her come off the breast on her own? DD used to stay on a side for at least 50 minutes and then I'd put her on the other side but only after she'd come off of her own accord. Sometimes we'd be like that for 3hrs, swapping sides when she came off after about 45/50 minutes.
I'm no experting, just another mum, but I'd do skin to skin at every feed and offer the boob extremely frequently. Oh and congratulations, enjoy your baby x

crikeybadger · 18/08/2012 22:08

I'd suggest LOTS of skin to skin.
Keep her close to you so you can pick up on any feeding cues.
Don't worry, milk will come x

goodygumdrops · 18/08/2012 22:12

I found breast compressions helped alot with this (following c section at 36 weeks and small baby). If you google them and Jack Neuman you should get some good info. Good luck.

Original poster

Whatevertheweather · 18/08/2012 22:17

Thank you. Am feeling a bit all over the place today! We were discharged from hospital just 24hrs after birth and feeling a bit unsure of myself.

I do let her dictate when she comes off - it's normally that's she fallen back to sleep and I can't rouse her to try again. When she's on she's certainly not continually sucking - she does maybe 10-12 good sucks then starts to nod off so I have to re-latch her and the cycle carries on until she's just too sleepy.

Would love to take to bed with her but just not practical with dd1 here - I thought it was such great timing that dd3 would come in the school summer holidays I think we've had too many visitors as well.

OP posts:

ThisOnce · 18/08/2012 22:24

Mine took 8 days with first CS. I was lucky to have support if great lactation consultants and went on to EBF. While you're waiting for milk to come in you might want to supplement with a cup instead of bottle. Make sure you do that after the BF though. I used a small tube attached to my nipple with tape, this was in US but you can buy direct from Medela.

It will likely help a lot to pump immediately after every feed with a hospital grade pump - like a Medela Symphony. You can rent from NCT or direct from Medela, will really help to stimulate supply. But any pumping is better than no pumping. Whatever you do get out can be used to supplement instead of formula.

If you're still retaining fluid that can slow milk production, drink plenty if water. Also low thyroid levels can cause this post Parton but common regardless after CS.

ThisOnce · 18/08/2012 22:26

Sorry for typos! Those hormones are a bugger aren't they, you will feel better soon. Try to take care of yourself, easier said than done though, I know.

Original poster

Whatevertheweather · 18/08/2012 22:26

Also am struggling with the skin to skin as if she is being held I have no chance of her waking up-she just seems to cosy, but we are both stripped when feeding. If she is in her basket she will at least start to stir.

OP posts:

MummyWithMenaces · 18/08/2012 22:32

Congratulations on your baby girl!

Keep at it! My wee girl was like this. I expressed colostrum for her until my milk came in (8 days post section). I offered her the breast every time before I gave her expressed milk. On rhe day my milk came in she latch on and fed for a hour as if she'd been doing it all along!

Make sure you are eating enough I didn't realise that loss of appetite is a post operative side effect.

ThisOnce · 18/08/2012 22:33

A damp cool wash cloth just gently wiped over her while feeding might help, tickling feet etc.

MrsSchadenfreude · 18/08/2012 22:34

Mine didn't come in till the 5ht or 6th day. DD1 got dehydrated and had to take back to hospital. With DD2, I gave her a bottle until I got the enormous red footballs, and then she fed with a vengeance.

feekerry · 18/08/2012 22:42

Mine didn't come in till 2 days after I got home from hospital and they kept me in for 3 days post section so that would be 5 days in total. I just kept with it and literally that baby did not leave my chest for a solid week. I spent first 5 days naked in bed with her. Didn't let anyone else but partner hold her. It worked a treat as dd never lost any birth weight so was obv getting something. I know its hard but cut down on visitors if you can. Or at least let them do everything whilst you relax with new baby. Congrats!

lindsey077 · 18/08/2012 22:43

I'm sure your milk will come in soon and all will be fine but I just wanted to say that my milk didn't come in after a c/s and my midwife said I was talking nonsense. It turned out in their hurry to stitch me up they'd left some placenta behind and this prevented my milk from coming in. I was told retained placenta was not possible after a c/s and it took 6 weeks to get it sorted by which time I had given up and bottle fed.
With my other c/s it definitely took more than 4 days, probably more like six/seven. Just keep going as you are with regular feeds and skin to skin, you will be fine.
Good luck!

Original poster

Whatevertheweather · 18/08/2012 22:51

Thank you all so much. It's good to hear it's normal for proper milk supply to have not come in yet. I think id feel better if she was actually interested in feeding but I'm worried her lack of interest combined with the section is not good.

I'm trying now to feed her, I've woken her up, stripped her, talked to/tickled her but she just nods back off when I put her near the breast and isn't trying to latch. She last started feeding at 6.30pm and finished at 7.20pm with the 30mls of formula. So over 3hrs.

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marshmallowpies · 18/08/2012 22:54

Congratulations on your lovely new arrival. My DD was born on a Tuesday and the milk came in on the Saturday, so hope you are nearly there!

Before that I was hand expressing and getting drops of colostrum into a syringe just to get some colostrum into her at all - she'd feed & feed for hours but still be hungry, my nipples are tiny and very flat so it felt like she had no surface area to latch onto.

We were kept in hospital for 3 nights because they were concerned about my milk supply, and we had donor milk for the last night & day.

Since then she has been mixed fed as I never really got enough supply to keep her going, but she is still being BF at nearly 4 months so I'm glad I persevered.

To get the hand expressing going, I did a lot of massage & rubbing with hot flannels. I didn't manage to express with a pump successfully until a couple of weeks in, and the hospital grade pump made my nipples crack & bleed so I would use those with caution (or at least have someone show you how to use them properly).

ThisOnce · 18/08/2012 23:00

On the hospital grade pump, the problem is often the size of the attachments. If your nipples touch the sides it can do this, or you have it turned up a little too high. The attachments do come in different sizes but think most hospitals just have the standard size.

Heartbeep · 18/08/2012 23:00

Congratulations! My DD was born at 37 weeks, she was 5lbs 14, my milk took 6 days to come & I was forced encouraged to give her formula top ups in hospital as she lost over 10% of her birth weight. I managed to drop the formula over time & she was breast fed until 13 months.

It was very very hard at the start but we got there eventually.

Good luck.

princesssmartypantss · 18/08/2012 23:08

Congratulations ln your new arrival, sounds like you are not alone, my milk took a while to come in, it felt about ten times as long, i have since decided feeding your baby is one of the most emotive things you do, sure you kow that as already have a dc.
My ds was in scbu, so not with me all the time, i was advised to pump every three hours after trying to feed ds, which i felt was unsuccessful, but as his blood sugar levels were being monitored, it became clear that he was actually getting much more than we thought.
Suspect your baby is getting more than you think from colostrum, but have to say was big relief when my milk came in, only slight problem is running out of breastpads within an hour! Poor ds was sent for supplies!

IceCreamCastles · 19/08/2012 12:57

Congratulations!
Mine came in on day 5. We just kept at it although did give 1 ounce if formula on the night of day 4 as everyone was getting very tired and tearful!
Use visitors to keep dd1 ocupied for a while?

crikeybadger · 20/08/2012 22:06

How are things going now Whatever?

Original poster

Whatevertheweather · 20/08/2012 23:22

Well my milk came in today, thank you for asking crikeybadger but unfortunately it was her 5 day weigh in today and she's lost 12.4% of her birth weight so we've spent the day in hospital but am hoping now it's in she will regain it quickly.

OP posts:

mummynoseynora · 21/08/2012 09:02

don't worry about the weight loss, DS lost more than 10% and took 4 weeks to get back to his birth weight, just keep feed feed feeding and she'll be happy as larry in no time

crikeybadger · 21/08/2012 11:50

Oh what a shame you've had to go back in to hospital.

Have the mws come up with a plan of action with you to get the weight back up?

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