Weird problem-no let down

[pinkoyster]

DS2 is 5 days today. My milk came in yesterday but I am getting no let down when he is bfing. Nothing at all. As a result my breasts haven't been emptying properly and they are rock solid. DS now cries when I put him to the breast and won't suckle. He has been checked for latch and Tongue tie. He sucks for ages and though he is getting very mildly wet nappies, is pooing meconium still. His birth weight was 4.35kgs (9 pounds 10oz). He had lost 300g since his last weigh 2 days ago by the midwife.

I have tried massaging my breasts in a downward motion, fennel tea, hot compresses, relaxation techniques (though I am fairly relaxed, bar the tiredness!), but to no avail.

I know some women don't feel let down. I always felt it with DS1 (who I breastfed for 18months), but I had problems in that it was delayed (it used to take a good 8-10mins of DS1 suckling for let down to occur). We learnt to work around it, and went on to bf at some length. I didn't want to have any problems this time but it seems to be worse. I don't even need to use breastfeeding pads as I've had NO spontaneous let-down.

I have 2 rock hard bullets for breasts but can't bf my newborn. Have tried expressing-as well as bring painful, I'm getting nothing out (used to be able to express litres with DS 1 from the very beginning)..

Please help me figure this out. What can I do to help my breasts release the milk? I can't keep my baby hungry in the hope it's all going to come flooding out..

I forgot to add I'm putting him to the breast every 2-3 hours.

Afraid I've no direct experience but one person I know said distraction helped with them, rather than focusing on her ds. So she used for read a book... Maybe that helps. Hope someone with experience of this comes along. Gl.

Thanks BGA. In fact, I used a lot of distraction techniques with DS1 as it calmed me (the longer it took for let down, the more he screamed and the more agitated I got, which affected let down IYSWIM).

This time distraction techniques don't work. There is genuinely no let down, even the spontaneous ones you get at the beginning when your milk comes in! Strangely I'm not upset, just genuinely puzzled as I know it's completely out of my hands and literally there's nothing I cam do..

I'm not an expert. Maybe ask to speak to your hospital's infant feeding coordinator for advice, or try one of the teleph

One of the telephone helplines. Could you try lots of skin to skin contact, rather than waiting every 2-3 hours to feed?

(Sorry, hit post message too soon. )

I found that my breasts were totally different with both my babies. They were 8 years apart, but the differences were very obvious to me. My let down with my eldest was very obvious, but I felt no such thing with Dd. I expressed for England with Ds but could not get more than a few drops with Dd. I had huge, full breasts the first time and was quite 'normal' with Dd. I also went through many, many pads with Ds and none with Dd. I fed Ds for 18 months and Dd for just shy of 5 years
What I'm try to say is that you can't tell how it will be for each baby, but it's not necessarily the worry that you think it might be.
I'm not an expert and you've tried almost everything that I would have tried, but have you tried leaning forward 'over' your baby? sometimes that brings milk out faster, so may be worth trying.
I hope you can get some good advice soon. I used La Leche League a couple of times and they were excellent! I hear KellyMom is good too, so it might be worth asking those for advice.
Good luck and congrats on your new baby!

I was going to suggest the same as Solo: try La Leche League (they list regional/local advisors on their website) or Kellymom for advice - i found both very helpful.

solo, your post has filled me with hope as it sounds so much like the predicament I'm in. My only difference is that up until 4 months ago, I was still bfing DS1, but had to stop due to pregnancy (and painful nipples). I just can't believe there is such a vast difference in my experience.

I'm calling the midwife today to see if she can examine my breasts. They were so swollen last night that I had to take paracetamol and codeine due to the pain. Ds2 is refusing one breast altogether (the most swollen one), and when I'm squeezing the nipple literally NOTHING comes out.

I really do want to bf, but not sure if I can overcome this rather large hurdle..

Looking on Kelly mom, they suggest trying to develop a conditioned reflex, a way of signalling to your body that now is feeding time. I never felt let down with dc2 but I never ended up with engorged breasts, so it wasn't a problem.
Kelly Mom also says stress is not helpful for let down.

let down

You don't want to be squeezing the nipple, you want to be squeezing behind the nipple ifyswim.
Take your hand and cup your breast, now draw your thumb downwards pressing as hard as you can bare, that should make the milk come out.

Pinkoyster how did you get on today? :) (yesterday!)