How long do your boobs take to fill?

[1978andallthat]

After a feed how long until they are ready to go again? Mine seem to take ages.

In theory they are ready to go constantly. Do.
You mean until they are full as in hard engorged type full?

Do you have a newish baby?

When baby nurses its not like drinking from a pond, which baby empties and then refills slowly. It is more like drinking from a river which never empties - it just keeps flowing.

Once your boobs/feeding settles down a bit your boobs will stop getting that hard feeling.

I'm waiting for some answers here. I know what you mean, is it like they empty and baby gets frustrated because there isn't any left? After a rest of around an hour or two I can start to feel they'll coming back in.

The milk coming back in after an hour or two rest! Bloody predictive text!

boobs never empty as such

maybe your baby is frustrated for a different reason?

how old is your LO?

It's not that there's none left its just slowing down, that's when they suck /switch more to increase supply. then they slow their growth spurt and you look like Pamela Anderson for a few days until production slows up again

Milk is always being produced when your breasts feel empty - once they are full milk production stops.

How long it takes to get that full/engorged feeling depends on how long you've been breastfeeding - in the first weeks it's probably every hour or two. After a few months you will only feel full if you skip a feed or if your baby unexpectedly sleeps all night.

You don't need to wait to feel full though - they are always good to go! Once the baby has finished both sides just go back to the first side again, then the second, then back to the first and so on until baby is satisfied.

Your breasts are never empty, and are constantly making milk, so don't worry :)

I don't think that can be so I'm afraid - not for me anyhow. They def empty after baby (7 weeks) has had a good feed and nothing will come out however hard he sucks/I express.

Have you tried putting him back on the first side after the second?

What you can express isn't a good indication - the baby is likely much more efficient.

Expressing isn't a sign of supply- at 7 weeks your supply is still sorting itself out and they have a growth spurt.

Are you sure there's nothing coming out? Are you drinking plenty of water too?

They will always make milk, they just don't get as hard. My 1 y/o went down to 2/3 feeds a day, today he's poorly and has been nursing practically all day and there is something left (and I'm famished).

Try not to worry, you're doing great!

It really is so, honestly! Expressing is not a good measure of how much milk you have- some mums can't express at all, but feed their babies with no problems. It's really normal for BF babies to want to feed feed feed at a certain time of day, which may well coincide with the time that the mum feels her flow is slower.

Are you concerned about your baby's feeding or just curious?

Possibly TMI, but it may help... I am feeding a toddler (2) and a newborn (17 weeks). Toddler, being ill, had a mahoosive pre-bed feed the other night, and she can drink gallons. Thoroughly deflated, I gave the newborn a feed when she woke mid evening. Newborn does not keep milk down well and brought up enough for me to need to change her sleeping bag and sleepsuit. I express as well, and I can tell you I definitely wouldn't have been able to pump any milk before feeding her.

What everyone's saying upthread is quite right - you're really not likely to be running out!

Hmmmm. I think ds completely empties both then it takes time for them to refill as when I put him back on first there is nothing there

But how do you know "there's nothing there"?

I've got a newborn and she's been feeding so often today that they've always felt empty when she has gone on. She still manages to gulp and swallow (and sick milk up after) so even though they feel completely empty they're still producing milk.
I'm guessing she'd have to go 3-4 hours without feeding for them to feel even slightly full but she's feeding more often than that.

Is he fussy when you first put him to the breast? Could he be waiting for the let down?

Agree with leedy - how can you tell there is nothing there? Even if your breasts don't feel hard, that's completely normal. With both my DDs, in the early days my breasts got bigger and harder between feeds, but after a while they didn't particularly feel full ever, but I still BF them both for around a year.

Also, the let down isn't necessarily an indication of quantity of milk - again, with mine, I sometimes got a really obvious let down feeling, and sometimes didn't.

And as others have said, expressing is no indication of supply. So if you try and express, and get nothing, that doesn't at all mean that you haven't got any milk.

Don't know if you've heard of the Kelly Mom website - evidence-based information on everything you can think of to do with breastfeeding. The page on milk production is here - see especially the section on that page called "do breasts need time to refill?" Which basically says everything which people on this thread have been saying .