Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Milk not through

27 replies

ClareWeeval · 10/08/2006 17:35

Hi, I'm hoping someone can help? My beautiful girl is now 6 days old she latches on without a problem and I let her feed/ suckle whenever she wants to but my milk isn't through yet. I have a great midwife who tells me I'm doing everything right but I worry that she's not getting enough food. Any suggestions welcome.

Thanks

OP posts:
cupcakes · 10/08/2006 17:38

Congratulations on your dd. It sounds as if you are doing fine and I would carry on as you are. My milk didn't come through properly till day 6 or 7 with my first.
If your midwife supports you I would follow her advice and not try to intervene (with pumping) just yet.

ProfessorGrammaticus · 10/08/2006 17:39

Are you sure? If your baby is settled then presumably she's getting what she needs but I'd speak to MW again if I were you (they have out of hours lines).

I think there may be problems if she really isn't getting milk - but could it have arrived and she's taken it when she's suckled without you noticing?

SenoraPostrophe · 10/08/2006 17:44

I think it can take up to 8 days - I wouldn't worry for a couple of days yet unless she seems unsettled.

professor: do you really think somebody can be unsure about whether or not their milk has come in? surely you either have football-like norks or you don't?

cupcakes · 10/08/2006 17:47

According to this the milk should usually have come in within a couple of days but says you can increase the speed of it arriving by regular suckling.

here is another article about how to tell if baby is getting enough milk. As PG says, are you sure the milk isn't just being drunk away?

cupcakes · 10/08/2006 17:48

blimey - I'd forgotton about those rock hard footballs.

Original poster
ClareWeeval · 10/08/2006 17:57

Thanks my breast haven't hard or bigger so i'm assuming my milk isn't through yet?

OP posts:
USAUKMum · 10/08/2006 17:57

Hi, if you want to encourage your milk to come in faster you can pump in addition to the feeds. I did this with both mine and I think the entire neighborhood breathed a sigh of relief when it finally came in for DS he was quite "upset" about the whole thing (I still remember it, 2 yrs later, it was 1:50am on day 6)

squigglesmum · 10/08/2006 18:00

Try not to worry, it'll arrive, and you'll know it! Mine didn't come in until day 7 with my first baby, by which time he's lost quite a lot of weight. Then he put on 4 ounces in a day when it did arrive!

Original poster
ClareWeeval · 10/08/2006 18:01

Do i pump the side she's fed from or the other side?

OP posts:
SenoraPostrophe · 10/08/2006 18:01

well this says usually in 3 to 5 days, but sometimes up to 14 days.

don't know where I got 8 from.

Original poster
ClareWeeval · 10/08/2006 18:04

I'm so glad i found this site. It has helped me feel better already

OP posts:
squigglesmum · 10/08/2006 18:05

Meant to say, my midwife thought it could be to do with the extra stress of having had a cs. Don't know if that's anything to do with it or not, but there you are. If she's producing wet nappies and the poo is changing from meconium she's doing fine.

Original poster
ClareWeeval · 10/08/2006 18:07

She has 4-5 wet nappies a day and her poo has changed

OP posts:
Bibliophile · 10/08/2006 18:33

I never got engorged. It isn't compulsory. If she's weeing and pooing, you've got milk aplenty, I'm sure of that.

tiktok · 10/08/2006 18:46

Plenty of women don't get full/hard...if the baby is feeding well from the start, it may not happen. If the baby is producing soft yellow poo several times a day by now, and the nappies are heavy with wee, and she has stopped losing weight, and is ffeding often, comfortably, and swallowing, and is not spending ages and ages asleep....all is well

Original poster
ClareWeeval · 10/08/2006 18:54

She only poohs every 48 hours mw said it's ok at this stage

OP posts:
lemonaid · 10/08/2006 19:08

SP -- My milk came in without any football-like norks. In fact, I'm not sure when it came in because I was expecting football-like norks and they never arrived.

SenoraPostrophe · 10/08/2006 19:43

oh really? that's lucky (not having football like norks is lucky that is).

Clare - breastfed babies often poo very ittle because they can digest everything they eat. dd reguklarly used to go for 3 or 4 days without pooing. If they do that I recommend terry nappies that are elasticated at the back (like tots bots), or at least an outfit with legs and body in one!

newmum10 · 10/08/2006 19:46

If your baby is sleeping and midwife is happy, she must be getting something from you. My milk came through om 4th day, after a horrific night on day 3 when baby screamed ALL NIGHT with what I discovered the next day was hunger! I'll know for the next one to just keep on feeding even if it seems it's all I'm doing. My boobs were normal until day 4 when they suddenly went rock hard, and bingo - milk!

possumhead · 10/08/2006 19:50

Hi,
I had c-section and felt like milk wasn't established very well at all to begin with, but dd was doing fine. Health visitor suggested a pint of guiness a night cos it's really good for milk supply and iron levels. Figured as it was on medical advice i should give it a go, but had to add blackcurrant to make it more drinkable for me.
It really did seem to help and after a few days breasts were feeling fuller!

tiktok · 10/08/2006 20:03

Pooing every 48 hours is not good and not normal for a breastfed baby in the first weeks - lots of stuff on this in the archives. It's actually not normal for any baby in the first weeks.

(After the first weeks, it's fine).

Clare, I don't want to worry you unnecessarily, but if a 6 day old baby has not poo'd for 2 days I would be extremely concerned....it may be that all is well, but your midwife is incorrect in saying that it is normal for this to happen. It would be sensible to have your baby weighed on digital scales (not spring balance) and to check weight loss has stopped or is within normal limits if you have no interim weight.

Senora, you are talking about a completely diff. kettle of fish - the beyond-newborn who poos only every few days and then explodes

At 6 days, babies who are feeding well have several soft yellow poos every day. If they don't, then milk transfer needs to be checked out (is the baby taking milk and swallowing it) and weight gain checked, to ensure the baby is hydrated.

tiktok · 10/08/2006 20:05

newmum - a sleepy baby and a happy midwife are not necessarily signs of effective bf, sorry.

Babies should not be sleeping for long hours at this age, and sadly, too often, a happy midwife is a complacent midwife who is not seeing what she should see

tiktok · 10/08/2006 20:11

More on the importance of plenty of poo in the early days:

lots here

and

plenty of links here

It's a common miconception that lack of pooing is ok and it's even in some midwifery textbooks, but it just isn't true. Ignoring lack of poo could mean ignoring a situation that needs fixing - fast.

Clare - the lact of 'presence' of milk you're feeling is only ok when everything else is ok, and I am concerned that it isn't.

SenoraPostrophe · 11/08/2006 17:27

thank you tik tok.

it's funny how you forget bits isn't it? very glad you saw this thread anyway.

tiktok · 11/08/2006 17:44

I'm a bit worried about Clare....all may be well, and the lack of poo in a newborn is not a sign in itself. Sometimes babies are infrequent pooers from the start and if weight is fine, milk transfer is obvious, and baby is feeding frequently there's no cause for concern. But in Clare's case there wasn't enough info about the other stuff

Swipe left for the next trending thread