HELP! What do I do til the milk comes in?

[1Baby1Bump]

ds2 is 10lb12oz and is absoultely starving.
What do i do till the milk arrives? He keeps taking all the colostrum I have but is still starving.

am at home now. thought i might be going back in though... (tmi alert) passed a largish clot last night. will ask midwife when she comes.
hopefully they wont call me back in.

that happened to me - it was fine - it just means there was some blood trapped inside after the birth - it clotted and gravity helped it find its way out. It scared me witless because it was about 10.30 at night ! I rang the delivery ward- they said to keep it to show the midwife the next day - not sure she was pleased by that advice .

Try the rugby ball hold - him under your arm with feet behind you - its easier for them to get a good latch.

Expressing may encourage even more milk production so may make matters worse - I would only bother if he is not feeding directly himself.

i didnt think they were that hard but there is obviously something wrong with them.

nope - he just needs to learn how to do it - they have to learn - they aren't born knowing how to just that they need to .

As mears said - trust your body and give yourselves time to learn how each other works.

1baby - congrats. on the birth and well done for refusing formula !

My milk did not come in until day 4 - my son was only 3.09 kilos at birth (17 days early), he didn't latch for more than a few seconds at a time (may be too weak as he was born early ?) but it also broke my heart that he screamed quite a lot in the first few days.

A lot of it had to do with my inexperience though as I wasn't aware I could hand express and spoon feed, etc. Once my milk came in we were both much happier and he fed and fed like a little booby milk monster !

Keep offering the breast. Your milk WILL come in and you WILL have enough to feed him without the need for formula. That is guaranteed !

I had no idea when the 'milk came in'
I just figured the baby needed access all areas at all hours.

it all worked out.

1Baby - sorry hadn't read your last post. Keep offering the breast because it is the best way for both of you to learn how to bf ! The more you offer, the more quickly you will learn. Buy a tube of Lansinoh (Boots, Mothercare) for sore nipples. They will be sore for a few days but should not dry up, get cracked, bleed, etc. if you have a good latch. Once your boobs get used to the suckling the soreness will go.

If you are worried about your latch, see a bf adviser asap. They will sort it out for you. Don't suffer in silence. There are many wonderful bf adviers out there who would love to help you !

1b1b - trust breastfeeding.

It works.

Lacking in confidence actually leads to practices which reinforce lack of confidence - thinks like expressing 'to see how much I'm making', timing feeds and worrying the baby isn't on long enough; watching the frequency and worrying whether it's too often or not often enough.

Watch the baby not the process

Mine always had a favorite side too. My DD prefered my slower oh so much more gentle side. DS preferred, what I called, my Super Side, As in McDonalds, would you like to Super Size that.

I found that if I massaged the breats a bit, then DS latched better. DD seemed to be born knowing how to latch.

thanks for all these answers. the milk is most definately here now. in fact, on the left, once he has suckled a bit it just runs out! he has to come up for air!
new problem:
he feeds regularly but by the time its time to feed again the boob i last used is engorged again which is very painful. i mean painful like its going to pop, the skin feels tight.
i thought maybe i should express some but then thought no, as it would then get replaced.
a midwife i dont know came yesterday to do the daily visit and she scared me to death about mastitis. surely i wont get it this quickly?
when will the engorgement settle down?
also....(sorry!x) when i put ds on, he latches well if i soften the boob up a bit first but he keeps popping off and crying. he shakes his head like he wants to do it himself without help but if i dont put the boob in properly he just takes the nipple.
could it be the flow is a bit quick atm so he comes off? as i said, once the nipple is stimulated, the milk runs out on its own.
tia, if you're still reading! x ;)

1b1b - ds is only 4 days old - he's still learning and for a while you will need to guide him to your boob. He's smart, but not that able to help himself. What your doing sounds right. I had to shove my whole boob in both ds and dd for the first week or so until they realised that it was breastfeeding not nipple feeding.

It doesn't sound like you're engorged - just full of milk - you're obviously making enough for a big boy!

Keep feeding when he's looking for it and your boobs will adapt to his timings and they'll feel less sore.

It'll be a while before they stop feeling hard - they'll only be soft for a while after you've finished feeding then they'll be full again - magic

If you're in real agony then take a paracetamol - it's ok to take when you're feeding (not ibuprofen at this stage though or aspirin).

I got some great oil from SpiritofNature.co.uk which you massage on your breast after feeding and it just helps smooth out any lumps or potential blockages. It stimulates milk supply too and feels really soothing.

It's here
Breastfeeding oil Scroll down to Breastfeeding oil.

Didn't use it with ds and got loads of blockages and masitis once. Did use it with dd and had no problems at all.

Interestingly though I did express with ds because I thought I needed to boost my supply and ended up engorged and needing pain relief for most feeds. Didn't express with dd and had no problems. They were both the same weight at birth.

That might not be significant, but personally I would hold off on expressing at this early stage unless you've been specifically advised to by a trained breastfeeding counsellor - it could really confuse your suppply.