Milk came in: baby suddenly 'fussy'

[squizita]

Could someone give some practical advice please? Apologies yes I posted yesterday: I'm being very anxious about things!

My baby is 3 days old, my milk just 'came in'. Prior to this she had good latch and I produced plenty of colostrum and some milk. She had at least 3 soiled nappies and 3 wet nappies (also some wet in the soiled) per day in the 1st 2 days. She preferred the left breast but latched firmly and sucked both sides: I'd feel a tingly discomfort for a minute then it went.

This morning my milk seems to have come in (breasts hard, full of milk, crying = leak, round).

Unfortunately this seems to have made her suddenly very fussy and confused!
-If she's hungry she tries to latch repeatedly on her 'not favourite' side (left), getting angrier and angrier. Crying and so on. I have to take her off, calm her down and try again. Usually she is then OK but sometimes she feels less efficient than before. Is the breast too big/hard for her?
-She tends to me mostly OK on her 'favourite' side. But she is getting sleepy and not strongly suckling before I feel my milk is used up (but then again she must have a tiny tummy).
-So my nipple on the favourite side feels a bit over-used but I keep offering the least favourite side but that is feeling too full.

Also I only had one (HUGE) poo nappy today and 3 wets; I expected it to be more as I'm literally making more food.
She has very mild jaundice but they think sunshine and feeding will sort it.

I rang the NCT helpline and my midwife. Suggestions:
-try rugby or lying down holds
-be pragmatic with what side I offer; don't just do left-then-right same amount of time. Offer left when she's in a good mood/not rooting madly to minimise the thrashing and desperation. Skin to skin/snacking on the left.
-Express a little on the left side if I think it's too full but not loads
-Try compressing right side if feeds don't feel great
-Do not worry too much about counting nappies, providing she is producing wee and poo this week, her stomach is tiny.

Any ideas to add to this? :) :)

Hello! Firstly you're doing amazingly well, I think it's perhaps your let-down which may be a little fast - this is completely normal as your little one is initiating the supply & demand/regulating what she needs and will settle down once she gets used to feeding, she's still getting the hang of it too! The advice you've been given is great, even sitting back on cushions will really help, or letting the first bit of milk into a cloth for the initial 'surge' then letting your little one latch on, might help. Although I would personally call the BfN they have an amazing helpline run by trained breast feeding mums, it's really good to talk through what's going on during a feed. Best of luck! Keep going - you're doing so well!

abm.me.uk/national-breastfeeding-helpline/

Thank you so much, that sounds very reassuring. She just crawled up onto the breast during laid down skin-to-skin (very strongly, I was amazed - she pushed herself up with her little arms and shuffled to the breast!), did a very vigorous feed for a minute or two then a lazy feeling one for 20 minutes ... she didn't seem starving so I wonder if she was learning? :) She then had a nice nap on me.

...also... She took a strong (slightly too strong ouch) feed off the 'bad' breast 6.55-7.10pm. Her chin was moving so hopefully she swallowed a good deal of milk: boob still feels firm but better.
I squeezed out the first bit of milk then kept offering. Her grumbling kept making drops appear which actually helped.

I will ring the helpline in the morning. :) FX she remembers now she can drink out of both bosoms!

Well done Hun! These first few weeks are a bit of a blur and a feeding frenzy as your little one is determining how much milk she'll need (supply&demand) it's kind of similar when they go through a growth spurt too as they then need the breasts to supply more etc you sound as if you're more relaxed now, I think sometimes that's half the battle; It's very difficult to feel confident when your trail blazing ! I know it's tricky but you're doing all of the right things! Just lay around these first few weeks, ( eat cake & catch up on box sets ) and let you're little one feed on demand, soon you'll get to know her little rhythms and all of her little signals, but for now she needs to make milk! Well done! The BfN are great, they can also point you in the direction of a drop-in group, which are good as you can shoot the breeze with other mums experiencing the same things as you. Take care and enjoy these wonderful, precious times xx

I called the BFN who were really reassuring and suggested several things. Thanks so much for the link!
Turned round to find a certain little person had made their first ever 'poonami' in their babygro. So am reassured she isn't starving or dehydrated. Probably the only woman on MN GLAD to see excessive poop dribbling down their baby's leg!!

You sound like you are doing really well.

It's quite common for it to take a while for things to settle down after your milk comes in. It's a combination of it being a bit awkward for them and also the fact that you are often uncomfortably full.

Ha ha sounds like your little one is (in poop) saying 'hey mama I'm doing great!" Good stuff!! I know you'll hear this a lot - but it does get easier, and it's the most incredible journey!!! My DS ate most of a conker earlier xx

You're doing great. Congrats!

Sometimes i got too overfull and hard when my milk first came in and my baby couldn't latch on, I had to use some massage to soften the whole area up, and make the nipple more easily available.

I think babies can sense that we have a load of milk, and they get very excited!

Congratulations again.
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