When should milk come in?

[Dolly80]

Am trying to breastfeed my newborn daughter, who is 3 days old. Have been told she is latching well by midwife however, I'm unconvinced she is getting enough milk as she can be fussy after feeds, takes a while to settle and doesn't have lots of wet nappies (although there's been plenty of poo's).

Just wondered, when my milk is due to come in? I have not felt any fullness yet and if I try to stimulate my nipples I can't see any evidence of any milk being produced.

I really struggled to breastfeed my older daughter, my milk supply was limited and she ended up losing more than 10% of her birth weight. I'm worried history might be repeating itself and feel stressed at the prospect of not being able to breastfeed again (prob being made worse by feeling tired etc).

Any advice would be gratefully received

Yay! Glad things are looking up. I never got on with expressing personally - could only ever get a few drops despite breastfeeding successfully so don't feel concerned if that doesn't work work for you. It's a good idea in theory though so worth a try!

You're doing brilliantly. I fed both of mine and my nipples really hurt for a couple of weeks until they toughened up. Nipple cream helps! And spending time topless! Lots of folk find shields useful but I know people who've then struggled to get baby to feed without them.
Losing 10% of body weight in week 1 is normal. And babies are born with a stomach that holds 5ml/ the size of a small marble so don't need much in the way of volume of colostrum. Milk comes in 3-5 days, but often longer after a c-section, especially an ELCS.
But make sure you do what's right for you and seek support as much as you need or want...

Fussy after feeds and taking a while to settle is normal, not necessarily a lack of milk. More getting used to the outside and getting the digestive system working.

I never felt my milk "come in". Quite honestly I didn't even know it was a thing- ignorance is sometimes bliss! As a consequence I just kept feeding at every squeak and it worked out fine.

Weight gain is very different in bf babies, so don't be disheartened if she seems to not gain as fast as your first. Look at the whole baby and for signs of dehydration- lots of poo is good, means lots going in!

So, midwife visited today and baby has lost nearly 10% of her birth weight and is not putting weight back on as would be expected. Turns out she has tongue tie!

Midwife has said she'll refer us on the NHS but the wait for the clinic is 3-4 weeks. Fortunately, there's a private midwife locally who is able to perform the procedure so I'm thinking of paying to have it dealt with as she has space by the end of next week.

Little one is getting so frustrated at feeds. I can't say I blame her, we're averaging an hour a breast feed, followed by lots of crying as I don't think she's able to get what she needs from it. I've topped up with formula twice today, which i'd wanted to avoid, however I can't bear for her to be so upset after every single feed.

I'm still planning to persevere with breastfeeding though, I'm hoping that once the tongue tie is sorted maybe it'll click into place a bit better? I must confess I'm finding it exhausting though, especially with a 4 year old to look after too.

Oh no, sorry to hear things aren't going well.

That is great that you got the tongue tie referral so quickly though. It should definitely improve after you have it divided although be aware it isn't an instant fix - there is a period of having to re-learn to an extent but a lot of people do notice an instant improvement, at least.

Hope things pick up soon and you have support with your older child.