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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Anyone’s milk not come in?

12 replies

Merryoldgoat · 18/02/2018 14:18

Just had my second baby 4 days ago by ELCS, first was 5 years ago by EMCS which was quite traumatic.

With my first baby my milk supply was never adequate owing to a few factors which weren’t present this time so I was hoping that I’d be able to breastfeed this time.

I’m 4 days in and there’s no sign of milk coming in. Not much colostrum, no tenderness, no engorgement, and I’ve had to supplement with formula as my son was starving and midwife said he needed more than he was getting and that it was rare for her to say that.

I just feel like I’m heading down the same road as before.

Do some women just not make breast milk? I know people who went straight to formula feeding, didn’t give colostrum even abs their milk still came in fine.

I’ve been putting him on the breast beside supplementing etc to try to stimulate supply but it’s just not happening and I’m starting to feel really discouraged and disappointed.

Anyone experienced similar?

OP posts:
PotteringAlong · 18/02/2018 14:21

I’ve breastfed all three of mine and with the 2nd two had no engorgememt or soreness. I did have plenty of milk though, but I had no physical signs of my milk coming in.

Serenrose · 18/02/2018 14:32

Unfortunately my milk didn't come in properly, my baby wouldn't latch as she was prem and jaundiced so v sleepy, so I tried expressing and managed to express a few drops a day (about 10 ml total per day) until she was 4 weeks, but she was on formula from day 2 as there was insufficient breast milk.
I was told I didn't have very much glandular breast tissue which is apparantly rare but can happen. Is there an infant feeding specialist or lactation consultant available at your hospital or in the community you can speak with? Apparantly there is medication that can be prescribed to help with supply but it is not prescribed in my area. I was given feugreek tea in hospital but I was producing so little it's hard to say if it helped.
I hope things work out for you. 💜

Pennywhistle · 18/02/2018 14:35

My milk came in (in great quantities) at 6 day’s post c-section.

Keep at it a little longer. It’s common for milk to be delayed after a section.

Flowers
GrockleBocs · 18/02/2018 14:36

Mine comes in very slowly and I never had engorgement in the early days. I did have to supplement a bit but with perseverance and a lot of food I did manage to bf. And ebf from about 4 weeks.

Original poster
Merryoldgoat · 18/02/2018 14:56

Thank you everyone. I’ll cross my fingers it comes in soon. Midwife coming tomorrow so I’ll talk to her again too.

OP posts:
Suzysuz · 18/02/2018 15:06

Mine never really came in, saw breastfeeding councillor several times and latch and suck was fine, did loads of skin to skin, tried to boost supply by also pumping with hospital grade pump regularly through day and night, also tried hand expressing regularly to see if that helped instead. Heartbreakingly for me I never got more than about 20ml max in total over a day, so made my peace with hand expressing / breast feeding that then giving baby a bottle.
Not sure what happened, know my sister had similar issues and mixed fed too but she managed to produce more than me, just not enough for sole breastfeeding.

tmc14 · 18/02/2018 15:08

Hi,
I am combination feeding after having a similar issue. I didn’t have a c section but had various issues at the birth, and I didn’t produce much colostrum. I didn’t really feel my milk ‘coming in’ and the Lactation consultant even asked if I’d had ivf as this can cause supply issues. Anyway, although I’m still combination feeding at 11 weeks as I haven’t been able to wean off the top ups, I am breastfeeding a fair amount still. Along with fenugreek I was told to take Goats Rue. Not sure if it helped but it is supposedly good for low breast tissue. Also I have oats twice a day (porridge in the morning and oat cakes in the afternoon). I also drink fennel tea.

Situp · 18/02/2018 15:11

The fact that you didn't go into labour and the anaesthetic can slow things down I think. I have been given fennel tea and magnesium supplements and am producing far more than with my other two. Didn't come in until the 5th day and totally soaked the bed, I thought I had peed myself until I saw where it was coming from!

tmc14 · 18/02/2018 15:13

Hit post too soon...

I gave up expressing as it didn’t work well (no indication of supply anyway) and opted for loads more suckling time from baby, which I think helped more, along with the usual skin to skin etc.

Good luck and whatever happens, know you’re doing your best for your baby and they’ll thrive because you’re giving them loving care. xx

Natsku · 18/02/2018 15:26

This time around I have only just started getting mild engorgement at nearly two weeks after the birth even though my milk came in on day 4 - I figured that out by a slight change in the colour of the milk and hearing baby swallow more but it definitely wasn't an obvious change like when my milk came in with my first. When can you get him weighed? Can you do a before and after feed weighing? That will help you know a bit more about how much milk is coming out.

Original poster
Merryoldgoat · 18/02/2018 16:22

Well. Life is funny. About 20 mins after my last post my son woke up from a nap. I had a little cry and put him on my breast and there was some milk there. Not much - after 15 mins on each breast he needed a top up - but a big improvement.

I’ll carry on as I am and try more skin to skin and the dietary adjustments suggested.

Thanks for all the replies.

OP posts:
dustpan · 19/02/2018 22:27

Hurray!! Well done and Lee going if it's what you want to do. Expressing and skin to skin will help it keep coming x

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