No milk in breasts, baby not happy

[mamamea]

My baby was born 6:15am on Wednesday. Everything was ok the first night, but last night and today she seems to be quite angry because she does not seem to be getting any milk from my breasts, and so she wants to feed constantly, but is not getting anything. On Thursday she seemed to be happy to be fed and then fed later, but because of lack of milk, she is not happy and crying a lot.

Her lips are quite dry.

Does anybody have any suggestions?

She had a bottle last night about 11pm and slept until 7am, when she quite happily breast fed

MW has just been round and she has fed again, so hopefully no more problems now - breasts seems less hard and more milky, so I guess she was just having problems with them. Being less hard seems to have made her happy.

Hopefully everyrhing will be ok now, after two non-bottle feeds, she won't want any more.

Mamamea, I am pleased you are happier today

Just a word: sleeping overnight is not good for a breastfed baby of this age....really, it's not. As a one off, it's not a problem, but babies, and breastfeeding, do not benefit from long gaps between feeds, especially at night.

You may already know this, and excuse me for telling you if you did....your midwife may well have explained it.

Good luck and hope all continues swimmingly

That's brilliant that she's been feeding well today.

This is going to sound strange, but did your MW suggest waking your baby up and offering a feed overnight to safeguard your milk supply? Your hormones that tell your body to make milk are at their highest between about 11pm and 5am so while your body's getting used to feeding it's a good idea to make sure signals to 'make more milk' are being sent at least once in that time. Later on, when it's all running like clockwork you can relax and sleep whenever she does.

I hope she also reassured you about your nipples being well up to the task (a hard question to ask I know!). You mentioned in 2 posts on Sunday that they're not very pronounced. Someone explained it to me like this: it's called breastfeeding not nipplefeeding because the nipple is just the exit route for the milk. Your baby takes a big mouthful of breast and uses her tongue and lower jaw to force milk out from where it gathers behind the areola. The shape and size of the nipple shouldn't affect how easily your baby feeds. Try not to worry about it or speak to a breastfeeding counsellor for more reassurance.

You also mentioned wounded nipples. Ouch! Been there! It's worth checking again how she's latching on because if she's not taking your breast (and hence your nipple) very far into her mouth, it can get squashed between her tongue and her hard palate - feel around your own mouth with your tongue. The further back you go, the better! Maybe a picture would help?

Do give the helplines a go. They're answered by fantastic people who will be able to help you and your baby. All the best with it!

well we definitely still have problems. She was a bit irritable this afternoon, not really sleeping after her feed, seeming hungry still at first, but eventually after feeding again slept for several hours.

She has now opened up the wounds on my nipples so I've left them till tomorrow, as much too painful, and so I gave her 2 oz of formula, which didn't really calm her, and then another 2 oz, which sent her to sleep straight away but for under an hour, but she has just woken having pooed, and hungry again so have given her 1.5 oz more formula, and have only 3oz left

We will go to see the GP tomorrow, hopefully he will be helpful

If you want to breastfeed, please contact midwife or local National Childbirth Trust/La Leche League/NHS breastfeeding counselling contacts. Ask midwife for any contact details. This sounds urgent.

My baby went through a lot of crying, not latching on properly, then slept waaaayyy too much, after 7 days he'd lost lots of weight and got dehydrated and we ended up back in hospital for 8 days. My ambitions to breastfeed were totally disrupted and I'm now trying to come to terms with that after more than 11 weeks.

On formula, you might avoid hospital re-admission, and that's a good thing, but try to get help now if you want to breastfeed.

mamamea, bad news about the sore nipples. You really need urgent help with that - your midwife should be teaching you to get the baby positioned so it does not hurt, or else you can speak to a breastfeeding counsellor or visit one at a support group. 'Resting' the nipples is sometimes the only thing women can bear to do, as it is so painful, but if you want to continue breastfeeding, this should be in conjunction with expressing at least as often as the baby is feeding (by hand if the pump hurts or if you do not have a pump)....suspending all bf for a day doesn't help, really it doesn't

Your midwife should be seeing you again today. Not sure how the GP can help, but he may be able to prescribe something to speed up the nipple healing.

GP was not that helpful, only prescribed Kammilosna which I have already.

She does seem quite hungry, or at least want to feed constantly, so have given a couple of bottles toda, she just had about 5oz now

midwife is coming back on Friday

Have you tried the breastfeeding phone lines other have given you nos for?
Not sure what else to suggest. If you aren't happy with the feeding then why not ask your MW to come sooner than Friday? They are there to help in these situations (presuming you are still wanting to breastfeed).

When I found chunks missing from my nipples I would give that boob a rest from baby sucking on it and just express (vvv gently)
it took a little time, but once I got the position fixed and one boob at a time fixed it really was fantastic.
What positions have you tried?
I found going back to basics really helped and would just to lots of naked time.
of course naked time helps your nipple heal too.

What has your mw advised?

I echo the knowledgeable tiktok that you need help way before friday.

sorry pannacotta

you've lost me?

thought it was tiktok who said about mw not coming till friday, but it was you!

Dont worry its not important who suggested it but at the risk of sounding bossy, please do contact your MW mamamea, she can help you!!

Please, for your own peace of mind afterwards, talk through all aspects of feeding with someone who knows what they're talking about before you don't have a choice any more. A breastfeeding counsellor won't force, or even try to persuade you to breastfeed but she will know fact from fiction and will be able to help you make up your own mind.

NCT Breastfeeding Helpline, open 8am to 10pm - 0870 444 8708.
Association of Breastfeeding Mothers - 08444 122 949
Breastfeeding Network - 08700 604233
La Leche League - 0845 120 2918

Your baby is lucky to have such a caring Mum! I'm sure everyone responding here is doing so because despite early difficulties we all grew to love breastfeeding and hope you can have the same fantastic experience.

mamamea - you have had lots of advice on this thread and I am not going to add to it other than to say that your midwife should be visiting you EVERY day to help you.

I am a midwife myself and I know that community midwives now do selective visiting, but that should only be if you are happy and getting on well with no problems.

If your nipples are so painful there is something not right about your baby's position at the breast. You should have a contact number for your midwife - call and ask her to come and help you. It may be that you need more than one visit each day till you are getting on better with the feeding.

Have you told her the problems you are having? Do not worry that she is too busy - it is her job to help you with your breastfeeding. It is your right to be visited on a daily basis or more if need be. I really am shocked that you are not being seen more often.

Ask the midwife if there is a feeding advisor at the hospital that you can see.

Wd echo what mears has said - you need a midwife at least once a day, and leaving you Tuesday to Friday without one is scandalously poor care

I know there are midwife shortages, but you are a priority, or should be,

You are in pain, your daughter is getting more formula because the breastfeeding is not comfortable, and she is still under a week old (or a week today, then). You are concerned that your baby is hungry - and worried about this normal behaviour (needing to be on the breast a lot) and feeling unable to respond to it because of the difficulties of attachment.

That's a combination that demands one to one care from the person whose blinkin job it is to provide it.

Hope you can feel assertive enough to get this help.

I guess it is budget reasons that she is not coming more often. When the midwife came and the baby breastfed ok then she just said that's good, and wrote in the notes baby was feeding.

Anyway, things are a bit better now.

Yesterday she had two bottles only, and tonight just had the two in the evening in short succession (for a rest from painful breastfeeding), and she now seems to prefer breastfeeding, though she does gulp the formula down, in that when bottle fed she tilts her head sideways, as she would if feeding at the breast.

I think things will be ok.

I think you can pretty much insist on the MW coming if the feeding is painful/not going well. Or you could try getting a breastfeeding counseller to come round and help you and watch the baby feed.
GOod luck and keep us posted.

Hi there, my DS similar in that she fed almost hourly, I then mixed her with FF and BF and have just put her on FF full time (from y'day) she is now 12 weeks. I found it took a good week for the milk to flow! congrats on your ickle angel

well mw was supposed to come this am but didn't, so I went out, she came at 4pm, and I wasn't home, she is coming back tomorrow at least.

just thought I would update, everything is fine now baby been happily breast feeding for the last six weeks or so. She is now 65 centimetres long, and 6.7kg (14 pounds 11 ounces) in weight

after first couple of weeks everything is fine, and LOTS of milk