How long does it take for your breasts to refil? Im about to give up!

[swift1]

HI everyone,

my dd is 3 weeks and bf. since last night she has been feeding every 2hourly , and shes usually every 3/4. Im concerned now that shes not getting anything.

I tried to express earlier and got about half oz. I last fed her at 8pm, and she wasnt settled whilst feeding, as if she wasnt getting anything. Ive just expressed 4oz from one boob till empty and only got an oz from the other, so now im completely empty both sides. WHat if shes humgry again in an hour? Will they have refilled by then. I know the more they feed the more you produce, but that doesnt seem the case here as shes feeding all the time and theres nothing in them.

im starting to panic as there are no chemists open to buy formula tonight.

Tia

Mine fed 2 hourly pretty much for 6 months. She could be having a mini growth spurt or she could just have been thirsty and wanted a drink rather than a feed. I wouldn't worry too much that you didn't get much when you expressed, babies are much more efficient at getting milk out than mummies are!

Try and relax, there is always something there, she is feeding more as having a growth spurt and there is a bit of a time lag in your boobs catching up, give it a couple of days and she will most likely be back to every 3-4 hours. I never got much out expressing babies are much better at getting something out.

This is quite a normal pattern with a bf baby you don't need to resort to formula. Drink plenty, make sure you're eating and rest to help your body make extra milk.

I'm sure someone more qualified than me will come along soon!

You got four oz out of one boob at 3 weeks and you are worried you don't have enough?!?! I think you probably have plenty unless your dd is excessively large that is quite a lot of milk.
I personally can never express more than about 2oz unless it is first thing in the morning after a very good night. My ds however is large and growing extremely well so I am sure that he gets way more than I can express.
If your dd is doing plenty of wet and dirty nappies then she is getting enough. Both of my children have bf very frequently and one put on weight slowly, the other very quickly. I often feel as though I don't fill up between feeds unless I have a long gap, but then I have got rather large breasts.

there is ALWAYS milk available in your breasts. your body makes it as she feeds, there will always be milk for her.
feeding every 2 hours is very common and normal for a 3 week old baby. your breasts might not feel 'full' but there will be milk available.
if she's having a growth spurt, and thus feeding more often, it takes your body 24hrs or so to 'catch up' and up your milk production. so she is prob a bit fussy cos the milk isn't coming out as fast as she wants, but as long as she's sucking there will be milk coming out, i promise!
also, don't judge how much milk you've got by how much you can express, babies are 10 times more effective at removing milk than a pump

trust in your body, feed her as often as she wants, and your milk supply will soon catch up. just remember your breasts are never 'empty'.
also if she's having a growth spurt prob best to just feed her from your breast, as any bottle (of EBM or formula) will mean she is not stimulating your milk supply as if she was feeding from you all the time, so your supply will catch up quicker, if you know what i mean!

hope that makes sense.....

Tia,

I'm sure there will be a flood of experienced ladies to give you advice soon, but please don't panic. I remember those days all too well with DS. I so nearly gave up and switched to formula. In his case, these feed marathons, lasting a day or two, preceeded a growth spurt, when DS needed me to make more milk. I really felt like I had nothing left to offer him, and felt so useless, like I couldn't meet his basic needs.

Just keep offering feeds, because even if you can't express anything, there WILL still be enough for your little one. Babies are much better at emptying our boobs than a breast pump. It will probably be exhausting, but keep on going. Eat, drink and rest. It won't last long, and your supply will quickly catch up. For me it happened every few weeks. I spent most of the day in tears, then spent the next day thinking how stupid I'd been .

You're doing a brilliant job, keep going!

Hi swift1...my DD is nearly 7 weeks and she went through a phase of this due to a wee growth spurt at 3 weeks. she also does it when she's cluster feeding, sometimes two or three times a week. It's really frustrating as she fusses and pushes me away when I try to latch her on then pulls off, but cries if I try to sit her up. It will pass.

Try to rest assured she is getting plenty and just keep letting her go to the breast when she wants to. Babymooning can help, ie staying in bed with her and feeding on demand, as can skin to skin.

Don't worry about the expressing either, I can only manage an ounce or two unless I express off the fullest breast first thing in the morning. In the evening I seldom get anything out at all.

Have a look on Kellymom. It's a great website with lots of help and advice for BF mums.

You're doing a great job

Your dd may be feediing more frequently because she is growing (having a growth spurt) and her demands are increasing - when she has upped your supply a bit the frequency of feeds may well come down again. If your dd is producing wet/ pooey nappies then she is getting milk. Expressing can be very difficult initially so please don't worry too much...

You are doing a great job... bf'ing can be very hard work initially.

I am sure there will be others with much greater expeience and knowledge posting advice for you as well. Please do speak to your HV or local breastfeeding counsellors (if there are any). They can give you more help.

good luck

I'm so glad I saw this thread tonight - (sorry slight thread hi-jack). I'm currently mixfeeding DS3 - although he's mainly on bottles. Just his early morning feeds, and occasional 'snacks' during the day (there's no way I'm producing enough to 'fill' him now as I'm not feeding frequently enough). (and he's a greedy little pig lol)

A few weeks ago I was able to express up to 5-6oz in the evening, now it's down to 2 or 3 often nothing out of one side.....and I was starting to panic that perhaps there just wasn't enough milk and that it was drying up completely.....however having been reminded that your body produces milk as they feed - and thinking about it I guess if he wasn't getting any he'd scream straight away I know that I am .

Tia

Try drinking some fennel tea as that will help your milk supply, especially quality. Make sure you aren't drinking peppermint tea as that can reduce milk flow.

Are you getting plenty of water as well? Try to relax but also you can contact the NCT helpline, number is on their website and they will always send someone local out to you. Don't leave it do it asap.

Good luck and and try to just relax. This will not last long.

ALE

thank you everyone - i feel better now. she has just demolished the 4oz in a botttle in record time! dh has been giving her a bottle of ebm every night. i dont mind her feeding so ofter really - i was more worrid that as she wasnt giving me a rest between feeds, that i couldnt keep up with her.

Have a drink while she is having a drink and try and eat too but watch out for dropping crumbs on her!!

Agree with everything everyone else says I think most people have these worries, mine happened later when I stopping having huge boobs and the let down started now have a 12 week old weighing 16lb 14oz and very happy!

I'm amazing at 3oz from one boob at 3 weeks I've only just managed that if it's early morning and I've been trying regularly since he was 5 weeks old.

My health visitors warned me when to expect a growth spurt so then you can prepare that this will happen with the next one too and not worry so much, although it's hard you want to breat feed but don't want to be starving your baby!

Swift,it's easier just to feed from the breast than do all that expressing. The sucking of a baby stimulates the breasts to produce more milk more effectively than the action of a pump too.
You're doing fine.

Just remember,if she seems hungry,put her back on the breast.

THE MORE SHE SUCKS THE MORE MILK YOU MAKE

Supply and demand.

Simple really.

That is right, demand (by the baby) and supply (by Mum). Keep it up, you are doing great!!

Don't give up!!! My ds was a frequent feeder when he was little, only ever about 5 mins, only ever one side at a time and about every 2 hours day and night. I could never expresss much either, but ds was fine and is fine. Try to relax about it all if you can, ring la leche or NCT and remember to eat well and drink lots of water. Also rememder taht your supply will be lessin the evening, so you are likely to get less expressing in the evening than in the morning.

Eating well and driniing lots of water will make no difference to breastfeeding (common myth, though!) - and soft breasts do not mean empty breasts. Expressing does not empty the breasts and frequent removal of milk speeds up the rate at which you make it - you don't need to worry you won't have milk for her no matter how soon she next wants it. 2 hrly feeding is normal .

It's late so have to go to bed but there were so many myths on the thread I had to pitch in

Swift - you are doing fine

I do wonder why on earth you are botherig to express, though.

tiktok - I am expressing because dh gives her a bottle of ebm at night - we gave dd1 a bottle a day from 3 weeks and never had a problem when she went onto formula. Also I am sticking some in the freezer so that I can go out eventually!

I really have had a terrible few days and really just want to give up. Since Midnight on MOnday she's fed at 1am, 3.30,5.50am,7am, 1pm,5pm,6.30pm,7.15pm,8pm,9pm,then again last night at 12am,3am, 5.45am, 6.30am. I cannot keep up. Im so tired. . Surely she cant be that hungry all the time?

THank god shes gone to sleep now but if I let her she will sleep all day, so will have to wake her soon to feed her and then she'll just be miserable. I hate it. I just want to get off.

swift, sorry to hear you sound so miz....hope you can find help and support. The feeding pattern you describe - 10 feeds in 24 hours from midnight Monday - is not abnormal, and would not be abnormal for a bottle fed baby either. She is 3 weeks and still a newborn. It would be helpful, I think, if you could increase the feeds during the day, as you had 1 x 4 hr gap and 1 x 6 hr gap in the day...and this inevitably means the baby will have shorter gaps at night.

Talk to a breastfeeding counsellor about turning round the day and night, so you would end up keeping her skin to skin in the day, or at least close to you, so she would not sleep away hours and hours, but feed instead.

This might take a few days, and you might need to work on the night feeds so they are easier (eg by co-sleeping, obv following the safety rules).

And of course help with your other child and meal prep and shopping and stuff....

Hope this helps a bit.

swift I really do sympathise.mY babies fed and fed and fed at first. They settled down at about 8 weeks then had a growth spurt at about 12 weeks where they fed every two hours again for few days.
You feel empty but your body really does just produce more, your don't get that really full then empty thing after about six weeks as things settle down.
drink and eat, get dh to bring you a snack and a drink every couple of hours and then GO TO SLEEP. Don't do anything else, just sleep.
I'm no expert,but I got the feeling that this is a way of getting the milk supply really going. Do try and relax and sit it out, you are providing exactly what your baby needs of you. Do not lose confidence in your milk, it is there!

I second the bf counsellor tip, they will be able to help with good night time feeding positions, too.
big hug

just to clarify- the food and drink thing is not about milk supply- it's about keeping you going and your energy levels up!
I wouldn't bother with the xpressing until things are settled down, if bbay isn't feeding, put your feet up!