NEW MUM NEEDING BF ADVICE

[D2Jenx]

My son is now 12 days old. He weighed 10lbs 9oz at birth and i breastfed from day one. On my 10 day visit from the midwife she said he had put on weight and is now 11lbs. I had been expressing as he had terrorised my nipples and they were cracked etc.
Unfortunately i was unable to bf for the last day/night nor express. My breasts went completely solid and when i tried to express my left breast would not produce.
I had got my milk into a good flow producing enough feed to satisfy such a big baby, but when i tried to express today to get it going again i had nothing come out of my left breast. I have tried one two occasions today and still nothing. Does this mean it has dried up? I have had to formula feed due to this.
Also i have heard that if you bleed whilst bf'ing it does not harm your baby to continue drinking it? Is this correct as it seems a little crazy?
Sorry this is long, i am a first time mother and this is my only help.........

someone will help you soon.

Have you tried putting warm flannels on your boobs or having a warm bath / shower as that often gets the milk flowing. It may be that as you haven't let down from that side in a while that a duct may have become temporarily blocked. It is OK to take paracetamol and I would advise it as if you are going to do some massage to the area it will be uncomfortable.
I presume you have invested in lansinoh cream and nipple shields to give your nips a chance?
Bfeeding is a supply and demand thing and a baby is always more efficient than expressing at getting milk out, so if you can tolerate it put baby back on and stick with it.

Should have said ' it is OK to take paracetamol whilst bfeeding as long as you are not allergic to it'

Are you still feeding on the other side? I found I got a letdown in both breasts this early so you could try feeding on one side and expressing from the really sore one. You may need DH/DP to help

Also think it sounds like a blocked duct and agree re the warm water, try hot flannels if no time for a bath. Am sure your milk has not dried up so quickly, but you do need to feed or express regularly to keep your supply going.
Also agree that your baby will get much more milk than you can by expressing and also it sounds a bit early to express, I think the advice is to wait un til your supply is settled before expressing (but am not sure on this).
If your nipples are very sore it sounds as if he is not latching on well, best to get some one to one help, from a MW or breastfeeding counsellor.
Hopefully someone like Tiktok/Hunker will come and help you out soon....
www.kellymom.com/ is a good site for breastfeeding info.

I got mastitis in the end but i got some gel things from boots about £12 a little like the eye mask thing if u know what i mean. The idea is that you put them in the fridge/freezer and you heat one up to help get milk flowing and once expressed or fed you then put the cold one in your bra to sooth it. I found these really did the trick for me as the heat stayed and the cold stayed in the gel for longer than the flannels did. Also if family visiting or friends its easy to just pop these into bra rather than using flannels all the time.

Thanks all your advice is appreciated. I have tried the hot bath but no joy.
I only started expressing as my nipples were bleeding and i wanted to get them to heal before letting him make them worse.
I am really trying my best and i dont want to give up but it is all so disheartening.
Once they are healed to a certain degree i cant wait to get him back on the nipple. I have sorted out my latching on with the midwife and i cant wait to get going again.

What are you using to express? A handpump or just by hand can be easier to start with as you can be gentle!

I'm not am expert but I think that you need to keep trying to get your baby to latch on even though your nips are sore. If you wait for them to totally heal and express in the meantime you may miss the boat with your supply. They will heal even if you keep feeding and believe me I know its agony beyond belief but it DOES get better. My nips bled an awful lot and although its a bit yuck it doesn't harm bubba. Put the baby to the breast feeding in the bath may be an idea. Lots of luck.

Hi D2,
Congrats on your new baby boy, you have come to the right place for help.

Firstly, your supply will definately NOT have dried up after just one day/night. However, if you are not feeding you must ensure that you express as if you don't this will over time have an effect on your supply and also could lead to blockages and Mastitis.

Please invest in a pair of Silverette they honestly will save your Breastfeeding relationship. Your nipples will be completely healed within 2 days and you will be pain free. They definately are a godsend to breastfeeding mothers

It does sound that you are completely blocked on the left side. Have you tried Hand expressing This really is the most effective way to express. It is better than all pumps. Before expressing apply a warn flannel to help the milk flow and have your baby near you so that you can see/hear and smell him.. this will help you let the milk flow.

Try feeding whilst you are on all fours (hands and knees!) this will let gravity help get the milk to flow.

Massage the breast down towards the nipple for a few minutes before trying to express.

You could gently use a wide toothed comb to comb the blockage down towards the nipple.

Hang in there, and keep trying AT LEAST every 2 hours to clear your blocked breast, otherwise it will only get worse. FEED FEED FEED FEED FEED and you will get thru this.

Also another tip I got from here that got me through mastitis was to feed the baby in bed holding my boobs down to her, if you know what i mean. Like bending over and putting the boob to her mouth. It helped to get the milk flowing again and thus in a few days mastitis was cleared up and blockage was gone.

D2Jenx - call the midwife out as soon as you can. Don't struggle through Saturday and all Sunday - get someone to see you now.

You won't have dried up, but you are at risk of a nasty bout of mastitis and you need this assessed ASAP.

You heard right about the blood in the milk - no harm at all, truly, and not crazy as your baby lived on your blood for nine months before birth!

Pick up the phone and get someone to see you!

Hang on in there, you can do it.

Have suffered from mastitis and blocked ducts, and fed through both of them. Sounds painful, but it's just as painful not to, and it will keep your milk supply up.

Suggest having a shower and directing the jets onto your boobs. Also cup your boob and put your other hand into a fist and gently roll it down your boob (from chest to nipple). If you do have a blockage this will help unblock it, and if you are engourged it will also help it. You do have to use reasonable pressure though.

Also, put savoy cabbage leaves in your bra - bliss!!!! Honestly, it really works!

Good luck. You will get past this blip.

D2,

Have you had any luck with your left side yet?

Thanks for your replies. I have kept trying and after an extra long bath i managed to get milk from both breasts again. I also managed to bf again from the left breast. He seemed satisfied for a while but obviously there wasnt enough in there where it has decreased, so i had to supplement with formula.
I am going to try to express more frequently to try get my supply back up but it is so hard to find the time.
Any suggestions on how to bump up my supply in minimum time would be appreciated. He eats so so so much.

The more you feed him (rather than express) the more milk you will produce. Try to avoid giving formula at the mo as it will affect (diminish) your supply. He is prob getting much more than you think, newborns DO feed a lot - DS2 who is 13 weeks now fed all the time - every hour minimun - for the first few weeks.... Good luck.

As already said - just feed feed feed! Nothing increases supply like feeding. Expressing isn't as effective and tbh it's easier to feed them than find the time to pump IMO!

To increase supply on one side, feed twice on that side to every time on the other. Worked for me. Once supply is back up then just alternate.

Don't worry about feeding very regularly. They do that. My LO did 40 min feed every hour for weeks! I couldn't believe that was normal but it is!

Also, whilst feeding feeding feeding, eat Oats as this will help increase your supply quickly and naturally