Should you see milk?

[Jadefeather7]

Hi

I have some feeding sessions in the last few days where I heard loud gulping swallowing sounds so it seems like my baby was getting milk, however weirdly yesterday and today the gulping has stopped. When there is no gulping I don’t see any milk in my baby’s mouth (is it possible she’s getting a slow trickle or is it likely nothing at all and that she’s only comfort sucking if I don’t see the milk?) thanks

I only see milk when DS unlatches mid-letdown and gets it all over his face.

Unlikely to see much milk in the mouth as the nature of bf the milk goes directly to back of the mouth /throat, sometimes if they fall asleep on the breast you might see a little pool of milk in the mouth though. You are only likely to hear gulping at letdown, this is when the milk is forced out by your breast at a faster rate, some women say this feels like a pinching feeling of your nipple, some say its a stinging feeling, usually only lasts a matter of seconds /less than a minute, but some women don't notice it at all, does not mean it's not happening.
If you squeeze your breast between thumb and finger from behind the nipple towards the tip after baby has fed you will likely see milk come out, sometimes it will really spurt out!

Ps sometimes your baby will be just comfort suckling, this is very important to let them do that though because it all helps to establish your supply, especially in the early days.

Thanks, that’s reassuring. I was getting worried that not seeing milk was a bad sign. I definitely get drops when I squeeze the breast. Don’t ever get sprays of milk. I have one letdown in the first minute or two of the feed (I feel slightly nauseous and my other breast starts dripping for a minute). I think that’s when I hear the swallowing/gulping noise. I’m not sure however if my little one is actively sucking after that as she’s almost always sleepy when feeding and impossible to wake up :(

How old is she? I'd focus on whether she's having wet and dirty nappies and whether she's alert when she's awake as indicators of whether she's getting enough, rather than worrying about how much she seems to be taking at feeds. My DD used to feed for up to 40 minutes but DS has never fed for more than 5 even as a newborn - he has the let down and then he's off - but he's a chunk of a boy and regained his birth weight so quickly the midwife was shocked so he's obviously getting enough 🤷‍♀️

I’m topping up at every feed so can’t really use nappies as an indicator that she’s getting enough

She’s 2.5 weeks

Why are you topping up op?

Due to dropping weight and advice from midwives to top up and then to also increase top ups when she didn’t get back to her birth weight which thankfully she now has. I also have no confidence in my supply as I wasn’t able to bf my first child (had a IBLC lactation consultant and even she was advising me to increase the top ups as I think she didn’t think I had enough milk)

Ah ok. How long have you been giving top ups for?

If you want to breastfeed you probably need to be looking to gradually get rid of the top ups. The less milk she's taking from you the less milk you'll produce. I haven't been in this situation so hopefully someone else will be along with some specific advice :)

I agree with Spam. You will honestly make far more milk if your baby is only having bm. The best ways to help your supply (if it is low which is actually very rare) are drink as much water as you can. Eat oats, in any form, even flapjack 😋. Fennel tea can help increase supply as well as fenugreek. And finally, put baby to the breast as much as possible, even if they're not feeding and only suckling while asleep, it will help build your supply. Night feeds are especially important so do not sub these for formula! If your baby is up to weight now I would personally drop the formula and have a really lazy week sat with baby and a good book or watching films just permanently on the breast, have a bag of snacks and lots of water to hand then you don't need to get up.
It's very frustrating that a lot of midwives aren't actually very knowledgeable about bf and will encourage top ups which is really the least helpful thing for your supply!