No breastmilk for five days....

[Slummymum]

Hi there. I am now 37 weeks with number two and would like to breastfeed her which didnt happen with number one. Problem was I had no milk for five days by which time midwives in hospital had given DS formula from a cup which he loved. Was really sad not to bf but delighted for he was happy and it was proving really really hard to do anyway. Having said that I would really like to give it a go with baby number two - my question is... what should I do if no milk for five days again? Do I express if so what with? (have a hand pump) or dur...just don't know! Will DD be satisfied with the colostrun drops? Your comments would be most appreciated....

I think (am no expert) that your milk comes in faster the second time around. Your dd should be satisfied with colostrum until your milk comes; you can hand express (squeeze with finger and thumb at the back of your areola). You won't get much out but your baby doesn't need much at all; her stomach is the size of a hazelnut! You can feed with a syringe.

Of course, this is only if your baby won't latch on; if she will, you can just feed her at source! Try biological nurturing / skin to skin contact.

yes that is meant to happen i think, colostrum satisfies until milk arrives. alas i couldn't get ds latched on till 5 days (milk came at about 4) so he never got any. i was badly advised so didn't know to express colostrum. it was ok in the end though

suggest you get info / contacst ready in advance so that this time you are all ready if you encounter any difficulty or need info.

if a next time for me i would ring bfc first and have her on standby. 2.9 yo now and she is still on speed dial! [disclaimer: do not recommend pestering, they are volunteers.]

just thought i would add this link to help you understand How milk production works

This is very useful.. for later on too

Thank you all so much for your advice - priceless!

try to have skin to skin contact straight away, my hospital was very pro breast which really helped - put in your birth plan that you would like to bfeed asap - my dd was latched within a few mins, after that it took another 12 hours for her to get second feed but bfeeding councillor was really good, even showed me how to bfeed lieing down when i was so knackered I nearly fainted

Determination- thank you for the link, it was really helpful.

Slummymum

HI Slummymum - I had my dd on a Friday morning and my milk didn't come in till the following Wednesday - my dd seemed fine just on the colostrum. I didn't express or anything, just fed her every few hours. No one mentioned expressing/formula etc to me - I didn't even realise 5 days was a long time till I read MN! She slept a lot and didn;t seem like she wasn't getting enough nourishment so all was fine till the milk came in.

Feeding will get the milk going and until then, colostrum will do.
I never felt my milk 'come in' but breastfed twice successfully. Hope it works out this time.