Should I supplement my 3 day old with expressed milk?

[Mads199]

I’m really sorry if this is a stupid question, I’m a first time mum and currently feeling super overwhelmed by everything :(

I have a 3 day old who has been breastfeeding since birth, she has a good latch and up until yesterday we were getting the standard amount of wet and dirty nappies, however today she did a poo at 6am and a wee whilst her nappy was being changed at that time too, but nothing since.

I’ve called my midwife who has said it’s fine as long as the baby is doing 2-3 wees and at least 1 poo in a 24 hour period, but now I just feel super anxious and like I’m waiting for 24 hours to be up, all whilst worrying she’s dehydrated or something.

I was wondering if it might put my mind at ease to hand express some colostrum and give that to her so I at least know she’s getting something - my milk I hasn’t come in yet but I can express colostrum well. If I were to do that, how much would I give to my 3 day old? I honestly have no idea where I’d even start with it.

Sorry for the anxious ramble, feeling very tired and very overwhelmed and me and DH both have anxiety so we’re just no help to each other in this situation either, as being first time parents is an anxious time as it is! Any advice, or even just telling me I’m being silly and don’t need to worry so much about this when she weed and pooped this morning, would be seriously appreciated ❤️

Will she take any more feeds?
That would be the easiest way to get more colostrum/milk into her

How often is she feeding?

I would just keep letting her feed. As soon as the milk comes in you will be away.
Are you feeding on demand? If not maybe consider it.
My dd fed constantly on the second night (fun!) And then my milk came in shortly after.

I had to start supplementing with expressed milk for my DD from about 5 days, she has a little tongue tie so when tired she wouldn't latch properly. About a week after midwife told me to put her on formula as well which she is now fully on at 5 weeks. If you don't want to spend loads on an express machine I got a hand pump out from amazon that was £15- tommee tippee one that comes with a bottle as well and was easy to use I just use to do it front of the tv so I never really realised xx

Have you got the nappies that have the blue line that appears when they’re wet? Sometimes when they’re tiny it’s not immediately obvious that they have wee’d, even if they have.

Thanks for your replies so far sorry I should’ve mentioned yes I’m feeding on demand at the moment, she’s currently not going more than 2 hours without giving me cues that she wants to feed and last night it was literally 5 hours straight! So definitely on the boob, just not sure how much she’s actually getting from it because she hasn’t wees or pooped since 6am this morning.

Am I just being totally OTT about this? Honestly I don’t mind if someone tells me I am, I know I get anxious and stuck on things and it’s hard for me to tell the difference sometimes between genuine gut feelings and anxious gut feelings

Just keep putting her to the breast. Basically sit in the sofa top off skin to skin, breasts out and feed feed feed, get dh to bring you food and snacks etc. At this point its about snuggles and feeding. If her latch is good she will become efficient in her own time. Midwife will be coming tomorrow I assume as its day 4, she will weigh baby so hopefully that will reassure you. Also look out for day 4 hormone dip you may feel weepy and overwhelmed but this is normal.
Congratulations

Your milk has possibly not fully come in yet (I was day 4 and then a sudden rush of milk). With my enormous DS2 we supplemented him days 1-3 with small amounts of formula. Didn't need to with teeny DS1.

Are you counting her day of birth as day 0? (It can get confusing with the days old thing but that’s how we do it in maternity)

I’d be expecting her to have at least as many wees as she is days old and at least one dirty nappy, ideally two. It should be starting to change colour to green/brown today. She’s not even gone 12 hours yet so I wouldn’t be worried. It’s quite common for babies to get rid of all of their meconium (the black poo) and then have a little gap of up to 24 hours before pooing again. Are you checking the nappies for ‘the blue line’ (assuming she’s in disposables?) as sometimes it’s quite hard to miss a wee with modern nappies.

The fact that she’s waking up for feeds frequently is very reassuring as babies with low blood sugar tend not to. Can you see her swallowing if you look at her jaw/ears? Does she feed for at least 10 minutes?

Feed on one side, change her nappy or just annoy her a bit to wake her up, and then offer the other side so that she gets as much milk as possible. You can top her up with some expressed milk after a feed if you want to but it doesn’t sound like anything is wrong at this stage.

It sounds like you’re doing a great job.

@Mads199

Thanks for your replies so far sorry I should’ve mentioned yes I’m feeding on demand at the moment, she’s currently not going more than 2 hours without giving me cues that she wants to feed and last night it was literally 5 hours straight! So definitely on the boob, just not sure how much she’s actually getting from it because she hasn’t wees or pooped since 6am this morning.

Am I just being totally OTT about this? Honestly I don’t mind if someone tells me I am, I know I get anxious and stuck on things and it’s hard for me to tell the difference sometimes between genuine gut feelings and anxious gut feelings

Having your first baby is a very anxious time! You've never done this before and the stakes feel very high - suddenly you've got this tiny fragile creature you have to keep alive. I remember getting home from the hospital with my dc1 and just feeling that they just sent us home with a newborn and no clue what to do.

But we've evolved for this, babies can manage the first 3 or 4 days before your milk comes in. Most babies lose a little weight in this time and that's totally normal.
Keep feeding your baby at least every two hours and offer both sides. The more you feed the quicker your milk will come in.
I can't see any harm in expressing a few ml of colostrum and syringe feeding if it makes you feel more confident, but just ensure it is as well as directly feeding, not instead of a breastfeed.
As for amounts - maybe 5ml?

From memory I think this is ok - they don't always wee straight after a feed and 2-3 wees in a 24 hour period means they can go 8-12 hours without weeing without it being a problem.

Look up other signs of dehydration on the NHS website? There's a check you can do with their fingertips where you press it and then see the colour return. That's reassuring. And looking for a normal soft spot.

Definitely keep feeding feeding feeding all the time, it will help your milk come in. Expressing and mucking about feeding expressed colostrum will be so fiddly and potentially just interrupt the whole process so I wouldn't unless a health care professional says that you should.

Keep the faith. Things are moving in there :)

@BabyFeb22

I had to start supplementing with expressed milk for my DD from about 5 days, she has a little tongue tie so when tired she wouldn't latch properly. About a week after midwife told me to put her on formula as well which she is now fully on at 5 weeks. If you don't want to spend loads on an express machine I got a hand pump out from amazon that was £15- tommee tippee one that comes with a bottle as well and was easy to use I just use to do it front of the tv so I never really realised xx

If you wanted to breastfeed she should have advised the tongue tie was snipped, not that you disrupt establishing breastfeeding with formula. I’m at that.