do you feel the 'let down'?

[Susiemj]

Beginning to feel as if I've got some problems with BF.

Little problem first.

I've been bf for two weeks [since birth] and it's been fine. I'm beginnng ot experience a few problems now and it is preying on my mind that i don;t think i ever really felt a 'let down' though. Nor did I become really engorged in the first few days.

Milk supply seems ok [beginning to worry there's not enough but that's another story]

Does this sound normal?

I'm not sure that it matters if you don't feel the let-down. I think some women don't feel it. For me, it felt almost like pins and needles - sharp prickly feeling. Sometimes it was quite uncomfortable.

What are your other concerns? Is the baby sucking well? Gaining weight?

Hope you're ok.

I never felt let down. I fed for years before I knew that anyone did. And I was very engorged with baby#1, but not with baby#2, I think he just drank the milk too quickly.

hi susie - never really felt it in the beginning but later i did and felt the same as overrated describes. certainly dont think you have anything to worry about.

hunker's breastfeeding blog very useful, with numbers for the 4 free breastfeeding helplines. as supply and demand start to match, you don;t get that fullness all the time, also, not every woman has a really strong let down...

Susie I have been BF DD now since birth and she is 8 weeks old today. I never, ever feel my let down and I also did not have the engorgement in the first few days. I don't think that everyone feels their let down.

phew - that makes me feel better.

sorry for one-handed typing - babe on board!
my othe problem is that DDis a really slow feeder and can get exhausted before she's full. I was worried I wasn't 'letting down' enough because i hadn't felt it.

OverRated
my other problem is that when she got too tired to feed in hospital [we had a long stay after em c-s] they had me topping up with formula when she was too tired [we really tried to wake her- does not sleep just too tired to suck]

i am now beginning to express to do the top up and am getting between 20-40 mil per time. have read other women expresing far more than this so worried.

i express at the end of feeding.

expressing is not a good indication of how good your milk supply is.. nothing is more efficient at getting milk from the breast than your baby

howbreastfeedingworks.com/tag/breastfeeding/

and

www.kellymom.com

good sources of advice

I think if you want to stop topping up, don;t express, baby to the breast as much as possible...

thanks for links lulumama. have ben reading. i'm not ready to stop topping up yet though i don't rule it out. just seeing her sleepy little mouth trying to suck but too tired ...well!

and the screaming ten minutes after an hour / 90 minute feed with her asking for food is no fun [i do check other possible causes]

i must say, i did a top up with just 20 mils of bm last night and the expression on her face was blissful. she never liked formula. to have bm but bm that was easy to get to was clearly heaven. we had a really good night after that - feeds every 2-3 hours with sleep in between andno topups necessary. feel good this morning.

glad to hear it

get her weighed. that will show if there's a problem or not.

i was the same as you and had no engorgement or let down and dd2 lost loads of weight. i am on domperidone and fenugreek and pump and supplementer. plus dd2 is being topped up with formula twice a day.

no idea why this has happened this time but it has.

you need to get her weighed and if she is losing weight ask if they have any breastfeeding experts in your nhs trust as you may need a little guidance.

whatrever happens it is probably solvable

Expressing 20-40 ml after feeding at only 2 weeks is really good! I had to express in order to boost my supply and I was getting 5-20 ml for weeks.

What annoys me is that all the books seem to imply that you will be engorged with milk and squirting it everywhere at 4 days, for some of us it simply ain't the case. I did have some supply issues because my DS had a tongue tie, but we've got them sorted out now and he's feeding fine and gaining weight. I think I'm beginning to feel the let down, but it's not very noticeable, and my breasts are never uncomfortably full. I also feel like I've "run out" in the evenings when he cluster feeds, but when he spits the nipple out, there's always some milk in his mouth, it amazes me he can still get it out when my breast feels flat and floppy and my nipple feels kind of empty and dry IYKWIM. What people told me was if you are still getting lots of wet and dirty nappies, then don't worry, persevere. Well done, it sounds like you are doing really well!

I never felt the 'let down' and believe me my babies got more than enough milk.

Are baby's nappies filled regularly? Wet at least 6 times a day and lots of poos? What colour are the poos?

The fact that you're expressing 20-40 mls is fab. That's a great quantity.

Do lots and lots and lots of skin to skin.

Just read your latest post (I hop up and down threads sometimes whilst posting) and it sounds good.

You're doing a great job. If she won't wake then do whatever's necessary to wake her. You can always express directly into her mouth which might give her the energy to wake and feed.

The first few weeks can be the hardest but well done you. You're doing better than you think. Lulu's links are great!

she was weighed on friday and had gained 60g.
this was with formula topup.

she's being weighed again on thursday next. want to see without formula topup / with bm topup

she's a tiny thing -2880g / 6lb 6oz at birth. lost 240g at first. so was 2700 when weighed.

she's a great sucker too.

Just to add -

Regime of feed, top-up, pump every 2 hours is hellish. You have my heartfelt sympathy, I did it myself for a couple of weeks and never want to go back there! The thing I would say is keep on keeping on. It does get better, and it can get better very suddenly. Hang on in there.

As Pixiefish says, keep up with the weighing. Also, if you are struggling to bring in enough milk, try the domperidone (I'm taking that too).

Take care and keep posting.

I'd keep up with the weighing but she has put on 2 oz which is better than we had. My dd is 11 weeks and we had many weeks of losses/no gains or 1 oz gains which is heartbreaking.

I was feeding ehr every couple of hours and really thought things were improing but ehyr weren't.

Personally I'd ask to see a breastfeeding counsellor for help if you're concerned. The domperidone will only work with nipple stimulation (which you get when you feed) but personally I wouldn't take it without medical supervision. It would also be expensive for me as i am taking 9 a day and it costs £4.20 per box of 10 so would cost me nearly £35 per week (which I would obviously spend if necessary)

enugreek would be a better starting point. 3 tablets 3 times a day. Available forom Helath food shops such as Holland and Barret

Fenugreek- sorry

I never got engorged and didn't really leak much either. And I've never felt a let down.

What I can express really varies from as little as five mls to as much as forty and seemingly with no rhyme or reason. It used to worry me too, but then I found out it doesn't have much bearing on supply at all!

Just a thought, have you tried breast compression to get your sleepy baby to feed for longer?

And congratulations on your baby of course!!

thanks for tips and encouragement.

reverse - am trying breast compression today.

will go to local bf group on friday i think. may try fenugreek after that.

I never really felt a let down and am still feeding at 6 months, but supply did go a bit loopy fora bit and I was struggl;ing to satisfy DS2. HV advice of restinga nd checking wahtI was eatinga nd drinking really helped, so make sure you are drinking lots of water (I go fora pint each feed) and eating well, especially at lunch (when I struggled often grabbing toast!)and lots of good fat - full fat yoghurt, avocado and bread dipped in yummy olive oil worked as quick snacks for me

Re: Expressing i found the only way I co0uold ever get a decenmt anmount off was to express from one boob whilst feeding from the other, usually ion early hours when I had lots of milk Bit trcky to get everything in the right place but worked well. I was getting 3-4 oz a time in the end doing this and making up one feed a day.

Good luck x