No sign of Milk yet!!!!

[tamula]

Hello all,

I am 36+3 weeks pregnant with my first. I plan to breastfeed but have had no sign of any milk, no discomfort or leakage.
My breasts have gone up a cup size or two but I have put that down to putting on weight and my areolas have darkened.

I'm worried that baby will arrive before the milk does, I know that sounds silly but has this happened to anyone? I have been told that some women's milk doesnt come in until baby is born, but isnt that a bit late if I want to feed from the get-go?!!

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks

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milk typically doesn't come in till about day 3/4 after your baby is born. what you get earlier on, after the baby is born is called colostrum (small amounts of yellow stuff that contain antibody type things that are good for babies imminue system). so your baby can breastfeed from the very start; it's no problem that they only get small amounts of colostrum the first few days.

i didn't leak at all with ds. you only need the milk once they're there! i breastfed him fine, think my milk came in 2 or 3 days after he was born but there was colostrum before that. i exclusively breastfed him to 6 months. good luck, you'll be fine!

I didn't leak ever in pregnancy - as the otehrs say, most people don't get actual milk until 2 or 3 days after birth. It'll be fine!

I had no leakage either during any of my pgs. I remember thinking my nipples looked like extinct vlocanoes. Don't worry. There is life there and all will be activated when your baby is born. Good luck with the labour and b/f.

nor me- no leakage at all before i had dd. then i had the colostrum- my milk was slow coming in but it did come in after about 6 days- in the meantime i had the colostrum for her though

i had abit of a leak around 25 weeks ish. but nothing till after i had given birth.

The sight, smell and feel of your new baby triggers oxytocin in your brain and that starts the milk making process off by producing the hormone prolactin. Babies are usually born fully nourished by you, so won't go hungry. You can encourage oxytocin many ways including skin to skin contact as soon as baby is born.

Kolakube (great name!) is spot on. And put the baby on the breast as soon as you like, bf works by supply and demand so (in theory) the more you do it the more milk you have.
The baby probably will arrive before the milk does - this is a good thing as the baby will get lots of colostrum, and you won't have to buy lot of breast pads yet!
Congrats on your pregnancy.

I would have one bit of advice (that I should have taken the time to research before DD was born). If you don't know how to properly latch on, then find out before the first feed. I didn't go to any breasfeeding workshops in my antenatal care because I felt I didn't have time. But, then, afte she was born, shwasn't latching on properly, which resulted in rather sore tits for me. And then I slacked off a bit on thebreast feedingbecause I didn't want to face the pain. The milk supply never really came in enough to feed baby, and ended up topping up woth formula about a week or so after birth. Then gradually got so fed up in the next month or so that we just ended up on formula all the time.

I hated breastfeeding. I attempted it for the sole purpose of soing what was good for baby. I am pregnant agin now. When this baby is born, my plan is to read up on it, give it my all to do it right. But, if it doesn't work out and I end up switching to bottle/formula, then I'm not going to beat myself up over it.

So, my advice is to approach it fully committed. But, if after a month or so it is still a terrible experience then move on and don't look back.

My view is that is I can last for 2 months I've done a great thing. If it lasts longer, that's ever greater. And if it doesn't last for two months, oh well life goes on. But, you won't know until you try.

PS Bottle sterilising is a pain in the arse so good luck! :-)

tamula, My ds3 was born at 32 weeks, milk still came in almost immediately, its triggered by the birth itself. You'll be fine!

Hi Guys,

Thank you all so much for your advice. I feel alot more relaxed about it and I shall worry no more!

I love this site!

Tam xx

Expect it to hurt, expect to get sore bleeding nipples, expect to be very very very tired, expect to find it very very hard to get the babe to latch on and you'll be fine. I found all these things 1st time round - but I stuck at it and I bf my dd till she was 2 years old. But no-one had told me how much it hurt and how hard it was.

BTW within 6 weeks it gets much much much easier. I am painting a worse case suitation.

Mu milk or I suppose it was colostrum came in while I was in labour. It was very emotional actually. It was a "I am having a baby"-moment

Hi Tamula. I also had no show of anything at all before ds was born. As you know I had a CS and was really worried that bf wouldn't work as lots of people have problems. I have also had several lumps removed from my breasts which also made me worry that there had been too much damage. The colostum appeared the when I tried to feed but it took 4/5 days before it turned to milk. I was taught that its important to massage the breasts a lot before feeding, this helps the milk come from the back and helps stop blockages. Just relax when you are feeding. I think if you are not relaxed the baby can probably sense it and will also not relax. And don't give up too quickly if it doesn't seem to be working.

Its too early to worry about it now, however, we all have our ideas of how we want things to be, but things don't always work out and if bf doesn't work then it doesn't matter, don't upset yourself over it. It may be better for the baby etc... but the baby will be just as healthy, secure and loved if he/she is bf or bottle fed.

And rubbing breast milk into the nipples after feeding helps relieve the sore nipples.

Thanks for all the additional advice.

I think I'll just remain positive and play it by ear, hopefully it will go well but I shall try not to beat myself up if I feel I can no longer proceed with it.

Nipples really don't have to be sore, cracked or bleeding...that's a sign that the latch isnt' right and you need expert advise on improving it. The birth triggers milk and it won't arrive for up to five days - babies are born with fat on board to cope with this and colostrum is FANTASTIC magical stuff. Feeding can be lovely. I feel like my baby is still part of me - when she is hungry and cries, I make milk! Amazing.