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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Any way to make my milk come in quicker? 2 days old & he's starving

16 replies

ihavenewsockson · 27/02/2009 04:39

i'm letting him feed as long as he wants, pretty much every 2-3 hrs at the mo.
he's getting angry after about 5mins on the brest and popping off then trying to get back on again. he's having both sides for as long as he wants, usually 30-40mins each side then i'm having to give him a dummy to give my nips a break, then back on about an hour later.
topped him up with formula this eve to try & flush out his jaundice.
latch is good, sore when he first attaches but comfy the rest of feed, mouth is wide and big strong sucks, no smacking noises etc.

anything i can do or just hope it comes in tomorrow? tia

OP posts:
EachPeachPearMum · 27/02/2009 04:46

Mine was like this- colostrum wasnt enough he fed 6 hours 2nd night... 8 hours 3rd... thankfully milk came in then.

try fennel tea- supposed to help, tastes like liquorice/aniseed.
Lots of rest (hahaha), letting him suckle as much as you can stand- I know- it hurts!

lansinoh cream may help your nipples?

mine had tongue-tie btw- which is one reason he was nt getting enough, even though his sucking felt strong enough...

hth

Lawks · 27/02/2009 04:57

It's the constant suckling that he's doing that will help to stimulate milk supply. It's normal and fine. Take him to bed with you maybe? Don't plan on getting anything else done, just snuggle in with your new baby and your milk will come in soon.

Make sure you are latched on right, and try lansinoh for sore nipples maybe?

Congratulations

Lawks · 27/02/2009 05:00

Just to add to what EPPM said, I'm not sure about the concept of colostrum 'not being enough'. I don't think they are supposed to have a neat little feed and then settle down for 4 hours with a belly full of colostrum. They are supposed to want to suckle and nuzzle constantly, interspersed with dozing and snuggling. As for the grumpiness, well, he's just been born. I'd be a bit grumpy about that too. It's a big change.

seeker · 27/02/2009 05:36

And try skin to skin - that'll help too. Try not to worry - it's the third day and your milk will probably come in today and you'll have loads!

Good luck - how lovely to have a new little one!

CantSleepWontSleep · 27/02/2009 06:25

ditching the dummy and letting him suck more on you should help it to come in faster.

giveusabreak · 27/02/2009 08:06

Definitely give the dummy a break for now and ditch the formula . If you want your milk to come in quickly supplementing will not help in fact it will hinder. Loads of skin to skin contact as well as feeding, have a bath with him (you will need someone to pass you the baby) Try to focus on relaxing with your baby. I think it would be helpful to talk to a RL bf counsellor (not sure about "flushing out jaundice" bit). Good luck - hope you get it sorted soon

InTheDollshouse · 27/02/2009 08:16

Colostrum will help flush out jandice better than formula as it has a laxative effect. Bilirubin, which is what causes jaundice, is excreted in poo.

Nontoxic · 27/02/2009 08:30

I'd second (or third) ditching the dummy and formula - the baby's sucking and 'hunger cries' are what will stimulate your milk.

And call a bf counsellor to have the latch checked - it's amazing how much you forget between babies.

SobranieCocktail · 27/02/2009 08:34

Agree with the others And would also add that my milk always came in very suddenly on the third day. Hopefully your boobs will be bountiful soon

Bluesapphire77 · 27/02/2009 08:49

Second having the latch checked..
I was sore as HELL turned out DS was tongue tied, i only knew about this because of MN and only carried on feeding through the pain and comments of 'not feeding THAT baby PROPERLY' from just about everyone in DP's family because of support i got from here.

Then when TT had been cut allowing DS to latch on better, he developed a thrush infection in his mouth, which spread to my already screaming nipples
Again support from MN and determination got me through

Check that neither of these is applicable (As DS's latch was good at first and v strong too but i was sore.. then found out he had TT) and it felt like someone was dragging razor blades across my boobs every time i put him to the breast.. better to find out sooner.

Does LO stick his tongue out and does it come out further than his bottom lip, is what someone here asked me, they also asked if his tongue was like, heart shaped at the end too, then told me it may be TT.
Its very common apparently, sorry for scaremongering but i wouldn't like for anyone else to suffer how we did

PS
Congratulations on the birth of your baby xx

tiktok · 27/02/2009 08:54

Hope you are getting good on the spot help, newsocks.

2-3 hours is not very frequent for a 2-3 day old baby - at this stage, babies are fine being on and off more or less all the time, being held skin to skin, and helping themselves or being helped to help themselves

Formula is not a good idea. This will undermine breastfeeding and will no more flush out jaundice than frequent bfs.

Not good maternity care to be suggesting formula....

Hope things go better today

Original poster
ihavenewsockson · 27/02/2009 12:17

it's arrived !!

thanks for all your help ladies, had a sleep after i posted as been feeding most of the night, LO had some skin to skin with daddy and when i woke up the milk had come in.

now it's me waking him up to feed.

don't think he's tongue tied as he can stick it out. but that was good advice to check.

went for the post natal check up & very exp. MW checked the latch, said it's good. just sore thru overuse me thinks.

thanks again, MN is so good for BF support.

OP posts:
giveusabreak · 27/02/2009 13:38

Just a note of warning on the MW's view of the latch. I had fantastic midwifery care in every other respect around labour and delivery and first few days. They were totally brill. but they told me my latch was fine. But I was bleeding and sore. As it was second baby I knew something was wrong. BF shouldn't hurt. I saw a bf counsellor and she suggested some tweaks to postioning and bam we were sorted. Neither MW had the skills to advise on that.

Nontoxic · 27/02/2009 13:55

I also had MWs telling me my latch was fine with babe no2 - one even cooed over it to a trainee she'd brought with her.
But a few days later I was in agony, and called NCT counsellor who sorted me out over the phone.
Turned out she was sucking on the tip of the nipple, and not opening her mouth wide enough.

MiniMarmite · 27/02/2009 15:52

I was in the same position as giveusabreak.

I think what others have said about feeding is right but I found myself in the situation where I was in intense pain and with bleeding before I even left hospital and I simply could not offer a feed all the time so I did give a dummy (it was a case of do that or give up bf altogether). It did take a little longer for my milk supply to establish but after a couple of weeks DS started to have a good weight gain and is now on the 90th percentile. I guess all I'm saying is that things will sort themselves out with a little perseverence even if it means taking a less than ideal route initially.

I just mention it in case your soreness gets worse - do see someone to get it checked to avoid getting into that situation.

gillythekid · 28/02/2009 19:55

I had these problems too. I would advise hiring a big old pump in addition to letting baby feed often. My supply was non existent for over a week and the pump got it flowing perfectly. I used some organic formula as DS was jaundiced and I just wasn't producing a drop! Good luck

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