Right breast seems to be empty and not producing, any suggestions gratefully recieved.

[billysitch]

Hmm well this is odd but my son is 2 weeks old today I had him by section, my milk came in very quickly in 3 days we were well underway with the breast feeding and he only dropped 20gms in the first four days and by day 11 he had put on 6oz, so all was well. I have been on antibiotics for kidney problems and these have now finished so I am not on any medication at all not even pain killers or my ventolin.

Last night I tried to express from my left breast for the night as my nipples had become quite sore in the night feeds as he digs a lot and in the dark I couldnt be sure my latch was perfect, but could only get an oz from the right breast. I filled the remainder of the bottle from the left breast (which frankly is like a tap) in no time at all when the first oz of the other took 45 mins.

He has been unsettled all day wanting me every two hours or so. He woke every 3 hours in the night when for the last 3 nights he has slept through from 11pm until 6am, and I feed him for an hour on the right this morning but whilst winding him I noticed that the nipple wasnt milky, so I tried to squeeze out some milk and non was there, unpreturbed I carried on but he hasnt settled all day.

Having walked the lenght of Southampton and changed his nappy, all wet but no pooh for about 24 hours, I gave in and gave him formula of which he only wanted 2 and half oz.

He is still unsettled, but not screaming or anything, he is quite cool really but seems hungry still.

I am wanting to persever as I was unable to breast feed my first son due to serious illness and feel I missed out on the opportunity, so kind of want to suceed this time. Also I am very well and fit and it is really helping shrink the bulge!

Any clues? Is my milk drying up?

bump

Hi there

I went through something similar, I was convinced that only one boob was 'working'. In fact it was just that I struggled to express from that side. However, I went to the doctor and she said it can happen though it is rare. If it does happen the other side compensates. You don't actually need to feed from both sides (for example twins only usually get one side each at a feed I think?).

Could he be getting plenty but just going through a groweth spurt? That's pretty common at 2 weeks old and would make him seem constantly hungry.

Also, re poo (a lovely topic eh?) my DD went a week with no poos at that age (bf babies do poo less) and then produced about 3 spectacular nappies in a row. Really quite memorable

However, saying all that, if you're worried at all I'd speak to your HV or a doctor and they can put your mind at rest.

x

Wow ? 11pm until 6am!! That?s a long time for 2 weeks so I wouldn?t take the fact that he?s not done it for a couple of nights as a sign of anything being wrong

Expressing is a notoriously tricky business and pretty rubbish as an indicator of supply. I once was in floods of tears over the breast pump as I couldn?t get anything out and I was massively engorged at the time so go figure!

Have you tried hand expressing rather than squeezing your nipple (google for how to do it, you need to squeeze on the milk ducts a little further back on your breast) on your right side to see if you get on any better that way?

He?s very little for no poos in 24 hours so you?re right to question it, but he didn?t want much formula either? maybe he?s unsettled but not necessarily hungry?

This is obviously very important to you so it would really be good to get some face to face advice. Any breastfeeding groups or baby cafés etc near you? Or try the breastfeeding helplines List of them down the right hand side of this site and lots of good info as well!

Hi ladies.

Thank you both very much for your posts. Well it seems the wee man is back on track fed pretty much every 2 and half hours yesterday in the end and was very unsettled BUT then went from 2345 until 0500! ! So seems to be fine now. Bit unsettled today, however a friend mentioned that cocoa can help horses but wasnt sure about humans for milk production. However not one to look chocolate in the face and run, I decided to have some 85% last night and within an hour my boob was dripping! Not sure if this was a coincidence or not but managed to hand pump 7oz out of the right one!

This morning boobs were back to normal driping and full, phew was a bit worried for a while.

Re Poo! - lots of wind but no poo, lots of wet nappies so I am not too worried I think giving him the formula has probably got him a bit constipated, I am a bit windy at the moment so could be that too!

Anyhoooo thank you both so much it is good to know I am not a complete nutter.