My last 2 babies were breastfed and each time my milk didn't start to come in until day 5 and wasn't properly 'in' until day 6.
First time round it didn't seem such an issue except DD1 was losing weight but she was contented enough in herself. However last time it was awful. DD2 screamed constantly, fed constantly - which I know she was meant to do as that encourages milk to come in - but by the morning of day 5 even my extremely pro-bf MW was starting to mention a formula top-up as DD2 seemed dehydrated. Her lips were dry and she was also jaundiced. My nipples were a mess even though her latch was spot on, it just seemed that she was constantly suckling but not getting anything (the MW even tried hand expressing for me and got virtually nothing out, just a drop of colustrum). It might have been easier had she been my first baby but I had 2 other children who needed my time also and it just made those difficult early days even more difficult
Anyway, it was awful for me as even though deep down I had confidence in my own body and knew that she could survive on colustrum I hated the thought of her becoming dehydrated. Of course, my milk did eventually arrive, although it was never in abundance like it had been with DD1, and all was well.
I am now 17 weeks pregnant and planning to bf again and was wondering if there is anything I can do/eat/take to encourage my milk to come in sooner this time as I can't bear the thought of it being like that again. I'm not sure what the average length of time is it takes to come in (all my friends ff) but I do know that my sister's milk is always in by day 2 or 3.
Thanks