Rambling new mother...Desperately seeking milk! Please help!

[felicity10]

Quick run down...!

Day 5 and after not feeding to begin with and having to use aptimil to bring blood sugar up. Nipples are little flat which made latching hard but started using nipple shields which have helped with latching. Am also expressing too.

Each feed now consists of 40 mins of breast with shield although not sure how much she is actually getting inside her, although sucking is improving. Then i give her around 20-30ml of expressed colostrum - milk not here yet. Then she is normally still hungry and takes about 40ml of formula.

Questions -

• where is my milk, shouldn;'t it be here by now
• nipple shields, we're trying to find smallers ones as boots ones are like sombreros - but don't think she'll latch without one, midwife didn;t seem too impressed with me using one though.

• is this anything like normal, or should i be just keep trying with this variety feeding!!

So desperately want this to work! I've had an nhs bf counsellor for a short session, do you think getting someone in for longer would be worth it, or should i just keep doing what i am doing.

apologies for ramblings of sleep deprived new mum!

thanks ladies,

d
x

Congrats on your new baby!

Tiktok is your best bet for advice, but if you weren't exclusively b/feeding from day 1, I imagine this is why your milk is still to appear! The best thing you can do is feed, feed and feed some more. This will help drive your supply. I remember with ds that I was feeding him almost constantly day and night for the first 4 days until my milk arrived - it's tiring, both physically and emotionally, but if you're determined to bf it's so worth it in the end.

Good luck!

Sorry - have no experience of nipple shields so can't comment on them. I just used that nipple cream that comes in the yellow box - the name escapes me at the moment - for the first few days to cope with my sore bits

There is a kind of transition from colostrum to milk- inoticed it with my ds as I expressed all feeds for him initially as he was prem.

It start off as a clear yellowy fluid, then over the next few days was a creamy yellowy milky fluid, then gradually became more milky in appearance.

If you are expressing that much it probably is this transitional milk- the day my son was born I could only express maybe one ml of colostrum (not a typo, really only one ml!)

so in short, you probably do have milk, but if I were you I would get my latch checked out. Does your hospital have a bf drop-in clinic? Are you still under mw care or signed off to a hv? Your mw or hv will be able to direct you to a bf clinic.

Alternatively you can call the helplines - see www.howbreastfeedingworks.com sorry can't link on the phone.

They are staffed by highly trained women but they are volunteers so may have to get back to you. Talking to your mw/hv or calling the helplines should help you to access real life support.

Hth

i had the same problem. my milk did not come in for 6 days, i was still in the hospital and a midwife showed me how to drip formula down my breast so that my dd got formula as well as colostrum. i think that it is quite unorthadox but iit worked for me. i can honestly ssay that i would have given up if it was not for this technique. this enabled baby to get a bot of a feed as well as stimulate my milk,

Sometimes milk takes a little longer to come in. Mine came in on Day 6, which totally panicked me as every book I'd read had said that milk comes in on Day 3.

Is the formula totally necessary? Is your DD dehydrated? If not, can you put her to the breast more often, rather than topping up?

I know nothing about nipple shields, sorry, but in terms of encouraging your milk to come in (if it's not already there), what made a difference for me was talking to a friend about my birth experience which I'd found pretty traumatic. Somehow, talking about it helped enormously, made some of the trauma subside and my milk literally came in during the conversation. It could have been a conincidence but it seemed to be connected.

Can you speak to someone on the NCT breastfeeding support line? Or arrange for a breasfeeding counsellor to come and see you?

thanks ladies, will get hold of nct lady, but some very useful reassurance - its not just me then!!

on the top-up milk - i think i do need it, she's just too hungry still and rooting like mad.

fingers crossed that milk makes its way soon, my use of the pump regularly together with the shields is starting to make little blood vessels on nipples bleed - ouch!

really appreciate replies, thanks

x

I think nipple shields are likely to cause far more problems than they solve. They interfere with proper stimulation of the breast, which won't help your supply. I'm pretty sure your baby will be able to latch on without them.

I'd definitely suggest having your latch checked. La leche league and the nct can provide properly trained breastfeeding consultants who will be able to help with your latch and give you all the advice you need.

Also, my DS fed almost constantly for the first few, well weeks. He'd feed for ages and then still be rooting for more. All the feeding helps to establish your supply. It's fairly normal. It isn't all that convenient for you, but you end up with masses of milk and the feeding does calm down eventually.

get a electric pump. borrow from the hospital maybe.
Not sure about the use of nipple shields but if you need them then medela ones are the smallest i have seen.

Phone Nct helpline.

Well done you are doing a great job and it will get better.

agree with previous posters. nipple shields can interfere with milk supply, I believe in that they make it harder for baby to milk the breast effectively.

if your milk hasn't come in, then your baby NEEDS to be feeding very frequently. this sets the standard for your milk supply and ensures it is plentiful when it does come in.

by offering formula after each feed to keep her content you are signalling to your body that it doesn't need that extra milk.

if you want to continue breastfeeding then I would contact an organisation like La Leche League for some advice on ditching the formula and the shields

I would say that the nipple shields may be delaying your milk coming in as you're not getting the same level of stimulation as you would feeding directly. Or, it may have come in, but not in such great quantities.

How are you feeding the formula?

If you stimulate your nipples a little - rolling/stroking them, do they perk up at all?

I would try and seek out more face to face bf support. Whereabouts in the country are you? Perhaps we could find some online links for you.

Well done for persevering... the more direct suckling the baby does, the more milk you'll produce, so try and get some direct breast feeding in. Can you remove the shields part way through the feed? If not, remember some bm is a million times better than none at all, and you're doing a great job for your baby.

I have used nipple shields throughout - DD is now 6 months. I agree they can cause problems - it's easier to contract mastitis for example - but you can always wean them off later. (My DD didn't want to do this, and it was just a battle too many for me, but we've been mainly fine)

You can buy them in sizes - I have the Medela ones, the ones Boots sell are Medium which are 20mm across - if you get Small they are 16mm. I bought mine from some online shop, think it was this one:

www.expressyourselfmums.co.uk/details2.asp/ProductID/261/sid//medela-contact-nipple-shields.htm

Good luck!

thanks ladies,

sounds like most share concerns with the shields. i will contact nct lady tomorrow for sure, in meantime, might have a go with this nipplette gadget husband found in his most recent smash and grab at boots. that might help the nipple come out more so that i can try without shield at next feed.

fingers crossed!!

dxx

I thought my milk hadn't come in as I never got the hard, full, painful breasts that I was expecting. It must have done though as dd mostly had enough (had to use some formula in the hosptial due to jaundice). I was exclusively breastfeeding after about the first 2 weeks and still going now but was really worried about it not coming in after day 5. My point, you can't always tell if the milk has come in as you would expect.

thanks leftangle, midwife said similar this morning, if we crack the latching should find out i guess! dd is also a little jaundiced so another reason we're keeping topped, but good to hear that in 2 wees you had switched over. thanks.

I always offered her breast before formula and she gradually took less formula until she stopped needing it. Feeds did take a very long time in the early days. Good luck with it all and enjoy your dd.

I had to top up when my DD was born as she was dehydrated and my milk didn't come in til day 6. You don't sat how long she's going between feeds, but if it's more than 2 hours from start of one feed to start of the next then I would try to reduce the formula so she breastfeeds more. Also good to offer both breasts at a sitting. We were back to full breastfeeding by day 9, I hope it works out for you.

Pick the size for the newborn.

www.olivers-baby-care.co.uk/philips-avent-nipple-protectors-nipple-shields.html?utm_source=Google-Ba se&utmmedium=Web&utmcampaign=Gbase

I agree, makes it harder for baby to get the milk/stimulate supply but may help your baby learn to latch on. You can wean him off later.

I also have flat nipples. It does make it harder but is possible. It will get easier as you both become more experienced and your baby gets bigger. I found (esp in the early days) that I really had to 'shape' the breast to get her latched on and often hold it there. Don't have to do that anymore though.

Ladies, i have to thank you all...perseverance has been the key and i am currently on 3rd feed without a shield!! NO TOP UPS!!! Although am still expressing to get production up and also just in case we need it.

cannot believe it!!! thanks for the support. never thought things would turn around like that.
xx

Hi felicity - your experience sounds very similar to my own (apart from the milk coming down part) - I weaned my DD off the nipple shields (and bottle dependence) at the end of the second week with the help of a SNS (lactation aid - tube-feeding) and now she breast feeds much better, although we're still using the tube feeder for top-ups (and she takes a couple of bottles of EBM overnight for convenience sake).

Sounds like you're doing all the right things - keep at it! You'll get there...

Hi felicity, I had problems latching my dd on too, and resorted to nipple shields, which we are still using 6 months later so can only second all the advice about not using if possible, except in the short term.
Also expressing is great once your baby has got the hang of BF as can do top up feeding if worried if baby taking enough milk. You sound like youre doing all the right things, so well done !

Well done! Fantastic news.

Remember that night time feeds are v.important for increasing your milk supply, so feeds then are really going to help overall.