Breastfeeding question.. Unsure where to post?

[Twounder1]

My baby is almost 3 weeks old and I'm not sure if any milk has come in yet :( how would I know? I do try and breastfeed him 90% of the time. (having to combination feed a bit as he was so big and can't sustain himself and breastfeeding isn't enough. My breasts don't leak, they're not bigger, I can't hear him gulp, nothing :( I don't think he's getting anything. Weight loss is slowly creeping back up from birth but not enough :( any advice?

This is the one I used. www.medela.co.uk/breastfeeding/products/feeding/supplemental-nursing-system

Have you got someone supporting you at home? I get the vicious cycle thing but not eating/drinking will make you feel like you don’t care as you’re feeling so weak. If you start giving your body fuel you’ll start to feel much better, even if you start with a banana or something. Bf burns a shed load of calories you need them. You need to be fed to take care of your children (talking from experience). I know it seems like a mammoth effort and eating becomes a chore along with everything else you have to do but if you do give your body the energy you’ll feel clearer about everything. Latch can be worked on, baby may be picking up on your stress.

Wet nappies means something's going in. It can't come out if it didn't go in.
Just how many oz of formula is he having each day.

My milk didn't come in until 8 weeks - this was initially missed by midwives who ignored my concerns about the lack of wet/dirty nappies. Resulted in seriously ill baby and having to top up with formula. I just put her to breast whenever she was hungry and she'd take whatever she could get, then top up with as much formula as she'd take (often a full bottle so I doubted there was much BM coming out).

Suddenly at eight weeks my breast became enormous and full (just soft and droopy before) and I started leaking milk everywhere, and at that point could start reducing the formula down. Same happened to a friend - her milk came in at six weeks and she ended up EBF. I decided to carry on combi-feeding as it worked for us - DD still BFs at 28 months.

Also, you do need to look after yourself. I wasn't hungry for the first few weeks (PND diagnosed at 4 weeks) and had lost huge amounts of weight during pregnancy (diabetes). At six weeks, once I'd got established on anti-Ds and DD started sleeping for six hours at a time my appetite came back, I was more rested and my milk came in! I tried to drink a large glass of water alongside every feed and had glasses strategically positioned around the house, plus easy healthy snacks to grab.

You definitely need to eat and drink as much as possible. I keep cereal bars and a bottle of water by bed and whenever I put LO back into cot I have a big drink and then have cereal bar in morning if I can’t get downstairs for breakfast immediately. Someone once told me the analogy of ‘if you are in a plane and it’s going down, you always have to put your oxygen mask on first before helping others’. You need to be healthy to care for your baby
I have had a really tough time BF and have cried many tears and wanted to give up so many times so I completely feel for you.
I hope you have managed to get hold of someone to ask for advice. Your local GP practice or HV will have an up to date number for BF supper group.