Breastfeeding trouble - almost no milk at 10 days

[Porcupette]

At wits end and desperate for any advice. Had baby girl 10 days ago via a fairly awful emcs, ended up staying in hospital 3 days after on antibiotics etc. During those 3 days baby was trying to breastfeed but constantly sleepy and when we tried to hand express two different midwives said I wasn’t producing much milk so we topped up with formula. Since then I had one day where they felt fuller but after one feed they were back to soft. Have been putting baby on every few hours apart from one day where I was basically just an anxious mess, and have now started trying to express using an electric pump, but I’m getting less than 1ml on one side and not even 5ml on the other, in half an hour on each side.

Have read that if you can’t get the milk up by 2 weeks your odds drastically decline. Objectively know that formula is fine and before she got here I wasn’t bothered about breastfeeding either way but I’m so much more upset now that I’ve actually tried and it hasn’t worked. Doesn’t help that doesn’t seem to matter what I do with the bottles, she races through and constantly demands more but is sick after lots of feeds, and in my head I feel like breastfeeding didn’t have that problem (even though that’s probably just because she wasn’t getting anything to throw up!). Feel like I’m making all of us miserable by keeping trying though. Any advice? Should I just pack it in?

Are you working with the infant feeding team at your hospital? Or a private lactation consultant if you can afford it? If you had a traumatic birth your milk still might come in in the next day or so, but in the meantime you could use an SNS for top ups so you're getting the extra stimulation and it will help with the speed as well. I have a practically non existent supply and DS is 3 months old and we use an SNS for every feed still.

With pumping, some women can have very small or very large nipples and so the standard funnel/flange sizes don't work to extract the milk as efficiently. I was getting 1ml until I bought flange inserts for my pump and now I can get a maximum of 20mls each time. So still almost nothing but a lot more than before. If you measure your nipples you can find out what size flange you need.

Has she been assessed for tongue ties as well?

I never pumped successfully but finally did manage to breastfeed successfully so don’t automatically assume that what’s being pumped is what your baby is getting when feeding.

Also I think feeding is probably better than pumping to build up your supply.

I don’t really have any other advice but know how tough it is. Just keep going and top up with formula if needed. If you have to switch to formula completely try not to feel bad (so much easier said than done) the most important thing is that your baby is fed and well cared for.

My milk didn't come in until day ten. I did a couple of things to help. Apply warm compresses to your boobs about five minutes before you pump then give them a good massage. Then power pump. So pump for ten minutes, then ten minute break and then go for ten minutes again, the ten minute break. I used to do this for 40 mins. Also are the settings right on your pump. You need a fast, light suction for the first minute and then slow, harder suction after that. This mimics the way babies naturally feed. Also milk production is at its highest from 4am-10am, so I used to do my power pumping in between this time. if you are pumping in the evening you will barely get any. Even once my baby was fully breastfed I could only ever get about 5ml each side in the evening. Also keep in mind that how much you can pump doesn't necessarily correlate with how much baby is getting.
Also inbetween lots of skin to skin and keep putting baby to the boob every time they root for milk.
I'm not sure if all this will work for you but it helped me. Its lot of work and you will be exhausted ! Try and get your partner to help with the formula top ups so that you can rest in between. It sounds like your doing so well and remember it's absolutely not the end of the world if you have to switch to formula. It is normal to feel sad about breastfeeding not working out but sometimes boobs and babies don't always cooperate. Good luck !

I mirror the others advice, lots of time today with skin to skin and keep putting baby to the breast. I was never that successful with pumping but breastfeeding worked out well in the end though I know how tough it can be when starting out. Don’t feel guilty if you do switch to formula. X

Try Fenugreek powder or lactation tea too, I found both increased my milk supply as it was slow in coming through.

I found letting baby suck even if not getting a lot of milk will trigger you into producing more milk. I tried pumping but it didn’t work. So I breast fed then gave a wee top up after. Always breast first. Also watch your diet. With first baby she fed all night and hardly anything during the day until health visitor pointed out I would have a substantial evening meal but didn’t eat a lot during the day. So started having boiled or poached egg with toast for breakfast. Or a bacon rolls but always included high protein, carbohydrates and veg. This made the biggest difference. Also relax, hard I know when it’s your first.

There is a very good support group on fb called 'breastfeeding guidance and support uk' - lots of women in your position, you can search back through posts or post your own question.

I hope it works for you, but if it doesn't please don't beat yourself up. My milk never came in after EMCS and I had no choice but to bottle feed. I was so disappointed. But contrary to popular belief, she was a very happy contented baby and had a fantastic immune system (never picked up anything at nursery). So although I know it feels like it; if you can't breastfeed it isn't the end of the world. Just disappointing.

My milk started to come in about day 7. At day 10 I would say I could get a few drops hand expressing, but not much. We gave DD formula top ups but alongside that I just breastfed loads and did lots of skin to skin. I tried to express when I could but only got a few ml. It took weeks but I got to the point where I could just bf. My only advice is just to keep going, eat and drink plenty, feed baby lots at night and try to keep the formula to the smallest amount you can.