Milk supply

[Doqr]

My baby is eight days old and I started seeing milk droplets on nipples at about day 3. So there is milk there, but not enough, as he was weighed on day 5 and I was told he had dropped too much weight and I should start supplementing with formula (he also only had two wet nappies and no dirty on days 3 and 4).

I really want to make sure my supply goes up so i can breastfeed, and am wondering how long i have for this. I've read and was told by the lactation consultant in the hosp that I'd really need to have it sorted by day 14, but from looking online, it looks like supply can increase at any time.

My question is - is 14 days the time within which your milk should have come in (which mine technically has as there's milk there), or the time within which you should have established a proper supply?

If you want to establish breastfeeding it requires perseverance. In order to increase your milk supply you need to be feeding frequently. Have u tried the National breastfeeding helpline? Might be good for advice on this

Never heard this?

Milk normally “comes in” by day 3. I never noticed, but still successfully bf. Others notice because they get swollen and uncomfortable.

The 14 days is more likely to establish supply. But an odd deadline. What happens if you don’t? You can still bf and work towards increasing supply, or you can supplement, your choice. As babies grow you produce more milk to match so it’s not like there’s a deadline by which you can’t increase supply.

Do the usual, skin to skin, take to the sofa or bed and watch tv and just feed. Let everyone else do housework, bring you drinks and snacks etc.

It’s very basic. The more you feed, the more you stimulate supply. If you do supplement with formula, just make sure you keep feeding as much as possible, let them comfort suck as well. It’s a pain, but they do it to stimulate supply.

You can try expressing and topping up instead of formula as well.

Thanks both, yes my plan is to lie around in bed with him for the next week at least, letting him live on my nipples and eating and drinking as much as poss.

Im trying to pump, but get about 5 mls from a 20 minute session with the hospital grade pump i rented, then my nipples are swollen and can't fit into his mouth so seems like a waste of time, as when i feed him i frequently, but not always, can see him swallowing etc and he'll seem content after, so i'm presuming he's removing the milk more efficiently than the pump (my mum and sister have also breastfeed successfully all their children and were both never able to get anything/enough from pumps).

I have to supplement with formula (i think he was borderline dehydrated on day five, and definitely not normal to only have one wet nappy a day and no dirty on days 3 and 4) but am just using it when i feel he hasn't gotten anything from my breast and is hungry, rather than automatically giving him a set amount every day.

@Reallyreallyborednow that's what i was thinking too, re. doesn't make sense that if you don't have sufficient supply by day 14 you never will, i think maybe its just that if its not sorted by the two week mark you will have to struggle a bit and work at increasing your supply over a longer term (i.e. that most supply increase will happen in that two weeks) and you won't fall into the category of people who have a normal supply without any extra work.

I've also been doing some reading on here and see that 'mixed feeding' where you supplement with formula long term, is quite common, which is great to hear I had always thought it had to be one or the other

If your nipples are swollen after pumping you're likely using a flange that's too big or small. Measure your nipples and compare to the flange size of your pump, you might need to order a bigger or smaller size than the standard ones.

At around 6 weeks is when the milk receptors in the breasts that haven't been activated switch off, and then it's much harder to greatly increase supply, so you still have plenty of time. You could use an SNS to supplement if you're worried about bottle preference or would like the extra nipple stimulation of at-breast supplementation.

@addler wow six weeks that's amazing delighted to hear! ya i had the 26 mm and changed to get the large option which is 31 but nipples just totally fill up the whole valve thing when its pumping once they get a bit swollen, think i'll keep at it a bit but keep it on a low setting

I've also been doing some reading on here and see that 'mixed feeding' where you supplement with formula long term, is quite common, which is great to hear I had always thought it had to be one or the other

When mixed feeding works, it’s brilliant. It doesn’t work much of the time, the baby often prefers the immediacy of the bottle and gets distressed at the breast, so you top up more, which affects supply etc until you are bottle feeding. It’s also easy to get worried you have no supply, and it’s reassurring to see them drink a known volume.

If you really want to bf long term then I always say keep formula to as little as possible. If you want to mix feed and aren’t too bothered about a slow slide into formula, then crack on. It depends how you feel and how much you want to bf, and whether you want to risk compromising that :)

thanks @Reallyreallyborednow, i do agree and will be keeping the formula to when i think its really necessary (when they checked him on day 5 and he had lost weight they also did a dehydration test, and he wasn't dehydrated but they said that if he had been they'd have had to put him on an IV drip!, so cant risk that), but i had thought that if there wasn't a full supply at the end of two weeks, you just have to switch full time to formula, so the mixed feeding sounds way better than that!

There’s a newish book by Lucy Ruddle an IBCLC about mixed feeding called Mixed Up, keeps popping up on my recommendations. Might be worth a read?

Sorry you are struggling op. I think you should access good breastfeeding advice and support and get a plan in place. My hospital had so much support available in the hospital and community- can you try that? Or plenty of national helplines e.g. NCT and la leche league, Facebook groups etc. Good luck!

Definitely keep the formula to an absolute minimum if you want to breastfeed as it's much easier to take milk out of a bottle than a boob and your baby needs to develop their sucking powers! 😉 If he wasn't dehydrated, and he is content after feeding then I would say he was probably fine. I worried and worried about mine loosing a little bit of weight until a very kind midwife told me it's normal for babies to loose a little bit of weight initially whilst your milk supply is establishing and they are learning to feed.

As others said, get the skin to skin contact going and feed regularly on demand all day and all night. Don't be afraid to leave your baby on the boob for as long as they want to be there.

If you are still worried, I saw a private lactation consultant with my DD and it was the BEST money I ever spent so would definitely recommend that. I think half the battle is self confidence especially if it's your first xx