When did your milk come in?

[SassyPants87]

DS was born yesterday morning and I’ve had him on breasts constantly! Midwife is saying he shouldn’t need to feed that much and every 3/4 hours is fine.
but he’s never satisfied and wants boob constantly! Is my colostrum not enough for him?. Waiting for my milk to come in but might be another day or so. Should I top up with formula until it comes in?

he’s passed his meconium and done a wee bit would that have been because of my colostrum or whatever was in his system passing though?

any advice would be really helpful!

Congratulations! Your milk starts to come in 3-5 days after birth. Your colostrum is enough for your baby, they only have tiny bellys at this stage! Babies will cluster feed(feed very frequently) to establish your milk supply. Best of luck with everything!

Ignore the midwife, that's an utterly ridiculous thing for her to say. Keep feeding on demand, may be every 10 minutes, may be continuous, might even be every few hours. There's no pattern when babies are this young.

Now I never really noticed when my 'milk came in' because I was feeding so often so didn't pick up any change of milk type. It is worth also saying that colostrum IS milk, please don't get caught up on this notion of full fat milk being the holy grail. Just keep doing what you're doing. I've had 3 kids and fed for a total of about 8 years.

Baby will regulate and get into their own unique little pattern at some point, but not within the first few weeks (even months in many cases).

You're doing an amazing job, keep up the good work!

...one other thing, don't top up with formula. There really is no need my love.

This is completely normal, and no need to top up with formula. My milk came in on day 4, I woke up with huge boobs after I had gone for a nap in floods of tears and feeling v hormonal. One thing I will say though is that feeding every 10 mins might cause you some nipple damage, so if it's possible to stretch baby a bit longer that might help if your nipples do start to get sore. Otherwise crack on - Colostrum is all they need at this point.

Mine was the same (born July). My milk didn't come in until day 5, and before that he never seemed satisfied. In my case DS had a tongue tie which they fixed on day 4 (I asked for help because I was struggling so much, they looked at my technique and then looked at his mouth, it was tongue tie) made the world of difference for him. They do have small bellies at this age though, if you're worried ask for help but it could equally be perfectly normal.

Day 4 or 5 is normal and there is no need to top up.

DC4 it came in day 4 (can't remember for the others). Very normal for them to be cluster feeding at this early stage.

Personally I don't think there's any indication at this stage to be topping up. If baby is having wet and dirty nappies they're fine.

As a side note some midwife's aren't that knowledgeable on breastfeeding. My hospital had a 'feeding specialist', it might be worth seeing if yours has one.

Day 4 mine came in and you absolutely don't need to top up with formula. A baby's stomach is the size of a marble I think and colostrum is all they need

My milk came in on day 3 and I topped up with formula in the meantime because baby was very obviously hungry. And after my first got terrible jaundice I just didn't want to risk ending up in hospital again. I know it's not recommended to top up but there's really no problem with it, my milk still came in and I've had a very good supply x

I was told to feed on demand but never let it go more than 3 hours from start of one feed to the start of the next - just until they regain their birth weight.

When bf babies feed lots it’s to let your body know that they will need more milk tomorrow. Your supply adjusts to meet their demand.

Thank you everyone really helpful advice from you all! To everyone saying don’t need to top up, he’s only had one wee since being born at 6am yesterday. Is that normal? Guess I’m just worried that he’s wanting to feed a lot and I’m not seeing any output, or is it still early days?

Yes one wet nappy on day 1 is normal. It will increase as the days go on, you'll see

My DS didn't wee at all for the first 24 hours. Dr told me that wasn't unusual and they only start to worry after 24 hours. I did end up topping up with formula in the hospital but once we got home we gradually reduced the formula over a couple of days and he's been EBF from 3 weeks (before that he was only having one FF a day from about 5 days which we kept up to give me a break). I just wanted you to know that if you do give some formula (and I don't think you need to) it doesn't mean the end of breastfeeding.

I topped up on day 4 on advice of a midwife. Baby had lost too much weight and was not settling. I never got that feeling of milk coming in. From then on I combi fed. I wish I didn't give formula so early but I don't know how baby would have regained weight and settled. It was quite distressing.

You can try expressing some colostrum so you have a supply for topping up in between feeds.
Congrats on your newborn!

This roughly what you'd expect when it comes to nappy output.

I honestly have no idea. It must have at some point as I exclusively BF two babies but not everyone feels ‘full’ or can tell. No need to top up, baby’s feeding is just stimulating the supply. Your midwife sounds like a dick.

Mine came in day 3. You'll find that your breasts feel heavy and full.

Keep feeding on demand, that's absolutely the right thing to do.

Mine came in on day 4 but I noticed them getting fuller and tender on day 3. It’s completely normal for baby to cluster feed constantly, the midwife who said 3-4 hours is ridiculous especially for a breastfed baby. There’s no need to top up with formula, what baby is doing is completely normal :) keep going, you’re doing great.

It's no wonder breastfeeding rates are so low in this country with midwives giving such shit advice.

Just let him be at the breast constantly if he wants. Every suck is providing tiny bits of colostrum and stimulating your milk to come in.

Congratulations!

Thanks everyone some really helpful guidance here and I agree some of the advice from ‘healthcare professionals’ are so dismissive!

baby defo feeds every 10-30 minutes, my nipples are taking an absolute bartering! I’m trying to re attach latch to make it less painful but it doesn’t work and lansinoh isn’t even doing anything for me!