Day 4 no milk (?), painful feeding

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DS was born on Tuesday lunchtime. It was a c section - planned but then I went into labour the day before so got bumped up to emergency (relevant I think as presumably my body was ready to have a baby). DD was born nearly 2 years ago as an emergency section at 36+3. My milk came in very obviously with her between Day 2 and 3.

DS was very sleepy at first and didnt manage to latch until Thursday morning. His latch and suck felt pretty good to me then. However, we're now at Saturday (day 4) and I don't think my milk has come in. I'm not certain as when I squeeze a bit out it looks less orangey and more liquidy than the first colostrum, and I do hear him swallowing what sounds like a bit of liquid. My breasts are a bit bigger and slightly tender but I haven't had the rock hard feeling I had with DD. Also his poos haven't gone to the light brown BF poos yet - they're a very dark green liquidy consistency - and relatively few wees.

Also he's constantly at the breast and it's getting really painful. I saw a lactation consultant with DD and am trying all the tricks I leant (nose to nipple, flicking the nipple back until it's in his mouth etc) but it's getting to the point where I cry out each time he latches on and really dread feeding him. I'm hoping that when (?) my milk comes in it will get easier but obviously don't know if that's true?

DH is really worried about DS losing weight. He does seem noticeably smaller than when he was born. We have him some formula last night - I was reluctant to do this until my milk comes in but it was quite nice not to have to feed him for a bit.

I don't think he has tongue tie. The midwife didn't check but said he can poke his tongue out so doesn't have it. Nipples seem a normal shape after feeding. (Though I am getting some blood blisters/ scabs on the ends.)

Any advice? I'm getting close to throwing in the towel!

When is he due to get weighed? Obviously if he's not weeing much that can be a concern. Can you maybe ask your midwife to come out or HV?

My EBF DS is 11 Weeks now and the first week or two were excruciatingly painful. No amount of latch help seemed to stop it. The only thing that helped was tons of nipple cream. I never got the bolder boobs, engorged milk feeling other women describe so I was never sure when my milk came in either.

He's due to be weighed tomorrow at his Day 5 check. We had our Day 3 check today and she said they don't weigh until Day 5 as they expect BF babies to lose some weight.

*Day 3 check yesterday

I did mention the relatively few wees to the midwife, she said to expect the same number of wees as days (i.e. day 3 = 3 wees) which we seem to be meeting.

Omg this was me. Didn't get my milk until day 7 with both babies. I fed 10m each side and then gave him a top up cup of formula. No bottle - just him sipping it like a kitten. This saved my nipples and my sanity!

Don't give up. Once milk is in it gets way easier!

Meant to say my first ended up back in hospital because of dehydration, severe weight loss and jaundice, and I will 100% put this down to me not knowing I could supplement with formula after I'd fed. I was so much smarter with my second because of the first experience (which quite frankly traumatised me).

Find your local breastfeeding support or contact the lactation consultant.

It's hard to say much without seeing you feed.

Milk can come in anywhere between 2 and 7 days. Colostrum is all baby needs until that milk comes in.

Keep baby to breast, use nipple cream, and check his latch. If it's painful chances are you're not latched as well as it could be. A small adjustment might be all you need.

Oh and if it helps, with my second my after pains we're a million times worse than with my first. Every breastfeed with her was so painful in my tummy because of that. It gets better though.

I was told before your milk comes in, baby feeds lots to "place their order" so to speak. So the more baby feeds, the more milk you'll make when milk arrives. If you're supplementing with formula then you probably need to express too, to keep up demand. Good luck, hope it gets easier

If you’re getting some nipple trauma it suggests the latch might be a bit off, even a little bit can make a difference when they’re so tiny.

The midwife shouldn’t have said he didn’t have tongue tie without checking. The way to check for it is to put a finger in babies mouth alongside the visual assessment so if she didn’t do that she had no idea whether he’s tongue tired or not.

The National breastfeeding helpline will be open soon, might be worth giving then a call?

www.nationalbreastfeedinghelpline.org.uk/

or call your midwife and ask to speak to someone in the infant feeding team, they’ll have more specialised training than a standard midwife

It might not come in at all. I had an emcs after a long hard labour and my milk just never came in. I breastfed for 7 days but by day 5 I had to start formula too. We also had issues with breastfeeding in general she had a tongue tie and I was in agony so I gave up.

Second time around was meant to be planned section but my waters broke 3 wks early and I laboured for 12hrs before finally got a section. This time my milk did come in 2-3days later. Wow that was a shock, I cldnt believe how big and heavy my boobs were!

My baby was born exactly a week before yours, and I also had a c-section. He had tongue tie which gave him a shallow latch - my nipples were also very painful and bleeding. Silver cups have really helped with healing - but do not try nipple shields when you feed! I found that out the hard way.

I’d push for someone to check tongue tie, but could just be that he has a shallow latch. My milk properly came in around day 4/5, we got the tongue tie snipped on day 3 and now - by day 11 - we’re finally in a good rhythm (although things were much much better by day 8). Good luck!