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Postnatal health

As with all health-related issues, please seek advice from a RL health professional if you're worried about anything.

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Original poster

Breast milk not coming in 5 days after birth

14 replies

orangelemon81 · 13/04/2018 22:14

It's been 5 days since my baby girl was born and my milk supply still shows no signs of coming in. I've had to start supplementing with formula so she is at least getting something. I've been advised by health visitors/midwives to keep pumping/expressing and putting her to the boob as much as I can and the supply will eventually come in but feeling a bit worried at the moment. I lost a lot of blood after the birth (1.2 litres) and am also on antibiotics as I had to have a significant tear repaired. Am wondering if these have contributed to the delay? Is there anyone else out there that experienced this and were you able to eventually resolve it?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Flisspaps · 13/04/2018 22:46

Traumatic birth can contribute to delay.

Beware the top-up trap; FF will mean she's not 'ordering' as much milk as she needs to, so you'll produce less. She only needs a few ml at a time, and will feed almost constantly at first.

Expressing isn't a good indicator of production either - but the most important thing is she is fed, wherever her milk comes from!

doxiepoxie · 13/04/2018 22:55

Hi op, I was in exactly the same position 6 weeks go..milk slow to come in/anemic/ blood transfusion... it will come! Don't worry about using formula do supplement for now, it will keep LO happy. Keep putting LO to your boob (it stimulates the milk coming in), do as much skin do skin as possible. Please don't let it cause you loads of worry as it will happen,'sometimes just takes a while!

Pastaagain78 · 13/04/2018 22:58

Hang in there. Lots of skin to skin. If possible just stay in bed with her and keep her on the breast. Remember, pumping IS NO INDICATION OF PRODUCTION. I have fed 3 children and Cant pump more than 1oz. Congratulations on your new baby.

mintbiscuit · 13/04/2018 23:01

I had a v fast labour with ds2 which freaked me out. My milk didn’t come in until day 5/6. DS lost about 11% of birthweight. Midwives were v unhelpful and stressed me out. Lactation consultants were fab and reassured me. As PPs said keep going with what you are doing, plenty of skin to skin and putting baby to breast as much as possible.

Oh and try to relax and rest/eat well. It will happen.

FusRoDah · 13/04/2018 23:07

Mine took 7 days to come in with no obvious medical cause not that they looked very hard for one I had to top up with formula. Just keep going, keep offering breast often and always before formula. The top ups will help give her energy to suckle. Congratulations on your baby girl!

Floralnomad · 13/04/2018 23:09

I do wish people would stop saying ‘it will happen’ , there are some women ,myself included ,for whom it did not happen and never had a hope of happening whatever I did . I hope it works out for you OP but don’t beat yourself up if it doesn’t it’s not the end of the world .

Babypythagorus · 13/04/2018 23:12

I lost a lot of blood, and didn’t get milk for about a week. Then it gushed in.

We were putting my kid on the boob, sge was sucking away, I felt great. But I had no milk, which nobody realised (she was my first, I hadn’t a clue!) and so she got really poorly. And apparently, if you lose a lot of blood you typically don’t. Nobody told me this. My partner discovered on google. We then tried to express, and got nothing. And started on formula. Which he has to go out to Tesco for as it was a bloody breast friendly hospital.

Anyway. It came in later. Which is apparently a thing.

doxiepoxie · 13/04/2018 23:15

@Floralnomad I'm sorry I reread and my post was insensitive.

Original poster

orangelemon81 · 14/04/2018 19:15

Thanks for the reassuring posts everyone. It's a relief to know this can actually happen sometimes and I'm not the only one. I'll persevere and hopefully we will have some luck. In the grand scheme of things though I realise the most important thing is my daughter has her needs met.

OP posts:

letstryagainaaahhhh · 14/04/2018 19:19

Mine took ten days after a traumatic birth, so I had to supplement with one bottle a day to begin with. But then it did arrive and I breast fed happily and exclusively for 6 months. Be patient and keep persevering... it will happen.

crunchychickendinners · 25/05/2018 11:32

I recently had my baby and lost 2.5 litres of blood. Was told that the loss of water would affect my supply so need to drink loads. My milk came in day 6/7!

stellavisionandunderstanding · 31/05/2018 12:42

I recently lost 2.5l after my recent birth. My milk took a week to come in. I supplement with formula. I read to drink lots and lots of water and that really helped.

Anna2006 · 19/06/2018 13:15

I had a extensive repair after a third degree tear and lost a lot of blood. It was all very traumatic.
I tried for about a week. And in day 6/7 my boobs got hot and hard an was almost lien they were going to do something. But the next day they were back to my normal boobs and no milk ever came.

So I just formula fed in the end. So again it doesnt always turn up for everyone. MW said it is quite rare to not get any come in. But I didn’t 🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️

Verbena87 · 24/06/2018 12:06

I lost 1.5 litres and did have enough milk, but I ate and drank quite a lot early on even though I didn’t feel like it so maybe that helped (very aware it may also have just been blind luck).

The advice on lots of skin to skin is good. So is the idea of getting help from a breastfeeding counsellor.

Remember the most important thing is your baby is fed and loved, and you are fed and loved as well. Recovery is hard and shit after a traumatic birth so keep reminding yourself you did something amazing, you will feel better over time, and you’re doing brilliantly just getting through these first hard days.

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