1st baby , breast feeding / colostrum questions

[LizzeyBenett]

So I am intending to breastfeed all going well but I'm a bit lost as it's my 1st baby. I'm 30 weeks and I'd like to try harvest colostrum when I'm further on . Do you syringe feed the colostrum until your milk comes in and I'm assuming you freeze it ? how long do you wait for your milk to come in before you need to give formula ? Is colostrum enough for the first few days or would I need to supplement with formula ? I know I sound clueless but I am when it comes to breastfeeding. Thanks in advance for any advice .

You don’t need to harvest colostrum before the baby is born. Baby’s can get all the colostrum out they need from feeding from the breast.

I know it sounds cliche but everyone really is different. Personally my milk came in properly around day 4 with my first. My colostrum from breast was enough so I didn't need to supplement. However I did harvest and freeze quite a bit. I actually used it later when baby got his first cold as it's very nutrient rich and he wasn't feeding great with a stuffy nose.

If you find you're not producing enough in the first few days which can happen with a first baby, you can supplement with frozen colostrum or formula if you choose you. Honestly fed is best. Try not to overthink it. You'll b fine❤️

As far as I know, you can collect colostrum from 37 weeks and freeze it.
I didn't do it with my first. I'm 30 weeks pregnant now and hoping to collect some if I can.

They say you only have colostrum for a few days from birth- and it should fill up the baby. Well, I had a hungry baby, and my colostrum wasn't enough for her, so I toped it up with formula when she was one day old. My milk slowly started to come, but it was never enough for her. I usually ended up breastfeeding her during a day and gave formula for nights. Worked out perfectly for us.

I think it's really depends on the baby. My daughter always needed double than the recommended milk, so my breastmilk was never enough for her, regardless of how often I fed her.
It's also depends if you have a natural birth or c section( I think it takes longer for your milk to come).
If you can collect colostrum, I would say go for it, as it would have helped me a lot with my first.

I know it feels like breastfeeding must be really difficult and hard to get right because there’s so much written online about it and about difficulties mothers go through with it. And yes, those things happen. But for lots of women it’s just not that complicated. Your baby will probably be born knowing how to feed - they can crawl their way up your torso to get to your breasts and try and latch on all by themselves. And then you just let them feed whenever they like. Which is often and potentially for quite long stretches of time in the beginning. Probably your colostrum will be enough and your milk will come in sometime between 3 and 5 days after the birth. Your nipples are likely to feel a bit sore after a day or too and feel lots better after your milk is in. I also had pain with let down for the first few seconds of each feed but that only lasted about 3 weeks. From then on it was painless and pretty easy. It also makes you feel sleepy and happy because feeding releases oxytocin.
Don’t psyche yourself up too much. Sometimes breastfeeding is easy. We just don’t talk about it much.

Hey Hun, I'm 3 days post partum so going through this now!

With my first born I didn't harvest colostrum, this time I did from 37 weeks. I froze about 20, one ml syringes. I done it just incase and just to have extra really, you don't necessarily need it as your body will continue to make colostrum for a few days after baby is born which is enough for them, then the milk will come in. There is no need for formula really unless that is just easier for you, then fed is best!

Today on day 3 my milk came in and I woke up with seriously engorged breasts, baby stopped latching because of it and we had a bit of a struggle night and morning. The expressed colostrum was super helpful to calm her down enough to keep trying breast feeding as she was getting so angry at the breast! I've also been using it on her eyes as they were abit gunky and on her very dry, cracked skin from birth. All approved and recommended by the midwife. Seems to be helping!

It's also nice to have the syringes so dad can help with feeds and for me, my son really wanted to help too!

So basically you don't need them at all but I can be helpful to have them if you manage it! Best of luck xx

Hey, I think it's a good idea to harvest colostrum, I probably went a bit overboard as i was producing and freezing a lot from 36 weeks!
But i really recommend taking 7-10 frozen syringes to the hospital when you go into labour! These saved me because i was so drained after an exhausting labour and also still spaced out from the gas and air that i just wasn't up for latching baby straight away.

Just something to consider but everyone's experience is different obviously!

I didn't manage to collect any colostrum as baby came too soon before I was able to m fortunately we didn't need it as he fed from the breast without any issues (although I would like to have some in the freezer for when he gets sick).

My milk came in around day 3. It's important to remember that it's normal and natural for newborn babies to spend an awful lot of time feeding in the first few weeks - it can make you feel like your milk isn't enough, and they you aren't producing enough for them but you have to trust the process. The constant feeding is nature's way to send signals to your body to make more milk, if you start supplementing with formula it reduces the amount of time the baby spends on the breast and your body isn't getting the message that it needs to ramp up milk production, and then it turns into a cycle of you needing more and more and more formula to keep up with demand. You can always tell if your baby is getting enough milk (even if it seems like they aren't as they seem constantly hungry) by how many wet nappies they have each day - it'll give you reassurance that milk must be going in.

I'd recommend if it's not too late to book onto an NCT or similar class, they will provide you with a lot of information about breast feeding. Alternatively your hospital may run a workshop or something if you ask your midwife.

It's worth harvesting some colostrum in the last few weeks, just in case. My daughter did, although there was no indication that it would be needed. As it turned out, both my daughter and her baby were quite poorly after delivery, and the colostrum was very useful when baby had to be tube fed.

I harvested colostrum with mu first and didn't use it. Had a c section and milk came in on day 5 but colostrum is enough for babies until the milk, it's called liquid gold it's packed full of the good stuff.

Had another c section last week and milk came in on day 2.

I had an ELCS and had harvested a little bit or colostrum before the birth. My baby didn't latch properly so I expressed colostrum, then milk when it came in on day 3, until he learned to latch properly. (He had tongue tie and we did have that snipped to help). I triple fed (tried BF, pumped, fed with expressed milk) for a few weeks until he learned and now we are sorted, he's feeding well

It can be as easy as PP describe but it wasn't for me. I recommend watching some videos on positioning and attachment before birth. You may need to shape your breast to help your baby latch. Look at kellymom and la leche.
Ask in hospital about feeding support.

Basically assuming there are no other areas of concern, if you want to BF then establishing that should be your focus in the first 72 hours. Good luck!

I didn’t harvest any. DS was quite sleepy after birth (I’d had pethidine) so he didn’t latch for the first 24 hours or so. I hand expressed and syringed it into his mouth, then once he’d perked up a bit a mw helped me to get him to latch.

You shouldn’t need to give formula. The colostrum is enough at first - their stomachs are tiny and it’s very nutrient dense. It’s sticky and yellow, not like milk at all, and it has a laxative effect which they need to clear their bowel of muconium. You’ll know about it when your milk does come in on day 3-4 as your boobs will be huge, engorged and probably quite painful, but this is temporary.

Things to remember: firstly the baby will want to feed alllll the time. Breastfeeding is not like bottle feeding when they go a couple of hours between feeds from early on. They feed constantly to get your supply going, but also because it’s comforting for them and they want to be close to you. Read up on cluster feeding. It doesn’t last, and actually it means you have to sit down and just feed so it means you have to rest! I got through a lot of box-sets in the early days. It doesn’t last forever, and it is normal.

If you supplement with formula before your supply is established, the danger is the baby won’t get as much breastmilk (as they don’t need as much) but then you can get trapped in a cycle of not producing as much milk, so you give more formula, so you don’t produce as much milk. If you want to exclusively bf, it’s better to avoid formula for at least a couple of months to make sure your supply is really well established.

Your nipples will be sore at first. Get some lansinoh and use after every feed from day one. Don’t wait for them to get sore first. It does settle but it is a sharp pain until your nipples get used to it.

If baby is having plenty of wet and dirty nappies, that’s your best sign they are getting enough milk in the early days. Don’t worry if they feed and then want to feed again so you think they’re not satisfied. This is often interpreted as “not getting enough”
but it’s actually normal newborn behaviour and it settles down. After a few weeks your baby will be going a lot longer between feeds and you’ll probably be in a bit more of a routine. For now just accept you’ll be sitting around in your PJs breastfeeding a lot. You’ll feel it’s lasting forever but it actually goes so quickly and you’ll miss it when you’re out of this stage!

You don't need to supplement it and it's plenty for the baby.

Remember that breastfeeding is natural and a complete diet.

I never bothered harvesting it, it's only recently I've heard that's something people do!, it is a lot easier to just put baby on breast soon after they are born and feed colostrum that way, it is also useful for getting baby used to feeding from the breast as it is a skill they need to learn, milk will come in 3-5 days after birth and baby will want to be on the breast very frequently (don't panic it is normal and is called cluster feeding it doesn't mean you aren't producing enough) if you want to know how much milk they are getting pay attention to nappy frequency, if you are changing nappies frequently baby is getting enough 🙂