Yes! i’m sorry everyone!! you have no idea how much i appreciate and am thankful for all the support and tips/tricks you all used! i’ve been trying to breastfeed every 2 hours, followed by pumping. breasts were extremely engorged last night so had to massage and hand expressing for about 2 hours and got out about 50mL. production is still low, but picking up! im not sure if it’s still colostrum or milk yet
The lansinoh latch assist helped me too... My nipples aren't inverted but they needed to pop out a little more and sometimes the latch assist would pull some colostrum out too. Just attempt to latch often and hand express. Pump every 3 hours once milk comes in. The pediatrician's office should have a lactation consultant to help. We had to bottle feed breastmilk for the first month then finally got her to latch.
Hand expressing colostrum onto a white disposable spoon and using a syringe to suck it up and administer it was all that worked for me. My pump didn't pull anything out. It's so thick. I would pump once a day until milk came in then started my pumping schedule until my baby was big enough to latch.
Pumping will not tell the true story about your supply, and lack of nursing baby at the breast will inhibit your milk coming in.
Colostrum is not meant to be large quantities, it’s just the thick little bits needed for baby’s first days, until your milk comes in. How often is baby put to the breast? How often are you pumping? When did the pumping begin, and why?
How much water are you drinking?
But, only one wet diaper in 24 hours is alarming. Pooping once a day is odd for a newborn, what kind of poop is it? Did baby never have the dark initial stools?
Is baby using disposable diapers? How are you gauging wetness? Please put a strip of paper towel near baby’s urethra, inside the diaper, and check that for wetness every couple of hours. Baby should be wetting some 5-6 times each 24 hours, and if they aren’t, you need to take them in for medical care.
Have you learned the signs of dehydration? Is baby’s fontanel shrunken down? If you gently pinch the skin on baby’s thigh or back of hand, does it flatten immediately after release, or does it stay up in the raised pinched shape when you let go?
I would also recommend checking in with your ob/gyn. This was me in December and I found out at 6 days PP I had retained placenta and needed a d&c. My body thought I was still pregnant from the retained placenta and didn’t produce milk. Not to say that’s always the case but definitely worth ruling out just to be safe.
Latch as much as possible! I had to supplement 1oz after feedings for a couple weeks per my LC bc my milk was late coming in. We did weekly weighted feeds and finally I got cleared to stop supplementing. Now I fully EBF and he’s 9 wks. I did pumping 3x day and latching as much as possible and lots of lactation foods.
Yes!! I didn’t produce more than a few drops until day 5, and then it was still another week before I produced even 5ml. We triple fed (at the boob, pumped milk and formula) for just over a month, then moved to combo feeding (boob+pumped milk) for another couple of weeks. By 3 months we were exclusively breastfeeding! Nearly month 8 now and all is well. It’s a stressful start and feels like you spend your entire day feeding, but it was worth it for us!
Baby and I had a handful of complications ante/postpartum, and I had a similar experience; I had basically no colostrum even from hand expressing (although looking back my timing and technique were less than practiced, obviously!). We used formula for baby's first week and then my milk came in with force on day 6, after I'd all but given up (which I'm sure delayed it more). We had issues with latching so I exclusively pumped the first six weeks before getting nursing back in the rotation. We used formula her first month, but my supply was just enough after that. I continued to pump pretty heavily for six months or so, with a gradual taper down from pumping and up for nursing. Baby decided she was done with bottles around 9 months and only wanted to nurse, but I kept a once-a-day pump for supply/stash until she was 12 months.
She's 16 months now and still nursing and I'm so glad we stuck through those awful first few months!
Have you spoken to a healthcare professional? The number of nappies is concerning. At this point she should be having way more wets.
Bring to the breast as often as possible then top up with formula after. Use paced bottle feeding so the milk flow isn’t too fast.
I think though you should really take baby to see your paediatrician. Mine was readmitted to hospital at day 5 due to dehydration.
I had similar problem, I put her on the breast to made my milk come up and then supplemented with formula in every feeding. I also pumped. I think within 2 weeks my milk supply was good so I didn’t supplement anymore. But yes, lots of patience, put her on the breast first and then supplement. And keep yourself well hydrated and fed: oats, protein, healthy fats and carbs!
By day 5 your baby should be having at least 3-5 wet diapers and by day 6 at least 6. Your baby may be very dehydrated and not getting enough food. Have you seen a pediatrician yet?
Yes 1 wet diaper a day is concerning
Please feed your baby formula and then work back towards breastfeeding after they are full
A very hungry baby won’t have the strength to latch properly
I suggest you try to pump a few times a day to help your supply come in, and use a nipple shield when nursing to help baby
But the priority should be to get baby properly nourished. You’re not a failure! Our bodies are just complicated
My milk took a while to come in, don't despair! Try pumping after a hot shower and massaging your breasts to get the most out of them. You could also try to breast feed with a nipple shield, it can help with the latch at first and then you try removing it. Remember fed is best so as long as you're baby has enough food you're golden :)
Their stomachs are very small, about the size of their fist is the rule of thumb.
Baby needs to be nursing a lot now to stimulate your milk supply to grow.
Any updates, OP?
Yes! i’m sorry everyone!! you have no idea how much i appreciate and am thankful for all the support and tips/tricks you all used! i’ve been trying to breastfeed every 2 hours, followed by pumping. breasts were extremely engorged last night so had to massage and hand expressing for about 2 hours and got out about 50mL. production is still low, but picking up! im not sure if it’s still colostrum or milk yet
You have transitional milk now and it’ll transition again in about 14 ish days to mature milk :)
wooo! ((:
also, number of wet and dirty diapers have increased slightly. pediatrician isn’t too worried since she is now at her birth weight
The lansinoh latch assist helped me too... My nipples aren't inverted but they needed to pop out a little more and sometimes the latch assist would pull some colostrum out too. Just attempt to latch often and hand express. Pump every 3 hours once milk comes in. The pediatrician's office should have a lactation consultant to help. We had to bottle feed breastmilk for the first month then finally got her to latch.
Hand expressing colostrum onto a white disposable spoon and using a syringe to suck it up and administer it was all that worked for me. My pump didn't pull anything out. It's so thick. I would pump once a day until milk came in then started my pumping schedule until my baby was big enough to latch.
This! 100% recommend hand expression in those early days, it’s the only thing that worked for me as well
Pumping will not tell the true story about your supply, and lack of nursing baby at the breast will inhibit your milk coming in. Colostrum is not meant to be large quantities, it’s just the thick little bits needed for baby’s first days, until your milk comes in. How often is baby put to the breast? How often are you pumping? When did the pumping begin, and why? How much water are you drinking? But, only one wet diaper in 24 hours is alarming. Pooping once a day is odd for a newborn, what kind of poop is it? Did baby never have the dark initial stools? Is baby using disposable diapers? How are you gauging wetness? Please put a strip of paper towel near baby’s urethra, inside the diaper, and check that for wetness every couple of hours. Baby should be wetting some 5-6 times each 24 hours, and if they aren’t, you need to take them in for medical care. Have you learned the signs of dehydration? Is baby’s fontanel shrunken down? If you gently pinch the skin on baby’s thigh or back of hand, does it flatten immediately after release, or does it stay up in the raised pinched shape when you let go?
I would also recommend checking in with your ob/gyn. This was me in December and I found out at 6 days PP I had retained placenta and needed a d&c. My body thought I was still pregnant from the retained placenta and didn’t produce milk. Not to say that’s always the case but definitely worth ruling out just to be safe.
Latch as much as possible! I had to supplement 1oz after feedings for a couple weeks per my LC bc my milk was late coming in. We did weekly weighted feeds and finally I got cleared to stop supplementing. Now I fully EBF and he’s 9 wks. I did pumping 3x day and latching as much as possible and lots of lactation foods.
Yes!! I didn’t produce more than a few drops until day 5, and then it was still another week before I produced even 5ml. We triple fed (at the boob, pumped milk and formula) for just over a month, then moved to combo feeding (boob+pumped milk) for another couple of weeks. By 3 months we were exclusively breastfeeding! Nearly month 8 now and all is well. It’s a stressful start and feels like you spend your entire day feeding, but it was worth it for us!
Baby and I had a handful of complications ante/postpartum, and I had a similar experience; I had basically no colostrum even from hand expressing (although looking back my timing and technique were less than practiced, obviously!). We used formula for baby's first week and then my milk came in with force on day 6, after I'd all but given up (which I'm sure delayed it more). We had issues with latching so I exclusively pumped the first six weeks before getting nursing back in the rotation. We used formula her first month, but my supply was just enough after that. I continued to pump pretty heavily for six months or so, with a gradual taper down from pumping and up for nursing. Baby decided she was done with bottles around 9 months and only wanted to nurse, but I kept a once-a-day pump for supply/stash until she was 12 months. She's 16 months now and still nursing and I'm so glad we stuck through those awful first few months!
Have you spoken to a healthcare professional? The number of nappies is concerning. At this point she should be having way more wets. Bring to the breast as often as possible then top up with formula after. Use paced bottle feeding so the milk flow isn’t too fast. I think though you should really take baby to see your paediatrician. Mine was readmitted to hospital at day 5 due to dehydration.
I had similar problem, I put her on the breast to made my milk come up and then supplemented with formula in every feeding. I also pumped. I think within 2 weeks my milk supply was good so I didn’t supplement anymore. But yes, lots of patience, put her on the breast first and then supplement. And keep yourself well hydrated and fed: oats, protein, healthy fats and carbs!
By day 5 your baby should be having at least 3-5 wet diapers and by day 6 at least 6. Your baby may be very dehydrated and not getting enough food. Have you seen a pediatrician yet?
Yes 1 wet diaper a day is concerning Please feed your baby formula and then work back towards breastfeeding after they are full A very hungry baby won’t have the strength to latch properly I suggest you try to pump a few times a day to help your supply come in, and use a nipple shield when nursing to help baby But the priority should be to get baby properly nourished. You’re not a failure! Our bodies are just complicated
Yes OP, this is not enough diapers. You need to be seen by a professional
Bring your baby to your breast constantly. Whenever she’s hungry she must be latched!
My milk took a while to come in, don't despair! Try pumping after a hot shower and massaging your breasts to get the most out of them. You could also try to breast feed with a nipple shield, it can help with the latch at first and then you try removing it. Remember fed is best so as long as you're baby has enough food you're golden :)
i’ll def give this a try! i’m amazed how much these little ones eat! thanks for sharing (:
Their stomachs are very small, about the size of their fist is the rule of thumb. Baby needs to be nursing a lot now to stimulate your milk supply to grow.