Can't provide for my baby

[prettybirdy27]

I'm starting to get so discouraged. My baby is only 5 days old. At the hospital on day 2, I worked with a lactation specialist for hours, and she concluded by saying that my production of colostrum is just plain really behind and at one point, she said "I hate to be the bearer of bad news,but..." And then she started talking about how my breasts just aren't changing and how that's usually bad news.

My milk finally tarted coming in yesterday after we have had to supplement every feeding with formula. But my milk production is really low. I e been pumping and hand expressing like crazy it I can always tell she's unsatisfied at the breast. I just pumped for 40 minutes and barely got 15 mL.

Will this pick up on its own, or am I just doomed to not be able to provide for her? Is there anything I can do to increase my supply?

My doctor and my husband are both very supportive of me and have both told me that formula is just fine if breastfeeding just doesn't work for me, but I still feel massive disappointment in myself.

 

[jlw617]

Oh Hun, that's tough but I think you deserve to see a better lc, in fact you should see an ibclc, I was so worried about my little guy because he was early and at 5 weeks old, he's still not back up to his birth weight...buttttt he has tons of wet and poopy diapers, his skin looks great(no jaundice and he's very alert, and guess what, my breasts have never changed after a pregnancy really...I drink mothers milk tea which helped my supply a lot, and I take something called more milk plus which I think has also helped, remember your milk just came in and your little girls tummy is still very tiny! Don't let anyone make you think you're not able to provide for your baby, the lc sounds uneducated to me, you need to talk to someone else. Not being able to produce enough is very very rare and believe me, I know how scary it is as it took me 3 times to finally get it right and realize I can feed my baby/make enough milk, my first 2 were formula fed early on because they were early, tiny and I was to,d I needed to supplement turns out my babies are just slow gainers as even when they were on formula, they still were below 10% it the entire time. you can do this!

 

[jaybee927]

On day 5 you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. My milk didn't come in until day 4 and it was a small amount too. I'm actually still mostly exclusively pumping since my baby also seems un satisfied at the breast.

 

[staralfur]

Best thing you can do is feed, feed, feed. Whenever you can put her on the breast, do it. The more she feeds the more she signals your breasts to make more milk.

Keep an eye on diaper output. If she's having the normal amount of wet and dirty diapers then you need to try to de-stress about it (easier said than done, I know). How much formula is she having?

 

[prettybirdy27]

Today I think she had a total of 8 oz of formula, plus whatever I could provide at the breast. She also poops a ton, are we giving her too much? We feed her when she cues. I almost always at least try both breasts before turning to a bottle.

 

[noon_child]

Her stomach is only about 10ml at 5 days!

Your milk production is hormone driven at the moment (ie it comes in whether your feeding or not) and it is very rare for this not to happen.

Postpartum bleeding, retained placental tissue, (sometimes)poly cystic ovaries or thyroid issues can cause low milk but if you don't have any of these then your body is likely producing enough for your LO. You've expressed 5ml more than her stomach will take after all!

 

[jlw617]

Today I think she had a total of 8 oz of formula, plus whatever I could provide at the breast. She also poops a ton, are we giving her too much? We feed her when she cues. I almost always at least try both breasts before turning to a bottle.

I would stick to one breast as long as she's interested, you want to make sure she's getting the rich hind milk. If you're wanting to go to ebf, you're going to have to wean her off the formula but I'd do it quickly as her tummy is still so tiny at this stage, it shouldn't be too hard. Just keep offering her the breast!

 

[prettybirdy27]

Her stomach is only about 10ml at 5 days!

Your milk production is hormone driven at the moment (ie it comes in whether your feeding or not) and it is very rare for this not to happen.

Postpartum bleeding, retained placental tissue, (sometimes)poly cystic ovaries or thyroid issues can cause low milk but if you don't have any of these then your body is likely producing enough for your LO. You've expressed 5ml more than her stomach will take after all!

I did have a retained placenta and had to have it manually removed. I wonder if it's possible that there is still a piece in there?

This morning I pumped like a crazy person and got 4 full ounces!! I'm a little concerned though because about 3/4 of it came from the right boob, not much is coming from the left.

 

[confused87com]

You just need to put baby on boob. I've fed all three of mine and even I doubted if my youngest was getting enough. He wanted to be attached constantly in the first few weeks. It's normal. Just go with it. The sooner you cut out the formula so long as gaining and getting wet and dirty nappies the better. The formula will be lowering your supply.

 

[MindUtopia]

Her stomach is only about 10ml at 5 days!

Your milk production is hormone driven at the moment (ie it comes in whether your feeding or not) and it is very rare for this not to happen.

Postpartum bleeding, retained placental tissue, (sometimes)poly cystic ovaries or thyroid issues can cause low milk but if you don't have any of these then your body is likely producing enough for your LO. You've expressed 5ml more than her stomach will take after all!

I did have a retained placenta and had to have it manually removed. I wonder if it's possible that there is still a piece in there?

This morning I pumped like a crazy person and got 4 full ounces!! I'm a little concerned though because about 3/4 of it came from the right boob, not much is coming from the left.

I just wanted to say that this is amazing and you shouldn't be discouraged. I genuinely had supply issues because my daughter couldn't latch properly (even after 10 weeks of seeing every BF counselor I could find). My milk didn't come in at all until day 5 and I think I may have been able to express 4 oz. on an occasion or two maybe around 6-8 weeks. At only 5 days, I was getting a few spoonfuls. You're doing a fantastic job and should be really proud of yourself! Just keep at it. If your baby will latch, feed her from the breast as much as possible and don't stress yourself with the pumping.

 

[noon_child]

Today I think she had a total of 8 oz of formula, plus whatever I could provide at the breast. She also poops a ton, are we giving her too much? We feed her when she cues. I almost always at least try both breasts before turning to a bottle.

I would stick to one breast as long as she's interested, you want to make sure she's getting the rich hind milk. If you're wanting to go to ebf, you're going to have to wean her off the formula but I'd do it quickly as her tummy is still so tiny at this stage, it shouldn't be too hard. Just keep offering her the breast!

I know what you mean about trying to get fat rich milk and yes milk produced in an un-engorged breast (after initial let down is drunk) has a higher fat content and it is very important not to switch breasts till baby is ready. However it's best practice currently to advise that both breasts are offered - although small babies don't always take it. If baby is feeding frequently (say every 2hrs ish) the milk should be easily fat rich enough. If baby falls asleep before they got enough milk and woke up say 10minutes later then yes it can be a good idea to return them to the same breast, but still offer the second breast. This is because if one breast is not used in a feed, it may get engorged and with the presence of pressure within the breast and the hormone called FIL it will slow down its milk production. Therefore I would always offer as many breasts (each one multiple times if you have to) as frequently as possible to ensure fat rich milk and not get bogged down in how long a feed takes before it gets to hind milk (a term which health professionals are trying to phase out because it is so misunderstood).

OP - if you can pump 4oz you don't have a problem with milk supply! Put down the formula and the pump if you can, and just take poo and wee as meaning milk has gone in. Then take weight gain to mean enough milk has gone in.

 

[Mthoodmom]

Honestly, it sounds like you got really bad advice at the hospital, which made you think you have a problem when you don't. 4 oz and tons of poopy diapers is success in my book! I agree with the above poster- put down the formula and continue breastfeeding. You are doing great!