Hello, introducing myself!

[dreamer_x]

Hi ladies! Just thought I'd come over and introduce myself, since I can see me needing some advice from you all!

My little girl Ava is 3 days old, and breast feeding has been going quite well so far, she's latching well and has a brilliant appetite - too good of one to be honest! She's been draining me of colostrum/early milk so we've been having to top her up with some formula, and there's been the odd feed that's been 100% formula, mainly over night, but I'm hoping my milk's going to properly come in soon so that we can stop with the top ups and then I can go on to expressing - that way OH can share in the feeding, I'm still going to be studying at uni when I can go back so it's the compromise between breast and bottle! Although I think I'll miss her feeding off the breast already and I've only been doing it for 3 days! I like the closeness!

How long did it take for your milk to come in properly? Anyone else expressing, and if so, when did you get enough milk to be able to properly express? Just wondering how long is normal to wait.

 

[missk1989]

Hi congrats on your little girl! The best way to help your milk come is to never miss a feed. So if you are giving bottle of formula at night you also need to be expressing. You wont get much out but if you dont stimulate the breast it wont know to produce milk. I started expressing at 4 weeks but had to pump twice to generate enough for one feed.
Good Luck

 

[Flake-y]

Milk comes in around 3-5 days, & the more you feed, the quicker it will come in. If you give formula instead of feeding at the boob, the body won't think baby needs the milk & won't make it. It works on a supply & demand basis, baby on the boob sends signals to the brain to make milk!

TBH, you're actually better not giving any formula in the early days if you can avoid it, its best to let your baby go on the boob as much as possible to increase your milk supply. Even if baby wants to feed constantly, that's normal in newborns, its how they make your milk come in & build up your supply.

When you first express, you might not get much, if anything; your baby is an expert at getting the milk out your boobs, a plastic pump just can't compare. If you pump regularly though, your body will adjust to the pump & start producing milk for that too. I think the first time I pumped I only got a few drops, then maybe half an ounce, then more the more I pumped.

Although I preferred just to feed baby myself overnight, quicker & easier! I found pumping was a hassle!

Good luck, hope everything continues to go well!

 

[Kelskiii]

I gave my LO a formula night feed from 4days old & still do. LO was born just before Christmas, I had no support from midwife/health visitors regarding breastfeeding, I was told basically to top up with formula. LO was screaming constantly all day/night my milk took over a week to come in & now isn't the best supply. LO was losing weight.

I had no choice to give formula as I didn't know what else to do. After christmas I joined a breastfeeding group & I learnt so much more. LO is now latching on correctly, I pump after every feed to encourage my milk & occasionally do still need to top up with formula but I pump around this time (no milk expresses at this time) to tell my body to create more milk. LO isn't gaining a lot of weight, initially due to latching problems & now I'm using formula once/twice a day purely for the calories (born 7.4lb 7wks 7.10lb)

You do what's right for you & your baby. Only advice I wish I'd had from the beginning is when I am giving formula to pump at the same time to tell my body to produce milk & I'd of seen someone who specialises in lo's latch on earlier than I did & I may never of needed to top up.

 

[babyv13]

we were on a feeding plan in the early days because my LO lost so much weight so I was pumping every 3 hours even before my milk came in and I think that's what stimulated it to come in on day 6. you really need to make sure that you're expressing when you give her formula or else your boobs won't know to make milk

 

[melfy77]

my milk took 5 days to come in and DD was losing 10% of her weight so we gave a little bit of formula on day 3-4, like 1oz/day. And when my milk came in she was back to her birth weight within a week! I'm now EBF and it's going really well!! Supply is good, although I think she's going through a growth spurt. little piggy I had to pump with DD1, and I hated it!!

 

[dreamer_x]

Thanks ladies! I think my milk's come in today, my boobs have gone really hard and she's feeding a lot better from the breast, she's being satisfied and not even having to feed for as long, as she's clearly getting more when she does feed. Plus it's just dripping out of me when I don't have a breast pad on!
We've only been giving her formula because it's got to the point where she's not satisfied, but there's been nothing left for her. I'd give her my breast and she'd try and get some then give up because there wasn't anything left and then just cry until she got something! She lost 6.9% of her birth weight within 3 days as it was so I'm glad I did it really, there would have been concern if she'd lost more than 10%, which she could well have done if I hadn't given her formula. Hopefully in a couple of days we'll be able to get her 100% on breast milk.
She's wanting to feed every 2 hours though, is that normal?!

 

[Flake-y]

Every 2 hours is totally normal, just feed as often as she wants to, that's the only way your boobs will know to make enough milk for her. It's also normal for babies to seem unsatisfied after a feed sometimes, doesn't necessarily mean your boobs are empty, cause they never really empty, sometimes babies just like to comfort suck.

If you're wanting to get her 100% on breastmilk, the best way is to either ditch the formula altogether & just feed from the boob, even if it means you're feeding constantly to increase your supply, or you can reduce the formula gradually. Do whatever suits you.

Oh, & always offer both boobs at every feed, even if she doesn't take both, no reason not to offer!

Good luck!