Please help- day 5 still no milk :(

[laughingduck]

Does anyone have any advice for me on how to get my milk in sooner? I'm delivered 4.5 days ago and still only have colustrum. My baby wqs dehydrated and lost too much weight and yesterday my doc made my start supplementing with formula (one ounce after each breastfeeding) until my milk comes in. I hate that i have to supplement and am desperate for any advice on getting in my milk. I feel so inadequate! Please help!

 

[popat]

How often are you feeding LO? Putting him/her to the breast more frequently will help with your milk coming in. Mine came in on day 4 and even then it looked pretty much like colustrum with a whitish tinge, then started changing rapidly.

Pumping after feeds can help too. I doubt you will want to store any drops you get but you could feed it to your baby via spoon.

Don't beat yourself up about supplementing, you have to do what's best for your baby. My bestfriend had the same issue, she had to supplement due to milk coming in later and baby losing too much weight. She went on to BF until her LO was over 2 years old.

x

 

[KarenMc]

I'm wondering how you know your milk has not come in. A lot of people describe horrible engorgement when milk comes in but this is not what is supposed to happen. If baby is feeding frequently and transferring milk adequately you may never get that bowling ball feeling of engorgement.

If baby is not having enough pee/poop then you may want to look at your milk as not having "come in" yet, but remember your baby doesn't need huge amounts at this time. It doesn't just suddenly convert from colostrum to regular milk, it is a gradual process. They arent completely different products, just different ingredients that change gradually over time to meet your babies needs.

Milk volume increase can be delayed by lots of things, retained placenta, c-section, gestational diabetes, thyroid problems, general hormone problems, contraceptive pill, PCOS can't think of more but sure there are some more.

I would get hold of my local hospital grade pump renter and start pumping. This will help your milk supply, and you can then top-up with breastmilk instead of formula. NCT usually has these types of pumps.

 

[KarenMc]

Sorry, probably no NCT in Canada, try googling Medela or Ameda to find their local supplier
Medela
Ameda

 

[RaspberryK]

Mine didn't come in til day 5/6 - perfectly normal, but all was fine as I was nursing regularly, midwife said DONT supplement. Then when it did come in boy did I know about it, could have started a dairy farm - dripping all over the place and running out of the other side like a tap with no off switch whilst feeding.

x

 

[laughingduck]

Thanks for the replies and sorry for the delayed response, newborns take up a lot of time! My milk finally came in day 5/6. I used fenugreek and found it really helped. I did have to supplement for 1.5 days but it didn't cause any problems and am exclusively bf now. No problem with liking bottles more, in fact she doesn't like the bottle much at all, much prefers her milk straight from the source! Anyways, just wanted to update for future people having trouble, try fenugreek!

 

[laughingduck]

I'm wondering how you know your milk has not come in. A lot of people describe horrible engorgement when milk comes in but this is not what is supposed to happen. If baby is feeding frequently and transferring milk adequately you may never get that bowling ball feeling of engorgement.

Oh I forgot to mention I was like this, no engorgement and obvious "coming in" of my milk. It was a gradual increase of milk. It took about a full week before I really realized it was in. I still seem to be getting more milk each day. I haven't gotten engorged or leaked once, but it's very obvious I have my milk now