breastfeeding 2 day old

Q

quangqui007

New member
im a new mom and my milk supply is not here. i keep hearing colostrum is enough but my baby is acting very hungry and not satisfied. what did you all do in the early days? any advice??

EDIT: wow. i wrote this post deliriously tired with a baby on my boob about to break apart. the support and advice i've received has changed my entire perspective on the situation. i thought my body was failing, i was failing, so on. i want to say thank you to all of you who took the time to give me advice, stories, and encouragement. this was so helpful.
 
@mama2b2010 Yes, don’t give up and keep feeding your baby around the clock. If you can, limit visitors so you and your baby can bond. If you’re feeling the tension rise, take big, deep, yoga-style breaths while feeding your baby.
 
@mama2b2010 THIS! I made a huge mistake with my first and didn’t follow this. Thought I was a low supplier so supplemented with formula. I didn’t know I was supposed to just keep feeding or even cluster feed! I was a low supplier/just enougher. Took along time for my supply to go up.
 
@mama2b2010 This is the best advice. Their tummies are tiny so they’re going to nurse very frequently! Seconding the advice to limit visitors so you can get breastfeeding down and nurse often enough for your milk to come in!
 
@quangqui007 My milk didn't come in until day 4, just for another data point for what normal is. Another thing to keep in mind is that it's normal for them to lose up to 10% of their birth weight.

Lots of latching baby and skin to skin. Hang in there!
 
@decrypted Great point. When I had my first I didn't know about growth spurts. So here it is for OP or anyone reading: every now and again the baby will seem fussy and desperate for the breast. These days are when you should cancel whatever else you had planned (if you can, of course) and just sit and feed. It will be constant! But that's what baby and you need to establish supply for the next phase. It's so funny, after a growth spurt sometimes overnight the baby can't fit a onesie they could the day before. I miss those days!
 
@quangqui007 Congrats!!

I think the trap to avoid in the early days is this: baby cluster feeds to bring in / boost milk supply —> mom (or well-meaning but uninformed family members) worries that the cluster feeding is a sign the baby isn’t getting enough —> mom supplements with formula and supply goes down

There is absolutely nothing wrong with feeding your baby however is best for you! If that includes formula, by all means go for it! And to be clear, there are ways to supplement while still protecting supply. But I have personally seen many moms who have a goal of breastfeeding feeling discouraged or concerned in the early days due to this very cycle. It is absolutely normal for milk to take a few days to come in and also for baby to cluster feed even after milk comes in. That is how they build supply and grow :) Good luck!!
 
@eldorado It’s insane how many people will push you to use formula before your milk comes in. I was so grateful that my pediatrician encouraged us to keep going with breastfeeding, even though my baby lost quite a bit of his birth weight in those early days. They just had us come in for some extra weight checks. My LO is 4 months old now and I have a mild oversupply and my baby is huge. He’s doing great! If your doctor suspects there’s an actual issue (like a tongue tie or something) then by all means do what you need to do to feed your baby. But don’t let other parents talk you into supplementing with formula because that’s what they did.
 
@jg23 My ped was aware of this formula cycle and had me triple feed with pumped milk/colostrum instead of formula. He said it would help bring in my supply and make sure baby got enough. I was told to pump for 20 minutes after each feed and top baby off with whatever I had pumped at the next feed. Before my milk came in it was so painful. They gave me no warning about pumping myself into an insane oversupply. I had mastasis by 10 days postpartum and an oversupply that choked my baby and made it incredibly difficult to breastfeed. We almost quit. It didn't resolve until she was 4 months old, and took a lot of work. I couldn't even donate the extra milk in the end because some of it was collected in a haaka (apparently a no no for our milk bank) and I didn't know to label which bags had haaka milk. I really wish they had just told me to feed her whenever she wanted and not worry about top offs at all.
 
@user4949 That’s so interesting about haaka milk - do you know why it can’t be donated? I have noticed that when I use my haaka it’s mostly foremilk so it’s watery and not very fatty. My ped said to just collect what I can from the opposite side with the haaka while feeding baby and to top him off with that.
 
@jg23 I think it’s acceptable to supplement AND pump to match whatever frequency. Kept my kid alive and above birth weight, as my milk didn’t come in for several extra days. She’s now EBF.
 
@eldorado Yes I fell into this with my first. Not the end of the world but she did need a bottle of formula a day until she weaned, I was never able to 100% breastfeed with her.
 
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