Hi everyone. Thanks for all your prior advice. I am back again for your assistance. I just gave birth via c-section to my daughter. WE came home from the hospital on Friday, so she is now 5 days old. I have been trying to breastfeed her, but while in the hospital, they told me she was getting dehydrated and need to supplement with formula. With my first child, due to him being in the nursery for 2 weeks, I wasn't able to bresatfeed and my milk just never came in with pumping. Now, I am pumping every 2 - 3 hours and get a total of .25 oz from both breasts. My newborn is not into breastfeeding. She will latch on and then within a few minutes latch off and scream. She doesn't want to go back on the breast. So she is getting formula and whatever breast milk I can pump. Here is what I need to know:
What am I doing wrong? When will my milk come in more? How can I pump to maximize my milk output? I have a few bumps in my one breast. Is it a clogged milk duct? I have been massaging it, putting warm compresses on it, and they are still there after 2 days. What else can I do? I just want to sit and cry. I feel like I am not providing for my daughter. Please help with any suggestions, help, etc.
Thanks again everyone.
I agree with everyone's comments, but I can't stress enough the importance of your fluid intake. I had a difficult time drinking enough fluids. My nurse suggested that I eat fruit or crackers in between meals, which made me naturally want to drink more water or juice. This really helped!!
I had to supplement my first with formula also. I pumped once every 2 hours around the clock for a few weeks. eventually I dropped to once every 3 hours and then when she started sleeping all night I dropped the night pumping. She never latched on but I had her exclusively on breast milk from about 2 weeks old on (from a bottle) and I did that for a year and had enough frozen milk to last several more months (I mixed it with whole milk starting at a year). Anyway the key is to pump a lot at first. At least every 2 hours for 5-10 minutes, even if the milk stops coming out. More demand will produce more milk.
When I had my second, he latched on right away and I was ble to nurse him. I pumped extra to save up for when I went back to work. I just would put the pump on after he was done nursing and pump for another 5 minutes or so.
I would definitely get intouch with someone from La Leche group or call your hospital you had the baby in and ask for the lactation specialist. It is well worth it, and all you probably need is a little help from someone skilled in that area.
With my first baby the milk didn't flow at all like this time around, but it was enough to get us through. I had big problems at first and the hospital also told me to supplement with formula. I didn't want to give a bottle because I was afraid that he would never want to nurse again, so they equipped me with a supplemental feeding system. It was a small bottle for formula that hooked to my shirt and a tiny little tube ran down and I taped it to my breast and the baby would nurse and I would get stimulated to help with let down and he was getting more than I could give him. It wasn't my ideal situation, but it helped. I don't know if you have one of these, or if you are doing a bottle. But, I would suggest you get one if you don't have one.It's hard for me to let down for the pump, because it's so hard to relax for the machiene.
Try the mother's milk tea and fenugreek. I think that combo is what helped me through nursing the first baby. You can fenugreek at any health food store or pharmacy. It's been used for centuries to help with milk production.
Best wishes for you and your little one. Stay positive and relaxed! They say when your baby nurses she takes more than the milk in, she is taking you in. If you are frustrated, she may sense that and get frustrated too. Seems like mumbo-jumbo...but it can't hurt.
I think you should try calling La Leche League ###-###-####) as soon as you can - they can give you access to a trained lactation specialist who will have the best information to help you and your baby.
For more La Leche League information, goto
http://www.lllusa.org/web/AlbuquerqueNM.html
CS,
My daughter was 6 weeks premature, and boy howdy, did I have breastfeeding problems - a lot of the same stuff you are going through. It was so painful, and frustrating, and I can hear that is happening for you.
Adequate rest is really important, and lots of fluid intake. Mother's Milk tea is helpful in developing milk flow. But the most important thing for me was the presence and support of a mom who had real breastfeeding experience and success. I needed help relaxing, and learning the feel of the thing, and trusting that it would be OK. Do you know anyone who would come and be with you for a few days, and support you through this important time? Is there a La Leche League in your area? Or maybe doulas or midwives in the area who could teach you this process? They could be a great resource for finding help and support. Just don't give up - it sounds like breastfeeding is really important to you, and that makes you a really great mom right there. Do everything you can to get the support you need until your confidence "comes in". Your milk will follow, and your daughter will be OK.
V.
My very short response is to get in touch with a lactation consultant RIGHT AWAY! Do not hesitate. The money you spend is nothing in comparison to the cost of a year of formula. Get help now! If you are still having issues after that, though not as pressing, look into the breastfeeding classes at www.bodymindandspiritabq.com
But right now is a vital time for your nursing relationship. Please stick with it! You CAN do it. You just need some professional help.
Does the hospital where you delivered have, or could they refer you to a lactation consultant? That would be the #1 thing to do, so you can have someone watch you and the baby, and give you advice and tips. Also, La Leche would be helpful. You go mama! You can do it!
Body Mind Spirit is a good suggestion too. If you didn't birth in the hospital, your provider can probably refer you to a lactation consultant.
Get to the lactation specialist (probably back in the hospital). They will help you probably by giving you a nipple shield which will aid with nursing. It's like a nipple over your nipple. It totally worked for me. After about a month or so I didn't need it anymore. Go as soon as possible. I know how stressful this is. You'll be OK! Mine was at UNMH and she was AWESOME!
PS My baby did the same thing. She seemed like she was nursing but she really wasn't getting anything. Pump wasn't pulling much milk either. It's like they needed to really get started flowing but wouldn't. I am fine now and still nursing away!
Dear CS, it takes sometimes over 5 days for your milk to "come down" after the baby is born. The key things are not to despair and to keep putting your daughter to the breast as often as possible to keep sending the message to your system that the milk is needed. This is key. Pumping is not as effective to establish a good milk supply as a baby's sucking is, though it is possible to establish a milk supply by pumping if you do it at least every 2 hours day/night. I have a 4 month old who I exclusively breastfeed, and a two year old who I breastfed until he was a year old. I can relate to all of the items you described if I think back to the breastfeeding beginnings with my first child. He was also given formula at the hospital on his 2nd day of life for fear that he might have been dehydrated. At that point, my milk hadn't come in at all, and he really took to the ease that drinking out the bottle represented. I thought I would not get a chance to breastfeed him at all. But I kept pumping the 2 or so ounces of colostrum I could get out of both breasts every two hours and putting my son to my breast just as often. When my milk started to come in, I would express some of it by pressing my nipple with my fingers and get my son to taste it to encourage latching. I would feed him and pump immediately after to keep the milk supply. Within a few days I had replaced the formula entirely with my milk. I either saved the pumped milk or had my husband feed it to my son (using finger-feeding...this is like the ``supplementer" from other responses), but I stopped bottle-feeding him myself. Eventually he got used to the breast (in fact would definitely prefer it to the bottle) and I just pumped to freeze. In sum, my recommendations are (1) keep calm and positive; (2) keep putting your daughter to the breast; try expressing some milk with your fingers to encourage latching; (3)keep pumping as often as possible; remember that colostrum is often referred to as "liquid gold" and feed to your daughter whatever you pump; (4)remember that she is likely getting more milk when she sucks than what you are getting with the pump; (5) remember that some milk is available to the baby even when the breast seems empty, or when your pump stops getting it out effectively. I hope this helps. Hang in there and keep positive. Best wishes.
I want to second the response from AK. The little bottle and feeding tube is called a supplementer. It is made by Medela. You can probably get one from the hospital or La Leche. I used the supplementer with my first and it helped immensely. It's a little awkward and bothersome to get it the little straw taped to your breast correctly each time you nurse, but it is totally worth it. Just as AK said, the baby will learned to latch onto your breast and because she is getting formula through the little straw she will continue nursing. Her sucking will stimulate your own breast and your milk production should kick in. I was never able to pump a decent amount of milk so I understand your frustration there. There is also an herbal tea called "Mother's Milk" that is supposed to help with milk production and I was also told by my lactation nurse to try drinking non-alcoholic beer. The barley and hops in the beer also stimulate milk production.
Best of luck to you. Hang in there.
