B/f help....milk not in yet

When I was in your shoes, the advice from my LC was ....

pump for 5-10 min after the feed
Switch feed so 3 min on one boob, switch to the other
Lactation cookies and lots of protein rich food and drinks
lots and lots of skin to skin. hop into bed nude and cuddle cuddle cuddle
if you supplement with formula, do it from a cup (so she laps it up) or syringe
if you want some EBM to supplement her with, I have some in the fridge from this morning and would be happy to give it to you

Have you had Poppy checked for tongue tie? My milk took a while to come in properly and Eli had a tounge tie which stopped him stimulating my nipple properly, so I wasn't making enough milk.

And pretty much what everyone has said:
- plenty of skin to skin
- plenty of rest
- protein-rich food/lactation cookies
- drink a lot of water

Is there someone you can get to help you out with your DS so you can have some rest/skin to skin time with Poppy?

Ditto what everyone else said and just to say it again *drink lots of water*

Happy to donate some EBM if you need it xxx

Hugs MF, its a hugely hard time till your milk comes in isnt it.

I can only echo what the others said above, but what helped me hugely was I hired a double pump from The Baby Factory and pumped after every single feed for 10 minutes.

I also drank loads of Complan.

Huge hugs and thinking of you

Have PMd you hun hang in there

Edited by Raspberryjam

just had another thought..My milk was really slow the first time and I hand expressed into a syringe so bubba got the colostrum to keep her going

Good idea till you get established. Supplementing will not hurt so long as you keep pumping and getting Poppy to stimulate production aswell! Double pumps rock I have to admit.

Sounds like you have things under control, awesome!

Keep up the good work

This is the recipe I use. Copy and pasted from Breastmates website. I usually make a half batch.

Lactation Boosting Cookies
A tasty little receipe that will also help to improve the quality and supply of breast milk. Widely used by mothers!

Ingredients :

* 1 cup butter or marg

* 1 cup sugar

* 1 cup brown sugar

* 4 tablespoons water

* 2 tablespoons linseed (flaxseed) meal*

* 2 large eggs

* 1 teaspoon vanilla

* 2 cups flour

* 1 teaspoon baking soda

* 1 teaspoon salt

* 3 cups oats, thick cut if you can get them

* 1 cup or more chocolate chips

* 2 tablespoons of brewers yeast* (be generous)

Directions:

Preheat oven at 375 degrees F, 180c. Mix together 2 tablespoons of linseed meal and water, set aside for 3-5 minutes. Cream margarine and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, mix well. Stir linseed mixture and add with vanilla to the margarine mix. Beat until blended. Sift together dry ingredients, except oats and chips. Add to margarine mixture. Stir in oats & chips. Scoop onto baking sheet lined with baking paper.

Bake 8-12 minutes, depending on size of cookies.

Serves: 6 dozen cookies (a huge batch)

Preparation time: 15 minutes

*Linseed and brewers yeast can be found at any local health food store, or health food aisle. Flaxseed is just the American name for Linseed.

*NOTE* IT MUST BE BREWERS YEAST, NO SUBSTITUTIONS, can be found at health food stores too. Bakers yeast will NOT do - it must be brewer's yeast. Or try a bulk food store.

If you have 2-3 smallish ones a day it balances out supply but if you need to boost the supply eat more.

You can also try nursing tea, fenugreek capsules, and nettle capsules to improve breast milk supply and quality.

How are you going today?

I had similar BF issues to you, definitely take it one day at a time I used to set wee goals for myself I will do this for 24 hrs til the weekend til they are 3 weeks etc it gradually got better. I remember the nipples being so sore anything touching them owww I was wanting to go about topless but still too prudish too!

Hang in there the milk will come it and it will get easier. Sounds to me like you are doing a great job though. Have you got someone who can spend some extra time with DS?