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Late Milk Supply - Advice Needed

newlywed827newlywed827
in Oregon Babies

Hi ladies,

I had a beautiful baby girl on Monday, February 1st.  She has been breastfeeding like a champ right from the start.  When we took her in for her check up on Thursday, she had lost a little over 9% of her birth weight.  The doctor recommended that we supplement her with formula.  I was really bummed about this.  We have been trying to do it as little as possible because I am so worried she will lose interest in the breast.  Even this morning it seemed a little bit harder to get her to latch and I am SO worried that we won't be able to breast feed.

We are going on five days (it will be five days at 5:44pm today) and my milk has STILL not come in. I am pumping about ten minutes after every feeding (or until everything is gone), taking Fenugreek and drinking Mother's milk tea.

So my questions are...How long did it take your milk come in?  Did you supplement?  Any other advise would be awesome!

Thanks so much... 

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Re: Late Milk Supply - Advice Needed

  • kattyleighkattyleigh member
    First, congrats!!!  My milk came in on day three, but my LO lost 10% of her weight due to jaundice and we had to supplement for a few days also.  I was scared she'd not be able to latch after that.  We had one day where it was a struggle and I almost gave up, but she finally did latch and is an awesome BF now.  Plus, she takes a bottle too, which can be difficult for some BF babies to learn I guess.  It is nice that she takes a bottle because it gives me a break sometimes.  To get her to latch to the breast, I would pump for a few minutes to get the milk to let down, then rub some on the nipple.  Eventually, she got it.  GL!
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  • joleinejoleine member
    I have zero advice on the actual supply, but could you try a lactation aid, something like this? https://www.lact-aid.com/webmap.htm#webmap  in the meantime?  That way she's getting the nutrition of formula but getting it from you? Or at least it'll seem that way?  I can only imagine how frustrating it is to not know when/if your milk will come in and wanting to BF baby :(
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  • peachypearpeachypear

    Have you met with a lactation consultant? I strongly recommend it. They will be able to answer your questions and give you qualified advice. What hospital did you deliver at? They probably have LCs. OHSU has really great LCs and you can see them even if you didn't deliver there. Most insurance will cover their services; I don't think it's very expensive (esp compared to formula for then next year!) if your insurance doesn't cover. I know someone who's milk supply was late and had all kinds of problems latching. They helped her out and she BFed successfully for 6 months until she elected to stop. GIve them a call - they are super nice, non-judgmental, supportive, and well informed.

    And congratulations on your new baby! The first two weeks are the hardest. Hang in there!!

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  • ilovemygirlsilovemygirls member
    With my second, she lost too much weight after birth & we had to supplement.  Because I was committed to bf'ing (as I also did w/my first for a year), I chose to not do that w/bottles that early but rather with tube/syringe feedings.  We could tape the tube to mine or DH's finger so she could suck that way, or I would tape it to my breast so she could stimulate the breast to produce milk while getting the supplement she needed.  I don't recall how long it took my milk to come in either time- it did come in sooner w/my second but we had to supplement before then.  Honestly?  Don't worry about it too much- do what you need to do for your baby right now & you can always work w/an LC to get back on track IF there is even an issue w/bf'ing after this.  There may not be!
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  • JAWMINJAWMIN member
    my milk didn't come in until day 4 or 5. i never felt it come in. he lost a bit of weight. we never supplemented. i would try talking to a LC. i've heard up to 10% of weight loss is normal.

    W (02/2009), N (08/2012), and C (04/2014)
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  • The_Jen626The_Jen626
    Congrats!! My milk came in day 5, my dd list about 11% of her weight, so we did have to supplement, but we still had a great breastfeeding relationship after that. We used a syringe-eyedropper thing, DH would squirt the formula on my boob, and then DD would nurse. It worked really well, we only had to do that for about 3 days. Talk to a lactation consultant asap! BFing was important to me, and I am SO happy that I stuck with it, I loved nursing and after a week, it was so much easier.
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