Lactation meltdown over here!

tinaraye · July 2011

I want to introduce myself and get some input! I'm Tina (FTM) and my LO, Ruby, is nine days old. I desperately want to be a breast feeding mama.

In the hospital the Lactation consultant informed me that because of my age, my milk would be slow to come in so we started supplementing with formula. We tube-fed the formula at the breast to keep Ruby feeding at the right spot. I also have flat nipples and have to use a nipple shield with every feeding. I also pump between feeding in an effort to increase the milk supply and I'm drinking Mother's Milk tea. My milk production is steadily increasing, but I find that there is no time for anything but breast feeding!

Everyone is telling me feed her 1-3 hours, but if a feeding takes an hour or more (and it does), when do I even get a nap? I am so exhausted and just trying to keep Ruby nourished seems to take every waking second. How do you ladies do it? Please, please share your secrets to making this work? Can you ever leave the house? How do you do it?

Thanks so much for any advice!

pitterpatter129 · July 2011

No good advice here - I spent the first month tied to my couch. I just wanted to say it does get better and even though you want to cry and pull your hair out now, here in a few months you'll actually miss these days. Crazy huh? Hang in there!! My 7 month old now nurses for ten minutes and then crawls off!

I just napped while the baby ate half the time. I'd wake up and realize we had both fallen asleep. One thing that did help me right when I came home was having a little drawer organizer thing by the couch. It had my water on top of it and nipple shields (we are STILL using these!), lanolin cream, burp rags, etc. That way I had everything in reach.

SnoopyLuv · July 2011

I bed shared. Google safe bedsharing. It was the absolutely best thing i could have done early on and saved us, we did it for sleep in the day. At night DH and I would take shifts. I also napped on the couch while she slept in the swing.

In the beginning- until 6 weeks or so, you will literally be nursing around the clock. I would barely get a break to take a shower.

Resist the temptation to bottle feed. If you are feeling raw/blistered etc, get a nipple shield. That's how I made it through the first 3 weeks.

And I hate to say it but the advice your LC gave you about your milk being slow to come in is total BS. If you have other troubles or need help I'd try calling your hospital or looking for a La Leche League meeting nearby.

utlawgirl · July 2011

It is sooooo hard at first. I don't know what to tell you except to hang in there, keep doing what you're doing, and it WILL get better. If you can master side-lying nursing, you can sleep (or at least rest) while you feed. Have your H or someone else take care of the baby while you're not nursing so you can rest. I swear it will not always be this hard. Once your supply is established and you both have the hang of things, it gets so much easier. Hang in there, mama!

ladylisalt · July 2011

I am also struggling with you. Day 6 over here and I am pumping in between. The only sleep I have gotten is after a feeding I would squeeze in 1 good nap while my husband watched LO. The problem is my husband goes back to work tomorrow so I only see this happening on the weekends. I am hoping it gets better like everyone says. Like PP says, you will miss this time. I just stare at LO and tell myself he will get big SO FAST so try to enjoy what I can now. Good luck, and I look forward to reading other advice on this board as well.

crysmike · July 2011

AmyG*:
ok, so first things first,

you need a new lactation consultant,

cause unless you are a pre-teen barely starting menstration and got pregnant or a mother over the age of 50 going thru menopause, age has really nothing to do with how long it takes your milk to come in!

so that set you up on a formula, supplementation, pumping to get milk going sort of schedule that will wear you out before you even get started.

so you need a new LC like I said,

at 9 days your milk should be in, how much milk do you pump, how often do you feed, are you still using a SNS?, how many wet/poopy diapers, and how much formula are/were you giving?

Until I get those answers I'll tell you that it's normal for milk to take 3-5 days to come in. if baby is not nursing exclusively at the breast virtually non-stop, or if you had complications, milk may take 5-7 days or longer. During that time you should expect 1 diaper per day of age of baby and after the 1st week, you should see about 7 (6-8 up to about 12 is the range) wet/poopy diapers. Poop counts just like pee, cause most humans go pee when they go poop.

Colostrum comes in teaspoons not ounces, because baby's tummy when born is the size of a marble, so the amount of milk newborn babies needs is incredibly tiny.then it stretches to the size of a shooter marble, a golf ball and then should remain about the size of baby's fist. once your milk is in baby's tummy should hold about 2 ounces, and you can expect to feed about 12 times a day.

You feed baby every 2 hours from start of one feeding to start of the next feeding. do this for 24 hours then begin to nurse every 2 hours during the day and every 3-4 hours at night. do this until baby has regained birthweight and is gaining 5-7oz a week.

how do you sleep? not very well. work on perfecting side laying position. if you don't want to cosleep(which can be a lifesaver) put your dh on baby putting to bed duty. you nurse baby laying on your side. when baby is done and you are conked out, dad moves baby to bassinette.

If baby is taking forever at the breast, try breast compressions and massage to get a bit more milk into baby's tummy. it won't help a lot with a newborn, but it might give you just a bit extra long nursing session which might mean a bit longer sleep.

unless you know for a FACT that you have a low supply by doing a pre and post nursing weigh in with an IBCLC lactation consultant and baby is not transferring milk--I would skip the pumping and probably any supplementing. I would nurse more often as mentioned and count diapers. if diaper count drops significantly (less than the 6-8 a day) i would supplement very very carefully.

Sorry if I'm not clearer, I just realized it's 1am and I'm a bit tired.

goodnight. goodluck.

All of this, exactly!

I also used a shield, that I weaned her from at about 6-8 weeks.

For the several weeks, my DD nursed for an hour, every two hours. I tried to sleep while nursing, kept water and breakfast bars on the end table, and watched a lot of TV. Hang in there. It is worth it!

njh514 · July 2011

Those first 2 or 3 weeks are spent doing nothing but nursing. There's nothing more important that you have to do right now. Trust me. I swear my babies spent 22 hours on breast for the first 2 - 3 weeks. Quit supplementing. That's hurting you more than it's helping you. AmyG* had some fabulous advice for you. Quit questioning your body and just go with whatever your baby wants. Truly, there is nothing more important right now, even if it makes you a little bit crazy.

tinaraye · July 2011

I just wanted to let those of you who responded know that I'm committed and breast feeding is going much better. Thank you so much for the input. I've ditched the formula and I'm just breast feeding her all the time. It really has helped my milk come in more, and she is sleeping more between feedings. Yay!

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