NO milk??

[melon]

I'm not really looking for advice, just info....
A family member just had a baby, 4 weeks early and 5 lbs. she says that in the hospital she had nothing, no colostrum or anything, and since the baby was so small, she had to get formula right away. the baby is 2 weeks old, and she says she still has nothing.

i didn't know that was possible?

[HappyMonkey]

Is she using something like this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezGIkIkhC_o

If only using a bottle her body is not getting signals to produce milk.

This site has tons of info:
http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=...id=5&Itemid=17

Good luck to her.

[jecombs]

It's highly unlikely that she didn't have any colostrum when she had her LO, even though it was 4 weeks early. With my first DD I was leaking colostrum from 31 weeks till she was born at 41 weeks. This time around I'm not leaking, but I know it's there because my breasts are quite firm. Here is a link on how milk production works.

However, if she didn't pump or BF the baby, her body never got the signals to continue making milk, so she probably doesn't have any now. Re-lactation is possible, but it takes a lot of hard work.

[boobs4milk]

my dd4 was 5 weeks early and i had a great deal of milk. maybe she didn't respond to the pump? dd3 was 3 weeks early, 5lb 1 oz and she only ever got bmilk, but i rarely pumped as she was not in the nicu.

[Llyra]

As for the colostrum, pumping colostrum is very hard, and some women even have a hard time expressing it by hand, so even if baby is getting plenty, it would be easy for an uninformed mama guided by clueless health professionals to conclude she hasn't got any. The quantity produced is so small, and that's good and normal and natural, but a lot of people don't know that.

As for the milk-- even if you never, ever put baby to the breast, milk will still come in. I lost a baby early in the second trimester, and my milk came in. It won't stay, but it will come. Likely her milk took a long time coming in, and didn't result in engorgement when it did come, and because she never nursed, it didn't stick around very long. My milk takes a long time to come-- five or six days each time-- and I only got engorged the last time. So I can see again that an uninformed mama would conclude she hasn't got any.

I guess that theoretically some women would make none at all, but they'd have markedly underdeveloped breasts, wouldn't they? Even mamas with inadequate glandular tissue usually make SOME milk.

Sounds like the usual hooey to me.

[mommy212]

I really doubt she had nothing! My breast pre-birth were completely soft and flat and squishy even for a couple of weeks after the birth, and we were fine. I also never leaked, and was only engorged a handful of times. But, my milk did dry up at 2 weeks for about a day, and I nursed for almost that whole day straight. I imagine it was all just a misunderstanding... hopefully she can still BF, if that is what she wants

[melon]

Originally Posted by Llyra

Sounds like the usual hooey to me.

yea, that's kinda what i thought.....i'm wondering if it's hooey that she got from the hospital, or hooey that she's giving me because she changed her mind about bfing and doesn't want me to give her a hard time. i wouldn't give her a hard time anyway, but...well, ya know.

[annekh23]

No milk at all is fairly unlikely. It can be hard to express colostrum, whether by hand or by pump, it's possible not to see any evidence of it, but even with no breast stimulation there should be at least some sensation of milk coming in, breasts feeling hard etc. unless there is retained placenta.

Not enough milk happens, it's less common than many would have us believe, but it does happen, no milk at all would be a rare situation.

[honey-lilac]

I dunno. I had a 37 weeker that I was so committed to breastfeeding. I had no milk. It never came in. I pumped, I took supplements, I did all the "right" things. I drank the tea. I bought a hospital grade pump, YES bought it and did it round the clock. I wore my baby and slept with him and did skin to skin. No milk. Period came back right away, I was pregnant by the 6 week checkup.

Then I had a 36 week daughter and I had tons of milk. Tons and tons.

So, I wouldn't throw out her story as hooey. It could be.

[cheryllynn]

My neighbor also had a similar story to honey-lilac, except she had 'very little' milk and her baby continued to lose weight until she started supplementing.

I asked a natural health care professional about this and she thought there might be a pituitary gland issue as this is the gland that triggers milk production.

Honey-lilac - I will make sure I tell my neighbor your story as it may give her encouragement to try again if/when they have another babe.