"My Milk Never Came In"

[MarcyC]

Next time someone uses this excuse for not bf'ing (my milk never came in), you need to be very concerned and tell them they need to go back to the doctor and be checked for any retained placenta fragments. Seriously, that COULD cause milk to not come in. But it'll make these people think about that statement.

When I first was told I had supply issues I wouldn't accept just based on her hunger cues and weight gain, I went to the doctor and asked for blood test to test my prolactin levels.

If someone tells you they didn't have enough milk or their milk never came in, suggest some medical tests that can be done to help them in the future.

Either they'll find out they really do have a medical condition or they'll realize how wrong they were.

[orangebird]

True. It is not normal for a woman not to make milk. There are exceptions of course but if a woman really isn't making milk she needs to be checked out. Women don't realize this, in this country it is almost seen as normal, most women don't make milk and if they do they don't make enough of it. Really though, that does not happen to normal moms with normal breasts, it could be a sign of something wrong, not just "well, I don't make milk, just like all my friends, I need to use formula".

[pioneermama]

very long labor no milk

Hi,

I had a very long labor and was completely exhausted and then horrified when I did not produce colostrum or milk for the first several days. My poor daughter sucked and sucked and sucked to no avail. She was so hungry

I went on to nurse my daughter for 3 years. BUT I fed her formula for a few days while my milk came in. The lactation consultant who came to our home had said she'd never seen anything like it, but she encouraged me to nurse her before I fed her the formula so when my milk did come it we could switch easily... and I did and we did! As soon as I saw a drop of colostrum on day five, I tossed out the formula for good.

So, it does happen. While it may not be the norm, I think if the body is exhausted beyond usual capacity that bodily functions do shut down, including such a vital function as making milk.

Just my two cents.

Pioneermama

[Isis]

I totally understand what you're saying BUT- there are some women that just simply do NOT know any better. I have a cousin who 8 years ago- tried to get her milk to come in- the nurses were telling her to bottle feed until her bm came in! Well- DUH- that ain't gonna work and lo and behold it didn't. (this is my dhs cousin-so I didn't know her at this time). NOW, that she KNOWS, she's pregnant again and DETERMINED to bf!

So, I honestly think in a lot of cases- this is what their uninformed Drs and nurses tell them and they believe them. I think we need to be angry at the Drs and gently tell the women the TRUTH, in hopes that the next time around, they'll know better!

[nakagain]

My milk "doesn't just come in" I have hypo thyroid and it would have been nice for a doctor to tell me my thyroid was the cause of low milk supply. I have been told to just use formula. To have someone tell me there could be something medically wrong would have been great. Because of lack of knowlegde I bf 1st 5-6 months.

Thankfully I did my research and nursed #2 24 months and am currently nursing my 8.5 month old. It was hard building a supply but I did it.

[MarcyC]

Pamela,
How did you build up your supply? I love to hear stories about how people built up their supply! I have dreams of tossing out the SNS (and the formula) some day!!

[nakagain]

I built my supply with tears and prayers..lol

Lots of pumping, fenegreek, oatmeal. I think my night pumpings were the most benificial. I would pump or nurse my daughter every hour all day long. I would also pump at midnight and sometimes 3-4 am if my dd didn't wake.

fenegreek 2 capules every morning and night. Oatmeal would go in anything it could. I put oatmeal in sauces like spagetti, lasange, gravy, whatever I could think of. Oatmeal it a great thickner and doesn't change the taste to anything. It took my 6-7 weeks to get to the point I didn't have use my sns. But boy if I don't drink enough water for the day, I can really see the milk drop. I have to make sure I'm completly hydrated, fed, and not miss a day of my synthroid or vitamins.

[nakagain]

Oh and I've never been engourged, never knew when my milk actually "came in"
Oh ya!!

When my las dd was just a few days old we did 2 nights in a row of marathon nursing. Thankfully my mom was here to help. all night long she would nurse and we just switched from one side to the other. In total 48 hours of back and forth nursing. I think it helped SOOOOO much in telling my body to kick it up and get the supply flowing.
It was so hard and I was soo tired but it worked!!

[phaeon]

To the pps whose milk truly didn't come in (or who had supply issues), you are absolutely right that it does happen. Occasionally. Not saying you're weird, :LOL just that it is NOT the norm. Not as normal as the number of times I (and the OP) have heard that phrase from a new mama. I was encouraged to supplement before leaving the hospital, even though less than 24 hours had passed, because my milk hadn't come in. Thank goodness I read up on the subject before delivery, and that there was an awesome lactation consultant on staff (who I had to insist on seeing- they wouldn't call her for me!). Same thing happened to a friend of mine, except she left the hospital formula feeding because her milk didn't come in during the 20-odd hours she was there postpartum- and she truly intended to breastfeed! That was on the advice of the both recovery nurses and her pediatrician. : It's very frustrating, and sad, that there is so much disinformation coming from people who should know better- and who have so much influence on new mamas. :

[dukeswalker]

I was at a meeting last night with a room full of nursing mamas and expecting mamas - The topic of supplementing until your rmilk comes in came up - every single preggo mama was floored to hear that on average, moms don't begin making milk for 3-5 days.

Another mom piped in saying what a great system our babies and bodies have all figured out...!)Baby born soft and squishy and full of fluid - 2)mama makes no milk but only laxative effect cholsotrum for 3-5 days, 3)baby, in turn, passes tons of mecnium and 4)also nurses like crazy - which in turn 5)limits moms blood loss and 6)encourages mass milk production. When seen as sort of a "time line" these moms were really impressed- one pg mom said she could see how adding one bottle into the mix could really foul LOTS of things up....

[wannabe]

When my mother was having babies in the 60s/70s, there was so little BF knowledge around that she FF my two elder siblings - her milk took five days to come in and no-one thought to have her offer them the breast, etc. It took until her third child for her to learn that it WILL come, and I was BF (although I'm too scared to ask for how long - she asked me last week if my three month old had "food" yet, and you know what I answered with!).

[cutic]

Originally Posted by nakagain

I have to make sure I'm completly hydrated, fed, and not miss a day of my synthroid or vitamins.

Pamela, what dose are you on? I also am on synthroid but that has never been a problem for my milk supply. I am on 25MCG per day, I think it is a low dose, what do you say.

Thanks,

[nakagain]

I'm on 88 MCG and my dosage went to that after this last pregnancy. I was on 50 MCG for the last 10 years. 25 is pretty low. I've been on Synthroid since I was 15. They suspect I had graves diesese.

[TiredX2]

Originally Posted by nakagain

My milk "doesn't just come in" I have hypo thyroid and it would have been nice for a doctor to tell me my thyroid was the cause of low milk supply. I have been told to just use formula.

This touches on something that is really distrurbing to me.

Too often with women's health issues I see doctors just basically say, "Well that's just how it is for some women" when REALLY they have a serious medical condition. It is NOT normal to bleed vaginally for 3 weeks on, one week off. It is NOT normal to not produce milk. It is not normal to be completely broken by PMS. More doctors need to treat the *source* of the problem rather than just ignoring it and covering it up with a quick fix, like formula.

[Sweetiemommy]

I had placenta fragments, low thyroid AND damaged ducts on my right breast.

AND I still managed to make enough milk. When people tell me they "couldn't" breastfeed, I want to roll my eyes in frustration.

Also, I think stress inhibits milk production, so maybe after a traumatic birth and everyone telling you that you are starving your baby, some women really "can't" make milk!?

[lilsishomemade]

When I hear this, I always say, "Well, you know, your milk won't come in right away, it's colostrum that the baby gets first, then you'll make milk in a few days." They're always so surprised. I kinda go through this "Milk doesn't just appear immediately" talk with them. I feel bad that so many moms are never told this!

[aran]

I didn't make milk for a week, and when I did, there were only droplets for several weeks (ds could only get 4 oz per day from me at that time). Dr. and IBCLC's didn't know why. I nursed round the clock, supplemented with formula after each feeding in small, measured amounts (decreasing as my milk increased), took every possible measure to increase supply, and eventually ds was exclusively bf by about 2 m.o. DH and I worked our a@@es off to establish a milk supply. It was horrible. I was *this* close to giving up. Many ppl, especially those without such a supportive dp, would have given up. It happens. Not as much as people say it does, but it does happen. I was WRACKED with guilt when it wasn't working out, and if I had given up, and someone questioned that my milk didn't come in, I would be really, really upset. Keep in mind that there must be a population of people like me around and be very gentle if you decide to take the op's approach.

[Gidget]

Some may be telling a condensed version of the truth. My milk "came in" with my second child but there was not much. I started out with low supply and had to supplement(which is a tricky thing to do without compromising your sucess) and fight for 5 weeks before we were able to go without formula and another week before she was actually able to sleep for a stretch of more than an hour between the end of one session and the start of the next.

But since I had failed my first at 3 months and I was more educated going in, I did my research and I was able to make it. I knew it does not come naturally, not so many people these days are properly educated on bf and what to do if things start out wrong or go wrong. We REALLY NEED more education on this. People have NO idea that something natural actually still requires practice.

I also have to say that a pp made a point about some people assuming that milk comes in right after birth. Again, education.

[lilsishomemade]

Exactly, I mean if you're working and working on trying to get your supply going, and your milk never comes in, that's one thing. If you try a couple of feedings and decide your milk never came in, that's another! Most of the moms who I have heard this from usually only try a day or two, then stop. *That's* aggravating, and I think it's incredibly offensive to those moms who did work the hiney's off, pumping and nursing around the clock, kwim? I guess I usually say something like, "Oh really? Wow, how long did you try?" and go from there.

[elmh23]

My mom's milk never really came in and she had to supplement almost from the beginning. When I was 4 weeks old, she went to the hospital because she was very pale and just feeling like crap. Turns out she still had ALL of the afterbirth in her and was slowly bleeding to death! After that, the damage was done and she couldn't breastfeed. I went into the hospital shortly after her because I'd lost a pound in two weeks (allergic to the formula.)