Newborn -- milk coming in too slow?? (((UPDATE)))

[Marni]

UPDATE: Thanks for everyone's imput!!! I forwarded your wise words to my dear friend and she did a "boob-a-thon" with her little guy and at 1.5 weeks her milk was coming in strong! Yay!!! We saved a baby from a life of formula!!!!!


THANK!!!!


My bestfriend had a healthy baby boy a week ago -- her very first. She was told his latch was great, and the colustrum was great...but then she went home and her milk never fully came in. His weight dropped a lot (from 9.1 to 7.12), he was screaming mad and hungry all the time, and her milk was at a trickle (when she pumps -- with a hospital grade-rented pump) she only gets about 1/2 and ounce -- SOMETIMES one ounce. SHe is pumping every 2-3 hours, staying hydrated, taking hot showers, dreaking Mothers Milk tea...

She has now seen 4 LC's, and the last one (who is super crunchy, my friend being in Berkley CA and all) -- said she needed to suppliment ASAP (said this 2 days ago, when baby was 5 days old). So she did, and alas, the poor guy is finally getting some sleep and gaining some weight. But my poor friend is DEVASTATED. She REALLY wants to EBF. Every 2-3 hrs she gets him on the boob (so he won't forget how) or a bit, then pumps, then makes him formula (mixing it with her little bit of pumped bm).

* Is there more she should be trying to do?
* Has anyone been through something similar?
* What is the longest time it can take for milk to come in?
* She mentioned a DRUG for helping lactation. Anyone heard of that?

Any advice will be GREATLY appreciated.

[MommytoHHH]

I can't be much help - I'm sure someone here can though.

Here's the main thought I had... why is she waiting every 2-3 hours to get him on the boob? I think most newborns need to nurse much more frequently than that. When I was having problems with BFing my LC told me to NEVER let her go MORE than 2 hours - she said there was nothing wrong with camping out in bed or on the couch with DD at the boob.

Also, I think pumping an ounce of milk in one sitting is plenty and rather normal at 1 week PP. Baby is more efficient at getting milk out than a pump is...

[MillingNome]

:

I remember both dc being attached for huge stretches of time with very short breaks in between. After a month or so, I was able to go an hour to an hour and half without the baby nursing. I think your friend needs to either try pumping every hour and/or getting the baby on every hour. It will be a pia but that should get the milk coming in.

[Synchro246]

I responded in your other thread, but I forgot to point out what the PP said. DEFINITLY nurse as much as possible. Let that baby have unfettered access to the boob. Her only responsibility right now needs to be the baby. If she feels like she needs to do other stuff help her and/or help her communicate with her partner/anyone living with her that anything that she normally would do THEY need to do right now.
It can take a lot of energy (emotional and physical) to get breastfeeding going well. Help her allow herself to devote her energy to it. She will never regret giving it her all.

[studentmama]

She needs to be putting that baby to breast much more often than every 2-3 hours, especially if she is having supply issues.

I think it is great that she is nursing before supplementing, but why is she taking baby off the breast if baby is still hungry? If it feels like you are out of milk on one side(like you don't hear anymore gulping or swallowing) just switch sides. and keep switching sides until baby is satisfied. It's quite normal for newborns to nurse every hour for a half an hour. She can also try breast compressions when she is nursing and it feels like the flow is slowing.

Here's is what I would tell her(and I have worked with a lot of women who had supply issues, so let her know she is doing a great job and she will be able to get this down, most definitely, it takes a baby a good 4-6 weeks to get nursing down, so it really is just a learning curve).

Every time the baby puts hands or fingers to mouth, roots around, fusses, smacks lips, cries, put that baby to breast. If she thinks he is sending a telepathic message that he may want to nurse, put him to the breast. Lots and lots of skin-to-skin contact, is baby sleeping with her at night? Co-sleeping is a great way to get supply going.

There are drugs and teas, but the really best way to get supply going is to nurse frequently. And during the day, I would be offering it at least once an hour. You may also want to mention crying is actually a late sign of hunger, so you want to be offering baby the breast with the early signs(smacking lips, rooting, sucking on hands/fingers), this also helps because baby isn't so hungry and won't get frustrated as quickly if you are nursing them before they are really, really hungry.

Here are some great links about supply:
Dealing with low supply
Breast Compressions

Good luck to your friend, and let her know she CAN do it!! And we are all rooting for her!!

[Dov'sMom]

nak
half an hour every two hours?

My son was on my breast for 2-3 hours at a time and off for maybe 40 minutes. For the first week.

There's no reason not to let the baby suckle as much as he wants, whether he's getting anything or not. Spend the next week in bed with everything brought to her and supplement the bare necessity through an SNS.

[snangel]

NAK
I have BTDT The drug she is thinking of is Domperidone. Also take 3 fenugreek 3xs a day (in combination withe the dom)Take Domperidone 3 tabs 3xs a day as well. Thefenugreek you can get at any health store, the domperidone is by perscription only. Also a side note i think i too had baby at my breast virtually all the time. Also if she can take the baby to bed and do nothing but nurse for 24 hours. Have Daddy do everything else. She can get her milk up. I aam now ebf my 8 month old, and (renursed) my previously weaned 2 yr old. I am no longer on the fenugreek or the domperidone. Good luck!

[katheek77]

Def. needs to be bf'ing more often.

I had/have supply issues with DD, very similar story, but I was nursing pretty much non-stop and she was still losing weight/dehydrating, etc. She needs to just have him nursing pretty much constantly. Even without supply issues, most bf newborns need to eat at LEAST every hour and a half.

My story is here, about a third of the way down.
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...462944&page=33

[Marni]

Updated OP -- please see beginning of thread...and THANK YOU!!!!!

[Synchro246]

: :


Tell her I am VERY proud of her for perservering!!!

She is ONE GOOD MAMA!

[lolar2]

I've been having a similar problem except that we also have some mechanical issues where he can't really latch. (His mouth is smaller than my nipples and he can't even get hold of any areola.) We're dealing with it more or less, but my lactation consultant presented the "every 2-3 hours" thing as a minimum. She said she doesn't like to insist on more than that because she wants to preserve Mom's sanity, but if a mother is motivated and able to do more, then all the better. So that might be what your friend's LC meant too. Sometimes when supplementing, if you don't have a lot of help it can be pretty hard to pump more than every 2-3 hours because your hands are full giving the baby bottles.