Breastfeeding mamas/ mamas who plan to try to breastfeed..

I had a lot of issues with supply for my first and stress killed it. She wasn’t gaining weight and I was so scared I was doing something wrong. The first time a doctor told me to just relax and not worry because she was healthy and still growing (just not how the first doctor wanted her to) she thrived. Stress, not eating, and drinking enough was killing my supply. I didn’t have any issues with my second and hopefully you are the same! Every baby and breastfeeding journey is different and I wish you all the best but please don’t let it effect you too deeply a happy and mentally healthy mom is better for your baby than breastmilk

Milk does not come in full supply for the first few days and it is NORMAL! I think you need to do some research in breastfeeding, you do not need to pump to have supply beforehand, your hormones and your baby will make the milk come but for the first few days you are only going to have a small amount of colostrum (first very heavy milk) as baby's stomach is tiny. The main thing to educate on and ask for help with is the latch. It is the most important thing. If baby latches properly it will make milk come and you will have no issues breastfeeding. I know we hear a lot about it but you do not need to pump to breastfeed successfully. If breastfeeding is important to you read about it/watch videos and again, ask for help after birth, it saved my first breastfeeding journey and I'm on my third one! Good luck

https://laleche.org.uk/

hey, for my son i only breastfed 4 months my mom was big on formula and i was 20 and ill informed. this time with my baby i just go with the flow. i began breastfeeding as soon as i gave birth. my milk came in heavy a couple days later. i say just latch and feed directly from the nipple. dont overthink it or stress, if you have to combo feed go for it but i think its up to baby as well. id say reducing stress, eating well & leaving it in destinys hands. im sure it will work out. based on my experience this time around ebf and boob on command works well. i breast feed wherever i go. if i have to pull over to breastfeed i will. i didnt like pumping one bit best of luck

I hand expressed some colostrum from about 38 weeks - just to help develop the skill more than anything. Think the thing that helped my journey was lots of breastfeeding support on positions and latching. Know it’s easy for me to say but try and take the pressure off yourself. Just anecdotally speaking to other mums seems like milk supply is such a random thing

@Tessa thankyou so much for your advice!! And kind words!! 💛Its true the doctors advice we get is so important in those moments!! Yeah with my first the midwives were quite aggressive in literally physically squeezing my nipples until the first drop came out and kept me in over night checking every 3 hours, one proclaimed you’re STARVING HER! Which had me panicking more and then there was a lady in the bed next to me that had an overflow of milk and was getting so much praise and I just remember sitting there staring at my baby crying and feeling like the worst mum ever!! By the morning they stated she hadn’t had enough milk and I had to either decide to feed her formula or donor breast milk and I opted for donor breast milk and then after 3 more tries with no real success they sent me home with a hired breast pump and a form that I had to sign to say that I would agree to try constantly pumping breast milk and feed my her formula to keep her fed while I work on my supply! @Audrey th

@Audrey thankyou for the link latching was definitely the issue and I was convinced that my baby had a tongue tie but that was quickly dismissed in the hospital!! I will read up / watch lots more again concerning the perfect latch I wonder why they advocate pumping so much in hospital!

@Violeta💘 @Bethan thankyou so much ladies!! 💖💖 I’ve told myself this whole time I’m not going to get stressed out and if it happens it happens and fed is best and my toddler is thriving regardless of our BF/formula journey but sometimes easier said than done 😅😭💖 I really isolated myself from other mums last time as I literally felt so ashamed being around breast feeding mamas and I just wanna have the best experience all round this time but I shall relax and what will be will be!! Thankyou for the advice and kind encouragement 💛

Milk doesn’t come in until around day 3-5 you have to be patient baby will feed a lot and cry as they are building up your supply and cluster feeding so your body begins to produce enough milk for there stomach. Remember their stomachs are only as big as their fists they don’t need much at all. You can hand express colostrum prior to birth and give baby that in a little 1ml syringe as a top up but trust me baby will be getting enough n only worry they aren’t if they loose weight (more then normal) or aren’t gaining weight consistently! Good luck mama

Pumping whilst pregnant won't have any impact on your supply once you give birth. You can choose to harvest colostrum whilst pregnant (from 36-37 weeks) but it's recommended to hand express and not use a pump. This isn't to help with your supply after birth but so you have some colostrum on hand in case there are complications or issues with getting baby to latch. The birth itself triggers your supply but for the first few days you will only have colostrum which is enough for baby as newborns have very small tummies. The best thing to do at this point after birth is to put baby to breast as much as possible to help with your supply coming in which can take 3-5 days. Babies need to feed at least 8-12 times in a 24 hour period when newborns. But some babies are really sleepy after birth so may not feed much in the first 24hrs. Weight gain and nappy output are the best ways to tell if baby is getting enough milk.

Your milk won’t come in until day 3ish, and until then baby only has stomach the size of a teaspoon so anything they are getting is plenty. The best way to establish supply is to have baby latching direct for the first few weeks, and then start introducing pumping. The body is super clever and adjusts your milk to what your baby needs, but it’s that skin to skin contact that’s super important. Also I couldn’t pump more than 1oz from both boobs combined, but ebf my baby for a year. How much you can pump is not an indication if your supply at all.

I would attempt to harvest colostrum by hand so that you can give baby that if you’re worried the first few days but no pump like people said. Also a huge F U to those midwives, that’s absolutely sickening to read how they treated you I’m so sorry ❤️‍🩹

@Reagan

I’m sorry to hear the midwives weren’t helpful ❤️ I struggled with breastfeeding due to pain and latching issues. I tried various groups, including La Leche League, a local NHS feeding clinic, the hospital, another hospital, and another local group. Each gave different tips to try out, and it was nice to meet other mums who were also figuring things out. They were also supportive of switching to formula if needed which I appreciated. After a week of pain and challenges, I pumped and bottle-fed breast milk for the three weeks before returning to breastfeeding. I’m still breastfeeding at 8 months (with one bottle of formula at bedtime) and genuinely can’t believe how easy feeding is now vs those early struggles where I’d cry through most feeds for the first couple of months (part pain, part frustration of it not being easy/natural). I couldn’t have done it without the mental and physical support Sending lots of love and luck for whichever way you do it this time x

Also as for tips, I was lucky with my milk supply, so this may not help everyone. I bought a smart water bottle that monitors hydration based on body size and adjusts the goal based on nursing. I didn’t realise I wasn’t drinking enough water before getting the bottle. I did start using this before baby arrived though so not sure if a coincidence that supply was good

The problem with harvesting before birth and giving that to baby if you're worried, is that baby won't be getting this straight from you so they will not be making milk as they won't be latching. Your milk supply adapts to the demand so the more a baby latches the more milk you will produce. I struggled a lot with my first and I could tell he wasn't latching properly. I asked the midwives who were not very helpful, he lost too much weight, it was so tough... But seeing a lactation consultant was the thing that saved our breastfeeding journey so I would 100% recommend one if you're struggling, they're the professionals and they'll help you! x

It's not recommended to pump before baby is born as it can induce early labour. You can hand express colustrum ahead of them being born which will keep them going until your milk supply comes in.

Also, milk production works by supply and demand and the only way your body knows the demand is by baby suckling, so if you were to give baby expressed milk or colostrum, you'd still need to be putting them on the boob to suckle as much as possible to ramp up production.

Dont pump before birth cos it can bring on early labour. Guidance where I am is also not to pump for the first 6 weeks as that's how long it takes baby to balance out your supply. The first few days they just get colostrum and it's all they need cos their stomach is the size of a cherry. I never collected colostrum, pumped etc and I successfully breastfed until 2.5yo

Feeding is really the only way to get a true supply so skin to skin and a feed straight away if possible and then feed feed feed. If you planned to not EBF and bottle feed too then ide still wait until your supply is in properly which can take 2/3 days 😁

Was your first checked for tongue or lip ties? My milk didn’t come in for quite some time despite breastfeeding and doing formula via tube on the breast and pumping non stop. She had her ties released and that made a big difference but then I also did end up doing a short stretch of domperidone. Bf was very important to me so I pushed through a lot but we did end up ebf. I know for a fact (now that I have had my ties released as an adult) that without that we wouldn’t have stood a chance. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with renting or having a pump ahead of time in order to be prepared but I don’t think it’s wise to start pumping before? You should be able to hand express colostrum and a lot of people do that so there’s some extra for baby in those first few days. I never could, which I think was indicative of a hormonal issue… anyway, all that to say I think a good evaluation for tongue and lip ties is important; the in-hospital ones often suck, find a specialist dentist :)

Gahhhh💖💖💖 so grateful for all the wonderful advice on this post!!🥹🩵🙏🏽 I feel so much more confident going into this BF journey a second time especially with everyone saying such similar things about the first few days and how teeny baby’s belly is I won’t be letting annnnnnybody convince me of the worst and make me feel inadiquate like last time! I shall be strong and confident and stick to the plan!!! THANKYOU ALL!!🥰💖💖💖