Breast milk not filling......Help

Jip. The article speaks volumes.

Mothers are obsessed with time and how often or little a baby needs to feed. As long as baby is content, putting on weight & have enough wet/soiled nappies, you don't have to check the clock & don't have to worry about how often baby feeds.

Like I said, bm digests very very quickly & you'll find that bf babies feed more often. They can feed anywhere between 10-12 times a day in the early weeks.

What a great article, Ankie! Thanks for sharing

XeoM - a friend of mine shared this article with me. It might help you.

www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com/...g-interval-obsession

HI XeoM

I see the ladies have already giving wonderful advice.

Breastfeeding is a learning game for the both of you. Some get it right from the get go & others need some time to figure it out. The first 5weeks are the toughest but if you can get to there, your head is through.

How is the nappy output? Atleast 5-6 wet nappies & atleast 2 soiled ones. The soiled ones can decrease after 3weeks where they can go up to 7-10days without making a poop.

I would definitely get an international board certified lactation consultant out to help you as you don't want to start supplementing with formula. That itself will dwindle your supply completely. Most bf babies feed a lot & often because bm digest in 90mins. So, going 3-4hours during the day is quite a bit of a gap. My son feed every hour to an hour & a half in the beginning. At nights they start clusterfeeding where they feed constantly, the crying, the on & off the breast where it actually feels like they fighting it. It is perfectly normal. Your supply is a bit lower towards the early evening

Most important thing to look at is the latch. If it isn't done properly, baby doesn't empty breast completely and will be unsatisfied. You also need to check if there is a lip or tongue tie present.

Also, what you express is no indication of milk supply. The more baby feeds, the more milk you'll make but the latch is very important.

Pls join the la leche league south Africa on fb. You can also ask one of the leaders on there for help and they also come out to your house for free. All the ask for members is to join & pay R220 annually. It helps them to continue helping mommies in need.

You don't have to pay it now just to join them

www.facebook.com/groups/lalecheleaguesouthafrica/

Pls shout if you need anymore help!

Hi XeoM

About the pain, I had something very similiar, baby was feeding fine, there was no latch problem but i was incredibly sore. I came to understand that it was just my body adjusting.

However try this, when baby is about to latch, point the nipple in the direction of his nose, so it goes as far back into his pallette as possible, that eases the pain, i also used a feeding pillow they not to expensive and i found i could position the baby easier. Feed on demand, even if its every hour. Baby will fall off once he is satisfied and this will establish your milk as well.

for immediate relief from the pain, try lansinoh nipple cream, or bepanthan, or just regulat nipple cream. Remember to air out your chest and just the fresh air circulating helps you heal. And as another suggestion, rub some breastmilk on the nipple and let it dry. this helps recovery.

To increase your milk, just drink as much water as possible, (jungle juice didnt work for me) but eating jungle oats for breakfast did. You can also try rooibos tea (thats said to increase milk, havent tested it yet).

Also check if baby is swallowing the milk by watching him when he feeds, if you can see the swallow you should be fine. If he isnt swallowing, unlatch and start again

@XoeM

As Karmie said, speak to a lactation consultant. Breastfeeding was the topic for my antenatal class last night and my midwife said that that breastfeeding is on demand as is UP to four hourly, so 2.5-3 hours sounds reasonable. It does sound like a latching problem regarding your sore nipples, your LO might be "dummy sucking" your nipple and not stimulating the rest of the breast tissue to get more milk out. She advised that if there's a problem to first go to a lactation consultant as all your paed or clinic personnel will worry about is whether or not your little one is gaining weight and they will advise formula if he isn't gaining.

And again, as long as he's filling up nappies and no 2s are runny/messy it means he's probably getting enough.

Hi XoeM

As Ankie said, babies nurse a lot! Mine also nursed every 2 hours until about 2,5 months old. My youngest is now 6 months old and during the day she still nurses every 3 hours.

My breasts were also very full and sore the first two weeks, it should all balance out in the end. You can put cold cabbage leaves on your breasts if it gets too much. Works like a charm!

If you have at least 6 wet nappies in a 24 hour period, he should be getting enough. Go to the clinic and weigh him, this should also give you piece of mind.

It seems that you may have a problem latching correctly, hence the sore nipples. The best investment you can make is to go see a lactation consultant, it is so worth it! Ask you local maternity ward for a reference to one in your area. Your baby may also have a tongue-tie which is preventing him from latching properly. A lactation consultant will be able to sort you out in no time!

Well done mommy for wanting to persevere with EBF, you wont regret it!

All the best