Colostrum Powder

My daughter was in NICU for a week and I think my milk dried up! Help??

My daughter had the cord wrapped around her neck and inhaled fluid upon birth. She stayed in the NICU for almost a week and I stayed with her (courtesy stay at hospital). I did not get to take her right to breast but I did use the medela and pumped every two hours and tried to get her to feed every three hours and supplemented with formula because the NICU told me to when I went down to feed her. On day 3 and 4 I got approx 50ml of colostrum. On days 5,6,7 and now 8 I have gotten NOTHING. She was latching on great but never got anything directly from me and would fuss so much it would make her stats go wacky. Now my breast hurt so bad that I can hardly hold her. The nutritionists have not gotten back to me STILL! She takes to the formula very well but I was so determined to breast feed. What happened? Anyone have this happen? Should I stop?

Public Comments

1. no just take parenting classes
2. First off congrats on the new child, hope everything will be ok for her. My guess would be to get a second opinion also. Try a different doctor because these guys are obviously taking a long time. Keep on trying though, it might just be a few day instance and could start up again.
3. I don't think anyone ever tells you that breastfeeding DOES hurt at first. I wasn't expecting that myself and my daughter's latch was fine - and she was getting milk. It's that your milk is coming in and your breasts are likely swollen, and well - it REALLY hurts. Keep it up though - definitely take her to the breast when she acts hungry and even if you did "dry" up a bit - you will start lactating again if you continuously take her to the breast. ... Also, as crazy as this sounds - if your breasts hurt too much - try putting cabbage leaves on them - it absolutely helps.
4. A breast pump is never as efficient as your baby... You may want to try a special pump that when you do feed your baby formula, it pumps the formula through a breast shield so your baby has to latch on, and it should stimulate your body to produce more milk. I had very good luck with "Mother's Milk" tea. I had it 3 times a day and it took about a week before I noticed a great increase in my milk. Good luck!!
5. I currently breast feed and my mid wife told me just to keep trying the more i tried the more my body would try to produce the milk it did eventually work ,but don't just breast feed try both like feed your baby on the breast milk for 20 minutes and then give her a bottle closest to a nipple you can find if she is still hungry your breasts hurting and being sore is a sign that there is milk in there that needs to come out try short frequent feeding that also works good. If you really want to do it and you can get past the pain it does truly make you baby stay healthy and get smart more alert I have three girl and you can tell the difference in the advancement of the breastfeed one
6. My understanding is that lactation is a supply/demand function, which is why mothers of twins are still capable of breastfeeding without supplementing. With your daughter being in the ICU, the demand wasn't present, but it's doubtful it's been long enough for you to 'dry up'. If suckling is distressing the baby, i'd suggest using your pump as much as possible to 'create' the demand for your body to meet. Remember also that breastfeeding has a learning curve for mother and for baby. Don't give up yet!
7. Eek... You probably got a lot of bad advice already, and aren't likely going to sort out the problem via Yahoo! Answers too easily; I think you need more help than that. The initial supplement-with-formula advice might not have been the greatest idea -- your daughter got fed that way, and your breasts got the idea they weren't needed, is my guess. A lot of the women on here who have had major breastfeeding hassles seem to've started those hassles via lousy advice from doctors and hospital nurses. See if you can't find a "lactation consultant." A certified one, not just some nurse who calls herself one. Contact La Leche League. Read through http://www.drjacknewman.com/ and http://kellymom.com/ and http://www.llli.org/ Look into a "supplemental nursing system," like: http://www.selfexpressions.com/supnursys.html so your daughter can nurse and get the supplement at the same time. Keep pumping in the meantime, if you can. Try right after a good soak in the tub or shower. (And, re above answer -- I never found breastfeeding painful, myself.)
8. Sometimes its just hard to pump. You have to be relaxed and coerce you milk to come down an that was something I couldnt manage to do very well when I tried to pump. Your breast hurting so bad tells me that you are engorged...now is the best time to try to pump! I always heard that a warm compress (a hot wash cloth) would help your let down, and it worked a BIT for me... in order for your body to keep making that milk you have to express it (pump it) or it will dry up. And another key thing is to RELAX... I know it sounds impossible to do when your baby is in NICU, but that will help your let down. I would give breast feeding another try now if I were you because you apparently have milk, its there, and it may be difficult to get her to do it too because the bottle is so much easier for them to suck... but I would definitally give it another shot, directly, not pumping. Good luck!!! You CAN do this!
9. I had the same problem with my daughter. My milk took about a week to come in. My lactation specialist gave me a WONDERFUL method. She gave me this tiny little tube that attaches to the end of a 10 mL syringe and I would put formula in the syringe (leaving the plunger out so she could suck freely) and then get my daughter to latch onto my breast. Once she had a good suction going, I would lace that tiny tube into her mouth at the corner (so as to not break the suction) and she would stimulate my breasts to produce milk, but get the formula to fill her belly at the same time!!! It worked like a dream and I went on to nurse her for 9 months. The hurting breasts could be mastitis, and in that case, you would NOT want to nurse your baby. With mastitis, your breast tissue and milk ducts can become infected and you wouldn't want your baby to get any kind of illness from your milk. If your breasts are hot and red with lumps, it COULD be mastitis. You can try putting HOT towels around your breasts. This causes your milk to express without the pain of pumping. It eases the pain considerably. I did this when my milk came in with my son. I had so much milk I could have nursed every baby in my state! My biggest advise is to not give up. Especially since you have done so awesome so far. Being sure your baby got the colostrum was very important and the fact that you have stuck it out this long is great. I got very frustrated numerous times throughout the first few weeks and wanted to quit. I remember being in tears a few times even, but once those first two weeks went by, I was SOOOOOOOOO glad I kept with it. Good luck mommy!