Colostrum Powder

Breastfeeding question?

I had a baby yesterday. He is quite the eater and I want to breastfeed, but he's not getting satisfied with the colostrum. He will cry after feeding for about half an hour. I'm supplementing him with formula, but I'm scared when my milk comes in that he won't want breastmilk anymore. How long will it take for my breastmilk to come in? What did they do in the old days to satisfy the baby's hunger?

Public Comments

1. I think you will be a-okay. A lot of babies like the taste of breast milk better anyways. It might take 3 or 4 days for your milk to come in. You could try pumping because that really speeded up the process for me. Wishing you the best, hun! CONGRATS!
2. That's normal behavior for a newborn, to nurse often. You're doing fine! Stop supplementing with formula. That'll only cause the nursing relationship to suffer. It can take up to a week for your milk to come in. Just keep nursing! Congratulations and good luck!
3. My Milk came in about 4days later. I think you will be fine, it does sound normal. Good luck, and keep it up momma.
4. The more he nurses the faster your milk will come in. I suggest you stop the formula and just nurse constantly for now. After all, your body won't know how much to produce if he isn't nursing to satisfy his appetite. Keep in mind, too, that breastmilk is easier to digest and, therefore, makes it seem like they are always hungry. You are simply meeting his needs! You can get an Over the Shoulder Baby Holder Sling and nurse him while carrying him, which is really nice. Enjoy this time - he'll grow so quickly! (It seemed like my kids nursed all the time and it can be frustrating. Just understand that it's temporary and your job right now is just to meet his needs!) If you would like one-on-one support, you can always look up a La Leche League Leader who will help you through your breastfeeding experience. You can look one up at www.lalecheleague.org
5. don't supplement. the only way to get your milk to come in is to breastfeed, and babies don't really need to eat for the first few days. your milk will probably come in within 2-7 days. it's very unlikely that the baby is crying because he's hungry. babies just cry a lot at first. someone advised me to feed the baby as long as they want during the first two weeks and then they'll naturally align themselves on a 2-3 hour schedule. that advice worked really well for me. congrats!
6. You should stop supplementing and feed your baby as much as it wants the more you feed the faster your milk will come in, it usually takes 3-4 days but if you feed a lot it could come in 2.
7. I have had three children. One is 4, one is 3 and I have a 9 month old baby. I have breastfeed all of them (still nursing the baby) at least a year. With your first baby it can take several days for your milk to come in. I thought mine would never come in with my first son and I remember how painful it was to nurse. I almost gave up, but I hung in there. I am sure that your son is getting what he needs. I would not supplement with formula. He really needs the colostrum. Hang in there... I promise it will get better!!!!
8. Your newborns stomach only holds 1/2tbsp you have more than enough colostrum. You could probably even pump 1/2-1oz and colostrum is very hard for a pump to get out, so more than likely you have far more than you need. So if your baby is not full then he is not latched on well enough to get the colostrum out -it has nothing to do with your supply. I also have to wonder why you think he is not full, if you are comparing him to a formula fed baby of COURSE he is different. But if he is making enough wet and poopy diapers on breastmilk alone, and after two weeks gaining appropriately then he is getting enough PERIOD. Colostrum and breastmilk digest very quickly, formula does not. A breastfed baby will probably eat between every 30-120 minutes, with 30 minutes or less being the norm the first 6 weeks. Also you do not have colostrum one day and them BAM milk the next day. Your milk slowly changes, it is almost the end of the first month before the milk becomes what most people think of as breastmilk. At about day 2-3 your colostrum will start becoming less clear, more opaque it will SLOWLY turn to completely opaque and white-ish. Your supply will increase. You know what they did in the old days THEY KNEW BETTER! They only knew how breastfed babies behaved that was all they expected. They KNEW how to breastfeed because they all say it constantly from a young age, and if one women was having trouble EVERY SINGLE OTHER WOMAN KNEW HOW TO BREASTFEED and could help. Get some help, today, on the phone and in person FREE: LLL Breastfeeding Helpline 1-877-4-LALECHE Not in the USA: La Leche League International http://www.llli.org/webindex.html Nursing your newborn — what to expect in the early weeks http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/newborn-nursing.html "The First Week How often should baby be nursing? Frequent nursing encourages good milk supply and reduces engorgement. Aim for nursing at least 10 - 12 times per day (24 hours). You CAN'T nurse too often--you CAN nurse too little. Nurse at the first signs of hunger (stirring, rooting, hands in mouth)--don't wait until baby is crying. Allow baby unlimited time at the breast when sucking actively, then offer the second breast. Some newborns are excessively sleepy at first--wake baby to nurse if 2 hours (during the day) or 4 hours (at night) have passed without nursing. Is baby getting enough milk? Weight gain: Normal newborns may lose up to 7% of birth weight in the first few days. After mom's milk comes in, the average breastfed baby gains 6 oz/week (170 g/week). Take baby for a weight check at the end of the first week or beginning of the second week. Consult with baby's doctor and your lactation consultant if baby is not gaining as expected. Dirty diapers: In the early days, baby typically has one dirty diaper for each day of life (1 on day one, 2 on day two...). After day 4, stools should be yellow and baby should have at least 3-4 stools daily that are the size of a US quarter (2.5 cm) or larger. Some babies stool every time they nurse, or even more often--this is normal, too. The normal stool of a breastfed baby is loose (soft to runny) and may be seedy or curdy. Wet diapers: In the early days, baby typically has one wet diaper for each day of life (1 on day one, 2 on day two...). Once mom's milk comes in, expect 5-6+ wet diapers every 24 hours. To feel what a sufficiently wet diaper is like, pour 3 tablespoons (45 mL) of water into a clean diaper. A piece of tissue in a disposable diaper will help you determine if the diaper is wet. " Straight Talk About Real Babies Defining New-mom Expectations http://breastfeed.com/resources/articles/expectation.htm "he Formula Effect In our culture, mothers have been accustomed to babies who are formula fed, who behave very differently from babies who eat naturally. Formula is an artificial food, and it causes babies to act in artificial ways. Babies who drink formula receive in very short order a large amount of liquid that is very difficult to digest. After a formula bottle and a few big burps, babies sleep for several hours before they feel hungry again. Hmm... This sounds very nice; Mom can get lots of things done. Perhaps. However, inside, Baby is dealing with an unnatural food that is very hard to digest and takes a very long time to move out of his stomach. In any case, many new mothers have come to accept that this is the way their own baby will behave. Not so with breast milk. Breast milk is natural and digests very quickly – usually within two hours. Therefore, breastfed babies eat often. In the early weeks, they may eat eight to 20 times a day – or more. It depends. As a lactation consultant, I frequently hear moms say, "Well I tried to breastfeed my first child but they always wanted to eat, and my milk could never fill them up like formula did. They were always hungry." Get it? The formula makes them feel very full, but is that good for them? Not really. Formula is deficient in all immunological properties. I then ask the mothers, "Before you changed to formula, was your baby gaining weight well and having plenty of wet diapers and bowel movements?" "Oh, yes," they say. "That was going well." I have come to understand that the reason these moms quit is not that their baby is not growing well or that they did not have enough milk, but because they didn't want to feed as often as the baby needed to eat and felt that by switching to an artificial food, the baby would be "happier" and "more content." Their baby would behave more like TV babies. Their perception was that something was wrong because their babies ate often. Perhaps that feeling was reinforced by "helpful" friends or family members." Nursing All the Time Frequent feedings may be biologically more normal than the three-or four-hour schedule new parents expect http://www.todaysparent.com/article.jsp?content=1266685 "She cites a study done in 2000 that looked at the feeding behaviour of infants aged three to four months in three different communities: families from Washington, DC, the Ba’Aka hunter-gatherers and the Ngandu farmers, both of the Central African Republic. They found that the Ba’Aka babies nursed 4.02 times per hour, the Ngandu babies nursed 2.01 times per hour and the American babies nursed 1.6 times per hour. Certainly the American babies nursed less often than the two African groups, but they nursed more frequently than many new parents expect." Scroll down and there is a picture that shows infant stomach sizes in the beginning: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkcalc.html
9. Milk usually comes in around day 3 or 4. I wouldn't supplement as your body makes milk based on supply and demand. So if your body isn't feeling like the baby needs the milk because he's being satisfied by formula, your body won't make the extra milk. Keep nursing him as often as he appears to need it. A baby's stomach in the first few days is very tiny, like the size of a grape so they do fill up on very little. They just digest it quickly so they need to eat very often ( every 2-3 hours). The other thing to remember is that not every cry means hunger. Often babies cry due to being tired, hot, cold, uncomfortable, wet, overstimulated, etc. Try to see if maybe the other things are causing the crying. I highly recommend avoiding supplementing unless your baby is underweight and Doctors are saying that he really needs the formula. As for the old days, they kept nursing until the baby was full, or they used crazy concoctions like sugar water.
10. Congratulations on your newborn! Breastmilk can come in anywhere between three days and one week after delivery. If you are planning on nursing him, DISCONTINUE THE FORMULA!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot even stress how important it is to discontinue the formula. Breastmilk is made via supply and demand. Your supply will build to meet your baby's demand, and if you are giving your baby formula, he will fill up and not demand your milk... and no demand means you will make less milk. Colostrum is essential for babies. It provides nutrients and antibodies that a newborn baby needs. It may not look for much but it does satisfy a baby's needs. My own sons went straight to the breast and nursed for an hour to two hours after delivery, nursing only on colostrum. Because you have already supplemented with formula, your baby may not be happy going back to colostrum, but this is VERY important because your baby needs those antibodies and nutrients and because his nursing will bring your milk in sooner and in quantities he himself sets. Did they not have a lactation consultant at the hospital where you delivered? If not, please call your OB or your pediatrician and ask for a referral to a lactation consultant. An LC will help you with any nursing questions you will have, will check your holds, will check how well your baby is latching, can check your baby to see if he is tongue tied and unable to nurse efficiently, and can even check your nipples to make sure they are not inverted (and therefore more difficult to latch onto). If a lactation consultant does not live or work in your area or charges too much, please give La Leche League a call. You can find your local chapter at http://www.lalecheleague.org. LLL is an international group that supports and advocates breastfeeding. The leaders of each chapter are highly trained and are usually mothers themselves, and they can do all the things that a lactation consultant can do. My leaders have come to the hospital after delivery to check on my babies' latches, have come to my home to help when my milk came in and my breasts were painfully engorged, were supportive when I nursed my toddlers, etc. As for what they did in "the old days," well, you don't want to go back to "the old days." Medical research, studies, and knowledge have increased so much from generations ago -- not to mention from just 10 or 15 years ago. When I had my oldest son, babies could still have solids at 4 weeks, they could sleep on their tummies, there was no such thing as nipple confusion, and juice was a good thing. Now solids should not be started until 6 months of age (too early = gastric distress, colic, food allergies, and possible later GI conditions like IBS); babies sleep on their backs to prevent SIDS; babies who nurse wait until two months to introduce bottles to prevent nipple confusion; and juice is either extremely diluted and offered at 6 to 8 months or not offered at all. What moms did in the old days was stuff their babies full of cereal-thickened formula served in a bottle (three no-nos right there). You don't want to go that route. Please discotinune the formula, put your baby to the breast often (every 1 1/2 to 2 hours as a newborn), and call an LC or your La Leche League chapter. You might also want chilled cabbage leaves (you put them in your bra to help relieve engorgement -- just crush the spines a little to release the natural chemicals that help); Lansinoh ointment (in the purple tube) to help with nipple conditioning; and something like a Boppy or My Breast Friend nursing pillows to help with positioning. Good luck!
11. I also recommend stopping with the formula feeding - this will actually cause your baby not to drink as much from you as he normally would, which will in turn affect your milk supply making you produce less milk. It is totally normal for your baby to cry after feeding, even for a half and hour. I had a baby 4 weeks ago and he cried for hours no matter how much I nursed him. Eventually he calmed down. Your baby probably just wants to suck. Because you are a new mommy, I would let him suck on your finger or only if you are desperate, use a pacifier (can cause nipple confusion that early). Thankfully my baby did not get nipple confusion after we gave him the binky, but it definitely worked getting him to stop crying so much after feeding. Your milk will come in any day now and nurse him as long as he wants. If he continues to cry afterwards, burp him a lot, change his diaper, hold him, and if he is still crying non-stop, then as a last resort I would try the binky. Try to find a lactation consultant for help ASAP. Good Luck! Oh- and watch what you eat - try not to eat anything to gassy (or chocolate) which will make your baby more irritable after nursing.
12. First, congratulations! Second, I would stop supplementing with formula unless there is a medical reason for this action...(underweight, MD orders, and other issues)...but with a healthy term infant they have tummy's the size of a walnut at first...Colostrum is thick and babies nurse frequently-facilitates bonding and latch...your milk will start coming in about 3-4days post-partum then watch out-you'll have more milk than you know what to do with.... Bottle supplements can just interfere with getting into a rhythm with you newborn...I would HIGHLY suggest talking with your hospital/birthing center's lactation consultant. Take Care!
13. Don't get discouraged..you just had him yesterday! You gotta keep nursing him and your milk will come in in a few days trust me..don't give up ok..your baby needs his milk..I nursed my baby girl for a year and at first I had problems getting her latched on but I never gave up...you'll be fine..congrats on the baby!
14. ur milk will come in in about 2 or 3 days after having the baby he will eat whatever u give him he is to little to know the difference
15. you don't need to give him formula. The colostrum is concentated enough to give him plenty of nutrition. It may get in the way of breastfeeding. Let him nurse as long as he wants to be sure you get enough milk in. if he nurses with nothing coming out, this will bring in more milk.
16. I had the same problem with my daughter, She would suck and then it was like she wasn't getting anough to eat. so we would give her formula and she got used to the bottle so I had to start pumpping it in a bottle because she wouldn't take the breast anymore. Good Luck.