Milk Hasn't Come In

I rented the hospital grade pump and used it for two weeks and my milk never came in. Towards the last two days I decided to just give up it seemed to come in but, in only one breast and I couldn't get more than 1 oz after 15 minutes of pumping.

If by chance she has breast implants they may hinder milk production.

Lori, Is this baby losing weight? Has she contacted her midwife? I would recommend a board certified lactation consultant. Is she sure the milk hasn't come in? Is the baby peeing and pooping? Is the poop changing?

If you have any questions call me at ###-###-####
M.

just an fyi... mine never showed up, and i found out that i was wasn't supplying my son with enough food... things just happen... i pumped for over a month thinking that it would show up.. but didn't
I also had several lactation consultants try and figure it out..

Don't beat yourself up over it... sometimes your body just doesn't play nice... my son is a healthy handful at 15 mos - and his numbers are right on track - except he is short like his mom.. :0) maybe next time, but it isn't anything she should feel down about...

stace

I did not have that specific problem, but I did have a problem making any good amount. I just kept trying and supplimenting with a bottle. I think that sometimes some people are just different. it was a very difficult time and I felt really guilty, and less of a mom because everyone else was able to get better results and I felt like something was wrong with me. So hopefully she knows that NOT all women are perfect breast feeding machines. I have heard that a good breast pump can work (not for me) make sure she is not using one she got from a baby store, typically those are not as good as the rentals that hospitals might have.

I was unable to breast feed my first child due to the same problem. It seemed thoughas sonn as I gave up and gave her formula my milk burst right into high gear. Maybe she could try to rest for a day or so and see what happens. I unfortunately never went back to it when mine came in I was too flustered by then. Good luck.

Hello L.,
I'm sorry to hear about your cousin. My milk never came in either, with either child. The first time was really hard, I did the "why me" things. However, my children are now (almost) 2 & 3 and doing great. They have never been sick in their lives. I came to realize (with help from my family) that I am a great mother who is was "meant" to be a mother.
Milk or no milk has never made me the mother I am today.
Hope this helps!
N.

If she has colostrum that'd be a good start, but I'd still reccomend she'd talk to a lactation consultant at the hospital. I know there are some drugs she can take to help her body along. They usually give them to mother's who used a serrogate (sp?). I'm sure there are some herbs out there as well, like fenugeek (sp?). Sorry I'm not the greatist speller. Best of luck to her and tell her not to give up.

I agree with the mommy who is telling you that if the baby is peeing pooping and thriving ok then everything else is ok. Just to confirm not all women will leak and get engorged and so forth. It is actually very rare for a woman not to supply enough milk or to not supply any at all. I also recommend for her to call a lactation consultant ASAP. I personally love Mary from Baby Mothers & More you can reach her at www.milksmile.com But she is located in the East Valley. I just wish her well and hope she is not that small percentage of women who are not supplying enough. Keep us up to date and God bless.

I have actually heard of this happening. My sister in law never got her milk to come in and she tried for almost a month. I don't mean to be nosey, but is your cousin overweight or does she have a known thyroid problem? It is common for some women to develop a thyroid problem after pregnancy and this will prevent a woman from lactating. I had a little trouble getting my milk to come in and my son wasn't latching on properly, but I just would lay down with my son and RELAX. Tell her to make sure it's quiet and not to focus on whether or not the baby is getting enough milk, but whether or not she is comfortable and relaxed. I would also definitely contact a lactation consultant. They helped me with both of my children and it was definitely worth the money. I was able to nurse one child for 15 months and the other for 20 months. Tell her to stay strong and to not give up. Be positive and supportive towards her and encourage her to keep trying.

First off there may not be a problem. I have seen a few moms freak out about having "NO" milk just because they didn't experience engourgemnt (full, hard, sore etc.) Which truely is not normal. Or they don't feel the milk let-down. (some do, some don't) There are things to look for ... pooping & peeing, swallowing etc.

The first thing she needs to do is get in touch with a IBCLC International Board Certified Lactation Consultant!!! I can not stress this enough!!! I would recomend she call Doris Christiansen ###-###-#### (if even just to talk to her) If she has PCOS, a pituitary or thyroid problem, breast surgeries, a retained peice of placenta, or she is taking certain medications these can all effect milk production. I would be inclined to think it was one of those partly because she had a tough time getting pregnant. This does not mean she can not supply SOME breast milk. Some is always better than none.

There are lots of options, supplemental nursing systems, herbs to increase supply, breast pumping with a GOOD pump etc.

Just keep encouraging her. She is lucky to have you to support her! She can call me is she'd like. I am a lactation consultant, but not internationally board certified (yet). www.everymotherandchild.com

My milk took 5 days to come in. A big part of the delay was my C/S and stress. I had a very difficult time keeping up with my daughter and I pumped in between feedings to increase my supply. I would recommend having her call Baby Mother and More in Mesa for help...stay away from La Leche, they confused me and frustrated me so much. Lots of conflicting info out there. I was also told to use Fenugreek and Thyme, this only created more issues for my daughter. It gave her a lot of gas. I drank a tun of water and pumped often. Also, if the baby isn't latching right it can slow down the milk supply...so she may want to rent a hospital grade pump.

Lastly, I do have a friend whose milk never came in. She was cracked and bleeding from improper latch and was extremely stressed. It just didn't work well for her.

Try this AMAZING service offered throught Scottsdale Shea Hospital talk with a Lactation Nurse RN by contacting the Comfort Line @ ###-###-#### it is an answering service leave a message and they will get back to you today (there is no charge).
GOOD LUCK!!

It didn't happen with my first son...since I had bicornuate uterus which clamped down on the placenta splitting it into 2, caused postpartum hemmorhage, blood transfusion, iron pills for 3 months and 2 HIV testings which both came out negative. During the 4 days I tried, I had no colostrum, I tried pumping, my mom fed me a bunch of Chinese foods and tonics and yet, it didn't help but helped me lose the 32lbs I gained in 6 weeks. It turns out I didn't know that it could have came in 5 days later. But both lactation consultants were not so nice and one even told me that if it didn't happen in 4 days it wouldn't happen at all. So, I gave up after that.

I'm due to have another baby boy August 12th, actually took a breastfeeding class this time, and bought a book, and hopefully it will happen this time around.

I've discussed it with my ob practice since anyone of the docs there are on-call, and they will check my birth plan, and make sure I get some sort of medication to stop the blood clotting and hopefully not have to get a blood transfusion afterwards. Because if anythiing, all the medication, IV, etc that I endured may have prevented breastfeeeding besides the mental and physical part of it for me.

All I can think is, she should try pumping if she hasn't yet. Sometimes the baby isn't quite hungry enough to stimulate that milk production. I am so happy with my medela double breast pump that I prefer that to nursing now! And his daddy's so happy to be able to feed him and bond with him, too.

I have heard of that happening, it happened to my mom actually. Is she supplementing with formula? I would tell her to call local la leche league for any advice on getting that milk to come in and get a weight check on her baby to make sure its ok.. if it doesn't come in real soon she is probably going to need to call it a day and formula feed. Poor thing- remind her that sometimes this just happens and what a rock star she is for trying so hard.

My milk took a long time to come in, so long that I did have to supplement with formula to make sure my little guy was getting the calories he needed. I'm happy to say that now he's nearly six months old and we're quite successful at breastfeeding!

There are a number of herbs that are recommended for nursing moms - fenugreek and blessed thistle are two. There's a great tea called Mother's Milk that I drank for a long time. Drinking beer and eating oatmeal are supposed to help. And if your cousin is still having problems, she could call her doctor and be put on reglan. Most of all, she needs to find ways to relax. Getting stressed is probably the worst thing she can do to her milk production.

Good luck to her!!