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My milk didn't come in until 6 days PP. I drank Mother's Milk Tea and pumped after every nursing session (every 2-3 hours). We also had to supplement with formula b/c L lost so much weight during her first week I would continue with nursing and pumping as much as you can... hopefully your milk will come in tomorrow!

Mine, unfortunately, never did. It was due to a medical complication though.

Mine came in on the 3rd day. I don't think there were any signs beforehand though I knew I was making at least a little colostrum though because if I squeezed you could see a bit of milk.

Gave birth Thursday morning and my milk was in Monday morning. I could squirt a little colostrum in the hospital so I knew he was getting something and I even pumped an ounce of colostrum on Saturday. But, since he was low birth weight and lost 10% of his weight on discharge from the hospital, we supplemented with formula (and with whatever I could pump after a feeding) until my milk came in and probably for the first week or so.

Mine was about the 4th day. Luckily I had a pro-breastfeeding pediatrician and nurses who did not suggest supplementing, even though she was still losing weight. On the day my milk came in, they wanted her to gain a half ounce overnight. She gained 5!! Milk can take up to 5 days to come in, and your babies belly is growing everyday, too! Good luck to you and congratulations on Elliot's birth!

Are you pumping at all? I'm convinced the nurse I had in the hospital is the only reason I was successful at BFing. She really worked with me to get my milk production going, although I don't really remember the exact day it did. I think it was the 3rd or 4th day? She had me nurse for as long as LO would suck, and then pump for 20 minutes after each nursing session. It wasn't much fun, but it worked. I didn't feel like she was getting anything when she nursed either, but I was able to get some colostrum out when I pumped, so I felt better knowing I was at least producing something.

She also worked with me to use a little tubing system thing (I think it was called SNS) where I could put formula or pumped breast milk in a small bottle, and it ran through a tiny tube and sat under a nipple shield beside my actual nipple so that baby would still get the hang of nursing, get milk from the supplemental system, all while the sucking stimulated my body to produce more milk. It was a hassle to work with, but it was nice knowing how much LO was eating, and good practice for BFing

4th day with Charlie even though it was a c section. Olive maybe 6 days? even though it was a vbac. I'm not sure when it came in because I was producing soooooo much colostrum from pumping from day 1. Pumping definitely helped! Olive had to stay in the hospital an extra 5 days and she was in the warmer a lot, so I had to pump.

I knew it was colostrum vs milk because if was so dark!

4th day for me, hang in there it will come!

@running elley - sorry you are having a tough time with your milk! I'm a NICU nurse, so I give tons of breastfeeding advice... this is what I would tell new mums in our unit...

I would breastfeed longer than 10 minutes a side. Remember that that amount of milk you supply is based on demand. I would put him to the breast at least 15 minutes/side. Also, nurse him at least every 2-3 hours (wake him up if you have to at the 3-hour mark) so he is stimulating your breasts often. Count the 3 hours from the start of one feed to the start of the next.

Also, have you thought about renting a pump and trying to pump after you put him to the breast? (maybe your husband could top him up with formula while you pump?) Pumping for ~5-10 minutes after you feed will help stimulate your breasts too.

Have you heard of medications like domperidone or herbs like blessed thistle and fenugreek? They work quite well.

Remember, your son is only 3 days old. It is not unusual for babies to lose weight for the first week of life. So don't worry too much that he's losing weight...

Good luck! And PM me if you want

@running elley - just wrote you back!

5 days with the first, 4 days with the second. My friend was going insane and was convinced she'd never have milk... her milk came in on day 10 and has always had plenty. Her OB told her not to worry... one of her patients had her milk come in on day 21!

Both LO and I had IVs and had antibiotics for 4 days due to a fever/infection during my labor...she lost too much weight bc my milk didn't come in until about day 7...LO's pediatrician told is to:

-feed LO every 2 hours
-nurse on each side for at least 10 minutes and then pump 15 minutes each side
-supplement with formula or pumped breastmilk

I think we only has to use formula for less than a day (maybe for 5 feeding before we had enough to feed her with what I was pumping.

We did end up syringe feeding her bc she started fighting the breast after getting bottles and her pediatrician didn't want her to keep resisting the breast.

Good luck and hang in there!

LO was born Thursday evening and my milk came in Monday morning. I never leaked at all through pregnancy and wasn't even sure she was getting colostrum (she was, but it certainly didn't feel like it whilst feeding!) I didn't pump and never supplemented and DD was fine. She didn't end up getting back to her birth weight until two weeks after birth but our GP wasn't worried.

Also, as someone else mentioned, feeding for a longer period of time is key; DD would feed for about 30 minutes at a time each feed. It was killer on the boobs (they were SO sore) but I think that really stimulated the milk production. Also, we had issues with her latching on to one side so a LC in the hospital spent a good 45 minutes with us getting her to latch on correctly, and I really think that made a world of difference.

Hang in there, your milk will come and once it does, Elliot will be packing on the weight in no time!

72 hours on the dot! I didn't pump, but let LO nurse as long as she'd suck about every 2 hours or so. I tried to get as much rest as I could and kept hydrated.

Gosh, that sure seems awfully early to start supplementing. My Pediatrician had me add in formula after she had two return visits and wasn't gaining enough weight. It took some time for my milk to come in, as well. I would get an appointment with a lactation consultant ASAP! They are just wonderful and can help you understand what's going on with your body and how much fluid your lo is getting from you.

Also, if you invest in a scale, you can weight her before and after feedings to see how much she got from you. We did that for a while and it totally eased my fears and worries.

@Running Elley: awww I'm sooo happy to hear that it's going better! Yay!! Come on Elliott - you can do it!!

@Running Elley: That is great news!

Yay, glad your milk came in!