How much Breast Milk should one produce?

[carang]

you should not have ANY "milk" at all for the first 3-5 days! what you produce is called colustrum(sp?). it is VERY thick, and VERY nutritious. around day 3-5 your real milk will "come in". after each of my births, mine came in overnight and i woke up around 3am with rock-hard, very painful boobs. i had to get the baby to feed immediately, or i felt like i'd explode.

once the milk comes in, then you start producing more. no one knows exactly how much milk they produce as you can't pump it all out. some people produce more, some less. what is the MOST IMPORTANT is how your baby is putting on weight. i believe that by day 10, your baby should have gained back enough to reach his/her birth weight.

don't worry about what "other mums" seem to be able to do. that's not important. what is important is that your baby gain the "correct" weight. but even so, remember some babies are naturally bigger and some naturally smaller.

good luck! you are doing a wonderful thing for your baby.

 

[Obiwan]

Thank you girls!

I started introducing the bottle with formula milk for the last feed and she took to it very well, and so far i have had no problem with feeding on the breasts as well. Still hurt, but baby is not rejecting it.

Once I get my pump, I plan to bottle feed her EBM in place of formula for moments when she is still hungry and my nipples are too sore to nurse.

Saw the doctor over the weekend, her weight gain is good, almost back to her birth weight, so that's a load off my shoulder Thank you so much for all your support!

 

[LLL_Sarah]

Dear Obiwan,

If you are still experiencing sore nipples please get help with your positioning. Call myself (2548-75636) or one of the other LLL Leaders (numbers listed at LLL-HK Home Page).

Breastfeeding shouldn't hurt (it might be tender to begin with but it shouldn't be sore). The most common reason for sore nipples is a positioning or latch issue.

Generally we suggest not to introduce bottles or pacifiers until the baby knows exactly how to breastfeed (i.e. when the baby is gaining well and the mother no longer has any pain or worries). This is usually around the four to six weeks. Some babies learn quickly and then the mother can introduce the bottle a little earlier and some babies continue to have problems for a few weeks in which case we'd suggest waiting until the baby has been feeding well for four to six weeks.

It is fine to add different batches of fresh milk together. But you have to date it from the oldest milk. It is also OK to add fresh milk to frozen milk - chill the milk first and only add it in small quantities so that the already frozen milk doesn't thaw as you add the fresh milk. (If you want to use the frozen and fresh milk immediately then it doesn?t matter that the frozen milk thaws.)

However, it is better to use fresh milk if possible and fresh milk will keep up to seven days in the fridge, although three days is recommended.

If you can make it join one of the LLL meetings and then the Leaders can help you face to face. Our next meeting is on Wednesday at the Helena May on Garden Road, Central. The details of the meetings are at LLL-HK Meetings for English speaking meetings and LLL-HK 會議日程 for Cantonese speaking meetings.

The article Why La Leche League, LLL-HK Why LLL , gives a nice description of our meetings and why you might find them helpful.

Best wishes,
SARAH

 

[lilypotter2009]

Go to this website:

kellymom.com :: I'm not pumping enough milk. What can I do?

It is a great resource!!! I've been breastfeeding my first born and have needed a lot of help. For quite a while i thought I was having supply issues, but then after research found out I'm about average! Not only am I average, but I've been thinking that the amount I pump is the amount my baby is getting when nursing, which is totally not the case 99% of the time! Many women can nurse their baby's fine and can't pump at all.

I have been working fulltime since my son was 3 months old. I need to pump three times to get enough for one feeding. I get between 1 and 2 ounces per pumping session from both breasts. Like you, I will get 90% from my left and only 10% from my right, occasionally they will switch and the right will give me 90% of what i pump and the left only 10%. That is more common than you might think!

So, check out this website, I'm sure you'll feel better after doing some research.

Good luck!