[WithChild]

My baby is two weeks old. I have had an abundance of milk until now however in the past 24 hours or so I have noticed I seem to producing less. I am breastfeeding and expressing. During my last time on the pump I only produced 50ml from both breasts (my baby also breast fed for 15-20 mins). It was about three hours between feeds. My question is: if I am not producing much milk via expressing is my baby able to get any more by breastfeeding?Any answers appreciated. Thankyou!

[=R2=]

How much you express is not a surefire indication of how much milk you are making. Go by your baby's nappies plus other indicators you are making enough.

Are your baby's nappies wet and heavy with wee?
Is your baby pooping a lot?
Is he/she gaining weight?
Are they asleep and satisfied after feeds?
Is the inside of their mouth moist and pink?
Is their skin smooth and not dry/cracking?

If you say YES to pretty much all the above then you have enough milk.

Can I ask why you are expressing instead of just putting the baby on the breast on demand?

EFS

This post has been edited by =R2=: 24/12/2012, 07:52 PM

[WithChild]

I am primarily feeding on demand on the breast however there have been a few times baby has had difficulty latching on and I was not going to let her go hungry. The maternity nurses I have spoken to have said this is fine. They are happy with her progress and she is putting on a good amount of weight. Thanks for the reply.

[=R2=]

That's great to hear! I'd like to add that you will not always feel engorged while your breastfeeding especially if your baby is demanding feeds quite frequently. Your milk supply naturally cycles throughout the day (due to hormones) where you have the most milk in the early hours of the morning and drops off a bit in the evening.

Keep working on her attachment and give her plenty of breast time and offer the breast first so she doesn't get dependent on milk flow from the bottle. This will only improve as she grows and her latch gets stronger and you become more confident. Sounds like you're doing a great job so far.

[mavisandjack]

You should fell less full now. Try not to judge your milk production just by the way your breasts feel as it can be misleading.

Good luck! I am sure attachment will improve and you can reduce pumping if you like.

[lucky 2]

Hi WithChild,

I have moved topic to the breast feeding forum.

As pp has said breasts become softer around the 2 week mark especially if baby has been bfing well and adjusting milk production to the level that is needed.
A baby can remove just the right amount of milk required.
The breasts are rarely fully emptied but know that the softer they are, the faster they make more milk!
In general I think avoiding expressing (unless you need to express to give baby extra milk for health (ie poor growth) or social reasons) makes sense because if baby is unsettled after a feed then offer the breast again, continuing to switch side to side, baby will keep stimulating further let downs and take more milk this way and this is what bumps up milk production.
The way to know your baby is getting enough milk is as pp above has said, looking at nappies and growth.
Babies usuallly settle after most feeds but have one or two periods of unsettledness per each 24 hr period.
At 2 weeks old unsettledness is usually at night or in the evening.
All the best.

[lozzylots]

Express if you have to - that's totally your business and wish more people had told me that in the early weeks, it would have saved me a lot of anxiety over it.

To answer your original question, yes - your bubs is much more efficient than a pump and can definitely get more than you can express. Her weight gain seems to be a good indicator of that. All the best with feeding however you can or choose to, it sounds like you're doing a great job