Can I pump my colostrum? I had him 2 days ago and he doesn't latch on to my boobs for a long time or he falls asleep. I just want to make sure he's being fed enough. Also how long did it take for your milk to come in?
I agree with above, colostrum is just enough and VERY high in nutrients to fill your baby in the first days of life. Your baby's tummy is very tiny right now, and will grow a lot in the first month to the size of a large egg! Right now just a tiny bit is perfect. For best results, feed the baby on demand, at the breast. That means latch the baby any time he wakes up and wants it. If he falls asleep that's fine. Newborns sleep A LOT, and of his doctor never gave you special instructions to keep him up or wake him for feeds then it's fine, he's getting plenty. Expect some weight loss by his 3 day appointment, it's completely normal! Colostrum is high in nutrients but not really fatty, this is why babies put on all that extra weight in the last weeks of pregnancy, so they have fat stores. Somewhere between 2 to 5 days, sometimes a lil longer, your milk will come in, if you hand express a little you'll notice it goes from the sticky, clearish yellow colostrum to a more yellow color and eventually more white, kinda blueish tinged color, which you know is regular milk. If you don't express any, which you don't need to do, you'll notice the difference when your breasts feel "full", kind of hard or firm between feeds. This is called engorgement, and the best way to relieve discomfort from that is to simply feed the baby often, and on demand. Most newborns will eat every 1 to 3 hours, especially breastfed babies because breast milk is designed to digest quickly and supply the baby with lots of nutrients and antibodies and much more. It is the perfect food, it grows and changes with them based on information that is passed between mother and baby when the baby latches on (the suction of latching and suckling the breast "back washes" some saliva from the baby into the breast where it is then analysed by the mother's body and altered to fit baby's needs)! It truly is amazing. Hard sometimes, but amazing and worth it! If you can manage to keep going past the 6 week mark, you will notice sometime around then that you won't feel engorged very often anymore, this is totally normal and just means your supply is evening out to your baby's needs 😊 one more thing...the reason I say it is absolutely best to latch baby at the breast for every feed (for at least the first 6 weeks until your supply is established), is because NO pump is EVER as good as the baby's power to suck and empty the breast! And because breast milk is supply and demand, that means that the more your breasts are emptied, the more they get the signal to keep producing to match the needs of your baby! Also, if you introduce bottles too soon, your baby could get nipple confusion and either not know how to latch anymore or simply not want to because the bottle lets fluids out more quickly and they get lazy lol if you have any questions, please message me! I try to help out and educated about breastfeeding when and where I can 😄 I myself have done a lot of research on the subject because I was DETERMINED to succeed, and so far have been exclusively breastfeeding my daughter for 7 whole months! Officially on the 24th lol
Yes, what @tahtahme said. Remember your baby's tummy is tiny. If he is crying a lot it might be that he is just begging to recognize that he is not in your belly anymore. All this new things,