When does your milk come in??
This is a common question that we get with our clients who are concerned about what baby eats while they wait for their milk to come in! BUT the good news is that you already have milk starting day 0! You may even be expressing or leaking milk before your baby is born.
The milk you have the first few days is called Colostrum. This is golden in color and SUPER nutrient-dense. There isn’t a ton of it in the early days because your baby’s tummy is super tiny.
Day 1: Your baby’s belly is the size of a cherry, and they don’t need that much to get full.
I also tell my brand-new parents that their baby just came from a 24-hour buffet, so they are NOT starving at birth.
Your first few nursing sessions will be to help bond with baby, explore this new experience together, and help stimulate the release of your more mature milk in a few days.
This webinar will discuss what to expect in the first few weeks in caring for your newborn, to include different options that are available to you, when to seek additional help, and guiding you in your initial feeding journey.
- 2-hr webinar
- PDF of PowerPoint
- Upcoming Live Webinar & Q&A
- Watch on Mobile Device
Day 3-5: Your more mature milk starts to come in as baby’s belly has grown a bit bigger than day 1!
Baby’s belly is closer to the size of an apricot and can hold a lot more now. Your milk adjusts to be more watery, and the quantity increases pretty significantly. You may find that baby is cluster feeding or feeding what feels like nonstop, and this could cause some soreness at your nipples.
Silverettes can be so helpful to keep nearby the first few weeks, as silver has healing properties and can help heal any nipple damage and soothe any soreness. Silverettes are FDA-registered, and our favorite breastfeeding tool to have on hand postpartum (next to your lactation support phone numbers)! Use code MAMASTEFIT15 for 15% off of a pair of silverettes! (We do NOT receive a commission off of any sales with this code)
Engorgement
When your mature milk comes in around day 3-5, you may find that you experience engorgement!
This is when A LOT of milk comes in really fast, and fills your milk ducts up to max capacity.
Few tips for relief
Baby massages the breast to get milk to come out. Your baby doesn’t suck it out like a straw! So, your baby needs to be able to manipulate your breast tissue with their tongue and mouth to get the milk to come out. If your breast is too full, it can almost feel like a rock and be really challenging for baby to nurse. My tip is to express some milk out (either hand express or use a pump) until your breast is softer and more easily manipulated, then nurse your baby. This will make it MUCH easier for them to nurse and help out with this engorgement.
Do not pump too much! Our milk supply is a supply and demand system; if more milk is taken out, our body will produce more milk to meet this supposed demand. But, if we are “full” all the time, our body will detect that it is making too much build and decrease our supply. So, we don’t want to pump so much that it causes an oversupply, but we do want to pump or hand express a little so that our breast is soft enough for baby to manipulate and get milk out. But, we also don’t want to sit in an engorge state for prolonged periods of time, because it will signal our body to produce less milk! Feeding on demand can be a helpful way to regulate our milk.
Lots of breastpads for what will likely be a lot of leaking! There are a lot of amazing brands out there for both reusable or disposable breastpads to help keep our clothes somewhat dry. You can also check out milk catchers, such as a Haakaa or other brands, that fit into your bra and catch excess milk.
Mixture of heat and cold. Too much heat can cause swelling, but it could also relieve some of the pain. Some cold could help reduce any swelling, so explore which ones feel best for you to find some relief. I found taking a hot shower and expressing some milk to find relief helped me the first few days of engorgement and then feeding on demand.
Some of our favorite lactation support IG pages are:
Goldilacts, AZ Breastfed Babies, Breastfeeding Dietitian, and Lactation Link
If you need support on exclusively pumping (still breastfeeding!) check out Be My Breastfriend.
And if you find that breastfeeding is not your journey, but still need support, check out Formula Mom for her resources on formula feeding.
This mini-course guides you through the first month postpartum as you begin your recovery after birth! This program includes weekly guidance on how to reconnect with your core and pelvic to support your healing.
- Breathing and Core Connection Exercises
- Mobility Exercises to Relieve Common Discomforts
- Gentle Core Exercises
- Watch on Mobile Device