I really want to breastfeed but my mom and sister didn't have any milk. How can I be sure I will have milk?

Answer 1

Sweetie, that is a bit like saying that someone cut you and you did not have any blood. Of course you will have milk! If you give birth, you will have milk! Believe me if there was a way for you NOT to have milk they would do it for mothers who have tragically lost their babies....but milk comes in whether you nurse your baby or not. It is a physiological fact.
You say that you want to breastfeed your baby, that is fantastic! You are showing that you are an intelligent, well informed and loving mother. Nursing your baby will protect him or her against most of the childhood diseases that he could encounter. Just the colosturm alone will provide your baby with antibodies that will protect your newborn against staphyloccus infections, polio virus, cocksackie B virus, infant diarrhea and Escherichia coli infection....the germs that newborns are most susceptible to. Colostrum is what your breasts will produce in late pregnancy and is the perfect, sweet, clear food for your baby. It is all that your little one will need until your milk comes in, in two or three days. Remember that the more you let your baby nurse in those early days the better. Do not be upset if your milk takes an extra day of two to come in. It will be there. Whatever you do, do NOT let someone tell you that your baby needs formula in those early days before your milk comes in! If your baby needed it, your breasts would be making it! What do you think mothers did back in the days before they had that awful artificial goo that they feed babies now? They nursed them. It is what mothers have been doing from the beginning of time and it is the perfect system. The more your baby nurses, the more milk you will have. Do not be afraid to follow your instincts in this department. Since your mother and your sister failed at breastfeeding be very careful of taking any of their advice. I know that they mean well but they lack the experience that you need to benefit from. You will be much better off listening to another mother who has successfully breastfed her babies.
There is no doubt that you will have milk but there are some things you can do to increase your supply. Number one is to let your baby nurse when ever he or she will. The important thing is that you limit the time that you let the baby nurse. I do not want you to end up with sore nipples as that is counterproductive to breastfeeding. I am not sure where you are in your pregnancy but there are things you can be doing now that will help to prevent sore nipples after the baby is born. La Leche League is the best souce of information in the world. They will have a chapter in your town and they even have a website (www.lalecheleague.org). You can trust anything that they tell you. In those first few days go ahead and let your baby nurse as often as she wants to but limit the time to about 5 minutes on each side until your milk comes in. 5 minutes on each side every hour or so is fine but letting your baby nurse longer than that may lead to sore nipples. I know how tempting it is to let the baby nurse all they want to but do remember that sore nipples will make breastfeeding harder. Do not let anyone tell you that you need to wait three or four hours between feedings....you are breastfeeding and that is different than formula fed instructions.
The second thing that is helpful is to drink lots of fluids. You need water to make milk. A good rule of thumb is that when the baby eats and/or drinks, you eat and drink. Even if you just have a small snack like 1/2 of a peanutbutter and jelly sandwich or a yogurt or a piece of fruit.... have something. And, a huge glass of whatever you like to drink. I would not choose soda pop that has caffeine in it, that is not good for you or the baby. Other than that restriction I would say that what ever fluid tastes good to you is fine. Water is perfect if you can drink enough of it. Keep something to drink by your bedside to sip at night also. You will find that you are thirsty, breastfeeding is thristy work.
Number three is, get pleny of rest. I think that Mother Nature in her wisdom made it so you had to sit down and put your feet up to nurse your baby. That way you cannot ask someone else to feed the baby while you go run a load of laundry! You cannot let someone else sit and feed your baby while you vacuum! It is natures way of making sure that YOU rest whle you feed your precious little baby!
Outside of giving your baby life there is nothing as important that you will ever do for him as to breastfeed him. You are giving him a precious gift that no one else can give him. You are supplying him with the immunities that it has taken you a lifetime to accumulate.
A fact that is often over looked is that when you nurse your baby you produce a hormone called oxytocin. It has been nicknamed "the motherlove hormone". When secreted it produces a feeling of euphoria in the mother, a wonderful peaceful, almost sensual feeling. ( it always reminded me of slipping into a warm bubble bath...) Unlike anything that you have ever experienced it creates a bond between you and your sweet baby. Maybe again, it is nature making sure that you and your baby will stay close and connected.
Nursing mothers benefit from the extra rest that they get also. You will not be wasting precious energy running around fixing bottles, sterilizing bottles and making sure that the milk is the right temperature. Your milk is always ready and always the perfect temperature for your baby. Because your baby will not have to wait for that bottle to be fixed while he or she cries and fusses, she will be easily satisfied and will easily fall asleep again. Families of breastfed babies will comment that they do not even know that there is a baby in the house. During those early weeks take lots of naps, snuggle down with your baby and the two of you can sleep and nurse. Change sides and diapers once in awhile and you will be amazed at how well you two will rest.
You can do this! I know you can, so many of us have done so successfully. I had never even seen anyone nurse a baby before my son was born and did not know anyone who had done it. My son was my expert and I learned from him. I nursed all of my babies until they were well over a year old. It is the easiest thing I have ever done and the most rewarding. The bond that is created from breastfeeding is one that will last all their lives. When they get older they will boast with pride, "my mother breastfed me!" You have the gift, it is yours to give. Bless you for being such a wonderful mother. Once you have made the decision to breastfeed there is very little that you can do wrong. The rest will take care of itself!
Love and Blessings
Lady Trinity~

Answer 2

Congratulations on being pregnant (assuming you are!) and well done for deciding to breastfeed. That is the best start you can give your baby. Perfectly designed to nourish your baby until at least 6mths exclusively and even longer.

The three main ingredients for being able to breastfeed are (generally): determination, support and information. You need all three to be able to breastfeed. It is VERY unusual for a woman to NOT have any milk. It's usually a supply/demand issue which is most of the time easily resolved with increased feeds.

Sounds like you've got the determination. I may be wrong but you may not get much support from your mother or sister because they may just assume you can't breastfeed because they didn't. They also may be jealous if you manage to work it out.

Information abounds with your local La Leche League group. They are also wonderful for support. If you're in Australia, the Australian Breastfeeding Association is the best organisation to go to for information and support. Some of their breastfeeding counsellors are also lactation consultants, doctors, midwives etc. and all of them have breastfed at least one baby for at least 9mths. Most of them have also had problems and managed to overcome them.

The best way you can be sure you will have milk is to put your baby to your breast as soon after birth as you can to start learning how to do it. Both you and baby will work it out together. Your body will make milk if your baby is taking milk out. Babies are so much more efficient at milking a breast than a pump is. What you are able to express is not necessarily an indication of how much your baby is receiving or even of how much your milk your body is making.

Your breasts are continually making milk so they will never be 'empty' as such. It's a bit like blood I guess. Your body is continually making blood. If you lose some, it replaces it. This is not the best analogy but you get the idea. Even 20mins after a feed, there will be more milk there for your baby to have another 'feed'. Sometimes it takes 3-4 days to build up your supply if you're having a low supply period.

The first week can be really tough but if you are continually offering your breast every time your baby cries or 3-4hrly (whichever comes first), things should settle down a little. It may take 6wks though for your breasts to really adjust to what your baby needs.

After that, hopefully it will be second nature. Again, contact La Leche League or Australian Breastfeeding Association for any questions you may have or if you need support. They are great!

Answer 3

The most important thing you can do is get educated by knowledgeable people. It is HIGHLY UNLIKELY that your mom and sister 'didn't have any milk.' More likely, they didn't have any good information, or they didn't really want to breastfeed and just used this excuse.

The first few days, the milk is called colostrum and it is very meager indeed, but vitally important to the child. You let your child nurse and nurse, and his/her nursing draws and sustains your supply.

Get in touch with La Leche League and start learning. They are awesome and nonjudgemental and so knowledgable about breastfeeding, which is a wonderful and glorious part of mothering (and of being a little kid.)

Answer 4

usually with most pg women by there 4th or 5th month there breast start producing milk but you wont know about this until they leak or until 3-4 days after the birth of you child. for those who do not produce milk (never heard of that) there is a milk bank from mothers who give there milk so others can use it(check with your hospital). And Lucy why would you suggest beer.

Answer 5

Just becuz they didn't it doesn't mean u won't.Try not to give up cuz the milk can take up to a month to fully come out cuz the beginning part is the stuff that coats there tummy n breast feeding is the best for your child.Keep n open mind that not everyone is the same n u might b the lucky one who will b able to b feed.Congrats on your baby n good luck.

Answer 6

The only way to make enough milk for your baby to be satisfied is to nurse often and drink lots of water and milk. My daughter and I had the same problem while I breastfed her. I just made sure that everytime I sat down to feed her (which was like, every 2-3 hours when she was a newborn) I drank a 8 oz glass of water or milk. The more a baby nurses, the more milk your body makes to satisfy your baby's demand.

Answer 7

You really have to drink lots of water. Stay away from coffee, tea & carbonated drinks (caffeine can make for a wakeful baby & is a diaretic(sp). They say to drink a beer every day. I wouldn't substitute milk for water. I had a friend who's baby ended up allergic to cow's milk because she drank so much while breastfeeding.
Also - talk to the LaLeche people. I think I spelled that right. They will have all the information you need.

Answer 8

Your Body will tell you if your ready, the baby will tell you too. My sister in Law couldn't feed a kitten with her milk flow, Her sister My wife feeds our 8 Month old and her sister's 3 month old. Who knows till your ready to give milk. Good Luck
G'Day

Answer 9

You will not really know until your baby is born. At that point, it is all up to nature. It is unusual for women not to have milk. are you certain that your mother and sister didn't choose to not breast feed?

Answer 10

I highly suggest finding a good Classical Homeopath. Treating the pregnant women treats the fetus to. A good prescriber can help you with the milk ques.