Breast Feeding???

Question

My daughter-in-law has had a baby 2days ago. She is in tears as her breasts are full and sore and no milk is coming out to feed baby. What can she do to relieve her and let her milk run and to avoid fever??? I'm desperate for a good answer as she is thousands of miles away. Only concerned people must answer please, time is of the essence. Thank you.

Answer 1

engorgement can prevent milk from flowing easily... warm almost hot showers, breast massage usually work best... if she has a pump to relieve the firmness and pressure and then let baby latch on once she's softer.

Here area few links to help w/ these early days of breastfeeding:......... oops forgot to add the link, sorry!! here it is: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/newborn-nursing.html

specifically on engorgement: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mom/engorgement.html
also contact this group in addition to reading this article: http://www.llli.org/FAQ/engorgement.html
for local info: http://www.llli.org/webindex.html
or call 18774LALECHE for local leader info, she'll get a leader's phone number in her area who she can speak to and possibly meet with, they're trained to help!!

Answer 2

Her milk should be letting down by now. I breast feed 3 kids for a total of 42 month all together so I guess I know a thing or two about breast feeding. I would tell her to go either rent or buy a Breast pump, a good one, not some cheep piece of junk, those do not have the correct suction to help. Also, tell her to try pumping when the baby is crying, that usually helps. If all else fails, call the hospital for a lactation specialist. Is she trying to feed the baby? She needs to get the correct position, for the baby to latch on as well, make sure she knows these things.. The latter could be the problem. The best way is to lay on your side on the bed, and position the baby next to you so the mouth is right at the nipple, and then when the baby opens it's mouth put your nipple in, don't get nervous or frustrated, the baby will get agitated too.. just stay calm and tell her to keep trying... good luck, I remember my first one.. (now 15), I had a hard time too, and my mom was a thousand miles away!

Answer 3

ok first of congratulations on becoming a granny!! Secondly, your breast milk doesnt not usually come in fully until the fourth day, and she will know when this happens because her breasts will be huge when she wakes up!!!! They will also be harder too. Breastfeeding can be really tough and this is best to keep in mind because not every woman can do it. thats not to say its impossible!! The soreness can often be put down to bad positioning and for this she needs to make sure that the baby has a good mouthful of her breast and not just the nipple because this will make her nipples crack and become sore. She should make sure the midwife shows her clearly how to position the baby the next time she sees her (in the uk it is 10 days after the birth she does home visits for) otherwise make an appointment with her breastfeeding assistant/expert asap. If it is just too sore until the milk comes in i would suggest formula for a break even if its just a couple of feeds and remain with the breast at other times, just until the milk comes in.

Answer 4

Does she have a midwife or other support she can get locally? It is horrible to feel so isolated at such a stressful time.

She could try expressing a little. I have no personal experience of breast feeding but I understand that it is often related to the way the baby latches on. If the baby isn't get it's mouth round the whole nipple, it is impossible for it to get the milk.

She may have some numbers to call for help and advice locally. If someone can see her breast feeding one to one, they may be able to identify any problem.

She may also be a little depressed after the birth and she should really talk to someone about that too. Baby blues and post natal depression is very common and she should also talk to someone about this if she is very tearful.

I hope things work out for her soon. It must be really tough to be so far away from her when you really want to help. Just being a voice on the phone and talking to her will probably be a great help. remind her that it doesn't make her a bad mother or failure if she can't/doesn't want to breast feed.

Answer 5

If the baby is only two days old, her milk is just starting to come in and therfore the baby is probably still having trouble latching on correctly. Is she planning to breastfeed? If the baby is latched on correctly, her milk will probably come out faster than the baby can drink it, as she is so full :- ) It is a really painful time and really the only thing she can do is use a breastpump to extract the milk to relieve herself. This milk can be pumped into a bottle and bottlefed to the baby also or freeze it (but be aware that if she plans to breastfeed this could hinder the baby learning to correctly latch on). Sometimes it is necessary to pump first to relieve the engorgement before the baby can latch on, she may be too "hard" for the baby to latch on. Other methods that could help her engorgement are to take a hot shower (or put hot wash clothes or heating pad) on her chest, the heat will help some of the pain. It is also safe for her to take Tylenol whether she is breastfeeding or not to relieve the pain. I know it stinks but if she does not plan on breastfeeding basically she just has to "wait it out" as her milk will dry up eventually (maybe two weeks) because if she keeps pumping to relieve herself, her body will keep producing milk.

Answer 6

Consult the health visitor or other health professional. Maybe the baby isn't latching on properly and so her breasts are full of milk. You don't say whether the baby is screaming with hunger? Expressing the milk into a sterile bowl or just expressing and throwing it away, to relieve the fullness.

I hope you daughter-in-law manages to get over these problems because breast really is best, both for mother and baby.

Answer 7

milk usually comes in at 3-7 days - it is colostrum that is what's feeding the baby till then.

However, if she does feel it has come in already, she needs to check baby's latch is correct with a lactation consultant as inaccurate latch will mean baby can't suck and feed properly. Once this is established, she just needs to nurse, nurse, nurse as often as baby wants and will. It is frequent nursing that teaches mum and baby how breastfeeding works, and how supply regulates and how it all settles down eventually.

If the milk is slow to let down, you can prepare your boobs first with hot flannels, or shower, or feed baby in the bath.

Make sure she is fully relaxed before feeding - comfortable, with straight back and feet up, with a glass of water and the telly or radio on and phone nearby, perhaps.

If her breasts are too full, baby's latch can sometimes be tricky as the nipple is too flat and hard, so expressing/pumping first can help to relieve that fullness.

Hope this helps for now - good luck to her and congratulations to the new mum and grandmum!!


* * * also meant to have said - some people try to pump/express and think that what they produce is indicative of what baby is getting - it isn't. Baby will get much more than a pump can get. Listen for baby swallowing - small exhalations after each suck - to guage how much baby is drinking. When I first started feeding my second baby, I could express nothing. But she was guzzling away! :-) * * *

Answer 8

Same thing happened to me when I had my daughter. Breastfeeding just didn't work for us and after a while she couldn't latch on because the milk duds had swollen that much. Its very painful and it only gets worst until something is done. She needs to take a hot shower and massage/squeeze her breasts to release the milk. Also, they told me to use cabbage leaves if you can believe that and you wrap your breasts with them. She needs to keep that on until the milk is released. If she does this and use a breast pump it should help even if the milk doesn't go to the baby. Its just another way of letting go of that extra milk. Also, try and get some Propel water and she has to drinks lots of it. That releases a lot of fluids which helped too.

Answer 9

Try putting a warm compress on each breast. It will help with the pain a little and ease the milk out. If the baby is still not getting enough, think about a small supplement of formula. Unfortunately it is very normal to be experiencing a lot of pain during these few days. I also recommend the ointment for nipples to aid with cracking and bleeding. Good luck to her and tell her to hang in there. It will be worth it in a few days.

Answer 10

Since time is of the essence I would recommend a hot shower or warm compresses and expressing some of the milk either by hand. Or if she has it by pump. She should call a lactation consultant, they can be most helpful. If she doesn't have the number her obgyn should and at last resort the phone book. This is a link for hand expression. Take heart the milk will come out.

http://www.lactationinstitute.org/MANUALEX.html

Answer 11

She could try standing under the shower and kinda massaging her breasts, this should start milk flow and get rid of a bit of milk to make her more comfortable for her to calm down and try to have a bash at breastfeeding. It is very difficult for most people and isn't one of those things that come really easy to a lot of us but perseverence. The thing to say also, is that if it doesn't work it doesn't matter and not to get upset about that. That's a long way down the road though as hopefully this should help and get them both feeding well. Hope this helps.