Milk not coming in? The importance of pumping

All pregnant women who want to breastfeed should have a pump before they give birth. Full stop. No negotiations.

It does not have to be a fancy branded electric pump, if all you can really get is a manual pump (new, borrowed, used, doesn't matter) then get one. In fact for me the manual pump got more milk out. Yes yes you can hand express, but that will really take a lot of time and patience which you DO NOT HAVE when you have a newborn.

Since I had such a medicalized birth (c-section, induced labor, epidural, da works) it took probably a full week before my milk came in in any real volume. I had colostrum only for a week and had no idea. The only reason I found out that my milk had not come in yet was at my baby's first week checkup with the pedia his weight had dropped significantly (insert mom meltdown and hysterical fear here). At that point I desperately wanted to supplement with formula but my doctor said wait a week, make sure I nurse as often as I can and in between, pump and feed expressed milk.

So I did that. I was attached to the pump between feedings for a full week almost every hour. Eventually the milk came, then the problem became too much milk (that's a different post). Pumping as often as you can is so incredibly important during the first two months as you establish your milk supply. Even if you do end up deciding to supplement, you can still move to exclusive breastfeeding eventually if you pump religiously at least every 2 hours (even at night) and every time the baby takes a bottle of formula.

When pumping, pump until nothing comes out and then keep pumping for another few minutes before stopping. Also, squeeze your boob and massage from the outside in while pumping, Piga-in ng husto! It will be frustrating seeing 1 ounce of milk after half an hour of pumping but this is normal, eventually you will get more.

I am lucky that my pedia held out on the formula and my baby at 7 months has not had a single drop. However for some moms it REALLY can get scary when baby is not gaining weight or is losing weight so I understand the instinct to grab the can. What is important to know is that even if you supplement, you can still move to exclusive breastfeeding when you have enough milk. and that pumping and nursing are the most important things you can do to bring your milk in. The more you pump and nurse, the more milk you have.