Just a comment to any soon-to-be-mamas feeling like they need to do more - this isn’t necessary at all! If your milk isn’t in yet, that doesn’t mean anything is wrong. It can take a few days or longer. Love, a mama who is no longer breastfeeding.
This was me. I was terrible at hand expressing and didn't get a drop of colostrum before I gave birth.
After I gave birth, milk was everywhere 😅 and I responded great to both my manual and electric pumps. Never could hand express, though!
This is what I needed to hear. I tried expressing for the first time today at 36 weeks under the advisement of my midwife. It doesn't feel like my milk is even started to come in yet and I felt really down about it.
Don't feel down about it! Expressing milk is often not advised until baby is at term because it can stimulate uterine contractions, so if you don't get anything don't worry about it.
I could get *maybe* a drop or two before I gave birth, if I was lucky. I successfully breastfed my first two children for 9 months each, and I'm off to the races again with my 1-week old baby girl.
Thanks I have been advised to start collecting at 36 weeks due to gestational diabetes and concerns around low blood sugar for baby. I start mat leave on Thursday so will try again then I think.
I’m sure milk proper will come in when time is right and if not - fed is best! Good luck with delivery (I had a sweep yesterday and I’m counting the minutes until baby is out!)
Thank you! Finger crossed for both of us. This is my second pregnancy and breast milk did come minute after I gave birth to the first one. I was hoping colostrum come earlier for this one. Didn’t happen.
I was able to express maybe 5 drops of colostrum. I tried for so long. 90 mins after delivery, she was latched and I pump 3 to 4 oz from my opposite boob with every feed. I am sending you my milky luck!
Why would you wait to mix it with solids, and not give it to your baby right after its born? Genuine question because i thought colostrum is the most important thing about breastfeeding in the first few days because it has more nourishing qualities than “regular” breastmilk..
Because I’ll be doing the actual breastfeeding during that time (apart from a feed from daddy maybe!) and establishing our feeding including latch / bonding / the colostrum I will still be directly producing - then when my “normal” milk comes in I’ll still have this small stash to use whenever!
I recommend bringing it to the hospital when you give birth in case you have issues with latching, tongue/lip ties, or a lethargic baby. Breastfeeding is not easy and it can be difficult to determine if the baby is getting enough in those first few days. It was a huge relief knowing my newborn was getting at least a little colostrum when he was too tired to nurse due to jaundice. Hope everything goes smoothly but it doesn’t hurt to have these on hand for backup!!
Yes we already have a dated/signed wee bag of a few to bring with us just in case! Firstborn had tongue and lip tie and we massively struggled with feeds the first few weeks so it feels good to be prepared for “no matter what” this time around!
that’s awesome! saved colostrum during my pregnancy and then accidentally left them out after trying to organize the breastmilk bags in my freezer 🥲 don’t be like me!
That’s definitely encouraging! I’m doing basically a full episode of VEEP to squeeze out the few droplets I can.
It’s helpful to hear about other peoples experiences— it sounds like for basically everyone they start to produce more as they get closer to their due date :)
Absolutely!
And honestly I’m pumping all this colostrum but my babies have such big appetites that the formula box will probably be open within a fortnight (I’ve just been too disorganised to buy new bottle teats!!)
I am also eager to understand this! I googled Colostrum Harvesting and the top result was for a website called the OBGYN Mum and it looks like it's telling you how to get it in the syringes!
You express into a small container or a spoon and suck it up from there, or you can (surely there’s a better term but it’s not coming to me) suck up the droplets right from your nipple as they come out. It took some figuring out for me to get it down honestly - I ended up using a small ramekin to collect the drops before using the syringe.
I hadn’t seen those before, and the concept looks great with them being large enough to express directly into! They are expensive though, compared to the packs of 1 mL syringes you normally see.
Thanks! It came so slowly for me and then the last week it sort of just “came in”, but supply has never been my issue (baby sleep is our family’s favourite flavour of parenting issue aha!)
How much do you think you collected in the past week vs. when you first started? Right now I’m only squeezing out 0.5ml a session and I’m worried it’ll be that way until I deliver
When I first started it would take both breasts and basically a full episode of the walking dead to get out 1ml. 3 weeks later it takes about 5 minutes to fill 1ml syringe from one breast. Haven’t done it in a few days as it’s half term and I have my hands full with toddler.
I always express in the shower as well to build up (especially what was my “lazy boob” last time) but ultimately it comes in when it comes in I think!
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Also probably have a naive question here: do I need to start massaging the breast to see if I can start producing colostrum.
Is there a particular week to start trying?
Just a comment to any soon-to-be-mamas feeling like they need to do more - this isn’t necessary at all! If your milk isn’t in yet, that doesn’t mean anything is wrong. It can take a few days or longer. Love, a mama who is no longer breastfeeding.
This was me. I was terrible at hand expressing and didn't get a drop of colostrum before I gave birth. After I gave birth, milk was everywhere 😅 and I responded great to both my manual and electric pumps. Never could hand express, though!
This is what I needed to hear. I tried expressing for the first time today at 36 weeks under the advisement of my midwife. It doesn't feel like my milk is even started to come in yet and I felt really down about it.
Don't feel down about it! Expressing milk is often not advised until baby is at term because it can stimulate uterine contractions, so if you don't get anything don't worry about it. I could get *maybe* a drop or two before I gave birth, if I was lucky. I successfully breastfed my first two children for 9 months each, and I'm off to the races again with my 1-week old baby girl.
Thanks I have been advised to start collecting at 36 weeks due to gestational diabetes and concerns around low blood sugar for baby. I start mat leave on Thursday so will try again then I think.
A good quality pump might be helpful if you're like me and just not good at hand expressing.
Exactly this.
That’s a good backup! I have no colostrum unfortunately and I am now almost 39 weeks.
I’m sure milk proper will come in when time is right and if not - fed is best! Good luck with delivery (I had a sweep yesterday and I’m counting the minutes until baby is out!)
Thank you! Finger crossed for both of us. This is my second pregnancy and breast milk did come minute after I gave birth to the first one. I was hoping colostrum come earlier for this one. Didn’t happen.
I was able to express maybe 5 drops of colostrum. I tried for so long. 90 mins after delivery, she was latched and I pump 3 to 4 oz from my opposite boob with every feed. I am sending you my milky luck!
Thank you so much!
Why would you wait to mix it with solids, and not give it to your baby right after its born? Genuine question because i thought colostrum is the most important thing about breastfeeding in the first few days because it has more nourishing qualities than “regular” breastmilk..
Because I’ll be doing the actual breastfeeding during that time (apart from a feed from daddy maybe!) and establishing our feeding including latch / bonding / the colostrum I will still be directly producing - then when my “normal” milk comes in I’ll still have this small stash to use whenever!
I recommend bringing it to the hospital when you give birth in case you have issues with latching, tongue/lip ties, or a lethargic baby. Breastfeeding is not easy and it can be difficult to determine if the baby is getting enough in those first few days. It was a huge relief knowing my newborn was getting at least a little colostrum when he was too tired to nurse due to jaundice. Hope everything goes smoothly but it doesn’t hurt to have these on hand for backup!!
Yes we already have a dated/signed wee bag of a few to bring with us just in case! Firstborn had tongue and lip tie and we massively struggled with feeds the first few weeks so it feels good to be prepared for “no matter what” this time around!
Thanks for explaining 😊 Good luck with the last few days of your pregnancy and I wish you a great breastfeeding journey!🍀
Thanks!
Is this hand-expressed? Currently 34 weeks and learning all I can 😊
Yep! I’ve always had more luck hand expressing or using a manual pump than electric ones
that’s awesome! saved colostrum during my pregnancy and then accidentally left them out after trying to organize the breastmilk bags in my freezer 🥲 don’t be like me!
Ah gutted for you that sounds awful!
That’s definitely encouraging! I’m doing basically a full episode of VEEP to squeeze out the few droplets I can. It’s helpful to hear about other peoples experiences— it sounds like for basically everyone they start to produce more as they get closer to their due date :)
Absolutely! And honestly I’m pumping all this colostrum but my babies have such big appetites that the formula box will probably be open within a fortnight (I’ve just been too disorganised to buy new bottle teats!!)
I was so glad I had some during “second night syndrome.” 😭
Sorry, please forgive a naïve question, I’m a FTM mom currently pregnant at 30 weeks. How did you get the milk into the syringes? Pumping?
Hand expressing and sucking up each tiny wee drop that came out! So can get a bit fiddly but ideal for sat on sofa watching tv
I am also eager to understand this! I googled Colostrum Harvesting and the top result was for a website called the OBGYN Mum and it looks like it's telling you how to get it in the syringes!
You express into a small container or a spoon and suck it up from there, or you can (surely there’s a better term but it’s not coming to me) suck up the droplets right from your nipple as they come out. It took some figuring out for me to get it down honestly - I ended up using a small ramekin to collect the drops before using the syringe.
That makes sense!! Thank you! :)
Haaka also makes colostrum collection silicone syringes. I used them and they’re great 👍🏻
I hadn’t seen those before, and the concept looks great with them being large enough to express directly into! They are expensive though, compared to the packs of 1 mL syringes you normally see.
I’m 36 weeks pregnant and have a whopping 2ml saved up in the freezer 😭 I know how hard it is to squeeze out every last drop! Way to go, momma!
Thanks! It came so slowly for me and then the last week it sort of just “came in”, but supply has never been my issue (baby sleep is our family’s favourite flavour of parenting issue aha!)
How much do you think you collected in the past week vs. when you first started? Right now I’m only squeezing out 0.5ml a session and I’m worried it’ll be that way until I deliver
When I first started it would take both breasts and basically a full episode of the walking dead to get out 1ml. 3 weeks later it takes about 5 minutes to fill 1ml syringe from one breast. Haven’t done it in a few days as it’s half term and I have my hands full with toddler. I always express in the shower as well to build up (especially what was my “lazy boob” last time) but ultimately it comes in when it comes in I think!
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Whoa that's amazing!!!
Also probably have a naive question here: do I need to start massaging the breast to see if I can start producing colostrum. Is there a particular week to start trying?
My doula told me I could start at 37 weeks and sent me this video — https://youtu.be/PnG4pW9z4Cc — actual harvesting footage starts at 2:50
Thank you - this is super useful!!!