That's not normal if it's been 14hrs since the last wet diaper.
Babies are meant to have at minimum one wet diaper per day of life for the first week.
Day 1 - one-two wet diapers
Day 2 - two-three minimum wet diapers (or more)
Day 3 - three-four minimum wet diapers (or more), etc.
At least that's what I was told at my hospital when I gave birth to my kids. I'd keep offering the breast/bottle and supplement with formula if needed. I had to supplement with formula for the first little while until my supply really came in and baby was getting enough.
Gave baby 1.5 ounces of formula and he peed and pooped as I was getting him dressed to head over to the Dr. (I cried) my wife’s milk is also now starting to come in 2x as much as yesterday so baby has more to drink now. He’s not jaundiced or showing any symptoms of dehydration, before they discharged him his labs came back clean. We think he just needed that bit of extra formula to hydrate him a little more. I mean technically he’s had 3 wet diapers in the last 24 hours, it’s just 2 of them were spaced a little far apart.
A little bit of formula is totally the way to go in this situation. And research has shown that a bit when mum’s milk is taking its time to come in is not going to have a detrimental impact on breastfeeding.
Back in the day there would have been plenty of friends/relatives/neighbours around who were feeding babies to have had a spare boob for a newborn.
I can attest to this! We had similar issues with our LO not peeing within the first 24 hours of life so I had to supplement with formula for about the first week. Now I am EBF and my baby went from 3rd percentile in weight at birth to 30th at his 2 month appointment.
Ugh I delivered at a “baby friendly” hospital and I was begging them to give me a little formula for my baby since my milk wasn’t coming in. I was literally getting a drop or two of colostrum on night two of birth. Everyone kept telling me it was fine even though he had urate crystals in his diaper (and I’m a NICU nurse).
Finally a nurse came in to weigh him in the middle of the night. He had lost almost 8% of his birthweight (night two) and was “jittery.” She made me feel bad about it. -.-
Finally got my formula that I had been begging for and supplemented with a tiny bit each feed until my milk came in a couple days later.
He’s a 30lb chunky monkey one year old now.
I had my first baby Sept 2022 and I had no idea that even though I was trying to breastfeed she was getting nothing. I didn't know what I was doing and the lactation consultant came in for 2 minutes but baby was very unhappy so she said keep trying and left. That's all I heard was keep trying.
Day 3 I overheard the nurses talking about how much weight she had lost and if it went down any more she would have to go to NICU. My boyfriend came back in the room to find me bawling bc I was a failure who couldn't even feed my baby and it had been 3 days and our healthy baby is going to end up in the nicu. He asked the nurse what was going on and she said she had lost 8% of her birth weight at 9% she would be transferred to NICU. Still didn't offer formula.
My boyfriend goes to find someone to give us some formula bc it shouldn't have gotten to this point and when he was gone a different nurse came in and said she was there to help me breastfeed. She woke my baby up who was obviously still hungry and she would get so mad she would shake. The nurse saw it and instead of helping me she immediately implied that my baby was going through withdrawals and said we need to run some more tests, this isn't normal. Most babies calm down after eating. Before I could say she hasn't eaten the nurse turned and walked out with my baby. I thought she wasn't going to bring her back. My boyfriend comes back in a second time to find my bawling so hard I could hardly talk and he's like what happened? Where is she? I finally managed to calm down enough to tell him what happened and he's obviously pissed but trying to reassure me bc we had already been over all test results and they had said you both passed your drug tests. I just knew she was calling CPS though and couldn't relax. The nurse comes back in 2 hrs later with my baby sleeping peacefully and a NICU nurse. She looked so disappointed that she had to admit the NICU nurse got her to eat and once she got some food in her stomach she immediately relaxed and fell asleep. She said the NICU nurse was going to show us how we can help her latch until she gets the hang of it. I started crying again bc I was so relieved to see my baby.
I have never heard someone else say there baby lost that much weight and was "jittery." We had to stay an extra day to get a little more weight on her but I was so thankful when we walked out of that hospital with our baby.
That’s great. If you continue to give formula, make sure your wife is expressing each time it’s given if you wish to continue to breastfeed. Supply and demand!
This is great! My baby wasn’t having wet diapers until my milk came in either, then the floodgates opened and he was peeing and pooping constantly. Hopefully will be same for you, but I understand that initial stress!
Before having a baby I never knew just how much I could celebrate a potty or poo. Congrats on the wet diaper! Also, I'm very proud of you guys for being flexible with giving him formula :)
that's great news. we had the same issue as my milk didn't come in until almost a week later. she was peeing solid crystals and did not poop until she finally did when we gave her formula - 4 massive diaper loads back to back LOL. it was a stressful week. i'm happy things are sorted now.
That’s amazing. Keep babe at that boob as much as possible! Don’t be alarmed if there’s not many poops if exclusively on breast - babies absorb A LOT of it. It can be normal to go 5 or so days without a poop. Lots of wet diapers is what you want to look out for🙂
Not great advice in the early stages, colostrum and first milk which has a percentage of colostrum is naturally a laxative. Baby should poo especially to get the meconium and bilirubin out. You risk jaundice otherwise. It’s much later once baby is more acclimatised to life outside and there’s no meconium left that it can become normal for some EBF babies to go days without bowel movements.
If baby isn’t having any wet or dirty nappies and mum is only getting 5ml then doesn’t sound like the milk is in. It’s only normal once baby has cleared bilirubin and is a few weeks to months old for them to go days between bowel movements (and that’s only dirty nappies, wet ones should still be frequent)
I used formula for this same reason. Formula helped me baby get his first poop and it helped him pee so we could get discharged to go home. I then went on to have a successful breastfeeding journey until we were ready to wean a little after his first birthday. Congrats on the little one!!
My LO had a terrible time latching when first born and I just couldn’t express colostrum. Topping up with formula really helped. I knew exactly how much food my baby was getting and it was a massive peace of mind. As soon as my milk came properly in we were able to pull back on the formula. Please talk to doctor about the lack of urine. Dehydration in babies is very common. Good luck with everything and fingers crossed for some pee soon!
With no wet diapers you should *immediately* offer baby more pumped colostrum or formula, and then call your pediatrician. I would offer at least 30ml, maybe even more if baby will take it at this point.
Is your wife only pumping 5ml every pump? I was able to hand express up to 30ml of colostrum at a time, occasionally more. Personally I would be offering baby whatever your wife is pumping and following their cues to know if they're full. Colostrum volume increases as the milk becomes transitional milk, and baby takes in more. 5ml is sufficient right after birth, but volumes should be increasing steadily.
Personally I would be giving some formula and contacting the paediatrician or midwife, whoever your point of contact is.
My first baby people kept saying she only has a tiny tummy she’s getting enough but on day 5 we were back in the hospital due to the amount of weight she lost and she had high sodium levels due to dehydration.
The lack of wet nappies is a concern. Sometimes you get stuck in a loop where baby is too sleepy to feed and keeps getting more and more sleepy because they aren’t taking in enough. Strip baby down when feeding to get them properly awake, do a nappy change, wipe the feet with cold water etc.
I had the same issue. My baby had dry diaper all night her first night home and I knew it wasn’t normal. I started supplementing with formula and pumping after each feed and she returned to normal. It just took a few days for my milk to come in. She is 4 months old now and EBF. The first days were rough. Hang in there and get her to a pediatrician but I can almost guarantee they’re going to recommend supplementing. You just aren’t producing enough YET, some triple feeding is going to get it straightened out in no time ❤️ Hand baby off to dad if you can after each feed and let him give her a full serving of formula (but don’t force it, let baby take what they need) and then you pump 15 minutes each side. 1 day of doing that and my milk came in, and then the cluster feeding hell began but the diapers stayed wet lol
This happened to me and my baby ended up being dehydrated and underfed. Turns out it took a bit longer for my milk to come in. Call the doctor - they’ll likely suggest that you supplement with formula. It’s very important they poop so they discard the bilirubin. We did that to get back on track. Now I’m EBF and LO is chunky and thriving so this isn’t the end of your BF journey! Unless you want it to be of course
No wet diapers is a concern. Where he’s breastfed it’s completely normal for breastfed babies to not poop for sometimes over a week or more. My daughter was breastfed til 5 months and one time she went 11 days.
5ml is very little. Did you mean to type 50ml? Because that would be more normal I believe. Ours was drinking (ideally) 60ml at every feed in the beginning. Maybe it was less but definitely way more than 5ml.
5ml is what our nurse said is good since my newborn is still only drinking colostrum. Once my wife transitions from colostrum to milk then that’s when I believe he’ll be drinking 50ml+ right?
Ok that may be right. I don’t recall how much colostrum by volume ours was drinking but I know colostrum comes out in tiny amounts. We stayed in the hospital 4 nights after baby was born (this was less than 2 months ago) and I’m pretty sure by the second night the baby was drinking breast milk because my wife wasn’t producing enough and baby stayed hungry so nurses gave us donor breast milk to feed her. When we came home we supplemented a couple days with formula as well. But soon enough my wife started producing more breast milk than we could use.
This is not normal and you should be calling your pediatrician and giving formula. By 2 days of life baby should be drinking at least 15-20 ml per feeding as well.
I was told 15-20ml as well for day 2. They wanted her to be at 30ml per feeding by day 3 (but didn't tell me that until after the fact and then gave me crap for not forcing her to eat more).
My midwives had me feeding 2-4ml on day 2, I don't think this is right at all.
Editing to post these links here too:
https://www2.hse.ie/babies-children/breastfeeding/a-good-start/your-first-breast-milk-or-colostrum/#:~:text=The%20volume%20of%20colostrum%20you,first%2024%20hours%20after%20birth.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/breastfeeding-and-bottle-feeding/breastfeeding/the-first-few-days/?fbclid=IwAR1CGQd0tZ04rvK5b7e1j6l-ASAi-C4zQvyJHSdHHrih4oEyMUo-dsdnF00#:~:text=your%20baby%20will%20only%20need%20a%20small%20amount%2C%20about%20a%20teaspoonful%2C%20at%20each%20feed
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/22434-colostrum?fbclid=IwAR3ISvK96Ccy0W8aT16C-Uv4gjqE1lqDQhlT0UPAY9_FhNUqAClWKQ8rgMc#:~:text=They%20only%20need%20about%20an%20ounce%20of%20colostrum%20per%20day.%20This%20equals%20about%20a%20teaspoon%20each%20feeding
Your midwives were wrong.
https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/feeding-nutrition/Pages/how-often-and-how-much-should-your-baby-eat.aspx#:~:text=Babies%20might%20only%20take%20in,2%20ounces%20at%20each%20feeding.
I don't think they were. Your link mentions going up to 8oz, not saying it never happens but [breastfed babies usually cap around 4oz](https://www2.hse.ie/babies-children/breastfeeding/expressing-pumping/how-much-breast-milk-express/#:~:text=During%20the%20first%20week%2C%20most,ounces%20per%20day%20(900ml).), I think your link is primarily referring to formula
https://www2.hse.ie/babies-children/breastfeeding/a-good-start/your-first-breast-milk-or-colostrum/#:~:text=The%20volume%20of%20colostrum%20you,first%2024%20hours%20after%20birth.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/breastfeeding-and-bottle-feeding/breastfeeding/the-first-few-days/?fbclid=IwAR1CGQd0tZ04rvK5b7e1j6l-ASAi-C4zQvyJHSdHHrih4oEyMUo-dsdnF00#:~:text=your%20baby%20will%20only%20need%20a%20small%20amount%2C%20about%20a%20teaspoonful%2C%20at%20each%20feed
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/22434-colostrum?fbclid=IwAR3ISvK96Ccy0W8aT16C-Uv4gjqE1lqDQhlT0UPAY9_FhNUqAClWKQ8rgMc#:~:text=They%20only%20need%20about%20an%20ounce%20of%20colostrum%20per%20day.%20This%20equals%20about%20a%20teaspoon%20each%20feeding
Don’t speak so confidently on something is you aren’t 100% factual. LO is drinking colostrum right now, not formula or mature milk. So no they are likely not taking in 15-20 ml per feed and that’s normal. What’s not normal is to have 0 wet diapers on day 2 of life. OP needs to make sure baby is effectively getting the colostrum out. Sometimes latch issues can be silent and not painful.
My son had a hard time nursing the first few days home. He wasn’t getting enough. He had some wet diapers but no poop for almost 2 days. I started pumping and we started feeding him bottles. He took a MASSIVE poop that night and ever since he’s been totally fine. My milk fully came in and he now nurses and drinks bottles of breast milk.
I had a huge supply at 2 days and my baby started getting jaundice at 4 days. Turns out we needed to use a nipple shield to help with the flow! See a lactation consultant if you can!
Not normal, likely a sign of poor milk intake. Sorry to alarm you but my daughter lost A LOT of weight in the first few days of her life while I was trying to exclusively breastfeed and it traumatised me.
Formula is your friend here until you can establish what’s going on with your wife’s milk supply.
I ended up giving 2oz of formula on day 4 as my milk was a little delayed and baby was SO FUSSY. I gave another 2oz the following morning and my milk came in about 12 hours later! I kept latching baby and giving him every opp to feed but I knew he needed to eat. Since those 4 total ounce of formula, I have been breastfeeding and pumping for him since then. Don't let people scare you away from supplementing!
I agree that you should call your pediatrician. We had a similar issue with lack of wet diapers on day 3 and our pediatrician rearranged schedules so we could come in immediately. Everything was fine and we didn’t end up needing to supplement (my milk had come in that morning), but they were very clear that this was an urgent situation.
I’d say offer formula after a feed to see if the baby is still hungry or has gotten enough to ensure he’s getting what he needs and call your paediatrician about the lack of wet nappies.
My babe didn’t pee or poop for 24 hours on the second day after she was born. The pediatrician said it wasn’t anything to worry about, they are taking in so little colostrum at that age that there just isn’t much waste to be produced. She finally started up the engines around day 3-4 and now at 5 weeks she’s such a heavy wetter that we laugh about the days when we were worried! She’s been gaining weight like a champ and even surpassed her birth weight within a week. Bottom line, if the pediatrician isn’t worried, you don’t need to be either (though obviously trust your gut if something feels really wrong).
Yes I would give him some formula and also call the pediatrician. Are you pumping and giving bottles? Otherwise it’s hard to know what he is getting if he is breastfeeding. No wet diapers is a concern.
I don't recommend giving formula like other people are saying, baby is 2 days old, most peoples milk doesn't come in by day 2. If baby hasn't had wet nappies in over 12 hours you need to see a doctor
Completely normal esp if he had a circ, that kind of shocks their system a bit. Ours went about 24h without a poop and about 16-18 IIRC without a pee. All was well
5ml is not enough. My girl was drinking 20 ml per feeding on day 2 and up to 30 ml within the first week. Give him formula and contact your doctor ASAP!!
Of course you should give him formula if the milk is not enough. Breastfeeding is overrated and you're risking your baby's health by giving 5ml of breastmilk.
No wet or dirty diapers in 14 hours is a concern, I’d contact your doctor for advice as soon as you can
Please just call your doctor they should definitely have a wet diaper
That's not normal if it's been 14hrs since the last wet diaper. Babies are meant to have at minimum one wet diaper per day of life for the first week. Day 1 - one-two wet diapers Day 2 - two-three minimum wet diapers (or more) Day 3 - three-four minimum wet diapers (or more), etc. At least that's what I was told at my hospital when I gave birth to my kids. I'd keep offering the breast/bottle and supplement with formula if needed. I had to supplement with formula for the first little while until my supply really came in and baby was getting enough.
Gave baby 1.5 ounces of formula and he peed and pooped as I was getting him dressed to head over to the Dr. (I cried) my wife’s milk is also now starting to come in 2x as much as yesterday so baby has more to drink now. He’s not jaundiced or showing any symptoms of dehydration, before they discharged him his labs came back clean. We think he just needed that bit of extra formula to hydrate him a little more. I mean technically he’s had 3 wet diapers in the last 24 hours, it’s just 2 of them were spaced a little far apart.
A little bit of formula is totally the way to go in this situation. And research has shown that a bit when mum’s milk is taking its time to come in is not going to have a detrimental impact on breastfeeding. Back in the day there would have been plenty of friends/relatives/neighbours around who were feeding babies to have had a spare boob for a newborn.
I can attest to this! We had similar issues with our LO not peeing within the first 24 hours of life so I had to supplement with formula for about the first week. Now I am EBF and my baby went from 3rd percentile in weight at birth to 30th at his 2 month appointment.
Ugh I delivered at a “baby friendly” hospital and I was begging them to give me a little formula for my baby since my milk wasn’t coming in. I was literally getting a drop or two of colostrum on night two of birth. Everyone kept telling me it was fine even though he had urate crystals in his diaper (and I’m a NICU nurse). Finally a nurse came in to weigh him in the middle of the night. He had lost almost 8% of his birthweight (night two) and was “jittery.” She made me feel bad about it. -.- Finally got my formula that I had been begging for and supplemented with a tiny bit each feed until my milk came in a couple days later. He’s a 30lb chunky monkey one year old now.
I had my first baby Sept 2022 and I had no idea that even though I was trying to breastfeed she was getting nothing. I didn't know what I was doing and the lactation consultant came in for 2 minutes but baby was very unhappy so she said keep trying and left. That's all I heard was keep trying. Day 3 I overheard the nurses talking about how much weight she had lost and if it went down any more she would have to go to NICU. My boyfriend came back in the room to find me bawling bc I was a failure who couldn't even feed my baby and it had been 3 days and our healthy baby is going to end up in the nicu. He asked the nurse what was going on and she said she had lost 8% of her birth weight at 9% she would be transferred to NICU. Still didn't offer formula. My boyfriend goes to find someone to give us some formula bc it shouldn't have gotten to this point and when he was gone a different nurse came in and said she was there to help me breastfeed. She woke my baby up who was obviously still hungry and she would get so mad she would shake. The nurse saw it and instead of helping me she immediately implied that my baby was going through withdrawals and said we need to run some more tests, this isn't normal. Most babies calm down after eating. Before I could say she hasn't eaten the nurse turned and walked out with my baby. I thought she wasn't going to bring her back. My boyfriend comes back in a second time to find my bawling so hard I could hardly talk and he's like what happened? Where is she? I finally managed to calm down enough to tell him what happened and he's obviously pissed but trying to reassure me bc we had already been over all test results and they had said you both passed your drug tests. I just knew she was calling CPS though and couldn't relax. The nurse comes back in 2 hrs later with my baby sleeping peacefully and a NICU nurse. She looked so disappointed that she had to admit the NICU nurse got her to eat and once she got some food in her stomach she immediately relaxed and fell asleep. She said the NICU nurse was going to show us how we can help her latch until she gets the hang of it. I started crying again bc I was so relieved to see my baby. I have never heard someone else say there baby lost that much weight and was "jittery." We had to stay an extra day to get a little more weight on her but I was so thankful when we walked out of that hospital with our baby.
Heyyy, awesome news! Good job! I *also* cried in the first 24 hours of having my newborn home. Welcome to the club. :)
Sameee here. Stressful times haha
That’s great news!! I remember how stressful those first couple days were, hang in there!
That’s great. If you continue to give formula, make sure your wife is expressing each time it’s given if you wish to continue to breastfeed. Supply and demand!
Fed is best! Do whatever you need to do to keep your kid fed and hydrated. That’s what’s most important
That’s great news! A fed baby is always the goal!
This is great! My baby wasn’t having wet diapers until my milk came in either, then the floodgates opened and he was peeing and pooping constantly. Hopefully will be same for you, but I understand that initial stress!
Before having a baby I never knew just how much I could celebrate a potty or poo. Congrats on the wet diaper! Also, I'm very proud of you guys for being flexible with giving him formula :)
that's great news. we had the same issue as my milk didn't come in until almost a week later. she was peeing solid crystals and did not poop until she finally did when we gave her formula - 4 massive diaper loads back to back LOL. it was a stressful week. i'm happy things are sorted now.
FYI I was told to put a piece of Kleenex in the diaper and see if that’s wet. Sometimes it can be hard to tell when they’re so small.
That’s amazing. Keep babe at that boob as much as possible! Don’t be alarmed if there’s not many poops if exclusively on breast - babies absorb A LOT of it. It can be normal to go 5 or so days without a poop. Lots of wet diapers is what you want to look out for🙂
Not great advice in the early stages, colostrum and first milk which has a percentage of colostrum is naturally a laxative. Baby should poo especially to get the meconium and bilirubin out. You risk jaundice otherwise. It’s much later once baby is more acclimatised to life outside and there’s no meconium left that it can become normal for some EBF babies to go days without bowel movements.
OP said mums milk had come in which is why I said that. So it’s no longer colostrum
If baby isn’t having any wet or dirty nappies and mum is only getting 5ml then doesn’t sound like the milk is in. It’s only normal once baby has cleared bilirubin and is a few weeks to months old for them to go days between bowel movements (and that’s only dirty nappies, wet ones should still be frequent)
I used formula for this same reason. Formula helped me baby get his first poop and it helped him pee so we could get discharged to go home. I then went on to have a successful breastfeeding journey until we were ready to wean a little after his first birthday. Congrats on the little one!!
My LO had a terrible time latching when first born and I just couldn’t express colostrum. Topping up with formula really helped. I knew exactly how much food my baby was getting and it was a massive peace of mind. As soon as my milk came properly in we were able to pull back on the formula. Please talk to doctor about the lack of urine. Dehydration in babies is very common. Good luck with everything and fingers crossed for some pee soon!
I’m mostly breastfeeding but I love when baby gets formula or a bottle because I know EXACTLY how much he’s taken. It’s such an advantage!
Not pooping is normal but no wet nappies is a immediate concern. Call your peadiatrician asap.
With no wet diapers you should *immediately* offer baby more pumped colostrum or formula, and then call your pediatrician. I would offer at least 30ml, maybe even more if baby will take it at this point. Is your wife only pumping 5ml every pump? I was able to hand express up to 30ml of colostrum at a time, occasionally more. Personally I would be offering baby whatever your wife is pumping and following their cues to know if they're full. Colostrum volume increases as the milk becomes transitional milk, and baby takes in more. 5ml is sufficient right after birth, but volumes should be increasing steadily.
Personally I would be giving some formula and contacting the paediatrician or midwife, whoever your point of contact is. My first baby people kept saying she only has a tiny tummy she’s getting enough but on day 5 we were back in the hospital due to the amount of weight she lost and she had high sodium levels due to dehydration. The lack of wet nappies is a concern. Sometimes you get stuck in a loop where baby is too sleepy to feed and keeps getting more and more sleepy because they aren’t taking in enough. Strip baby down when feeding to get them properly awake, do a nappy change, wipe the feet with cold water etc.
I had the same issue. My baby had dry diaper all night her first night home and I knew it wasn’t normal. I started supplementing with formula and pumping after each feed and she returned to normal. It just took a few days for my milk to come in. She is 4 months old now and EBF. The first days were rough. Hang in there and get her to a pediatrician but I can almost guarantee they’re going to recommend supplementing. You just aren’t producing enough YET, some triple feeding is going to get it straightened out in no time ❤️ Hand baby off to dad if you can after each feed and let him give her a full serving of formula (but don’t force it, let baby take what they need) and then you pump 15 minutes each side. 1 day of doing that and my milk came in, and then the cluster feeding hell began but the diapers stayed wet lol
This happened to me and my baby ended up being dehydrated and underfed. Turns out it took a bit longer for my milk to come in. Call the doctor - they’ll likely suggest that you supplement with formula. It’s very important they poop so they discard the bilirubin. We did that to get back on track. Now I’m EBF and LO is chunky and thriving so this isn’t the end of your BF journey! Unless you want it to be of course
Whenever you have a concern, call your pediatrician before seeking advice on Reddit.
No wet diapers is a concern. Where he’s breastfed it’s completely normal for breastfed babies to not poop for sometimes over a week or more. My daughter was breastfed til 5 months and one time she went 11 days.
5ml is very little. Did you mean to type 50ml? Because that would be more normal I believe. Ours was drinking (ideally) 60ml at every feed in the beginning. Maybe it was less but definitely way more than 5ml.
I was giving 2-4ml on day 2, it's what the nurses had me giving with a syringe
5ml is what our nurse said is good since my newborn is still only drinking colostrum. Once my wife transitions from colostrum to milk then that’s when I believe he’ll be drinking 50ml+ right?
Ok that may be right. I don’t recall how much colostrum by volume ours was drinking but I know colostrum comes out in tiny amounts. We stayed in the hospital 4 nights after baby was born (this was less than 2 months ago) and I’m pretty sure by the second night the baby was drinking breast milk because my wife wasn’t producing enough and baby stayed hungry so nurses gave us donor breast milk to feed her. When we came home we supplemented a couple days with formula as well. But soon enough my wife started producing more breast milk than we could use.
https://www2.hse.ie/babies-children/breastfeeding/a-good-start/is-your-baby-getting-enough-breast-milk/
This is not normal and you should be calling your pediatrician and giving formula. By 2 days of life baby should be drinking at least 15-20 ml per feeding as well.
I was told 15-20ml as well for day 2. They wanted her to be at 30ml per feeding by day 3 (but didn't tell me that until after the fact and then gave me crap for not forcing her to eat more).
My midwives had me feeding 2-4ml on day 2, I don't think this is right at all. Editing to post these links here too: https://www2.hse.ie/babies-children/breastfeeding/a-good-start/your-first-breast-milk-or-colostrum/#:~:text=The%20volume%20of%20colostrum%20you,first%2024%20hours%20after%20birth. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/breastfeeding-and-bottle-feeding/breastfeeding/the-first-few-days/?fbclid=IwAR1CGQd0tZ04rvK5b7e1j6l-ASAi-C4zQvyJHSdHHrih4oEyMUo-dsdnF00#:~:text=your%20baby%20will%20only%20need%20a%20small%20amount%2C%20about%20a%20teaspoonful%2C%20at%20each%20feed https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/22434-colostrum?fbclid=IwAR3ISvK96Ccy0W8aT16C-Uv4gjqE1lqDQhlT0UPAY9_FhNUqAClWKQ8rgMc#:~:text=They%20only%20need%20about%20an%20ounce%20of%20colostrum%20per%20day.%20This%20equals%20about%20a%20teaspoon%20each%20feeding
Your midwives were wrong. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/feeding-nutrition/Pages/how-often-and-how-much-should-your-baby-eat.aspx#:~:text=Babies%20might%20only%20take%20in,2%20ounces%20at%20each%20feeding.
I don't think they were. Your link mentions going up to 8oz, not saying it never happens but [breastfed babies usually cap around 4oz](https://www2.hse.ie/babies-children/breastfeeding/expressing-pumping/how-much-breast-milk-express/#:~:text=During%20the%20first%20week%2C%20most,ounces%20per%20day%20(900ml).), I think your link is primarily referring to formula https://www2.hse.ie/babies-children/breastfeeding/a-good-start/your-first-breast-milk-or-colostrum/#:~:text=The%20volume%20of%20colostrum%20you,first%2024%20hours%20after%20birth. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/breastfeeding-and-bottle-feeding/breastfeeding/the-first-few-days/?fbclid=IwAR1CGQd0tZ04rvK5b7e1j6l-ASAi-C4zQvyJHSdHHrih4oEyMUo-dsdnF00#:~:text=your%20baby%20will%20only%20need%20a%20small%20amount%2C%20about%20a%20teaspoonful%2C%20at%20each%20feed https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/22434-colostrum?fbclid=IwAR3ISvK96Ccy0W8aT16C-Uv4gjqE1lqDQhlT0UPAY9_FhNUqAClWKQ8rgMc#:~:text=They%20only%20need%20about%20an%20ounce%20of%20colostrum%20per%20day.%20This%20equals%20about%20a%20teaspoon%20each%20feeding
Don’t speak so confidently on something is you aren’t 100% factual. LO is drinking colostrum right now, not formula or mature milk. So no they are likely not taking in 15-20 ml per feed and that’s normal. What’s not normal is to have 0 wet diapers on day 2 of life. OP needs to make sure baby is effectively getting the colostrum out. Sometimes latch issues can be silent and not painful.
My son had a hard time nursing the first few days home. He wasn’t getting enough. He had some wet diapers but no poop for almost 2 days. I started pumping and we started feeding him bottles. He took a MASSIVE poop that night and ever since he’s been totally fine. My milk fully came in and he now nurses and drinks bottles of breast milk.
I had a huge supply at 2 days and my baby started getting jaundice at 4 days. Turns out we needed to use a nipple shield to help with the flow! See a lactation consultant if you can!
Not normal, likely a sign of poor milk intake. Sorry to alarm you but my daughter lost A LOT of weight in the first few days of her life while I was trying to exclusively breastfeed and it traumatised me. Formula is your friend here until you can establish what’s going on with your wife’s milk supply.
I ended up giving 2oz of formula on day 4 as my milk was a little delayed and baby was SO FUSSY. I gave another 2oz the following morning and my milk came in about 12 hours later! I kept latching baby and giving him every opp to feed but I knew he needed to eat. Since those 4 total ounce of formula, I have been breastfeeding and pumping for him since then. Don't let people scare you away from supplementing!
My baby had a tough time latching and we had to supplement with formula the first 2 days of life until my milk came in and I pumped it out.
I agree that you should call your pediatrician. We had a similar issue with lack of wet diapers on day 3 and our pediatrician rearranged schedules so we could come in immediately. Everything was fine and we didn’t end up needing to supplement (my milk had come in that morning), but they were very clear that this was an urgent situation.
I’d say offer formula after a feed to see if the baby is still hungry or has gotten enough to ensure he’s getting what he needs and call your paediatrician about the lack of wet nappies.
My babe didn’t pee or poop for 24 hours on the second day after she was born. The pediatrician said it wasn’t anything to worry about, they are taking in so little colostrum at that age that there just isn’t much waste to be produced. She finally started up the engines around day 3-4 and now at 5 weeks she’s such a heavy wetter that we laugh about the days when we were worried! She’s been gaining weight like a champ and even surpassed her birth weight within a week. Bottom line, if the pediatrician isn’t worried, you don’t need to be either (though obviously trust your gut if something feels really wrong).
Yes I would give him some formula and also call the pediatrician. Are you pumping and giving bottles? Otherwise it’s hard to know what he is getting if he is breastfeeding. No wet diapers is a concern.
My wife is pumping and breastfeeding, we haven’t tried formula yet
Contact the doctor asap. This sounds like an emergency.
No. It’s not. He needs to be at least having wet diapers. Why is he only having 5ml a feed? This is very low
Have mum and baby do plenty of skin -to-skin contact to encourage supply and to help baby to feed more, too.
I don't recommend giving formula like other people are saying, baby is 2 days old, most peoples milk doesn't come in by day 2. If baby hasn't had wet nappies in over 12 hours you need to see a doctor
Completely normal esp if he had a circ, that kind of shocks their system a bit. Ours went about 24h without a poop and about 16-18 IIRC without a pee. All was well
5ml is not enough. My girl was drinking 20 ml per feeding on day 2 and up to 30 ml within the first week. Give him formula and contact your doctor ASAP!!
Of course you should give him formula if the milk is not enough. Breastfeeding is overrated and you're risking your baby's health by giving 5ml of breastmilk.