For others, it is thin and watery. The flow of colostrum is slow so that a baby can learn to nurse — a skill that requires a baby to suck, breathe, and swallow.
After 3—4 days of making colostrum, your breasts will start to feel firmer. This is a sign that your milk supply is increasing and changing from colostrum to mature milk. Your milk may become whiter and creamier, but this varies between women.
If your milk takes longer to come in, don't worry. This is normal and usually isn't a cause for concern, but let your doctor know. While babies don't need more than colostrum for the first few days, the doctor may need to make sure your baby's getting enough to eat.
It can help to breastfeed often during this time to stimulate your milk production. If possible, start nursing within an hour of your baby's birth. Babies tend to be alert in the first few hours of life, so breastfeeding right away takes advantage of this natural wakefulness.
After this, newborns will sleep for most of the next 24 hours. At that point, it might be harder to get your baby to latch on. When placed on your chest, your baby will naturally "root" squirm toward the breast, turn the head toward it, and make sucking motions with the mouth. To breastfeed, babies latch onto the breast by forming a tight seal with the mouth around the nipple and areola the dark part of skin around the nipple.
Even if your baby doesn't latch on now and just "practices," it's still good for your baby and you! In the first few days of life, your baby will want to feed on demand , usually about every 1—3 hours, day and night.
As babies grow and their bellies can hold more milk, they may go longer between feedings. On-demand feeding means breastfeeding whenever your baby seems hungry. J Midwifery Womens Health. Breastfeeding, A Guide for the Medical Profession 7th ed.
Elsevier Health Sciences; ; 81, , J Hum Lact. Core Curriculum for Lactation Consultant Practice 3rd ed. Mohrbacher N. Hale Pub L P; ; 63, , , If your nipples are leaking, the substance is usually colostrum, which is the first milk your breasts make in preparation for feeding your baby. Leaking is normal and nothing to worry about. If it bothers you, you can try putting a tissue or an absorbent breast pad sometimes called maternity breast pads, or nursing pads in your bra to absorb the milk.
Breast pads are available in some pharmacies and mother and baby shops. If prolactin levels slightly outpace those of the estrogen and progesterone, colostrum can leak out a bit. Check the inside of your bra — do you see any small yellow or orange stains? Not noticing that telltale sign? No worries — you can try to express a few drops by gently squeezing your areola. Still nothing? Still nothing to worry about.
Your breasts will get into the milk-making business when the time is right and baby's doing the milking. If the flow is more than you're comfortable with, wear nursing pads inside your bra to catch the overflow.
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