How will I know my breast milk is in?

In the first few days of life new mothers nurse to provide their newborn with a milk called colostrum. This early milk is yellow in color and only in small quantity. Colostrum seems more designed to help a newborn’s immune system, than to stimulate growth.

When a mother’s milk “comes in” there are usually three changes
1.) Mothers report there breasts feel engorged
2.) The yellow colostrum gradually changes to a increased volume of whiter milk
3.) As the volume of milk increases, newborns will swallow more and more.

For most new mothers, their milk “comes in” 3 to 5 days after delivery. In my experience, even first time mothers “know” when their milk has “come in”.

Written January 2011 by
Dr. Gordon, Windermere Pediatrician