Making Milk - what happens when?

At Birth:
Mum produces a very thick and concentrated small amount of liquid which can be clear, white, yellow, green or reddish, this is known as "colostrum". It contains precious antibodies to help the new baby fight infection and is a laxative to help the baby poo all the sticky black meconium.
Sometimes, at this stage, mum panics that she is not making enough breastmilk and wants to introduce artificial milk at this stage. Starting artificial milk will interfere with breastmilk production.

Day 2-3:
Baby feeds furiously and appears to be very hungry. This is perfectly normal and actually baby is sending signals to mum's hormones to let them know it's time to make milk.
Sometimes, at this stage, mum can think her baby is starving and that she hasn't made any milk for her baby. In fact, there is no need to panic, baby is simply letting mums body know that it's time to make milk and if baby is fed when it wants, the milk will come.

Day 3-4:
Baby loses a little weight - this is very normal for all babies and nothing to worry about at all - in fact the weight gain charts in red books allow for it, providing the weight loss is within 10% of the birth weight.
Mums is sometimes concerned that her milk is not adequate for for baby's needs and often produces a supplementary artificial feed as a result. If mum keeps feeding whenever her baby displays feeding cues (a minimum of 6-8 times in 24 hours) her breasts will soon make plenty of milk and the baby soons regains the weight!

Mother's milk starts to come in - Mum's breasts feel full and heavy, there is also a hormone surge at this stage which can also make mum feel very "bluesy". This is all normal and begins to settle down within 24-48 hours.
Mums can often feel highly emotional and may associate this with the breastfeeding. If mum lets her baby lead the feeding, feeding whenever baby asks, then mums body will know how much milk is needed and will start making enough to meet baby's needs.

Weeks 3, 5-6 & 12 - "Growth Spurts":

At around these times baby's have a feeding frenzy, also known as a growth spurt. This can last 24-48 hours. This is normal and is the baby's way of letting mum know that he/she is growing bigger and needs mum to make more milk. If Mum feeds as often as the baby asks, then her milk supply will respond and baby will settle down and feeds will return to a normal pattern.
During growth spurts, mums can think that baby is not geting enough milk and that it is her supply that is insufficient. If baby is not supplemented (or "topped up" then mum's hormones will allow her milk supply to increase. If a "top-up" is introduced then the body will not know how much more milk it is needing to make.