EP'ing Question

jlf1019

My 8 week old was born with low blood sugar, so while we got started nursing within an hour after her birth, we immediately had to supplement with either formula or expressed breast milk in a bottle. We would nurse 10 minutes on each side, then follow up with an ounce in a bottle. We ended up continuing to do that even when we went home because it let both my husband and I feed her, and she seemed satisfied with the system. Once she got back up to her birthweight, I dropped the bottle and just nursed. As she grew and needed to eat more, we started to struggle. It would take up to an hour or more for her to nurse and be satisfied. After visiting a LC she could immediately see she had a shallow latch so she wasn't eating efficiently. I worked with my baby a week or so trying to teach her to latch properly, but it just wasn't working. She would nurse for more than an hour then be screaming hungry 20 minutes later. So I made the decision to switch to exclusively pumping so she could still receive the benefits of breast milk. Feelings went much more smoothly and peacefully with a bottle. However, I'm getting ready to return to work in 10 days and I'm nervous about keeping up. I pumped after feelings from the first day she was born so I have a stash of about 150 oz in the freezer. But right now, I barely keep up with her demand. She eats 3.5 to 4 Oz every 3 hours during the day and is currently sleeping through the night. She gets about 24 oz total every day. I currently average about 21 oz in pumping a day and thankfully, my days where I produce a few ounces more make up for my lower production days, so I've never had to supplement with any formula since I started. I usually pump right after she eats, so about every 3.5 hours. First thing in the morning after I've gone all night without pumping, I get about 7-7.5 ounces. The rest of the day I usually get between 3 and 4. Days where I've been busy or had to go somewhere, etc and have had to go longer between pumps, I usually get 5-6 ounces when I do finally sit down to pump. I'm scared to start regularly going much longer between pumps, but if I could go 5-6 hours between pumps every day and still net the same amount, obviously that'd be great. But I'm worried my supply will drop if I start to do this regularly? So my question is, how often do you EP'ers pump? Will my supply drop if I go from pumping 3-4 oz 5-6 times a day to pumping only 3-4 times a day? Or should my supply be well established by now and be able to maintain? Also, any other suggestions to up my output? While I'm keeping up now, I'm worried the stress from work and distractions will just make the pressure to pump at least 20 oz a day more overwhelming. If I could get a few extra ounces every day I'd feel so much better. Each time I pump more than the 4 oz she needs for each meal, I put the extra in an 8 oz bottle in the fridge. When I have at least 6 oz of surplus, I freeze it. But if I'm having a lower producing day, I have to use that stash and start over. P.s. My LO still "comfort nurses" between feedings at least once a day. If she's fussing and fighting a nap for example, she will nurse and be asleep within 10 minutes.

MrsStanger

Do you use a pacifier? We have found that to help with DS comfort feeding (although we cant get DD to stop using the paci). he just needs the suckling to put him to sleep.

I have been an EP since a week after his birth. At first my supply was minimal and so I took on the search for help. I found that keeping up on water intake and Mothers Milk Tea helped. Increased so much that I had just about 2 months stocked up. Now we are 3 months in and because of work I can only pump about every 5 hours. It has decreased my supply but not nearly as much as I had thought. the engorgement was an issues but does get better. At pumping every 5 hours I can get about 5 ounces per side. sometimes more! I can not stress enough WATER WATER WATER. You are going to feel like you are floating but it helps SO much! Good luck and never forget you are doing an amazing job!