ftm pumping questions

madisongg92

My SO would like to do night feedings or a few night feedings how soon after she is born would it be beneficial to start pumping for night and for stock during the day? Also would him doing night feedings cause nipple confusion? Would me pumping early on build up to much of supply for her to keep up with?

etayislove

You must be very relieved that your SO wants to help out at night since it is so hard to adjust to. Breast milk is a supply and demand process, the more you demand milk, the more your body will respond. For that reason you may want to hold off pumping until your supply has a chance to get established, for some women if they begin pumping too early it causes oversupply, others it doesn't effect as much. When you decide to start pumping do so after a feeding and not before. Also, even though your SO wants to feed during the night, you are still going to have yo get up and pump. It's very important to stimulate your breasts to make milk at night as the hormone prolactin is at work then and helping to build your supply for the next day.

Experts don't agree, but the general consensus is to try to hold off on artificial nipples until six weeks of age. There also is a big difference in bottle feeding a breastfed baby. Look at LLL I.org and Kellymom.com for some good tips.

I also encourage you to find a local La Leche League chapter and attend meetings before you give birth! The leaders and mom's are a great source of information and can answer questions that you have and help you through issues once the little one is here