Partial Breastfeeding
RMama2012
member
I am at a point physically and mentally where I am looking to reduce pumping at work to 1x if not eliminate it all together. I love bfing and could see myself doing it for an extended time but I can't do this whole pumping thing anymore. I appreciate any advice but this was a hard decision to make so please do not try to encourage me to pump more often at work.
Here is what I am trying to do:
6/6:30 am - breastfeed
9am- lo gets formula
12pm- I pump at work and lo gets bm/formula
3pm-lo gets formula
6/6:30pm- breastfeed
8/8:30pm- breastfeed
Overnight- breastfeed
The only difference on the weekends would be that I would feed him directly at 12pm and maybe offer him the breast at 9am and 3pm before following with a bottle of formula. Does this sound like it can work? Also, how much formula should he be getting since the calculation is different for bm and formula?
I had an easy time breastfeeding while on maternity leave and no supply issues except possibly the 8/8:30pm session lately.
Re: Partial Breastfeeding
Thank you for your kind words. I'm still not comfortable with my decision but I know that I can't continue to pump and ultimately it was going to come to this as I barely let down to the pump so I was seeing my supply suffer during the day anyway. In a perfect world I could stay home and ebf my lo but it isn't in the cards for us at this time.
I hope no one sees this as a negative story of bfing bc I absolutely love it and obviously, I am hoping to continue. I never knew what an emotional attachment I would have to it.
I pump once in the morning after I nurse, pump once at work around 12:30pm and then again before I go to sleep. I only nurse in the morning and he gets bottles the rest of the day (nursing became stressful at other times due to him getting used to the bottle.)
It is possible. I'm not sure exactly how I got here because I used to pump 2-3 times a day at work... Maybe someone else will have more insight.
It absolutely can work! I went to combo FF/BF when I went back to work when LO was 4.5 months old and I didn't pump at all at work. You can totally try it and since you have been BFing for a while, hopefully you will not have any impact on your supply.
As for the oz's of formula, I would suggest starting this on a weekend first so you can try out different amounts. You could start with 4 oz and see how your LO reacts. If still hungry, you can make 2 more oz and if that works then try 6 oz the next time, kwim?
GL!