exclusive pumping

Mrs.RockyM · October 2012

I'm thinking of doing this since the boob isn't working at all. How do you maintain your supply and your LOs increasing demands while pumping?

JaimeG183 · October 2012

I EP and LO just turned 6 months yesterday.

The first 12 weeks are crucial to your supply. If you have a normal/low You need to pump at least 8 times a day (preferably 10) including MOTN for awhile.

Around 12 weeks you can go to 6-8 pumps.

If you have an oversupply, you still need to pump a lot the first 12 weeks.

I found a really helpful exclusive pumping board on Babycenter's community. they have a sticky with lots of tips and "rules" for EPing

cmhicklin · October 2012

I agree with PP. Also, I think you can wait and see if you are pumping enough as your baby drinks more. If you aren't, then you can try power pumping sessions at the same time your LO is going through a growth spurt.

kgauntt · October 2012

In the beginning you will have to pump 8 to12 times a day as a baby would nurse that much. I had to pump 20 min each pump. At around 3 months your supply regulates and you may or may not have to pump as many times a day. Some people can drop pumps and still get the same amount of milk but have to increase the length of the pumping time. You can eat oatmeal to maintain supply. Works for me anyways.. you can also store your pump parts in the fridge during the day to keep from having to wash them everytime.

I will tell you the beginning sucks, pumping so much. I will incourage you to try and keep baby on the breast. I wish I would have. Even now, I only pump 4 times a day and have an oversupply, but I have to pump at least 40 min. each time. Whereas, babies at this stage nurse really fast and you don't have to clean bottles or make bottles. I plan to keep going over a year if my body allows, but some days it's more taxing than others. Trying to entertain my baby while pumping is my struggle as she's not a great napper. My back hurts so bad at the end of the day because I hold and play with baby while I pump. At least she is still getting breastmilk, which does make me feel amazing and proud of myself. If you do choose to EP here is a good site.

https://www.ivillage.com/forums/forum/18045

cmhicklin · October 2012

After reading other responses...

I would try with your regular pump, before using a hospital grade pump. I did fine with a PISA.

Also, some people find BFing easier, and some people find EPing easier. I have heard both sides on this board. Whatever works for you!

And a couple of tips, if you have a handsfree bra and plenty of pumping parts, EPing will be a lot easier.

emu0013 · October 2012

cmhicklin:
After reading other responses...

I would try with your regular pump, before using a hospital grade pump. I did fine with a PISA.

Also, some people find BFing easier, and some people find EPing easier. I have heard both sides on this board. Whatever works for you!

And a couple of tips, if you have a handsfree bra and plenty of pumping parts, EPing will be a lot easier.

emu0013 · October 2012

cmhicklin:

After reading other responses...

I would try with your regular pump, before using a hospital grade pump. I did fine with a PISA.

Also, some people find BFing easier, and some people find EPing easier. I have heard both sides on this board. Whatever works for you!

And a couple of tips, if you have a handsfree bra and plenty of pumping parts, EPing will be a lot easier.

chicagocubsfan23 · October 2012

cmhicklin:

After reading other responses...

I would try with your regular pump, before using a hospital grade pump. I did fine with a PISA.

Also, some people find BFing easier, and some people find EPing easier. I have heard both sides on this board. Whatever works for you!

And a couple of tips, if you have a handsfree bra and plenty of pumping parts, EPing will be a lot easier.

This. I BF until DS was a little over 3 months old. He fought me the entire time. Finally he just completely refused to nurse. It was heartbreaking and emotionally exhausting on me. Now that I am EP I can tell a huge difference in both of our demeanors. I pumped while I was nursing, so I was able to get a little freezer stash. Right now I pump 8 times a day and am pumping an average of about 33 oz a day. DS eats between 32-35 oz a day, and I'm averaging about 1 1/2 oz short a day that I take out of my freezer stash. Once that starts getting low, I can always add in another pumping session to even everything out. But right now, 8 times seems to be ok for us! I eat oatmeal every morning and I am taking Gaia Lactate Support as well which seemed to get me a few more oz a day. Good luck!

Lilleybug · October 2012

I was unable to bf my first due to complications with delivery so I really wanted it to work out with my second. It took awhile for us to figure it out. At first, I wasn't getting anything. The lactation consultant could not even hand express colostrum. The nurses kept asking me how many ounces of colostrum I was getting when I pumped and I kept thinking ounces are they crazy I am getting drops! Z also did not latch well and by the second day my boobs were killing me so I thought I would EP. Well after 2 days of round the clock pumping, I was getting frustrated. I was barely getting half an ounce per day. I found that I needed him to latch on and get things going and then I could pump. So I spent 2 days bfing him to let down then pumping after. Finally, by day 6 my milk came in and I had two melt downs and was ready to quit. That is when I put away the pump. Have you tried an SNS? This helped us a lot. He gets to drink and doesn't get frustrated enough isn't coming out and at the same time is latched on to me and stimulating milk production. We've used it for two days and I have noticed that my supply has increased and he is happy during feedings. Now we are slowly weaning away from the sns. I was already having to supplement tough because he was losing too much birth weight. If you have enough you can put bm in the sns rather than formula. Not sure it will help but may be something to look into. Madela makes an sns.

exclusive pumping

Re: exclusive pumping

Choose Another Board

Search Boards