December 2012 Moms

pumping vs. sleeping

I recently decided that I needed more than 4 - 5 hours of broken sleep to be able to continue to function on any remotely-human-like level. I adjusted my pumping schedule of six 30 min sessions so that I only have to wake up once in the middle of the night, mostly for comfort and since LO wakes up about then for a bottle anyway. Its only been 2 nights of this and already my supply is dwindling rather rapidly. LO is 19 weeks (see ticker below I guess for exact age) so we've had a pretty good run on BM only but I'm struggling with A) desperately needing sleep B) really want my boobs back and C) feeling super guilty about not being able to continue providing LO with the "perfect" food. We have talked about how expensive formula is and how much money we're saving with me EPing since BFing didn't really work for us but I never get time with DH, the girls are so sensitive that if he even looks at them or I think about my milk, it will drop (sooo painful) and I make a mess.

Anyone else switch from BM to formula or start supplementing with formula recently? Any tips? 

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Re: pumping vs. sleeping

  • I don't have a good answer, but we're in the same boat.  My routine has gotten to be: BF at 5:30 am, pump by 9 am, pump again by noon, pump again by 3, get home and feed her by 6, feed her again at 7:30 and let her comfort suck to sleep, pump again b

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  • Lurking from the January 2013 board, but I EP too. Have you considered shortening your pumping sessions? Do you get more milk after 15-20 minutes? I used to do 30 minutes, but realized that I hardly got anything after 15-20. I went down to 20 and now am a
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  • Have you tried breast feeding again? My friend was eping because of bad latching for months. She felt like she was missing out so she just gave I a whirl, baby latched on perfectly! She still had to pump at work but was happy to stop at home.
    I don
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    DD#1 December '12
    DD#2 New Year's Baby '15
    Married 07/09
  • I dropped night feeds and my supply went down, but I need sleep or I'm not a very nice person! I pump before bed. I have started using a little formula with bm to make sure LO is getting enough. So we don't spend a ton on formula since we only use a littl
  • When you say your supply is dwindling what exactly are you pumping? I remember you posting in the past that you were pumping twice what LO needs. I remember this because I was really jealous when I read it. Are you still getting enough to feed LO?

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  • I will try to answer all the questions....

    1) I used to get away with 15 - 20 min pumps but every time i dropped a session i had to increase the time or lose supply =( no idea why 

    2) BFing didn't work because LO "chews" his food and e

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  • imagekescalera:
    I am mostly looking for info to be fully prepared to start easing back on the pumping and finding ways to stretch my sta

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  • I decided to make the switch. I dropped one pumping session a week, and mixed the breast milk with formula. We are down to one breast feeding session per day, when DD first wakes up, and I feel good that I'm still giving her some BM while being able t

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  • MrsNSMrsNS member
    The lactation consultant I spoke with said that pumping for two long at a session can cause less production. I fees LO at around 6am, pump at work at 9, 12, and 3. Then when I get home I feed him so around 6 and 8. During the night I pump at either 11 and
  • imageMrsNS:
    The lactation consultant I spoke with said that pumping for two long at a session can cause less production. I fees LO at ar
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