not pumping enough milk!!!

bkramer08

Help! My daughter just started daycare and I'm apparently not pumping enough milk throughout the day to last her. She is drinking about 15 ounces and I'm pumping 10-12! I have a freezer stash of about 250 ounces but that will go quickly. Suggestions? I'm pumping 3 times a day already

Heatherlowry9

Does you daughter still nurse at night? If not maybe trying pumping at night or pump after you nurse to get any excess that baby may not be getting. Good luck.

Bethany_Lynne

I had the same issue with DD shortly after going back to work, my dr suggested pumping right before I go to bed and again around 1 or 2am. It's frustrating to have to wake up to pump after your baby's finally sleeping through, but it only took me about a week for that to bump my supply up big time. After that anytime I had a low supply day or two, one night of getting up to pump got me right back on track. Good luck

bkramer08

Thanks for the suggestions! Currently I'm pumping 3 times at work and right before I go to bed. This weekend I'll try waking up around 1 or 2 and pump again
Hopefully i catch up!

jenn43

15oz sounds like a lot during the day. How old is LO, and how many hours is she in DC? I think the average is 1oz per hour. Does the DC do paced feeding?  It's possible that you may be pumping what she needs, and she's just getting fed too much.

mikrinikki

Definitely use some of your freezer supply until your supply pumping meets her demand. It is okay to use the frozen milk you have, I promise. You can replenish it once you start producing more

bkramer08

She is 14 weeks and is at DC for 9.5 hours. We were concerned about her eating too much when we started giving her a bottle at 6 weeks. But she has always taken 5 ounces st a time. She usually goes 4 hours between feedings so it's not too far off. I nurse her around 6 then around 8 she will take 3-4 ounces and then again around 11:30 5 ounces and again around 3:30.

Peanutz21

jenn43 said:

15oz sounds like a lot during the day. How old is LO, and how many hours is she in DC? I think the average is 1oz per hour. Does the DC do paced feeding?  It's possible that you may be pumping what she needs, and she's just getting fed too much.

agree 

5 ounces at each feeding at 14 weeks also sounds like a lot to me too

when i first brought LO to DC at around 12 weeks i was leaving 4 ounce bottles (i was feeding her 5 times a day) 

this gradually bumped up to 5 ounces as she grew a bit

in terms of supply would make sure you're pumping each time she is getting a bottle and i too did pump an extra session at night to calm my type A personality down and to build a stash

Aliki

bkramer08 said:

She is 14 weeks and is at DC for 9.5 hours. We were concerned about her eating too much when we started giving her a bottle at 6 weeks. But she has always taken 5 ounces st a time. She usually goes 4 hours between feedings so it's not too far off. I nurse her around 6 then around 8 she will take 3-4 ounces and then again around 11:30 5 ounces and again around 3:30.

15 oz. for 9.5 hours is way too much for her age. Babies will continue to take the bottle long after they are satiated. What signals does she give you that leads you to believe she needs 5 ounces? (I know you say she will take it, but according to my LC and many LLL groups, babies will always take bottles filled with milk, and they dont turn away until they are overstuffed)

If she goes 4 hours between feedings, then that is 6 feedings a day? A baby (regardless of age, because your BM will change composition as she grows older, so a BF baby does not need more oz. as they grow older, unlike a FF baby) and Kellymom.com recommends 24 oz. for the day (normally 1 oz. per hour), so for 9.5 hours at daycare should be 9.5 oz for BM. If it's three feedings, then you can round up to 12 oz. of BM... which is what you seem to be able to pump, and is what your LO should be drinking while at DC.

see8e

PP is right on and kellymom.com is a GREAT BF website!