Pumping, ABC's!

jamiem522

Hello all! I'm due in about 5 weeks and I'm getting anxious about going back to work and baby boy taking a bottle. I would love any tips about pumping.. When to start, how long do I pump for to not over stimulate my supply.. Anything else that helped you while pumping! Also, bottle recommendations to eliminate confusion or keep him from becoming too lazy. Thank you so much in advance!

nram25

I've been wondering the same but have a little longer to go than you do, but will definitely be following this thread.

kaila1980

to prepare your milk stash I would pump once a day in the morning right after you'r done feeding your baby 

delujm0

While on maternity leave, I pumped whenever I got uncomfortable (and whenever LO had a bottle)...I have slight oversupply, and LO is a really good nighttime sleeper, so early on if she had been asleep for more than 4 hours, I would wake up uncomfortable and pump just enough to take the edge off.  I didn't want to completely empty out in case she woke up needing to eat soon.  When she did wake up in the night, she would often only take one side, so after feeding her I would pump the other side.  That way I didn't have to get up an extra time.

 

If your LO is eating every 2-3 hours throughout the day and night, the best time to pump is probably after a night or early morning feeding.  Your body produces more milk overnight.

 

LO is a really good eater (she's a lil fatty who had doubled her birth weight by 3 months) and will take it any way she can get it...she's taken several kinds of bottles and hasn't had any trouble transitioning between bottle and breast.  While I was on leave, we would just have DH give her a bottle once on Saturdays and once on Sundays while he was home.  I wasn't able to pump while I was home alone with her because she was high needs and I couldn't put her down without her losing her mind for the first few months, so I only pumped overnight or when DH was around.  I did give her two bottles at 10 days pp because my left nipple was in so much pain I couldn't imagine feeding her off of it.  I pumped after those feeds to make sure I was producing milk still (the pump was painless for me).  After two weeks of breastfeeding, it became easy and painless for me, so bottles were only given to make sure she'd be used to them for daycare.  She's had no issues so far (14 weeks) and this is her third week there.

 

Our schedule now is that DH takes LO from when she wakes up in the morning (any time after 5am, because that's when I start getting ready for work), she goes to daycare, and then I pick her up and do bedtime.  So any time she eats between 5am and 5pm it's a bottle.  I then breastfeed her when we get home from daycare, at bedtime, and if she wakes in the middle of the night.  On weekends, I breastfeed her aside from one bottle a day that DH gives to her when I'm either running errands or working out.  Preparing bottles and pumping several times a day during the week is exhausting, so I try to nurse her as much as possible.

SummerFall03

I plan on pumping and having a c-section. Is there anything I can do to get the milk moving? After my last pregnancy it took a few days for the milk to come in.

Should I bring my pump to the hospital?

wedding crazed

If you need a pump for any reason the hospital should provide you with one while you are admitted. With DS1 he was admitted and I didn't want to supplement so lactation had me start pumping right away and I got my milk to come in very soon. Pumped after every nursing session. They had the nice hospital grade pump too and you get to take home the accessory kit.

CharminglySouthern

SummerFall03 said:

I plan on pumping and having a c-section. Is there anything I can do to get the milk moving? After my last pregnancy it took a few days for the milk to come in.

Should I bring my pump to the hospital?

Honestly it's pretty normal for it to take a couple of days for milk to start. Prior to that, baby is getting colostrum. You can get that from pumping, but your baby is actually far more effective at getting what it needs than a pump is. Especially in the beginning.

If it's medically necessary, your hospital should provide you with the use of one of their pumps.

amberrmariee20

I exclusively pumped due to my son being tongue tied and not latching... I pumped every 3 hours, 20 minutes each boob !