Back to Breast at 4.5 months

krankechic

My son started latching at 4 months. We've now completed 2 full weeks of nursing. I exclusively pumped prior. My OPD was 50 - 55 Oz a day. Now that I nurse, I have no idea what I produce or what my son takes from Breast. He has a wet diaper after every feed. Feeds and fills on one breast. Sometimes the diaper is lighter, other times it is super soaked. He usually stays at Breast for 5-10 min of active sucking and then starts to shut his eyes. His poops are normal BF color. I try to pull Breast out and he sucks it back in - I believe to comfort suck. After about 15 -20 min I can pop him off Breast. He usually never does this himself though.

My question is, since I used to pump exclusively up to 7 times a day - including a middle of the night pump - do I have to continue pumping? Right now I am pumping 3x : morning (7am), 2 pm ish, and before bed (11). Can I stop the evening pump? My son takes a 4 Oz bottle from dad at night. He also sleeps solid from 9 pm to 7 am. Will my body regulate if I don't pump from 9 pm to 7 am or will I always have to pump in the evening before I go to bed? I'm nervous my Breast will explode/supply dwindle if I don't pump every 7 hours or so.

Any help from those that have experience?
TIA

crsanchez87

If you do not want your supply to dwindle, I believe you will still need the evening pump, especially if dad is giving him the bottle at night. I both pump and BF and I pump everyday about 4 times at work and once right before I go to bed around 10:30, I BF DS right before he goes down for the night at 7:30. Be careful with engorgement which can lead to mastitis. If you do not want to pump in the evening, you will have to make sure you still pump or hand express a little to relieve the engorgement but it can take an effect on your supply. 

klirwin82

My LO started sleeping 10pm - 5am and I stopped getting up to pump cause I wanted to sleep but I saw my supply start to decline after about a week. So now I'm up at 2am pumping and pumping again at 5am if he's not awake by then. It sucks but I'd rather lose 30 minutes of sleep than have to to dig into my freezer stash.