Question about pumping at night

smnewby

The last few days my LO has been sleeping for much longer stretches at night. I have read that this can affect your milk supply. I am wondering if ladies tend to wake and pump? If you dont pump did you notice a drop in supply? If there was a drop was it substantial?

I know they say baby makes up the ounces during the day but I work so those made up ounces are from pumped milk.

Just wondering what you all do.

kwaldy

I just sleep, honestly... I pump as often as I can at work and try to make sure I get a good feed in before LO goes to bed, as well as first thing in the morning. I haven't really noticed a drop in supply or anything, although I do wake up in the morning a little engorged and definitely ready for LO to eat.

GoogleMD

smnewby said:

The last few days my LO has been sleeping for much longer stretches at night. I have read that this can affect your milk supply. I am wondering if ladies tend to wake and pump? If you dont pump did you notice a drop in supply? If there was a drop was it substantial?

I know they say baby makes up the ounces during the day but I work so those made up ounces are from pumped milk.

Just wondering what you all do.

I still wake up and pump. I do it more for comfort, because my boobs were not catching on. They woke me up for an hour or more due to discomfort do might as well pump.

rubirubi89

I feed him in the morning then pump what's left before heading off to work.

dramaphile

My LO sleeps a 6-8 hour stretch at night, so I will often pump after I nurse her to sleep (she typically only eats one side). I think my supply has dropped a bit, but I had oversupply to begin with.

cdepperschmidt

I do not wake to pump. I may have noticed a small drop in supply, but I still have plenty for LO so far.

Elyse1384

With DS I would pump once in the middle of the night to keep my milk production up because my supply did drop a bit and I didn't quite pump enough at work to replace what he took. With DD I had a bit of oversupply so I haven't bothered to pump even with a slight drop to milk production. OK... Well I did once because I was beyond words engorged when she first STTN and I couldn't wait for her to wake up. I think it really depends on how the slight drop aligns with LO's needs. I will admit that it feels like the ultimate double edged sword (almost hypocritical at times) when you have those "long stretch" sleep nights with LO and your ladies can't take it anymore and wake you from the glorious sleep and beg the baby to wake up. I spent several nights pacing by the crib with engorged breasts about to explode and imploring LO to wake up and eat. Any sound or shifting DD or DS made gave me false hope of a potential wake up to relieve the pain compared to other nights where I cringed at those same sounds, dreading the sound of the baby alarm going off (why don't they come with snooze buttons and how the hell does DH sleep through it so easily!). Enjoy the extra sleep... If you can!

mrsgabus

I pump right before I go to sleep. Since she is sleeping through the night and I enjoy my sleep I do not wake to pump.

I have however lost about 4 Oz a day. For the time being I'm keeping up but barely.

I never realized how hard eping would be

ColoradoHiker

I still wake up to pump (I EP), but I tend to only pump once at night, and then every 3-4 hr during the day. My boob's would either leave me in a lake of milk or waking up in tears if I went from ten or midnight to six am.

My milk has dropped a bit with the longer stretch at night, but I honestly think it's bc my supply was evening out. I had a huge oversupply for a long time.

Edited bc auto correct is drunk.

ShianeNicole

I EP and had a huge over supply. For about 5 weeks now, I only pump Every 6 hours (6,12,6,12). DH gets off work at 11 pm so he showers and does the last feed at midnight. I pump and go to bed. Lately DD has been sleeping until about 830 instead of 530. I haven't noticed a drop in supply from sleeping the extra time. She eats 3 to 4 oz every 3 hours besides night. I second EPing being extremely hard and VERY stressful. I think formula looks better every day, but I feel mom guilt for wanting to make the switch. Though I know it's 100% ok to formula feed. Plus it's so CRAZY expensive. I can't imagine what it'll be like to pay for that every day!

ZoeH3

ShianeNicole said:

I EP and had a huge over supply. For about 5 weeks now, I only pump Every 6 hours (6,12,6,12). DH gets off work at 11 pm so he showers and does the last feed at midnight. I pump and go to bed. Lately DD has been sleeping until about 830 instead of 530. I haven't noticed a drop in supply from sleeping the extra time. She eats 3 to 4 oz every 3 hours besides night. I second EPing being extremely hard and VERY stressful. I think formula looks better every day, but I feel mom guilt for wanting to make the switch. Though I know it's 100% ok to formula feed. Plus it's so CRAZY expensive. I can't imagine what it'll be like to pay for that every day!

I read an article that said formula costs an average of $1700 the first year! That is insane and also what is keeping me BF. I initially planned on stopping when I went back to work because I get paid per piece and now I end up losing money while I clock out to pump. Ugh, why is everything so difficult?

kmd91

I also EP, so I really can't skip my middle of the night pump. I pump every 6 hours and have plenty to feed my son, but dropping a session wouldn't work. So I still get up once to pump, even though my sons been sleeping through the night for weeks. One night I accidentally fell back asleep when my alarm went off and I woke up a few hours later super engorged and soaked. It just sucks cause it always takes me at least an hour to get back to sleep now. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't mind it.

Lolo427

I also pump every 2-3 hours throughout the day. But from 7 pm-7 am DD gets formula which allows me to stock up on the next days feedings. Anytime she's up, I pump. I used to be better and get up myself every 3 hours throughout the night to pump (10 pm-1am-4am-7) but have gotten lazy and pump once- maybbeeee twice from 9-6. I also get so little at a time that for me it was necessary (2 -3 Ozes total every 2-3 hours). I have seen a small hit to my supply but since I produce so little as is. It's not too too crazy.

VexedMommy

Lolo427 said:

I also pump every 2-3 hours throughout the day. But from 7 pm-7 am DD gets formula which allows me to stock up on the next days feedings. Anytime she's up, I pump. I used to be better and get up myself every 3 hours throughout the night to pump (10 pm-1am-4am-7) but have gotten lazy and pump once- maybbeeee twice from 9-6. I also get so little at a time that for me it was necessary (2 -3 Ozes total every 2-3 hours). I have seen a small hit to my supply but since I produce so little as is. It's not too too crazy.

Have you noticed if your DD shows any differences going between milk and formula?  I have the same issues as you in regards to supply and we were doing the same thing with Bridget, but the switching back and forth seemed to produce more episodes of gassiness and spit up.  We switched to making all of her bottles half and half and it's been much better since then. 

Lolo427

@VexedMommy hmmmm thinking on it her BMs in the morning are a bit harder for her to pass but don't seem to cause too many issues. She has been having reflux which is why we picked Nutramigen for our formula ( I'll be damned if I'm giving up soy,egg, and protein after the hell breastfeeding and pumping has put me through these past 3 months- selfish, but I'm not giving up dairy) with the hope it would take the edge off. So far so good but we have had to up her Zantac once already in two weeks. Maybe the half and half would be less abrassive on her gut; I'll have to give it a try and see!