working moms: pumping and bottles

Daisy22

Dh and I were talking about when Bailey starts daycare and the things we need. One thing we are clueless about is bottles. So two questions for yall. When did you start pumping to get a supply started for when you went back to work? Also how many bottles and what size?

care99

I started 3-4 weeks after Colin was born.  I'd pump once a day, after his first morning feeding.  You have more milk at that time, so it's a good way to get extra and get rid of some engorgement from overnight.  That's pretty much all I did until I went back, unless we were going somewhere and I needed to have someone else feed him.  The more you pump or BF, the more milk you're going to make, so I didn't want to go overboard while I was on mat. leave.  By the time I went back to work, he was eating every 3-4 hours, so I pumped 3x during the day and BF the rest:  I'd usually BF early in the morning, pump first thing at work, then around lunch and again in the afternoon, then immediately BF around 5 or so.

Be sure that you use the milk that you're pumping in the order that you pump.  Your BM changes consistency as the baby gets older, so you want to do first in, first out :-)

Also make sure that you have enough collection bottles to get you through the day-at least 6, as well as plenty of freezer bags.  As for baby bottles, we used Born Free.  I had 5 or so small ones and then 5 bigger ones (I think the big ones were 9 oz?).

ebearwife

Ditto PP.  When you are pumping at home on ML, be sure to pump the full 20 minutes.  It may seem like you aren't going to have that much time bc babies are SO DEMANDING at first, but invest in a swing or bouncy that will entertain/soothe the baby for 20 minutes so you can get it done.  But enjoy the demanding phase, its short lived and you get lots of snuggles and bonding with your LO and before you know it you've got a 20 lb bruiser crawling all over the place.

We used Playtex dropins.  Before we started food, P was drinking about 3 bottles a day (5oz each).  Now that we do food, sometimes P rejects the bottle altogether (no, really, its not frustrating at all to pour BM down the drain at the end of the day)...  I digress.  My Pedi told me that some babies hold out all day long without milk but hopefully your baby will happily drink from the bottle while in daycare.

A tip on the bottle feeding.  Starting about a week old, DH did the late evening shift.  We started a consistent routine.  7PM - dinner (for us) followed by bath and lotion and pajama time.  Then about 8ish I said goodnight to P and DH did the bottle while I pumped and then went to bed.  DH hung out with P until about 10 or so when she would get hungry again and he brought her to bed at that time.  It was great to get a couple hours uninterrupted sleep and P got more and more used to a bottle.

JoelsGirl07

I was really curious about this topic, too. Except my problem would be that I wouldn't have time (not that my company wouldn't LET me, but that it would physically be impossible for me to be away from my job for that long) to pump that often at work - plus with the 12-13 hr shifts it would be pumping about 4 times. What should you do? Cut down your feedings and supplement so u won't HAVE to pump more than 1 or 2 times? I haven't talked to my boss about it...I was planning to talk to her in a couple months since I have so much time, but since the topic was brought up I thought I'd ask.....

tdt

I started pumping just as soon as my milk supply was established. ?I froze the milk in 6-7 oz bags. ?I thought I had a good supply when I went back to work, but Payton was such a great eater that they supply went fast. ?I was able to pump twice a day at work. ?

Kerrin

care99:

I started 3-4 weeks after Colin was born.  I'd pump once a day, after his first morning feeding.  You have more milk at that time, so it's a good way to get extra and get rid of some engorgement from overnight.  That's pretty much all I did until I went back, unless we were going somewhere and I needed to have someone else feed him.  The more you pump or BF, the more milk you're going to make, so I didn't want to go overboard while I was on mat. leave.  By the time I went back to work, he was eating every 3-4 hours, so I pumped 3x during the day and BF the rest:  I'd usually BF early in the morning, pump first thing at work, then around lunch and again in the afternoon, then immediately BF around 5 or so.

Be sure that you use the milk that you're pumping in the order that you pump.  Your BM changes consistency as the baby gets older, so you want to do first in, first out :-)

Also make sure that you have enough collection bottles to get you through the day-at least 6, as well as plenty of freezer bags.  As for baby bottles, we used Born Free.  I had 5 or so small ones and then 5 bigger ones (I think the big ones were 9 oz?).

this is right on the money.  I started aroud this time with Carter and statrted the 1st week with Ava.  Also pump any time baby only nurses on one side, misses a feeding, or doesn't completely empty each breast.  Ava only nursed on one side for many months so I had to rotate and pump the other after each feeding.  

 

Kerrin

JoelsGirl07:

I was really curious about this topic, too. Except my problem would be that I wouldn't have time (not that my company wouldn't LET me, but that it would physically be impossible for me to be away from my job for that long) to pump that often at work - plus with the 12-13 hr shifts it would be pumping about 4 times. What should you do? Cut down your feedings and supplement so u won't HAVE to pump more than 1 or 2 times? I haven't talked to my boss about it...I was planning to talk to her in a couple months since I have so much time, but since the topic was brought up I thought I'd ask.....

Some ladies are able to get away with pumping 1 or two times and still maintain their milk supply.  But i think if you did this over a long period of time, your supply would eventually drop off. In the span of 12 hours, that's 3-4 pumping sessions.  I would try to do whatever it takes to pump - even a 5 minute pump session every 3-4 hours is better than nothing and it will still cue your body to produce milk.