EPers, ? for a friend

rowanthefrog

One of my IRL friends had her baby via emergency C-section at 30 weeks.  He has been home for a couple of weeks now, but has been too little to BF, so she has been pumping every 3 hours like clockwork.  I think she is getting very tired and frustrated - he isn't strong enough to BF yet (it wears him out) but she doesn't know how she is going to handle pumping and bottle feeding him once her help goes home.  She's thinking about stopping and switching to formula once he hits his actual due date.

I guess my question is - does she need to keep pumping every 3 hours?  Could she, perhaps, space it to every 5 hours or at least just at night without hurting her supply too much?  I know she wanted to try BFing, but I think she is so exhausted at this point that she is ready to give up.  I was hoping to get some insight from experts - maybe offer her a little relief so she can keep going and maybe end up BFing after all once he is strong enough.

A 

ncsubride

Going longer between sessions will probably result in a dip in her supply but probably not too much.  Does she produce enough now for him to eat soley on breastmilk?  Is she pumping extra to put away?  How long did she want him on breastmilk for? 

Pumping was some serious hard work, I did it for 4 months and let me tell you I was ready to smash my pump into a thousand pieces many times.

 

Miracle Social Worker

Look at Kellymom, but they recommend not going more than 4 hours between pumping. The hospital recommended every 3 hours and maybe one 4 hour stint at night but only after 6 weeks of pumping. It gets very tiring, and is why I stopped pumping months after DS would not latch.

Miracle Social Worker

I think TriciaJoy would know the most about this.

rowanthefrog

Yeah, she has a huge frozen stash.  He is eating exclusively BM.  I figured it would result in a dip in her supply at first, but once her baby started BFing then her supply would adjust to his needs.

A 

Mrs.Mclstar48

Yes it would definitely make her supply dip! I was every 3 hours like clock work when DD was in the NICU and once she was home it was hard to keep that up!! But DD had some other things that needed tending to that just made eveything very overwhelming. I commend anyone who EPs for more than a few months. You are attached to that pump! I didnt go many places because I didnt want to lug it around since DD did not latch.

She needs to go with what is best for her. Yes BM is best but also an unstressed mama is important and having a preemie at home is very stressful. She just needs to do what she feels is best. Also, DD never latched. Hoping her DC latches, her supply may go up what if her baby doesnt? She shouldnt stress so much about it. Plus there is nothing wrong with supplementing as well as pumping and if the baby doesnt latch she can always stop the EPing if she feels she doesnt want to continue. My preemie is thriving just fine FF and has basically caught up to her actual age level.

Sueball1

I think Mrs McIstar is a great person to talk to about this (I see she responded above) since I know she went through something very similar with Hailey.

I also had to EP b/c of latching issues and Leo's dropping too much weight at the beginning... I was told by every LC I talked to that I had to pump every TWO hours, and then put Leo to the boob so he wouldn't forget how to breastfeed. Obviously, it didn't work for me, but in all honesty I was not the most patient with the whole thing. I was so exhausted from pumping every 2 hours with a colicky newborn that I didn't put him to the breast as much as I should have.

If she really wants to nurse, then encourage her by helping out as much as you can with the baby so she can get some rest between pumps. Also, if she doesn't have a hands-free nursing bra, I would suggest she get one. The only way I got through 12 hours of pumping a day was to be hands-free and get online....!! 

TriciaJoy

I really wouldn't recommend dropping pumps until at least 8w, preferrably 12. Of course, it's freaking HARD to do that.

I dropped to 6 pumps when Robbie came home from the hospital.

 

The best thing I can tell her to do is start an excel spreadsheet and track each boob's output at every session and just see how much dropping a pump or two really affects things.

Sometimes she can get away with doing say 4 or 5 hour pumps during the day when she's alone (so, say her hubby works 8 hours a day.. try to pump before he leaves and after he gets home and then just once while the baby naps during the day) but then in the evening, pump every 2 hours.

Hopefully if she can keep it up for a bit, the baby will eventually "get it" and start nursing.
Robbie had a lot of stomach issues and eventually stopped eating entirely (he's not G tube fed) but was actually a pretty good nurser even at 3 & 4 pounds. And I have HUGE nipples.. They can do more than you might think.

I'd tell her to find a LC or OT who specializes in preemies and breastfeeding.

Now.. all of that being said.. how much milk is she making? Me? I never made more than 24oz/day even pumping 8 or 10x/day.. and when I started dropping pumps, I lost a bit.

I'm still pumping almost 14 months later. I'm down to pumping 4x/day and I make about 20oz/day but I take a LOT of domperidone to keep that up.

If all else fails, I'd be glad to talk to her.. my email address: triciajoy@yahoo.com

TayLynn

I think that was nice of Trish to offer her email.  I would really pass it on to your friend, Amy.

 I think surrounding yourself with people that are positive and knowing that it CAN be done is important to success.  She obviously needs a lot of support.

Prolactin is a great mothering hormone.  BFing moms tend to have lower incidences of PPD and pp mood disorders.  Encouraging her to take advantage of that might be really beneficial to a premie mom. 

It helps the baby and helps the mom too! 

rowanthefrog

Thank you all so much, and thank you for your email Tricia.  I'm going to call her this weekend and check in on her.  I'm going to tread lightly, I'm sure the last thing she needs is to feel that someone is pressuring her to do something she doesn't want to do, so I'm going to feel her out and see if she wants some extra support.  If so I'll pass on your info.  I'm saving it in my email, so if you want to delete then you can.

A 

dmsmth

my LO goes about 4 hours at night, so I don't see why she couldn't go longer w/o pumping at night.