RP: BFing?

stonsfel

 Posted on 3-6 & Breastfeeding

I've been breastfeeding my daughter for almost 4 months now.  I'm going to start going back to school on Thursday evenings at the end of June so she will be 5 1/2 months old then.  The class is 5 hours long.  Have any of you had experience with attending classes like this and continuing breastfeeding?  Is it even possible?  Next semester, I will be having class two nights a week like this but there will be a 10 minute break in between.

 Will it hurt my supply if I don't pump/bf for 6 hours 1 or 2 days a week? Will a 6 month old still be eating every 3 hours (not counting through the night of course)?  Any suggestions? 

 I need to make an educated guess if I will be able to continue breastfeeding or if I need to work on phasing it out slowly.

magdusia

 Will it hurt my supply if I don't pump/bf for 6 hours 1 or 2 days a week? Will a 6 month old still be eating every 3 hours (not counting through the night of course)?  Any suggestions? Probably not. Just do a long pump as soon as you get home and completely drain your boobs.  I totally slack on the weekends and sometimes go 6 hours with out pumping (or longer) and my supply is pretty good on mondays when i'm back to work and my regular schedule.   My baby also use to nurse at night but once i went to purely pumping i was not planning on waking up and doing a pump session at night so he does get one 5oz of formula at night.  So if you worry about your supply than give your LO one bottle of formula a day/night.. and continue to nurse all other times.

also, my 6 month old still eats every 3 to 3.5 hours. 

good luck

NY-allie

My 11.5 month old still eats every 2-3 hours during the day 6am to 6 pm, but he STTN so I have a 12 hour stretch.  You could always partially wean, some ladies do that when they go back to work.

KelliLynee

At that age my DD was nursing five times a day (630, 1030, 230, 5, 8) and at 6 months she dropped the 5 pm session and she continued to have the same schedule now. Try to get a stash going now so tgatthat if you have to supplement you can do it with your own milk!

Belle15

Everyones different, but at work I go  5 to 6 hrs with out pumping 3 times a week with out a prob.   At your DDs age mine was getting 1-2 bottles during that time, now she's down to 0 to 1.  I try to just nurse and pump before and after to make up for the missed feedings.  HTH..

b.heather

I occasionally go that long on a weekend or a night that I have to work. You might try it and if your supply starts decreasing, talk with the instructor and ask to take a few more minutes during the break. He/she should accommodate that request, and even if you can only squeeze in a 10 minute session that will help keep your supply up. 

Cityplanner

I suspect you'll be fine without those one or two pumpings. If your supply does tank, I'd guess it will be just at that evening hours. At that age, I had an oversupply in the AM, so I was able to pump a few ounces for my stash in the morning. If you could do something similar, you could use that in the evening to make up for an oversupply then. Or just do one bottle of formula. I know a lot of women who will supplement with one bottle of formula a day and their supply is fine otherwise. I certainly don't think the class is a reason to wean entirely (unless you WANT to, that's a totally different story).