should i stop pumping??

Pr3ttyinPink

So my baby is still in the NICU (born @ 25 weeks) and he?s now approaching 30 weeks. Yea!!  Anyways, after a month I decide to go back to work and save my FMLA time once he gets home.  During the time I was at home I was expressing/pumping 8 times a day and now getting around 3 oz per sections (total 24oz a day if done 8 times).  So my son has a pretty good supply of milk considering that he?s only getting about 1 oz every 3 hours (continues feeds of 10ml/hr). My question is should I stop expressing milk while I?m at work, so I would only pump 3-4 times a day? Does your milk come back if you stop  and will it come back if I start pumping 8 times a day when he?s discharge?  I'm hoping it comes back, let me know.

At1stsight

I would NOT stop pumping. Yes, it is a supply and demand process, but you are so early in the process, your supply would likely decrease and then never recover. I was a great pumper while DS was in the NICU - 4 oz every session and he was only taking 1.5 oz at the time. We moved to EBF once he was home but I kept the night time feeds in bottles and would pump at night to keep building a freezer stash. Once I went back to work, my pumping output plummeted (work = stress = less effective pumping) so I gradually used my freezer stash down to just 20 bags or so. I know it's a pain (trust me, I really hate pumping too), but I would NOT stop pumping. You may be able to get it back, but there's a much greater chance that it'll never be the same. Hugs! Glad he's doing well and I hope the reminder of his stay goes by quickly.

TriciaJoy

If you're hoping to continue, I'd say no. It is very, very difficult to re-establish a supply once it wanes. And you might be surprised how quickly you can go through a frozen stash if your supply tanks. I had several hundred ounces in my freezer and got a little lackadaisical about pumping as we got closer to Robbie's due date. Then my supply tanked (went from 24 oz/day, to about 5!) and I went through those frozen bottles very quickly.

I finally started domperidone (a med to increase production, but not available in the U.S. I had to order it online) and that was able to get my supply back up to around 20oz/day, but it didn't take a very long time for him to outgrow that either, so then I was back to using my frozen stash.

I know it's very hard, but if you hope to nurse or pump long term, do yourself a favor and keep going as best you can.

witt0198

I agree with the lady's above. In addition, my LC said that anything less than 6 pumpings/day isn't enough to keep it up. I know it can be hard looking at a big store, but it won't be long and your LO will more than likely be taking 4oz at a time, and out pace what you are doing now, best to keep it up.

It's hard but doable, FWIW, I'm the main income, so work full time, and pumped 24/7 for 17months, and I was making 15 oz or more a pumping but was terrified to lose my supply so kept the pumping up.

GL