My LO is 10 days old - doing well with breastfeeding. How do you know if your breast is empty? Are you supposed to completely empty one breast before switching to the other breast or do you stop in the middle of one to try to get him to take both?
I am going to start pumping next week - if he eats every 2-3 hours, when am I supposed to pump?
TIA!
Re: New mommy - need some answers
First of all, kellymom.com - go there. It's a great site.
If there isn't much swallowing or you feel empty (squeeze the side of the breast) is how I tell. You should completely empty one before offering the next. During one nursing session, offer side A and when you're done offer side B. Next nursing session, offer side B first.
Personally, I wouldn't start pumping so early, only for comfort. You may have problems with oversupply later.
First- Your breasts are never truly EMPTY... there will always be one more drop- so don't wait for that- but you can usually tell by your baby's swallowing pattern. Nursing or pumping after the breast is "empty" will send a message to your body that you need to produce more milk. Good to know if you are trying to increase your supply- or reduce an overabundant one.
Something to understand is that the milk that comes first in a nursing session is low-fat low-calorie foremilk- designed to quench thirst.... after the foremilk comes the high fat high calorie hind milk, the main course. Your baby has a very small stomach, the size of their fist- so they can't eat an unlimited amount of milk- regardless of how much you are producing. If you feed "off the top" of both breasts and fill your baby's tummy with foremilk- you can wind up with a situation where they are not getting enough calories even though you are producing a ton of milk. If a baby is getting too much foremilk they will usually have greenish poops with mucous or foam. Nursing for a long time from one side only is the way to resolve that- and if the baby is still hungry after a while- then top them off from the other side.
You have to discover your own perfect balance- based on your own milk supply, the speed of your let down, the size of your baby, the frequency of your nursings etc.... it's a very personal balance of many variables- so don't get hung up on some outline that says: "Nurse 10 minutes on the right and 10 on the left" - that may work for some but not for everyone.
Great advice - she said it all. I usually feed from just one side and after DS burps I offer the other side to make sure he has had is fill. 9 times out of 10 he will not take the other side from me but I always offer just in case he needed a little "top off". Your breast will feel lighter after a feeding and that gives you an indication that LO is eating - but like PP said - your breast are never really "empty".
If I were you I would just pump after your first early morning feeding to begin with. In the morning you "should" have the most milk. If your LO STTN then you can pump to "empty" right before bed. If you are pumping after a nursing session will you not get very much milk so don't be surprised. You can pump to replace a nursing session also (if DH gives a bottle and you pump to replace that bottle).
Always remember if you are not nursing you should be pumping. Just becuase DH is helping with bottles that does not mean you get to relax - you still need to sit there and pump for that session. It's a trap.. LOL
The signs I use to tell if he's done on the first side are - if he is no longer swallowing noticeably or frequently, if the breast feels softer and lighter, or if he comes off on his own. This takes anywhere from 5-15 minutes (less as he's gotten older). Then I burp him and offer the other side. My little guy is a big eater so he usually takes it too
If LO is sucking an empty boob for comfort, they will be small, fast "flutter" sucks with little or no swallowing. That is a good sign that you're pretty empty (though never completely).