When did you start pumping?

Quizzle

I'm being a worry-wart mom because Viv's not nursing too well.... she WANTS to nurse, but her latch is just ok. And she's so sleepy and tends to just pass out asleep after just 5 minutes. If I'm lucky I can get 10 out of her and that's with a lot of work waking her up.  So now I'm freaking out because we just aren't getting dirty diapers and my mom commented that she'd lost weight. And then I think she threw up almost everything I'd fed her earlier today (or it seemed that way, given I pretty much had to completely change clothes!)

I'm about thisclose to either breaking out the formula we swiped from the hospital and/or sending DH to go buy me a pump since I'm worried my supply is going to tank and that she's not getting enough food (and that thus she's going to lose weight and get more jaundiced, etc etc.)

My supply started out absolutely fantastic, pretty much according to anyone who saw what I was getting with the pump at the hospital. With as little as she's eating, I'm afraid I'm going to end up with a downward spiral.

beebe929

I think you should pump.  But keep it to just a couple pumps a day, the early mornings are the best for your supply.  But I also would make an appt with a lactation consultant to help with the bad latch.

Good luck!!

desabean

What do you mean you aren't getting dirty diapers?  How many are you getting a day?  How often is she nursing a day?  Do you have a scale (a good baby scale)-- I rented one from my LC so I could weigh her before and after a feeding to be sure she was getting some-- I was so sure she wasn't....but she was, a good amount actually.  But we never had issues with not getting wet/dirty diapers.  If that is really the case, I would get her some formula.  But keep nursing!  Nurse her first always and then get her an ounce of formula after each feed for a day or two. And I would get some help from a LC tomorrow if possible to help you with the latch.  They should be able to help you get it right so you can go back to BFing exclusively.

I didn't start pumping until 7 weeks.  My LC suggested I start earlier to help with my supply but I found that sleeping and eating better helped fix the issue so I didn't need to.

nicolita14w

I think I was about 4 or 5 days postpartum. James was like Viv-- falling asleep constantly. But I also had a low supply so I was supposed to pump after *every* feed. That sucked. Hopefully you won't have to do that!

stepgirl21

I have a massive over supply so Ive been pumping since my milk came in. H feeds him a bottle of breastmilk at night and he nurses the rest of the time. Its working pretty well so far. I would ask an LC about her latch and how to get your supply up. She may not do so well switching from bottle to breast and back if her latch isnt great in the first place.

Christakim

I started pumping right off because for the first month I had an oversupply.  BUT I wish I would've waited because Ella didn't want to nurse or take the bottle and I'm not sure if it's because we confused her too early on.  You can always pump and freeze!

cjsbdl

I wouldn't pump at five days pp. My milk didn't come in until day 5, so you're way ahead of me, and I had great supply. They need so little at each feeding at that age...the amount she's eating at each session doesn't matter nearly as much as just putting her to the breast often. She can generate supply so much better than a pump can.

It's certainly worth a call to a LC if you're truly worried your supply is low and you're concerned that she's not having enough wet/dirty diapers (although it's perfectly normal for a breastfed baby to have few dirty diapers...it's the wets you need to really be concerned about).  And if she doesn't have a good latch definitely work with an LC to get that fixed as soon as you can.

The sleepiness and short nursing sessions are perfectly normal at that stage. Just keep putting her to the breast anytime she acts hungry.

ETA: I didn't answer your original question...I started pumping when H was about 5 weeks old, but I never pumped a lot...just enough to have a bottle or two in the freezer when I went out and MIL watched him.

Quizzle

desabean:

What do you mean you aren't getting dirty diapers?  How many are you getting a day?  How often is she nursing a day?  Do you have a scale (a good baby scale)-- I rented one from my LC so I could weigh her before and after a feeding to be sure she was getting some--

We've had several diaper changes today, but wet ones... one good poopy one today, and  a couple of tiny ones, one I classified as basically a, uh, dirty fart. I swear I think I was up all night last night because she was nursing for maybe 5 minutes every hour. It's either that, or she'll nurse for 5-10 minutes then I have to wake her up because she'll sleep for so long.

I'm probably going to call the LC at the hospital tomorrow to ask. Her first pediatrician appointment is Monday morning but I'm sort of paranoid about waiting!

TheSkimmy

cjsbdl:

I wouldn't pump at five days pp. My milk didn't come in until day 5, so you're way ahead of me, and I had great supply. They need so little at each feeding at that age...the amount she's eating at each session doesn't matter nearly as much as just putting her to the breast often. She can generate supply so much better than a pump can.

It's certainly worth a call to a LC if you're truly worried your supply is low and you're concerned that she's not having enough wet/dirty diapers (although it's perfectly normal for a breastfed baby to have few dirty diapers...it's the wets you need to really be concerned about).  And if she doesn't have a good latch definitely work with an LC to get that fixed as soon as you can.

The sleepiness and short nursing sessions are perfectly normal at that stage. Just keep putting her to the breast anytime she acts hungry.

Exactly! I would nurse nurse nurse - basically I was topless those first few weeks... hang in there you are doing great!

BeccaLandes

I started pumping immediately.  Neither baby latched in the hospital, and it took forever for my supply to come in.

In your case, I am not sure if I would worry about pumping just yet, but I would definitely call a LC to double-check and to get your daughter latching better.

Quizzle

Thanks guys. She seems to be getting the hang of it, but at the same time her latch isn't great; I think being large busted doesn't help much. She's a big baby, but not THAT big!  I don't think the NICU time helped much either, since they had her on such a three-hour schedule and I had to fight a bit with one of the nurses to get to BF there. The last nurse we had in the NICU was fantastic, though, and he pulled over one of the other ones to help me with it.