since we are on the topic of BFing....pumping questions inside

starlettedir

The doc told me yesterday I could start pumping if needed. Like the other night when she fell asleep after only BF on one boob for 15. GOOD LORD did the other one hurt later on.

Sorry if these are really dumb!

Do you pump when the kiddos done? 

Do you drain your self? 

How often do you pump?  

Do you always pump after a feeding?

 

A few more not really related to pumping.

 

How do you know what the right bottle nipple is for a kid?  I have doc brown ones right now.  She hasn't used any of them.

 

How do you know if they are feeding too fast? 

Should it take the same amount of time that is does to BF?

 

 I'd like to try and intro bottles next week even if it's for only 1-2 feedings a day.  SIL is watching her when I go back to work in a month and I want to make sure she's ok on a bottle before we just drop her off ;-)

I'd love to have DH take a night shift as well!  I know he'd like it also for when fussy hour comes on his watch.

 

Suzi-G-

There really are no "rules" or "right way" you have to find a routine/method that works for your body and baby.  If you pump after every feeding you are telling your body to make more milk (this can be good or bad depending on your supply).  If you're planning to continue BFing and pumping once you go back to work an over supply can be nice. 

I started pumping on day 4 (our first day home from the hospital).  I had massive oversupply and engorgement issues.  I would be too full for his tiny mouth to latch on and he never nursed from both sides at once, one side was more milk than he could hold.  So, I would often pump the other side for relief. I never pumped to empty in the early weeks and had I pumped after every feeding I probably would have made so much milk the freezer and I would have both exploded.   I always just pumped when I was too full or knew I was going to be away from him or wanted a bottle for DH to give.  (And I still ended up w/ a freezer stash which I donated to an adopted baby when Cooper was 3 months old and then rebuilt the stash).

The only way to know if you have the "right" nipples/bottles for your kid is to try them.  Like everything else baby-related it's ALL trial and error.  She'll let you know if she doesn't like them.

I wouldn't worry about how fast or slow she's feeding, use the stage 1 nipples and you'll probably be fine.  On the off chance it is too fast, you'll be able to tell, she'll choke and spit.

At this early stage while your supply is still getting established, if you want to give a bottle in the middle of the night you will probably need to get up and pump at the same time. 

 

starlettedir

I think I have a pretty good supply right now.  She hasn't had any issues gaining weight at all. She's back up to the 75%

She typically nurses for 20 min each side. It could be short but she farts around in the beginning and makes it into a huge production to get started. ;-)

Thanks!

 

 

sad5781

I started pumping in the hospital because DS wasn't nursing great.  So I was pumping 5-10 minutes after each feed.  Once he got the hang of it I stopped pumping after every feed. He rarely nursed off both sides the first month.  He would typically empty/almost empty one side and I'd be lopsided until the next feed.  He'd then eat off the other side.  Then, I'd pump both sides to even out and build up the freezer supply.  So I was pumping until empty every other feed. I'd also always pump before "bed".

Once the freezer started getting full and I felt good about my supply and DS was eating more (both sides), I probably cut back on pumping to a couple of times a day (always still before bed so I wouldnt wake up leaking).

As PP said, There is really no "rule" on what to do, if your body responds well to the pump, the more you nurse then pump the more milk you'll make so just watch how it goes.  You don't want turn over do it to where you are always hurting/leaking.

As for nipples, while you are still nursing, use the size 1 nipples (even past the month recommendations).  I had a strong let down when nursing (DS would choke and I had to recline for him to nurse) and the size 1 was still sometimes fast for him. Once we went to exclusively pumping, He pretty much moved up with the month recommendations.  You can always tell if its too fast if they are drooling too much out or choking/coughing.  And, if she is getting really frustrated on the bottle, it might be that its too slow so you can try moving up a size. 

step2mom2010

PP have given some great advice already! Here is what I did....

Do you pump when the kiddos done? I started doing this at two weeks.  Only because he wasn't draining me completely and I was trying to build a stash.

 

Do you drain your self? Yes, I did.  Becareful as previous post said, you can get engorgement and oversupply issues. 

 

How often do you pump?   I pumped after each "day" feeding.  I was ok in the evening and could make it to morning.  After he was done, I pumped.

 

Do you always pump after a feeding? Nope, I picked the day ones just to make it easier on me. If I felt in the middle of the night that I needed to pump I did, but for the most part I was able to hold off.

 

How do you know what the right bottle nipple is for a kid?  I have doc brown ones right now.  She hasn't used any of them. Size 1 nipples are usually what comes with the new bottle.  We started with that and Mr. K had no issues. 

 

How do you know if they are feeding too fast?  She will let you know.  She will be leaking, spitting up or choking on it. 

 

Should it take the same amount of time that is does to BF? He actually would take less time with a bottle than with the breast.  I think it was more of getting situated, stay latched on, not having to fondle yourself to get him on, and all the other stuff that goes with BFing.

 

 I'd like to try and intro bottles next week even if it's for only 1-2 feedings a day.  SIL is watching her when I go back to work in a month and I want to make sure she's ok on a bottle before we just drop her off ;-)  I did this as well.  I started pumping the feedings that I would be when I went back to work and feeding Kolby the bottle for those.  It took a couple of days to get my routine down but it worked.  Then the next week I had the sitter come and we tested it all out.  That took a couple of days as well.  In the end by the time I went back to work I had done one week on my own and one week with the sitter.  It gave me a peace of mind.  Note: that week of doing bottles for the day feedings and pumping was long.  It took twice as much time and I felt like as soon as I was done pumping he was eating again! If you have someone that can feed the bottle while you pump it helps!

Side Note: Saw your pictures on Monkey Tree and you and your H have one gorgeous baby girl! They are adorable pictures!! Congrats!

lilbitnmag

While on ML I typically only pumped aftter the first morning feeding.  Occasionaly I had to before bed otherwise I woke up leaking. The only other time I pumped was for a missed feeding.  We never split up the night time shift since I would have had to wake to pump anyways it was easier for me to feed.

As far as nipples go we started with Dr. Brown's level 1 and are still at a level 1 even at 9 months.  They say that there is really no reason to move up levels while breastfeeding.  It's not like it flows out of your boob faster; the baby just becomes for efficient.  She will let you know if she is feeding to fast from a bottle by her actions.  Try propping her up more while feeding from a bottle vs. lying down like bf this seems to work best for bf babies.

ayersfam20

I was like Suzi and had such an over supply that I had to pump as soon as I was home from the hospital just to get some relief.  Now that he's 2 months it has leveled out, thank goodness and my body got used to him STTN.

He would eat on one side and I would pump the other when he was done.

I also pumped for about 3 weeks once a night while he got a bottle of Nutramagen before we figured out his food issues.

We used Level 1 Dr. Brown's and he's never had a problem with them.

CareBear01

starlettedir:

The doc told me yesterday I could start pumping if needed. Like the other night when she fell asleep after only BF on one boob for 15. GOOD LORD did the other one hurt later on.

Sorry if these are really dumb!

Do you pump when the kiddos done?   I usually fed off of one side and pumped the other side.  If I didn't feel like he emptied one side, then I would pump that out, too.

Do you drain your self?  See above.  Yes, I pump until you don't see drops coming out anymore.

How often do you pump?   I think I only pumped once in the morning for my stash b/c that is when I was the most full.

Do you always pump after a feeding?  No, I didn't. 

 

A few more not really related to pumping.

 

How do you know what the right bottle nipple is for a kid?  I have doc brown ones right now.  She hasn't used any of them.  You don't know until she tries them and you see that she will take them - but if you are BFing, you should always stay on stage 1.  If you go up to level 2, they might refuse your breast b/c they know they can get a better flow from a bottle.

 

How do you know if they are feeding too fast?  It might sound like they are choking a bit.  Just lean back a litlte, so gravity can help with the too fast let down.

Should it take the same amount of time that is does to BF?  I think so - but you can do both sides at the same time, so really, it's probably faster than a feeding if you are feeding off of both sides at one feeding since you have to do one at a time.

 

 I'd like to try and intro bottles next week even if it's for only 1-2 feedings a day.  SIL is watching her when I go back to work in a month and I want to make sure she's ok on a bottle before we just drop her off ;-)

I'd love to have DH take a night shift as well!  I know he'd like it also for when fussy hour comes on his watch.  We did a night shift usually around once a week where I would just sleep through my let down.  I was pretty full in the morning, but at least got more than 3 hours of sleep in one stretch.

 

kreeper611

starlettedir:

Do you pump when the kiddos done? be careful pumping after she eats all the time because you'll tell your body you need to produce more. I think in the beginning I would pump about 1-2 hours after he ate, especially if he was napping.  I would also pump right before bed to empty myself out.

 

A few more not really related to pumping.

 

How do you know what the right bottle nipple is for a kid?  I have doc brown ones right now.  She hasn't used any of them. I started with the cheap one first - Playtex drop-ins.  Cooper hated them because the nipple seemed really hard...and he wanted food now.  We tried the Avent and they just worked.  He never had a gas issue so I returned the box of Dr. Browns and went with it.

 

I felt like with Coop he took forever to eat.  Like 45 min.  And then he was up again and hour later during the day.  He took bottles really well. 

 I'd like to try and intro bottles next week even if it's for only 1-2 feedings a day.  SIL is watching her when I go back to work in a month and I want to make sure she's ok on a bottle before we just drop her off ;-)

I'd love to have DH take a night shift as well!  I know he'd like it also for when fussy hour comes on his watch. We did this once only because me sleeping all night would end up causing me to wake up with overlfowing boobs...and it would cause my production to be low.  What worked for us was that DH would go get C, change him, bring him to me and I would feed him, then DH would take him back to bed.  I got to be comfy in bed and DH would sleep while we nursed.  This was only on weekends/days when DH wasn't going to work, but it was SO nice.

 

lilycat

Can you find a good lactation consultant? I really found that an l.c. gave me the best insight for when and how much to pump.

I think an l.c. can help establish a schedule that doesn't over do it, while explaining all the ins and outs of supply. 

In my situation with my second was complicated, and I ended up pumping to relieve mastitis for a few months. It was hard to work back on pumping that had become too dominant with all the rest of that going on. It took me months to work backward...it can get away from you sometimes when you get that electronic baby going.

starlettedir

step2mom2010:

Side Note: Saw your pictures on Monkey Tree and you and your H have one gorgeous baby girl! They are adorable pictures!! Congrats!

Thank you!

 

ok I started this morning. I've gotten about 2 oz total after each feeding. Is this about normal?  She eats about 20 minutes each side.