if you breastfeed...

lajolla09.30.06

I have a couple of questions for those breastfeeding or who were breastfeeding in the early weeks

1. Did you/do you also pump?  If so when?

2. Do you tandem feed or feed individually? Why?

3. Do you/did you try to "schedule" or do you feed on demand?

We had been trying to do a 3 hr schedule (the same as in the NICU) since they've been home, but occasionally one or both is so sleepy (we have to wake them sometimes) that they don't really eat well.  Today we went to the pediatrician who said it's ok to do on demand if that's what we want.  They are not eating at the same time, which I'm ok with, but I'm worried about the time between feedings.  Sometimes it goes to four hours and they're still not waking up.  At that point I get freaked out and wake them up, but I am curious what everyone else's experience has been.

 I also have trouble knowing when to pump because now that they're not on a "schedule" I never know when they'll wake up and be hungry.  I'd hate for them to wake up and want to eat right after I pumped for fear that I won't have any milk for them.

 Any suggestions?

lovethe1story

Hi

Congrats.  It sounds like you are doing great.

1.  Yes I pumped about 15 minutes after every daytime feed (after night feeds, I tried to get some sleep).  Once my mom left (2 weeks) I often couldn't pump after they ate because they needed something, so I would pump when they napped.  I found that as long as I pumped at least an hour before they needed to eat, my supply was enough for them.  Ex.  They ate at 7am then napped from 8-10.  As long as I pumped between 8-9am, I would have enough to feed them at 10.  That gave me some freedom to do other things (eat!, shower) instead of being stuck to the pump right after a feed.

2.  I did both.  I tandem fed because my kids took really long to feed (up to 60 min each!), so feeding them both at once saved a ton of time.  Also, even when they became more efficient eaters I still tandem fed.  It was a nice way to snuggle with both at once.  I still tandem at least one feed a day now (9 months).  I also did (and still do) one at a time.  In the beginning it was bc dd needed more frequent feeds, she was smaller.  Now I do it if one gets up earlier, we are in public, or the other is content playing and I can have some one on one snuggles.

3. Fed on demand until 6 weeks (I was lucky, it was still basically every 2.5 to 3.5 hours).  Some days they were staggered, but quite often they were on the same schedule.  At 6 weeks, I started a true schedule of bfing at 8-11-2-5-8 and whenever they woke up at night.

HTH

Trina

SCOOTER

1-Yes I pumped too.  They weren't that efficient at first at nursing so we still had to provide them with pumped milk.

2-Yes, very early on we got the hang of tandem feeding and there was no looking back.  I need help at first with latching them both on, picking up to burp, getting them off the boppy etc but it was much faster for us this way,.

3-We fed on demand as soon as we brought them home.  It was a delecate balance of keeping them on the same schedule sometimes.  One was sleeping while the other was hungr.  We tred to split the difference, wake one sometimes (!) and wait a little on the hungry one.  It was a little tricky for a few weeks and then it went out the window when they were sick so just go with the flow in those times.  It's hard to pump around schedules when you aren't sure when they will be hungry, i totally remember that.  

Make sure to drink enough water and eat enough during the day and night to ensure you can make eough milk.  I tried to wait about an hour after I nursed because I knew it would be at least an hour or more before they wanted to eat again.  

GL

jooliagoolia

Hi! Congrats!

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1) At first, I did after every feeding and sometimes between feedings, but like you it was tricky to know when. ?After 6 weeks or so my supply was well established so I stopped. ?

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We could never do the 3 hour schedule; our kids wanted to eat every 2 during the day but went good stretches at night. ?My motto is to never wake a sleeping baby (unless you have twins!)--see #2. ?Few babies NEED to be fed on a rigid schedule over night.

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2) Tandem. ?Dh got up at night with me so I could do them both at the same time. ?That's the only reason we woke them; we stopped that around 2.5 months. ?I can do tandem by myself on the couch, but not in the nursery. ?Now, I still feed them tandem at 10 months, but like individual nursing as well. ?I did/do tandem out of survival; like when I couldn't imagine getting up in one hour to feed the other one.

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3) ?We still feed on demand. ?A schedule never really emerged for feedings, and it's worked well for us.?

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You'll figure out quickly what works for you and your family. ?GL!?

mel&greg

1. I pumped after 2 or 3 of their daytime feeds for the first few weeks.  Then for awhile I didn't pump much at all.  Once they started sleeping longer (around 8 weeks) at night (like a 5 hour chunk) I would feed at 8 pm and then pump at 10:30.  They wouldn't eat again until 1 or 2 so I could "refill".  They now STTN and I either do the 10:30pm pump or pump after their morning feed.

2. I tandem probably 90% of the time.  I find it much more efficient.  Now if one wakes up from their nap earlier than the other I will feed them individually. 

3.  We fed on demand which was anywhere between 2.5 and 3.5 hours at the beginning.  We were lucky that they really stayed on the same schedule.  We would wake the sleeping baby to feed both at the same time in the beginning because for your sanity it is easier not to be feeding around the clock. 

Good luck!  The first few weeks are really tough but once you get it down breastfeeding is so easy and enjoyable (at least for me )