What's your breastfeeding/pumping schedule?

ConnCottager

Do you pump after every feeding at the breast? Every other? Something else? I should mention my goal is to increase my supply.

lisaohgee

Your baby is too young for your supply to be established yet.  I would hold off for a bit. 

katie4253

I EP and have since our baby was born (he was very premature).  My body wasn't ready to breast feed yet, so it has been a lot of work just getting my milk to come in. 

Right now, I pump every 2-3 hours for 15-20mins.  Gabe's neonatologist was concerned I wasn't getting enough sleep and that it would effect my supply.  So, she asked that I sleep 4-5 hours at a stretch during some part of the day.  So, I do a 25 minute pumping session at night and then sleep for 4-5hrs. 

If I had him with me I would feed every 2-3 hours and not really worry about my supply unless there was a reason to worry.  

ConnCottager

lisaohgee:

Your baby is too young for your supply to be established yet.  I would hold off for a bit. 

We've already been supplementing with formula and pumping due to a drop in weight. Also, because of latch issues, we are just getting the hang of breastfeeding. I'm to continue supplementing 3x a day, working our way down to none, eventually. This could be more a question for my LC then, but should I pump so that I can supplement with breast milk, or just use formula?

klvd

I would pump so that you can supplement with breast milk if possible.  That way you'll be working at establishing what you will really need to EBF if that is your goal.  Also - you typically have the most milk early on and then it tapers off once you've established your supply to meet the needs of your baby.  I would start by trying to pump right after your LO goes down to sleep if you expect that he'll stay asleep for a while or after the first feeding of the morning, when your supply is usually the highest.

mamaholmes2010

I would pump so that you can supplement with BM rather than formula.

Here is my current schedule working part-time:

Work Days:

Nurse at 6am, 5pm, 7pm, 8:30pm and then on demand at night (usually 2-3 additional sessions)

Pump at 9am, 12pm, and 3pm

Home Days:

I nurse on demand but it is typically every 3-4 hours for about 15-30 minutes.

When my son was first born I nursed every 1.5-2 hours religiously.  I did not pump at all until he was 4 weeks old because I wanted my supply to be established and him to be comfortable with nursing before we added in a bottle. 

nycdueinmay

Hi fellow May mama! DD is a big baby (born 9lbs 8oz) so I was encourage to increase supply as milk came in to make sure she was satiated. I was told to feed her 20 mins from each breast, then pump each breast for 10 mins after. We were also told to supplement with formula or BM after the feeding if she was still hungry. Repeat the process on demand, or at least every 3 hours. I was given these instructions on Friday when she weighed 8lbs 9oz. I will say that I never did the pumping because I found pumping an empty breast with nipples new to BFing was down-right excruciating. She also rarely took but 10-15ml of supplemented formula when we were told she could take in about an ounce. She was weighed again today and is up to 9lbs 4.5oz, or an 11.5oz gain in 72 hours! I would call it a success. And that was without following the "plan" since I never pumped. I thought this routine might be what you are looking for though.

ConnCottager

nycdueinmay:

Hi fellow May mama! DD is a big baby (born 9lbs 8oz) so I was encourage to increase supply as milk came in to make sure she was satiated. I was told to feed her 20 mins from each breast, then pump each breast for 10 mins after. We were also told to supplement with formula or BM after the feeding if she was still hungry. Repeat the process on demand, or at least every 3 hours. I was given these instructions on Friday when she weighed 8lbs 9oz. I will say that I never did the pumping because I found pumping an empty breast with nipples new to BFing was down-right excruciating. She also rarely took but 10-15ml of supplemented formula when we were told she could take in about an ounce. She was weighed again today and is up to 9lbs 4.5oz, or an 11.5oz gain in 72 hours! I would call it a success. And that was without following the "plan" since I never pumped. I thought this routine might be what you are looking for though.

Yes! Thank you! Our girl was big (10lbs 5oz) at birth so we had a similar strategy after she dropped to 9lbs at discharge. As of today she's up to 9lbs 13oz and was instructed to add the breastfeeding back in, just wasn't sure where/if to add the pumping since they still said to supplement if necessary and I'd prefer obviously to use my milk over formula. Thanks again!