Did anyone ever go from EPing to BFing?

Kristen61607

Hey ladies - hope you don't mind that I post over here since I'm not technically a preemie mom as my girls were born at 37.5 weeks, but they were born at 5lbs and 5lbs 3oz so I feel like we sometimes have some preemie "issues". I went into this wanting to EBF, but in the hospital we had a very hard time latching and didn't do well with BFing at all, so I started pumping and we had to supplement with formula. Then we got home, got into a routine, and EPing just fell into place. However, I did not give up on BFing. I BF each girl 1-2 times per day when they get hungry or fussy between their scheduled 3 hour feeds. But I don't think they get a heck of a lot because I pump every 2 hours in an attempt to increase my milk supply which is barely keeping up with them. 

So they are doing good BFing with the shield and lately i've been thinking about trying a day of just BFing without pumping, or just pumping a few times after they eat. I know a lot of you ladies had to pump when your babies were in the NICU then BFed when you got home, so can anyone give me any advice? I don't know why I'm so nervous about this! I think I'm most nervous about the fact that I don't know how much they'll be getting and I'm also worried that I'll be nursing ALL DAY. So anyways, just wondering if anyone has done this and what the outcome was? Any advice, especially from MoM's? Thanks so much ladies!!!

MrsLee22

Ok, we're still working on it so keep that in mind, but here's my two cents...

I started off doing the same thing you're doing now, just offering a boob between feedings to "practice" bfing. Once I was comfortable with getting them latched and I thought they were strong enough, I started doing a "block feed" with one baby at a time, where I would take one feed and give one baby their bottle and then spend the whole three hour block until the next feed bfing the other baby (usually nursing 2-3 times in that 3 hours). Once we mastered THAT, I switched to nursing both babies for one block... and that's where we are now. Once I can master feeding them both I'll start adding more than one block a day.

It does take a LOT of time and dedication, and you will get pinned to the couch or glider for a chunk of time. We just started trying tandem nursing today (with a My Breast Friend Twin pillow) and that helps some. But really, I just made myself a little "nursing nook" with a full water bottle, my phone, the TV remote, and some snacks and I just plan to sit on the couch for the full 3 hours.

Good luck! You CAN do this!!! Your little ladies are so gorgeous! How much are they weighing now?

urbanflowerpot

Hi there! This just came up recently so I'm just going to shoot you to a link because my LO is borderline fussy -

https://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/56260809.aspx

I wish you tons of luck and as my specialist said - if you have the drive & LO(s) are interested, it can be done! 

kck329

urbanflowerpot:

Hi there! This just came up recently so I'm just going to shoot you to a link because my LO is borderline fussy -

https://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/56260809.aspx

I wish you tons of luck and as my specialist said - if you have the drive & LO(s) are interested, it can be done! 

This link has lots of good advice. I just wanted to send my encouragement as well. We went from EPing to EBF without major problems, it just took a lot of time and patience. If you are concerned about how much they are getting, try doing a weighted feed with a LC (weigh baby, feed baby, weigh again to see the difference on a very sensitive scale). That should help give you an idea of what you are working with. If they are latching well with the shield, you should be able to make the transition.  Good luck!

Kristen61607

Thanks so much girls! Mrslee - I really like your approach. I think I'll try that. I BF'ed Cate yesterday to "hold her over" until the next feed and she was satisfied for 2 hours! I was pretty excited, even though it threw off our schedule, haha! So I think we're going to try doing a block or two tomorrow and see what happens. They haven't been to the pedi in a few weeks but DH weighed them on our super old baby scale (from when I was a baby!) and they were 8 lbs so we figure they're somewhere around there. Your little ones are looking just beautiful by the way, so glad they are doing so well, I'm so happy for you!

Thanks again everyone!

rqb25

I had to do the same thing and I highly recommend renting a scale. He had a lot of trouble latching and staying awake in the NICU so I was so paranoid at home that he wasnt getting anything while nursing. I weighed him before and after every feed and depending on how much he got, I would supplement with a pumped bottle. I started with only two nursing sessions a day and as he did better I would add more nursing sessions. It took about 3 weeks to get him exclusively on the boob. Good luck! you can do it!!