New Pumping Mother Question

sunflwra

Hi ladies-

New to the board, hope these questions haven't been asked a zillion times.  My daughter is 10 days old and hasn't caught on to breastfeeding yet.  We had to supplement with formula in the hospital for the first week due to health reasons and now that my milk has come in, I'm feeding her pumped milk via a bottle for most of her feedings and then 2 formula feedings overnight.

I'm going to be meeting with a lactation specialist in the next week or so- the one in our hospital just wasn't that great and couldn't help us.  I'm hoping she'll be able to get us on the road to feeding from the breast directly.  In the meantime, I'm trying to pump every time I feed her a bottle and she eats every 3 hours on a pretty set schedule (though I will say that I haven't been pumping for 2 overnight feedings in hopes of getting some extra shut eye in this first week home).

I'm going back to work in April, so hopefully I have plenty of time to get her feeding correctly and still begin to pump enough for a "back to work" supply.  Any others in a similar situation regarding breastfeeding via bottle exclusively, etc?  I'm getting a bit frustrated by having to do all the crazy pumping and not being able to feed her directly.  I'm not going to give up or anything, just looking for a little commiseration, I guess...  thanks ladies.

kacelle

I haven't been through that myself, but the first few weeks are so crucial to maintaining milk supply.  As long as your newborn is eating in the middle of the night, you really need to be pumping so your body will continue to produce enough milk.  You'll get those longer stretches soon!

ejagk

Exclusively pumping is extremely hard at this point. Babies are eating what seems like all the time, so you need to pump what seems like all the time. I have EP'd since DD was 1 week old, and there were times I wanted to skip a pumping session to get some sleep. I knew that if I did skip a session I would be telling my body it didn't need to produce milk at that time. If you want EP to work for the long haul,  you really should be pumping every 2-3 hours all day and night. If you supplement a feeding with formula, you still need to pump during that feeding session to tell your body that LO is eating. It really is more work than just BF.

Here is what my pumping has looked like (I use a double electric pump & pump both sides at the same time):

For the first 6-8 weeks, I pumped every 2.5-3 hours around the clock for about 10-15 minutes each session total (at least 8 sessions per 24 hour period). Since my DD was getting up about that much at night, DH would feed her the bottle and I would pump. Once she started sleeping longer stretches, I would set the alarm on my cell phone to get me up for the next session.

Around 7-8 weeks, I started pumping every 3-4 hours (at least 7 sessions per 24 hour period). Sessions are about 10-15 minutes long.

Around 8-9 weeks, I cut back to pumping every 4-5 hours (at least 6 sessions per 24 hour period). Sessions are about 15-20 minutes long.

Around 9-10 weeks, I started pumping 5 times per day. Usually every 4 hours during the day, then once in the middle of the night. Sessions are about 20 minutes long.

I found out around 1 month that if I pump longer than 10 minutes, I get a second and sometimes a 3rd letdown.

Good luck with what you decide. It is ultimately up to you & your family

 

EveryNameIWantIsTaken

DD was having issues eating from the breast the first week and the right LC helped us get it figured out.  We're still working on it a bit but I'm now only having to pump 3 or 4 times a day as opposed to every time she eats.  Our issue now I think is mostly making her a more efficient eater since eating from a bottle is much easier. 

I agree with pp that you should be pumping at night though.  If you don't, your supply will end up taking a hit.

mattsgirl515

DS had latching issues so I decided to EP. At first I pumped every 4 hours for 15 minutes. This included getting up twice at night just to pump. After about 4 months I went down to one middle of the night pumping session. My supply stayed up and I was super thankful for that. Then I started slowly stopping the middle of the night session. Since I got rid of the middle of the night session, I am down to 4-5 pumps a day, I have noticed my supply drop. I am still pumping enough for him each day, but am not able to freeze as much milk.

 

Keep up with the pumping, especially if you want to build a back to work freezer stash. I know it's frustrating, but at only 10 days, you need to keep it up to keep your supply going. Good luck! 

luis&collette

Congrats on the LO and wanting to BF!! I was pumping and breastfeeding in the early weeks with my LO, he's now 2 months. I found the the pump itself was a bit uncomfortable especially with you getting use to breastfeeding and having a new baby. I tried manual hand expression and it works great for me and it is not uncomfortable like the pump. It takes a little practice but once you get the hang out it, its a breeze and no extra stuff to clean. I just use a bottle and transfer it into a freezer bag. Also watching breastfeeding video on YouTube was a great help for me with latching help. Good Luck :-) 

cmhicklin

Like pp's said, it is really important that you pump every 3 hours around the clock.  I did this until DD began STTN at 2 months.  And then I would pump right before I went to bed, right when I woke up, and every 3 hours through the day.  I was pumping 6 times a day for a few months after that, and then slowly went down to 5 and then 4 over the next 4-6 months.  But the beginning is very crucial to your supply wether you end up BFing or EPing.  And if BFing doesn't work out for you, I just wanted you to know that lots of people make it EPing for a year or more even.

sunflwra

Thanks ladies.  After reading some of the other posts on this board last night, I decided that I really need to add in the night time pumping sessions to give myself and my daughter the best shot at breastfeeding, even if it ends up being exclusive pumping (though, I hope not!).  Thanks for the advice- I'm hoping to meet with the new lactation consultant this week and turn this thing around so that I can officially be an Exclusive breastfeeder!!  I look forward to chatting more on this board!