Working Mamas i have a Pumping Question.

clstoblg

I am newly back to work and pumping seems to be going well which i am greatful for.  I just have a couple questions.

 1. How do you know how much your baby needs to eat during the day?  Right now he is 10 and a half weeks and eating 3, 4ounce bottles a day while i am away.  I did have him at 3.5 ounces but those watching him have said that he was fussy so I upped it to 4.  I am pumping enough to do this but not sure how I know when to up it or how much he should be eating during the day.  It is hard for me to tell if he is fussy because he is hungry or because they don't know how to comfort him like i do.  (he isn't fussing at the bottle so I don't think it is nipple confusion just in between feedings)

 2. Do you pump on the weekends?  I don't want to AT ALL but I am willing if i have to.  Will my supply adjust that much if I don't pump for 2 days?  I am planning on pumping after he eats during the holiday to empty and make sure i don't lose my pumping supply. 

Any advice will help. 

 TIA!

BeetleLinz1125

BF babies generally don't need more ounces, so you don't have to worry about that.  DD is almost 9 months old and has held steady at 4oz feedings.  Of course it will be more during growth spurts though. 

If you don't want to pump on weekends you shouldn't have to, because you are replacing the pumping session with nursing.  Nursing is usually better for you because the pump won't empty the breast, but baby will.  Generally, you would give LO frozen milk on Monday when you are gone, and pump during the day, give LO milk you pumped Monday on Tuesday, and so on.  So you are freezing on Friday and giving frozen milk Monday. (This is if you work Mon-Fri but you get the picture.) 

AmyRI

1. You shouldn't have to change the amount in bottles or the frequency of feedings unless it is a growth spurt, and it should go back down afterwards. If it's working now, it will most likely continue to work. Do the caretakers know how to feed a breastfed baby? (there is a great article on Kellymom). The teachers at our daycare center don't really have a clue about bottle feeding breastmilk, so they are always saying I should increase his bottles and/or give him more solids. I just remind them that they have to offer his paci, take away the empty bottle, and let him play instead of sit in a highchair. If you can distract him, he isn't still hungry.

2. I do pump most weekends, once in the AM on one side. I feed on one side and pump the other because I'm engorged after he STTN. Otherwise, I just nurse. Nursing is better for your supply than pumping alone is, so unless you are trying to grow a freezer stash, you don't have to worry about pumping.

futuremrsmcnichols

DD is 4.5 months old and has consistently had 4oz bottles since I went back to work 2 months ago. She eats every 2-3 hours during the day, and then STTN. Alot of times, she will want more oz in her first morning bottle after going 8-10 hours without eating. Otherwise, she gets 4oz and is content with that.

I EP, so cannot offer advice on pumping on the weekends, but I guess it all depends on if you feel the need to have extra milk in the freezer or not. IMO, a backup supply should always be there in case of a growth spurt, AF returning with supply dropping, or any illness that you may get where a temporary supply drop might happen.

Indiechixor

Unfortunately, my little one did NOT play nice and he did increase the amount he was eating.

Here is my story:

LO needed a nipple shield plus I wanted to get my stash going so I pumped after every feeding until he was about a month old and he was off the nipple shield (I think he was like 3 weeks). I went back to work at 6 weeks, and brought home enough for each missed feeding, about 4-5oz per pumping session. I didn't pump after work or on the weekends, and as far as I knew 4oz was his normal amount per bottle.

Fast forward 1-2 months, and he was getting angry during the weekends. I thought it was a growth spurt, because I couldn't seem to keep up with him. I asked my husband how much he was eating from each bottle, and he said 6-7oz! Basically I was bringing home about 11oz per day, and he was drinking almost 15! By the time we figured out what was happening my supply had dropped and I couldn't do anything to bring it back. I was getting frustraighted because he would scream and scream at the breast because he was still hungry, so we stopped BF around 4 months.

I would suggest whoever is caring for your LO while you're at work to chart how often/how much your LO is drinking while you are at work, and make sure your output matches his input!! I'm doing things a lot different this time around.

azuremama

Generally, the number of ounces will stay about the same.  I noticed a slight increase in both kids right before they started solids, so around 5 or 5.5 months.  Other than that time, they've both needed about 3 3-4 ounce bottles during my 8-9 hour work day.

I almost never pump outside of work.  I will if I go out and thus miss a feeding or two, but other than that, I do not pump at home.  Nursing is actually better for your supply than pumping.  With DS, there were times when I was sending more to daycare than I could pump and then I would sometimes pump once a day on the weekends, but I really don't like to do that.