Nighttime pumping/STTN ?

bluebonnetmeg

Hi ladies!

So my LOs have started to sleep longer (YAY!!), but I woke up with rocks on my chest. For those of you that pump at night and have LOs that STTN; do you set an alarm and pump or not? The extra sleep has made me a new person, but I really don't want to see a drop in my supply (it is low-ish as it is). Does being engorged really cause a drop in production?

 

luvmyducks

I personally did not pump so I could regulate. I did not notice a drop in supply personally.

s0ulchicken

Mine aren't sttn yet, but when DS started to, my supply definitely tanked when I dropped all of my night time pumping sessions. I wound up setting an alarm so that I could pump at least once. Otherwise, I woke up leaky and gross, and my supply suffered almost immediately. I read in one of the bfing pamphlets that came home from the NICU that full breasts produce milk more slowly? You might want to page LottaLattes. She has been pumping for 6 months now, and has no supply issues!

Karen1998

I EPed and did notice a drop in production when I dropped night pumping BUT it also coincided with the 4m drop that most experience.  So, I'm not sure that night "weaning" from the pump did it.  I will tell you that I usually woke up engorged and it took at least twice as long to get it all out at that pumping than at others.  I also often leaked at night.  

melly918

DS STTN from a very early age do I stopped pumping at night when he was almost 3 months old. My breasts would get engorged and wake me up. I would hand express the milk into a bottle. Maybe an ounce or two from each breast. The pump just stimulates the nipples. That lasted maybe a week and then my breasts regulated themselves. I nursed him during the day and returned to work a month later and started pumping at work. No problems at all. My supply lasted until he stopped at 18 mo. HTH!

Junebug060609

theresat858:

Sleep if the babies are sleeping! Your supply will regulate...do you EP or BF directly? By regulate I mean making more during the day and less at night...nbsp; If you EP, you might need to add a pumping session during the day. If you BF directly, the babies should signal your body to keep making enough milk by how much they eat.nbsp; Besides, baby sleep is random and come and go...enjoy the sleep for the few days it may last, lol.nbsp;

This. It might take a few days, but your body will figure out when it needs to have milk ready.

When I had that issue I pumped only if it became unbearable or if I felt letdown would overpower my groggy baby...and when I did pump it was usually just enough to take the edge off, not to empty the breast.

D&D4Ever7

I agree with everything Theresat said. I may have pumped once or twice in middle of night when DS was STTN. STTN didn't last long, so I just bfed a lot at night for the first year.

Karen1998

I EPed and did notice a drop in production when I dropped night pumping BUT it also coincided with the 4m drop that most experience.  So, I'm not sure that night "weaning" from the pump did it.  I will tell you that I usually woke up engorged and it took at least twice as long to get it all out at that pumping than at others.  I also often leaked at night.  

big_noise

I chose sleep over night pumping. It took a few days for my supply to even out but nothing terrible. And then I would get quite the full pump in the morning. I mostly EP'd but if there was any eating going on at night, it was nursing. I tried very hard to wean DD from nighttime eating by 4 months b/c she wasn't that great of a sleeper in general and we were desperate for the sleep. I think it helped her not become as attached to nighttime feeding to do it on the earlier side.

bluebonnetmeg

theresat858:

Sleep if the babies are sleeping! Your supply will regulate...do you EP or BF directly? By regulate I mean making more during the day and less at night...  If you EP, you might need to add a pumping session during the day. If you BF directly, the babies should signal your body to keep making enough milk by how much they eat. 

Besides, baby sleep is random and come and go...enjoy the sleep for the few days it may last, lol. 

Thanks ladies!

I BF for all but three feedings (dr. ordered fortified BM or high cal formula since they were preemies). So they get 3 bottles during the evening/at night and I pump after those feedings. It takes me all three sessions to get enough milk for one feeding, so two of those are formula and one is fortified milk. 

I guess I will play it by ear and try to sleep when I can.