Question about BF and Pumping

amd1982

Hi ladies,

sorry I've been MIA recently but with going back to work + caring for two babies things have been nuts. I hope you're all well! I've been exclusively pumping for many weeks now and nursing DS only at his late night feeding. I started pumping since two days after I gave birth. The nurses at the hospital I was at were amazing and gave me great advice as to how to keep my supply up. I'm happy to say that almost 14 weeks after giving birth my supply is still really good - I get about 6oz out of each breast per pump session.

I have a friend who gave birth two weeks ago - her supply is great like mine. The difference is her baby was over 8lbs when born, whereas mine were preemies so they needed some bottles in the very beginning (of the neosure). However the poor girl has been dealing with mastitis for the past few days and has been in bed. I feel awful for her, and we were texting back and forth. She said she's not going to start pumping for another 4-6 weeks! I was shocked...my nurses said pumping is so important for a number of reasons. Keeping supply up, draining the breast appropriately since newborns don't usually drain, etc. I mentioned something to her about pumping and she somewhat snapped at me and said that the only reason I pumped is because I have twins. I wasn't trying to be rude or intrusive, just helpful. I'm curious what other ladies on this board were told about pumping? It just seems like if you have a lot of milk and your baby isn't draining your breast, you're at greater risk for a clogged duct or infection?

 

kaf7

I think that it is often recommended not to start pumping until 6 weeks unless you have a reason to do so, such as an anticipated absence from LO or trying to increase supply. You can pump a little off to relieve fullness in the early days but you don't w

Robeano

I was only told to pump cuz I had a few issues, my milk was late coming in, Hannah wouldn't latch on the left side, and to increase my production cuz it was low. It's not common to pump where I'm from.

Ruthie04

kaf7:

I think that it is often recommended not to start pumping until 6 weeks unless you have a reason to do so, such as an an

TJ1979

kaf7:

I think that it is often recommended not to start pumping until 6 weeks unless you have a reason to do so, such as an anticip

pb_bride

As others said, as long as BF is going well during the first weeks, it's best to hold off pumping until at least 4w pp.  I think I first pumped at 5.5w so I could go to my OB 6w pp appt.  

Despite waiting that long, I still ended up wit