EBF: When should I pump

mommatotwo2

Hello. I don't think I've intro'd on this board. I'm a mom of 2 daughters, I was unable to breastfeed baby#1 due to various issues with both of us. I have been successfully bf baby#2 since birth. I just began pumping yesterday, I positively despise pumping and have been putting it off. My reasons for pumping now is to allow baby to get used to the bottle occasionally as she will be going to daycare at 14 weeks and I also hope to build a small freezer stash as my work environment is not exactly great for pumping and I want to try and keep baby on bm as long as I can.

I'm trying to figure out the best time to pump. I'm still feeding baby on demand. For the most part, she eats every 1.5-3 hours during the day and every 4-5 hours at night. 

I've been trying to pump after feedings. But so far I've not been able to get more than 1.5 ounces between the 2 breasts, probably because I've just fed the baby. I don't actually know how many ounces she'll take from a bottle, but my estimate is about 3 oz. So I have to pump twice to get the amount for just one bottle. If I pump 4x a day, I'll only get two bottles worth. I don't know that I need to feed her a bottle each day, but it seems like my freezer stash isn't going to amount to much at this rate.

Any suggestions? Is building a freezer stash not realistic? I have 7 more weeks of maternity leave.  

mommatotwo2

DHeckart:

Pump in the mornings, you make more milk then. And I waitied an hour after I fed to pump. The baby would have just drained your breasts. It will take a while for you to get more, you have to do the demand before your supply will catch up. It will happen tho! My son at 1 year still only takes 3.5 oz in a bottle.

Thanks so much! So it takes about an hour for my breasts to fill back up? I'm worried about having enough milk for her again after I pump, she sometimes wants to cluster feed in the early part of the day, eating every 1-2 hours sometimes. I guess worse case I can offer her the bottle at that point if it's an issue right? 

keg

What I did was immediately pump after I fed her after the longest stretch of sleep she'd do.  For the most part, she'd just eat on one side so I'd be doing it for comfort and to build my stash.  She just started at daycare last week (at 12 weeks) and so far I've been sending 3 or 3.5 oz bottles, depending on how the pumping/freezer bag math has worked out. 

Kingston54

Agreed to pump in the morning because you'll make more milk.  Also I'd recommend to drink an entire bottle of water about 20 minutes before you pump.  Always helps me.

July18Bride

I would pump after DS's morning feed, maybe 20 minutes after. I was always afraid i wouldn't have enough- but as PP said, baby is more efficent of a sucker and can get what a pump can't.

I'd also pump at night after I knew for sure that he was down, I barely would get 3 oz, so I slowly stopped this once I got back to work and realized I was pumping more than enough for the day.

 

mommatotwo2

Thanks everyone!