New Exclusive Pumper--a few questions--long

Stella2008 · June 2009

Hi all,

My baby is 11 days old and we have had alot of trouble with latching. I have inverted nipples, and even with the shells to draw the nipples out, my daughter would not latch. The hospital had me feed her with an S&S system for the first three days (formula given through a tube either taped on to your finger or your breast), but I think daughter got used to the fast flow and now will not latch on for longer than a few seconds, and I hated that I had to give her formula. I had a LC come to the house last week as well and she gave me some tips on positioning, but after she left I felt like it was just like it was before and daughter was getting more and more upset. It has been so frustrating and exhausting (each feeding would take almost an hour, and I was concerned that daughter was not even really eating anything since she would unlatch very frequently).

Fast forward--I have decided that exclusively pumping is the way to go for me. My routine over the last 5 days has been to pump every 4-5 hours for 15 minutes. I have been getting anywhere from 4oz to 7 oz per session.

My questions:

1. Doctor said to feed daughter 2 oz every 3-4 hours. Since I am pumping much more than this (I have already frozen 32 oz of breast milk in the last 4 days), do you think I should be giving her more?

2. For you fellow EP's, should I adjust my pumping schedule at all right now? Should I pump more frequently?

2. When will I need to give her more breast milk? At what ages will you need to adjust what you feed?

3. Are there any nutritional benefits lost by pumping as opposed to breast feeding? I feel guilty that I am not nursing my daughter, but I just don't think I can handle the stress that breastfeeding was bringing me.

TIA!

Stacyc625 · June 2009

if you want EPing to work for you in the long run EVERY EP'er on this board will tell you that you need to pump every 2-3 hours around the clock.

feed your baby on demand- if baby wants more give her more she will drink more as she grows. i know personally my daughter ate ALOT more than 2oz every 3-4 hours. she was eating every other hour and around 4oz a feeding.

no nutritional benefits lost.

kel716 · June 2009

We all have our reasons for EPing. It's a personal choice and the most important thing is that happy mom = happy baby.

Ditto stacyc. I hate to break it to you, but if you want your supply to not pitter out quickly, you need to pump every 2-3 hours around the clock. You need to continue doing this until 12 weeks pp. At that point, you can start thinking about dropping pumps very slowly (I'm still at 4/day). Your daughter's intake will increase rapidly very soon. She'll probably wind up at about 25 ozs/day but it could be more than that. Feed on demand. She'll tell you when she needs more. She'll need more whenever she hits a growth spurt. Typical spurts are 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 mos, 4 mos, 6 mos, 9 mos. DS also hit one at 7.5 mos. His intake of BM topped out around 40 ozs/day at 4 months. It never went down much from there so we started solids. Now he's taking between 20-25 ozs/day of EBM + 10-15 ozs of solids/day. Keep freezing your extra stuff now. You can use it for growth spurts or when you're done pumping. It will keep in a deep freeze for a year.

They say that at 1 month they'll even out around 25 ozs/day and stay there until 6 mos... not true with my son and I will tell you that every kid is different. I've heard your BM changes its composition over time which helps your baby when they need more food. But... it wasn't entirely true in my case.

My biggest tip for you is to figure out how to be hands free when you pump. Get a hands free pumping bra by buying one (easy expressions, la leche league international, pumpease) or making one. You can make one by cutting slits into a sports bra where the horns go. This way you can feed your LO and pump at the same time.

mrsg052904 · June 2009

First off, congrats to you! ?I didn't have the exact same experience, but do to latching issues and my own sanity, I decided to EBF early on. ?It was a hard decision because I also felt like I should be nursing my LO. ?However, I came to the conclusion that what's best for my son is a happy mom. ?For me, that meant pumping. ?Once I came to terms with that, I was very happy and let go of the idea that I had to nurse. ?And, you are still giving your LO breast milk... so good for you!?1. Doctor said to feed daughter 2 oz every 3-4 hours. Since I am pumping much more than this (I have already frozen 32 oz of breast milk in the last 4 days), do you think I should be giving her more? My son started with 3 oz per feeding. ?He's now up to 4 oz per session and eats a total of 30 oz per day. ?Keep freezing extra... you are doing great!2. For you fellow EP's, should I adjust my pumping schedule at all right now? Should I pump more frequently? ?That's up to you... the more often you pump, the more milk you will have. ?I would say, pump as many times as you can early on (8-12 times per day). ?Sometimes it can get frustrating, but pump through it! ?It will help in the long run.2. When will I need to give her more breast milk? At what ages will you need to adjust what you feed? Every baby is different. ?Follow your LOs cues. ?That's what we are doing and it seems to work.3. Are there any nutritional benefits lost by pumping as opposed to breast feeding? I feel guilty that I am not nursing my daughter, but I just don't think I can handle the stress that breastfeeding was bringing me. ?No benefits lost. ?Don't feel guilty. ?You are doing a GREAT job! ?Nursing by itself doesn't equal a good mom. ?You have to find what works for you. ?If this works for you and you are doing this for the benefit of your child - that's what makes a good mom!Just keep doing what you are doing. ?Know that you are doing your best and that's all you can do. ?Keep pumping, pump often, and freeze all the glorious leftovers! ?That's what I am doing... had to buy a deep freezer because my regular freezer is now full! ?My goal is to pump and freeze as much as possible because I go back to work in September and I don't know how my milk supply will be affected. ?I plan on pumping at work, but I heard stress affects your supply so I am stock piling now! ?Good luck, sweetie!?

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