Reposting as requested: Sharing my BF wisdom
DallasHorn
member
Getting requests again to share my post: BF wisdom. So here it is again. Hope it helps those new WM's that are BF. This is purely a copy and paste from before.
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Several months ago I made a posting re: sharing my breastfeeding wisdom. I was asked to re-post. Unfortunately I can?t find it myself (thanks bump for having a wonderful search capability), so I?m rewriting and actually saving this on my computer for future reference J
As a quick point of reference..who am I (or in other words do I really know anything about BF)?
I?m a mom of 2 (4 yr girl, 1 yr boy). I have worked full time with both kids, returning to work when the 1st was 3 months and the 2nd was 4 months. DD was in a licensed DC, and when DS arrived, we switched to a nanny. DD was nursed for 15 months and DS is still being nursed (almost 15 months). I did not supplement with formula except for their jaundice (will explain below).
In 30 total months of BFing, here?s what I?ve learned and would share?
The Basics/Getting Started
? BF is a learned skill ? you must learn, baby must learn. UNLIKE bottle feeding, milk does not just come out, a baby must work to get the milk. Be patient, get help.
? It takes about a good 6 -7 weeks to really get proficient at BF ? that means, baby knows what they are doing, you know what you are doing, baby isn?t constantly falling asleep or nursing non-stop. If you think after 2 days, 5 days or even two weeks you and baby will be an expert ? you will be grossly disappointed and frustrated.
? BF babies for the first COUPLE of months eat really frequently!! I can?t stress this enough. It?s not b/c you don?t make enough it?s because the size of a person?s stomach is roughly the size of their fist. That means an infant?s tummy is REALLY small. Add to that the fact that BM is very easy on the stomach and digests very fast ? this means you BF baby will eat very often in the beginning
? The flip side of the previous bullet is this?formula takes longer to digest. Plain and simple this is why FF babies go longer between their feedings.
? This is SO important and I can?t say it enough, but BF is completely based on supply and demand. When you put baby to breast, it tells your body to keep making more. When you take away the breast and substitute a bottle, you ARE telling your body?I don?t need to produce milk right now.
? To judge if a baby is getting enough? look at # of wet diapers per day. Do NOT base this in the beginning off how much you can pump. Also consider baby?s temperament, coloring, etc (the caveat is that if baby has tummy problems, the temperament after eat may not be a good indicator if he is in discomfort). Also, when nursing, look at baby?s cheeks ? they should be going in and out as he is sucking and you should be able to see the neck muscles moving as he swallows.
? BF babies will go through growth spurts. During this time, they may seem like they are constantly hungry. This is supply/demand at its finest?by increasing the frequency of nursing during the growth spurts, baby is telling your body to increase production. Common times for growth spurts are during the first few days at home and around 1 week, 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, 4 months, 6 months and 9 months. Keep in mind this is an estimate and your baby may hit their spurt slightly before or after. During this time, baby may seem fussier than usual ? that is normal too. This is a REALLY important time to not turn to the bottle!!
? If you can, invest in a recliner. Even more so that my glider, my recliner was wonderful those first months. Why? With a boppy to support you/baby and your feet up and you somewhat reclined, you can situate baby at the breast and doze off.
? Once your supply is established, you won?t always have a sensation of full hard boobs. Don?t judge if baby is getting enough b/c your breast are or are not engorged.
? Initially BF probably is harder than FF, but in the long run it?s much easier. Why? There?s a lot to learn with BF, with bottle feeding, you simply put the bottle in and milk comes out. Little work for you and even less for baby (just think about it?all you have to do is turn a bottle up side down and the milk comes out. Not true of your boob!) But, once you and baby get into the swing of it, you NEVER have to run out for formula, you never have to worry that you didn?t bring a bottle, you don?t have to heat up a bottle, there are less bottles to clean, etc)
? Formula to help with jaundice?as context, both my kids had jaundice. Both kids were on the end of the spectrum where BF babies poop every 10 ? 15 days. The primary way jaundice is removed from the body is by pooping. Since BM creates very little solid waste, I would give them a ? oz of formula after nursing as a way to help them poop. Once the jaundice was gone, there was no more formula (lasted no more than the first 2 weeks). Again the key here is to keep nursing.
? There is a general rule of thumb for BF babies that in the beginning they should eat every 2 hours. Here?s the thing, while that is true, you need to calculate the time from start of one feeding to the start of the next NOT from the end of one feeding to the start of the next. Said another way?if you nurse at 2 PM and it takes 45 minutes. The next targeted feeding time is 4 PM, not 4:45!!.
? We are a give it to me now, I want it easy society (I?m just as guilty here too). And unfortunately these traits don?t mesh well with BF. Those first months of BF you should be prepared that you will likely not have the time, energy or both to work out, cook, clean the house, whatever. If you can get through those first 2 months, I swear it gets TONS better.
? I HIGHLY recommended learning how to nurse lying down and if you like co-sleeping. I?m not advocating the family bed here, but what I?m sharing is that being able to pull baby into bed with you and nurse while you are lying down really is a savior. I found that it?s generally around the 8 ? 10 week mark then baby gets big enough for this to be comfortable. Use lots of pillows to support yourself.
Working Mom?s/Bottle Feeding/Pumping:
? Pumping takes practice. Your body needs to learn to relax and ?let down? to the pump and not just baby.
? Doing breast massages and compressions really do help you get more milk out
? No matter what, you never get out via a pump as much as baby can get out at the breast (think of this as you using a personal carpet shampooer vs hiring professionals ? your carpet comes out much cleaner from the professionals b/c they have more effective tools)
? A BF baby?s intake will NOT, I repeat NOT, continuously go up and up like a FF baby. BM changes consistency to meet baby?s needs ? formula can not. This means to make up for the additional nutrients, etc, formula must be given in greater amounts. Additionally, formula is NOT all natural like BM ? thus it can?t be 100% digested and used by the body. Once a baby gets to about 1 month, their intake remains pretty stead until about 6 months (or when solids are introduced).
? Many babies of working BF mom?s reverse cycle?meaning they will take little via a bottle when away from mom and then ?bulk? up on milk when actual with mom.
? It?s REALLY important to let your childcare provider know when baby typically eats and to not over feed. The key here is this?a BF baby can be sucking but not nursing. Since many babies have a need to suck, it?s important to not use a bottle to satisfy this sucking need. A childcare provider should provide the bottle and then use a paci if baby still seems ?hungry?. Often it?s not the hunger but the desire to suck. This is also key b/c an OVERFED baby will not want to eat with mom.
? You need to pump when baby would normally be eating when you are away from baby. No, 1 missed pumping session will NOT screw your supply (come on girls!!), but if you repeatedly skip sessions, you body will take that as a sign that it shouldn?t make as much.
? Assuming you are in an office environment and use something like Outlook for meeting scheduling, create re-occurring meetings for yourself to block out pumping time.
? Stop beating yourself up for taking time to pump?just think about all the smoke or internet breaks other employees take!!
? To help minimize pumping time, invest in multiple sets of pump parts. After using, put the dirty parts into a plastic grocery bag and use a new set the next time. Wash at the end of the day.
? I didn?t do this with #1, but with #2, I washed pump parts in the dishwasher ? saved me lots of time!
? SERVE WHAT YOU PUMP. SERVE WHAT YOU PUMP. SERVE WHAT YOU PUMP. If your pumping schedule is this. 9 AM, noon and 3 PM and respectively you pump 4 oz, 3 oz, 2.5 oz - - serve exactly that amount in that order the next day so what I pump on Friday gets served Monday)
? Adding on to the previous?your freezer stash should be a back up. Use it when you spilled milk or left it out ? not as a regular way to feed on a daily basis ? see previous SERVE WHAT YOU PUMP.
? Keep in mind that it?s common for your pump output to be less in the afternoon (after all it?s an afternoon SNACK ;-) not a meal)
? If you need to travel and pump, send me a PM ? I have a whole set of tips for that.
? I have always adhered to the following in terms of storage and heating:
o 8 hours at room temp, 8 days in the fridge, 3-4 months in a regular freezer. Yes, sometimes on day 7 I would then freeze the milk ? no big deal.
o Both frozen and fresh milk I would allow to reheat 2 times. And you CAN put it in the fridge in between. This is a biggie for day cares since formula must be handled totally different.
Re: Reposting as requested: Sharing my BF wisdom
Thanks for the great info but that has always confused the heck out of me as well! I was not able to EBF and could only pump about 1.5 oz/total per pumping session, so obviously I had to supplement that, but for future reference I'd like to be informed. Thanks again for the advice.
There are 2 reasons to serve what you pump. First is that fresh BM is better than frozen. Some of the qualities of BM are lost during freezing, although frozen BM is better than formula.
Second goes to the whole over feeding scenario. When you serve what you pump, you have are staying in tune with what your baby needs; rather than serving whatever amount you pump X days/months ago. This also ties to the fact that it's so easy to overfeed via a bottle.
Does that make sense?
Are you doing breast compresssions and massages? It really does make a difference. Did you see a LC? A breast can essentially make milk on demand. What concerns me in your story is you say you are only pumping 1.5 oz then supplementing. What that IS telling your breast is..."you ONLY need to produce 1.5 oz". I would recommend seeing a LC who can weigh baby before feeding and after to see what they are really taking in and to ask for there advice to lessen the amount of formula and increase your production.
The post says to serve what you pump at the times you pumped the milk. For example if you pump 6 ounces and then 2 you would give a six and 2 oz bottle. My DD more than likely won't take 6 so an ounce or more is wasted there and she will want more than 2. My question is what is the importance of serving in the order can't I just serve 4 or 5 oz each feeding using the milk from the day before? What I guess I don't understand is if the pump is not as good at getting the milk out as the baby what are you only serving what you pump but rather break it into three 4 oz or 5 oz bottles?
I was a work-and-pumping mom to my DD, who still nurses at 2.5yrs (though I don't need to pump anymore).
I almost unanimously agreed with everything you said, and I commend you for offering your accumulated wisdom to the group!
The only thing I disagreed with was the last point on reheating frozen milk. I would only reheat frozen milk once (the first time you serve it) and then would toss any left in the bottle without reheating/serving it again. I base this on info from www.workandpump.com. Once frozen, breastmilk loses some of its antibacterial properties that, when fresh, do allow you to reheat it 2x.
My thoughts on "serve what you pump":
In general, I definitely agree that on day 2 you should serve the milk you pumped on day 1. I think it is ok to re-portion the milk into different serving sizes that are more consistent with what your LO will take in a serving. From my perspective, you want your body to get the message that "LO consumes 11 oz between 8am-5ap" so that your body makes 11 oz between 8am-5pm. The details of the individual feedings are not so important for your body to know, IMO. On weekends your body will be fine, your LO may eat at different times than you usually pump but it shouldn't be any problem. In general I wholeheartedly agree with this.
The questions about "but if my baby is more efficient than the pump isn't this a problem" seem misguided. The most important thing to maintain your supply in step with your baby's demand is to make sure your body knows exactly how much your baby is eating. If your LO is hungry from only eating what you pump by the end of the day, your LO will eat like gangbusters when you get together and stimulate you to make more. Might you start a reverse-cycling relationship? Maybe. Are there some people for whom this won't work well and they'll choose to supplement because that's what works best for their family? Sure. Just be aware that you are interfering with the supply-demand relationship if you're going to choose to supplement with formula.
The advantage that I can see from doing the very chronological "serve what you pump" approach that was proposed above is: I've heard that your body makes milk at certain times of day that are tailored to your baby's needs at that time of day. So maybe in the a.m. your body makes "wake-up and have energy" milk, and maybe in the early p.m. your body makes "get sleepy and take a nap" milk. I follow this logic and see what may happen if you mix it up and give your baby the "wake-up" milk right when they're supposed to go down for a nap...I hadn't heard this when my DD was taking pumped milk. We didn't keep track of what time my milk had been pumped. Maybe that was why she never napped for more than 45 minutes? Or maybe not, who knows. But it's something I'll consider doing next time around. Know that this "time-of-day-tailored milk" thing is not gospel, this is something I just heard in some article or study.
On the question about "rotating" in milk from your freezer stash to use milk up before it expires:
First, if you have your milk in a deep freeze it's good for much longer than 3-4 months--for like 1 year. I did some of this rotating to keep my stash "current." Specifically, I would, a few times a week, pull out a bottle of the oldest milk from our deep freeze, and replace it with a bottle I'd just pumped, then serve the thawed milk to our DD. I would always replace the exact same amount, so I was keeping the supply matched to demand. True that frozen/thawed milk loses some of the benefits of fresh milk (immunity components probably don't survive the freezing, antibacterial properties lost), and true that it was formed by your body for a younger baby, but it's still nutritious milk and not THAT different from what your body is making now, and because it was a small percentage of what I was feeding my DD it was worth it to me to keep my stash current in case I had a business trip come up or something.
Great adds.
I think why I advocate this is because many mom's go - I "must" feed baby X oz at every feeding and if they don't pump exactly X oz in at a certain session, they automatically assume their supply is going down and need to supplement. Just like adults, our hunger can be more or less at different times/meals of the day.