Breastfeeding HELP!

texangal4ever · November 2010

When it comes to breastfeeding it really is a challenge! The lactation consultant is telling me I have to feed her every 2-3 hours. But by the time I feed her then pump it?s like 45-30 minutes until I?m supposed to do it again! They are also telling me to wake her up throughout the night to feed every 2-3 hours; she is sleeping through the night already. We feed her last around 12:30am and she sleeps till 7-8am straight through. What is your take on this????

rayskit10 · November 2010

Why are you pumping? There is really no need to be pumping now, especially if you're feeling like it's adding stress to your routine. Yes, you really should feed her every few hours until she is back up to her birth weight. This is true for FF and BF babies. If she is sleeping, great! You can probably stretch it to 4 hours but I would keep waking her to feed until you get your pedi's ok to stop.

Suzi-G- · November 2010

What Rayskit said, stop pumping, there is no need.

cali_girl92504 · November 2010

Our pedi said not to let her sleep longer than 4 hours until she gets to her birth weight again and then not to let her sleep longer than 6 until she was a bit older. The first few weeks are the toughest but keep at it! Your body is establishing it's supply the first two months too so I would wake her to nurse every 4 hours (so you get some rest too)

Personally, I would skip the pumping right now because you're body is adjusting to her needs so the more you pump the more you make and therefore will need to pump more (I speak from experience of having a major oversupply because I was pumping too much and too early on). Once DD was about 7 weeks old and sleeping 6+ hours at night, I would pump at 10 pm to build up my freezer stash. By the time I went back to work about 6 weeks later, I had over 100 oz in there.

lilycat · November 2010

Agreed. If you're pumping and feeding, you're feeding two babies.

Mind you, I had to do this for mastitis relief. It was brutal. And, if it is what you have to do, then you're probably doing it right. If you can, just feed the baby and let nature find the right level of production as your kid grows and demands more.

There is always a little time to get it right and then pump for work supplies. Usually, you have three months to work all this out before returning to work. If you can, don't put yourself under more demand than necessary.

Good luck. Hugs.

almostjones · November 2010

Sorry in advance for the lack of paragraphs...I'm on my phone. Bless your heart. It really is so hard in the beginning. There were many days I cried in those first few weeks and lots if times I questioned whether I wanted to keep nursing. As for waking in the night, it'd important to do that until your baby gets back up to birthweight. Your doc will tell you at your next appt whether you need to keep waking him/her. I know it's hard because you already are exhausted and you want that nice stretch of sleep but I'd go ahead and wake her every 3 hours. As for the tiny break you end up getting between feedings - I would stop pumping until you aren't having to wake throughout the night. At least then you'll have a little more energy. And you'll still have plenty of time to build your freezer stash if that's why you're pumping. But yes, nursing does take a while in the beginning and it feels like it's all you do. Around the 6 week mark (after that growth spurt), your baby will start to nurse more efficiently and while it'll still be demanding, but that's when it stopped feeling like a chore to me and I actually started to enjoy that time with her.

Katieraye09 · November 2010

Everyone has given great advice so far and I don't have too much more to add. Definitely stop pumping after every feed...it just adds a ton of stress at this point. Eventually you will get to the point where you have time to pump but right now just focus on getting your latch correct, recovering and enjoying the bonding experience. BFing is hard at the beginning but make small goals for yourself and it will all work out! Good luck!!

cessa · November 2010

Good advice so far. I just wanted to doubly agree with the comments about not pumping right now. I was pumping in the beginning because I thought it was what I was "supposed" to do, but I ended up causing myself to produce more milk than I needed so that I was becoming engorged at every feeding. Once I stopped pumping and just let my baby eat, I got a good balanced amount of milk. Later, after my supply was well established I started sneaking in some pumping time to build up my freezer stash. This early, however, your body is still trying to determine how much milk you need.

newinhouston · November 2010

cali_girl92504:
Your body is establishing it's supply the first two months too so I would wake her to nurse every 4 hours (so you get some rest too)

This point is super important. Not only does the baby need the feeding, your body needs the frequent stimulation to produce enough milk.

jen5-03 · November 2010

Having a sleeper is tricky! My DH and his ex let SS sleep as much as he wanted... he ended up getting jaundice at a couple weeks old and almost landed in the hospital. When we had DD, DH was super freaked out and fanatic that she be fed at least every 4 hours. I know you're supposed to do this until they regain their birth weight, but maybe even until they double it (did I imagine that part? It's been a long day)

M&M614 · November 2010

Oh man! I'm so sorry. Breastfeeding is quite difficulult, made especially so because it's supposed to be so "natural."

I echo every piece of advice here. Hang in there!

horn_jm@hotmail.com · November 2010

I will ditto the others but say that we don't know your specific situation. Did the lactation consultant tell you to pump and bottle feed after due to not getting enough at the breast (poor latch/nipple shield/preemie)???? If you are pumping just to pump, definitely stop. If you are pumping to supplement because your baby isn't getting enough at the breast, I know it has to be rough. I have a good friend who dealt with this with a preemie and made it through.

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