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December 2010 Moms
BF, then supplement, then pump...anyone else?
Hi all,
Due to latching troubles and a period of low supply and low weight gain for LO, I am currently on a plan of nurse for 30 minutes, then supplement with a 2 oz bottle of pumped milk or formula if needed, then pump for 12 minutes. All together with burping and cuddling plus washing all the equipment, this process takes over an hour, then we have to do it all again with sometimes only an hour break. When DH is at work during the day it takes even longer cause I have to make sure LO is ok and settled somewhere before pumping.
Just wondering if anyone else is doing a routine like this? Any tips or advice? I think I am just feeling slightly overwhelmed at this point--I read/see lots of people who seem to just nurse easily whenever they need to, are going out on errands, etc and right now that seems far away since I need to be close to the boppy, pump, milk supply, etc. I know things will get better, but with also worrying about LO gaining I feel stressed and wondering if anyone else is in the same boat?
Thanks for reading!
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Re: BF, then supplement, then pump...anyone else?
How old is your LO? I had to do this for 2 or 3 days until my milk came in (day 6). After that I was able to produce enough milk. Even just for a few days it was a HUGE hassle and I HATED the pump & got so sore.
GL with everything - just remember, if it isn't working for you it's okay to change things up.
Yes!! We do the exact same thing! Stressful doesn't fully describe it huh? I've been letting little one go closer to three hours between feedings lately though because I feel we all benefit from it - I need the break and he needs the sleep! A small victory for us here - yesterday we had our weight check and he had gained 14 ounces in 14 days, putting him one ounce over his birth weight! It only took a month... I asked the pediatrician if I could stop this insanity any time soon and he said nope. I get to keep it up at least another month. If I wasn't so dead set on breastfeeding, I think it would be easier to just give in to the bottle of formula!
I'm curious why you have to do this? I have low supply (I think? I'm really confused about this at this point) and little bit has reflux issues. To make it all worse, the hospital gave me a nipple shield and I used it not realizing it would compound my issues. I hope, hope, hope that we can get rid of the stupid shield and the supplementing at some point!
I did go to the school (I teach when I'm not on maternity leave!) and meet my new sub today (the "old" sub was old and broke her hip!) for a few hours. It was great to get out of the house and leave the baby with Daddy. I suggest getting out for a few hours and just not worrying about it. When I got home, we did the same old routine, but I got two hours with grown-ups and left my pump at home!
Edit: I re-read and saw why you are doing it.
I was doing the same thing for awhile for the same reasons. We went to the pedi's office a couple of days after we left the hospital and LO had lost too much weight. So the pedi's office and their LC suggested we BF for 5-10 minutes on each side, then supplement with 1-2 oz of formula, and pump, every two hours. It was exhausting. I only did that for a couple of days because then I had some complications, had to have surgery, and was put on antibiotics... which I can't BF while I'm on.
Those couple of days were exhausting though, so I definitely feel for you. I basically got zero sleep the first night. My only advice is to remember that it's temporary and that you're doing your best for your LO.
Do you know when your pedi will re-evaluate??
This is pretty much us, too. I was so stressed at first because I wanted to pump when I went back to work, yet my supply was so low that I could barely make one bottle a day, pumping around the clock every two hours. When the LC told me that she truly doubted that I'd ever be able to make enough to EBF or pump enough when I went back, I came up with my own plan.
I pretty much nurse for twenty minutes, then supplement with 2 oz bottle, but I don't pump right away, or even every time. Instead, I pump 3-4 times a day for 10 minutes an hour or so after nursing. I make more this way, and I have a 3 oz. bottle of BM at the end of the day for DH to give LO at night. Much less stressful than trying to build a stash, and I know LO is getting at least a little bt of BM a day, which isbetter than none!
Thanks everyone for your replies!!
LO is 3 weeks old. We have been in for literally 6 weight checks over this time and have another tomorrow morning. He is now chunking up a bit and I feel more "in the clear" but at the same time, I feel like if I slow down on any efforts he could go backwards. I know I could always make a change but I am trying everything to give as much BF as I can. I think I had this vision of being able to BF anywhere quickly and easily, and its been anything but.
And YES to PP, I was also given a nipple shield in the hospital due to bruising on the nipple from a bad latch. Now I realize it probably affected my supply and it is very hard to lose that thing! It has also taught LO a different way of sucking so its been slow going trying to try and do without. I just feel like there are so many more challenges with BF than I thought, and I really want to keep doing it, I just think I had much too effortless of expectations.
One thing is I am for now pumping enough to be doing 90% of the supplement bottles with BM as opposed to formula. I hope this is a positive step to streamlining the process. Until then, consider me a dairy cow!
Yep. We did this for 3 weeks (my LC called it "Triple feeding")
We have now given up the breastfeeding for the most part - we still do one a day but other than that I just pump. We're also still supplementing.
Here are a couple tips that helped me:
Get an extra set of pumping supplies. Also, you don't have to fully wash them each time - you can quick rinse in hot water then put them in a ziplock or rubbermaid in the fridge.
Get a hands-free pumping bra. I bought a Simple Wishes one but you can make one out of a sports bra too.
You can prop LO in a boppy or something next to you and pump while you give him the bottle.
We used the pre-made formula - it wasn't that much more expensive since we were using so little and it just made life easier.
One last thing - my baby had a growth spurt around 3 weeks and we went from almost no formula back to 4oz per day so don't get disco urged if this happens.
yup, this was me except that the nursing part took an hour so the whole thing took nearly 2 hrs.
now I feel lucky b/c ea nursing session is "only" 60 min b/c we are taking out most supplements and cutting back on pumping. My advice is to cut out all non-essential activity. For example, I haven't been here on the bump in a while. And really do sleep in that 30-90 min break when you can.