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August 2011 Moms
Repost from Breastfeeding : LO is latching - now what do I do?!
I posted this on the Breastfeeding board which might be the best place for it. I am just looking for as many opinions as I can get! I am sitting here trying to figure what i should be doing with these boobs of mine! lol
FTM here. I have been pretty much EP from birth. LO had latching issues and I had blood clogging my milk ducts for the first 5 days, so him getting the hang on latching early on was impossible. I have been working with him the last 7 weeks. I think he finally has the idea! All day today he has latched and only released a few times and will relatch right away. I've offered a bottle after each nursing session and he has taken .5-1 oz only - any he took is very very slowly. (We had one bottle only feeding because my mom was here - he took 3 oz then, which is his usual). So I am assuming he is doing a good job. I ended each nursing session because he was release, not relatch and get a little frusterated (he used to totally freak out after a few minutes) or fall asleep.
So my question is - what do I do about pumping? I have been freezing an average of 10 oz each day above what I pump that LO finishes. I have pumped today at 2 am, 6am, 10am and 1pm. I am due to pump again now but I am not going to yet. He just nursed on one side and it feels pretty well drained and my other side is not uncomfortable yet so I am going to wait until he wants to nurse again or I become too full, which ever comes first. Does this seem like the right thing to do? I honestly have no clue and am just going with my gut. Assuming he nurses on that side before I need to pump, and that he continues to latch and not take much from the bottle the rest of the day, I will pump at least once this evening, depending on how I feel. Does this seem like the right thing to do?
If things on continue to go well I know I will need to pump my oversupply. I really (REALLY) don't want to be attached to this pump anymore then I have to. After 7 weeks of 7-8 pumpings a day I am sick of it. If things go well and he is able to nurse effectively, do you think that 2 pumpings a day (morning and evening) would cover the over supply without interferring with his feedings. I know to pump after he nurses. I would still like to give him a bottle a day because my mom needs to be able to feed him when she watches him and H likes to feed him, plus he takes over the 6am ish feeding on the weekends so I can sleep. So I want to keep him taking a bottle without issue if possible.
I hope this made sense. I feel totally clueless about what to do now. I had pumping down to a system I could do in my sleep and now I am totally lost. Which is fine by me if it means he will latch!
TIA!
Edit to add: each pumping today I got my usual average of 5 oz. That confuses me a little because I know he ate too.
Married & TTC #1 since 8/28/10
BFP #1 10/25/10 - EDD 7/5/11 -M/C 11/10/10
BFP #2 12/16/10 - EDD 8/26/11 - BORN 8/10/11
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Re: Repost from Breastfeeding : LO is latching - now what do I do?!
At my 5 week appt, I was told by my pedi that my LO should be getting 2-4oz every 2-3 hours as a rule of thumb. Also 8-12 feedings/day. Growth spurts throw that off a little but that's what I've been sticking to. I have to go by a schedule because I'm going back to work next week, and also because if I don't my FTM anxiety kicks in by doing on-demand (did she get enough? am I overfeeding/underfeeding? etc).
That said, the pedi recommended 10 min on each side as another rule of thumb, and burp after each side. If he falls asleep and seems satisfied, or spits up then he might be full. He should get at least 10 min on one side though, and that will be about 2 oz. that the doc wants to see.
I understand about the pumping issues, and I HTH with starting on a nursing regimen. All of this confusion has forced me into being an EP as well, because LLL and LC told me something totally different and was very confusing, and DD was getting all kinds of GI issues. I need to know exactly how much she is getting, and the only way to do that is in a bottle. I'm just starting to get gradually nurse again as well. GL!
Great job momma!
I was there a month ago or so and I had no idea how to wean the pumping sessions after LO finally got the hang of breastfeeding on his own. My LC told me to get rid of one at a time every few days. This was after we knew he was gaining weight from breastfeeding only and having one bottle a day at night.
My LC told me you should only need to pump what you give by bottle so we could have weaned to once a day pumping but we stuck at two times to build a stash.
It's a great feeling to get to this point so congratulations!
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Congrats on getting him to latch finally!
I would do the two pumpings a day, that should take care of your over supply I would think. Good luck!
Great job mama and baby on latching! I have no advice because my head is spinning with how to start pumping. I don't want to pump at all but need to introduce my boobs and LO to it to prepare for back to work in Jan.
PP's suggestion of twice a day after baby has eaten sounds about right though. Good luck with it!
To be completely honest, I have no idea way it started to work. I pretty much gave up on the idea but kept trying because H would bug me too.
Thanks ladies for the advice! LO had a minor melt down at the boob last time. I think he was really hungry and really sleepy and couldn't handle it anymore. So I am going to back off a little bit. I wont do breast at each feeding. I think every other and I will take out two pumpings a day depending on how I am feeling.
I am so happy we have come this far! I hope it keeps moving in the right direction!