if you breastfeed?

Gen & Joel · October 2011

okay so i'm just trying to prepare myself/get a little advice.

With Lo i breastfeed for the first month and then he was still eating every 45min-1.5hrs so i sterted to pump all day and breastfeed only in the middle of night. he started eating every 3hrs at that point but i also had to pump every 2 so that i would have a bottle for him. i know i won't be able to pump every 2 hrs with 2u2.

any advice on what i can do. do they normally eat less or have longer stretches after a month. i really want to breatfeed again, but just hope i don't have to pump all day. LO#2 will be here soon

CaitlinJ22 · October 2011

yes, they get more efficient as they get older. You probably were right on the border when you stopped nursing. My kids are very efficient early on plus I have a lot of milk so its usually a quick feeding at 6 wks on.

I would say on average by 8-12 weeks babies get more efficient and nurse for less periods of time. They still may nurse every 2-3 hrs during the day and longer at night, but they will nurse for say 20 minutes instead of 45.

Hope that helps. I would also say to try and get to 6-8 wks without pumping, just nurse if you can. If you have supply issues then thats a different story. But I would say if you can get to 6-8 weeks just nursing then you should get a good handle on nursing. The second time around you learn very fast how to nurse and walk, nurse and sit on the floor while playing, and nurse in public easily.

You can do it.

Gen & Joel · October 2011

CaitlinJ22:

yes, they get more efficient as they get older. You probably were right on the border when you stopped nursing. My kids are very efficient early on plus I have a lot of milk so its usually a quick feeding at 6 wks on.

I would say on average by 8-12 weeks babies get more efficient and nurse for less periods of time. They still may nurse every 2-3 hrs during the day and longer at night, but they will nurse for say 20 minutes instead of 45.

Hope that helps. I would also say to try and get to 6-8 wks without pumping, just nurse if you can. If you have supply issues then thats a different story. But I would say if you can get to 6-8 weeks just nursing then you should get a good handle on nursing. The second time around you learn very fast how to nurse and walk, nurse and sit on the floor while playing, and nurse in public easily.

You can do it.

thanks so much for your feedback! i was thinking i probably stopped too early. i had a lot of milk he just nursed so much i wasen't sure if i did or not and then when i pumped it made me sure that he was eating and so i just stuck with it, but it was definetly alot more work. I'm gonna try my hardest to keep nursing this time around. at least now i know that it will get better.

CaitlinJ22 · October 2011

Gen & Joel:
CaitlinJ22:

yes, they get more efficient as they get older. You probably were right on the border when you stopped nursing. My kids are very efficient early on plus I have a lot of milk so its usually a quick feeding at 6 wks on.

I would say on average by 8-12 weeks babies get more efficient and nurse for less periods of time. They still may nurse every 2-3 hrs during the day and longer at night, but they will nurse for say 20 minutes instead of 45.

Hope that helps. I would also say to try and get to 6-8 wks without pumping, just nurse if you can. If you have supply issues then thats a different story. But I would say if you can get to 6-8 weeks just nursing then you should get a good handle on nursing. The second time around you learn very fast how to nurse and walk, nurse and sit on the floor while playing, and nurse in public easily.

You can do it.

thanks so much for your feedback! i was thinking i probably stopped too early. i had a lot of milk he just nursed so much i wasen't sure if i did or not and then when i pumped it made me sure that he was eating and so i just stuck with it, but it was definetly alot more work. I'm gonna try my hardest to keep nursing this time around. at least now i know that it will get better.

Yes I can defintely say the times I had to pump, I hated it! With 2 kids its annoying, the cleaning pieces, and bottles plus pumping while two kids need you is annoying. People do it, but to me its a lot easier to stick the baby on me and get it done. Its nice that you know you had a good supply, the second time usually equals more milk so you wont have to stress about that.

BrittKav · October 2011

My baby ate every 2-3 hours until she was 9 months and started eating a lot more solid food. Now she only nurses 3 times a day and twice at night.

Under.the.Rose · October 2011

My little guy was nursing every 2-3 hours around the clock until about a month ago despite the fact that he's been getting solids. It really depends on the baby.

losmitty · October 2011

Yes. The older they get the more they eat faster. So they go longer between feedings. BFing was hard for me the first time and I almost gave up so many times. But, although #2 didn't latch right away, overall it was a much smoother process. Good luck!

Want a personalized experience?

if you breastfeed?

Re: if you breastfeed?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards