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Breastfeeding
Pumping at work, can't keep up. Help!
I've been at work for a few weeks now and have been struggling to keep up with LO's eating demands. He eats 3 oz generally every 2 hours. I pump every 2 - 3 hours while at work and only get 2 oz total during each pumping session. We've already had to start supplementing a little with formula, but I would love to be able to get my supply up and continue using just BM.
Any suggestions for keeping up with DS's demands and/or upping my supply? I've been stressing over this and feel like I'm fighting a losing battle. Thanks in advance for any advice you might have!
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Re: Pumping at work, can't keep up. Help!
My son is taking less milk now, but before he was taking solids, I'd have to pump at least once in the evening (sometimes twice) and twice on each weekend day just to keep up. It's hard, but you can do it!
Good luck!
What everyone else said already.
My LO took 4 oz every 2.5 hours during the day before we started solids. I nurse on only one side at a time (had oversupply issues in the beginning, oh how I miss those days!) but if I only pumped one side every 2.5 hours, I'd never have enough. To get the 16oz he consumed while we were apart, I would pump one side while getting ready for work (nurse him on the other side), and pump both sides on the way to work, at lunch, and on the way home. So, what would have been 7 nursing sessions to get what he ate in 4 meals from a bottle.
I stress over this too somewhat. I pump about the same amount as you (maybe 8 to 10 oz in a whole day). This was fine when my daughter was 2 months old, but as she grew she started exhibiting more hunger signs -- crying for more when she finished her 3 oz bottles at the daycare, sucking her hand a lot, etc. So the daycare said they wanted to up it to three 4 oz bottles.... which depleted the rest of my freezer stash within a week or two. Now they give her three 5 oz bottles because the 4 oz ones weren't tiding her over.
I don't produce any more volume of milk than I did though. So in the evenings, I'm pumping from one side while my baby nurses from the other. When her dad takes her, I have him give her formula so I can build up a small stash again pumping a few times.
I think it's tough for moms like us who only produce juuuuuuust enough milk for our babies -- I nurse her on demand when she's not at daycare and she's never crying out of hunger or anything; I know she's getting what she needs. If I was a SAHM and only breastfed, not pumped, it wouldn't be an issue because I would have no way to measure my ability to feed my daughter in ounces.
Not sure how you feel about donor milk -- but I found two organizations that help connect mothers who have milk to donate with mothers who are in need of milk. One is Eats on Feets, and another is Human Milk for Human Babies. Check out their websites if you want good resources and safety tips regarding milk-sharing.