What to do with LO while pumping
mamacat123
member
This may be a silly question, but what do y'all do with your LOs while you pump? I try to put mine in a swing but she will SCREAM and I can't put her down for more than 10 minutes, which obviously doesn't give me enough time to pump.
Also, what does your pumping schedule look like? Right now, I'm doing a combo of breast and bottle feeding, and I try to give her bottles during the "work day" (8-5) to prepare her for when I go back to work in April. So I'll BF her at night and in the early AM, then give her a bottle during the day and try to pump after she takes the bottle...but as I mentioned, I'm having a hard time figuring out what to do with her while I pump. She's not a great napper, but I could start trying to pump during naps, I suppose.
And finally, how often do you all pump? I don't want my supply to go down, but is it enough just to pump to replace feedings? Should I be pumping more? Right now I pump right after her AM BF session, then like I said I pump during the day after she has a bottle.
Sorry so many questions...DD isn't gaining weight like she should be, and I'm hoping this new bottle/breast combo schedule will help her eat better. TIA!
Re: What to do with LO while pumping
Agreed
I pump4-5 times a day, but I ep due to complications so it's a different situation. When no one is around to help with dd, I will sit with her, play with her, rock with her, sit her in the boppy or bouncy seat and feed her, or whatever. If you don't have a hands free bra get one now. I can basically do anything with her as long as I'm not needing to be up and around and that's only because although my pump can run on batteries, I like to have it plugged in to the wall so I'm not constantly having to replace them.
I would nurse her when you are with her. From what I hear it's easier, though I never found that to be true because of all our issues.
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This. My LO is older than yours, but I use the jumperoo. You could use a bouncy chair or a playmat. Sometimes you just have to let them fuss a bit, too, which I know is hard to do!
This, if DH isn't home and I'm pumping, I do everything I can but sometimes LO is just not going to be happy that my attention is on the pump (I EP). But as long as DH is home he knows that is his one-on-one time with LO no matter what. Now that I've gone back to work I'm lucky that any time I need to pump is time in the evenings or morning when DH is still home too. When I was on ML, I just tried to pump before he left the house in the morning and wait until he got home at night with as few pumps in between as possible.
I'm not saying I'd go 8-5 without pumping but I'd try and do it at 7:30 and then maybe twice during the day and then if I was due to pump around 4:30, I would stretch it as long as possible to wait until DH got home if the baby was awake.