Nursing update, EPer's please come in (ct103)

ct103 · August 2013

The nursing strike continues, and it's getting worse. It's been 2.5 weeks now of DD very obviously preferring the bottle over the breast. I've tried everything that I can think of, everything I've googled, and all of the advice that you ladies and my IRL friends have given me. We're having maybe 1-2 successful nursing sessions a day right now, and that's it. I will continue to hold on as long as possible and continue to offer the breast, but I'm just so sick of our nursing sessions ending in fussing and DD eating almost nothing. I had her ears checked by an ENT doctor at my work and they are perfect and healthy. In fact, he couldn't find any medical reason that her ears, nose, throat, or lymph nodes that could be causing her discomfort while nursing. And she's not cutting any teeth, although all of the other teething symptoms are there so she's likely "early teething". Still, the nursing strike continues. I've shed many tears over it and decided that I'm ready to just give DD what she wants. I don't consider it "giving up", I consider it surrendering. We both need to be happy, and as long as she's taking in nutrients and growing, that's all that counts. I know some of you may want to tell me not to give up or to keep trying, but this is the right decision for my family. I'm afraid that kind of advice will only make me feel guilty right now. I'm having a hard enough time ending a nursing relationship that was once very good.

I still plan to offer the breast at least once a day, probably at bedtime when she's most likely to take it. The point of this post is to ask for tips for any EPing moms, because it seems we're slowly moving towards EPing. The silver lining is, my supply has never been higher! I'm getting about 20oz during my workday. I haven't been pumping much at home, but I'm going to start tomorrow. We do supplement with one formula bottle a day which we started about a month ago when my supply tanked. But since I've been doing better now, that one formula bottle has allowed me to get ahead of DD and make a nice freezer stash

.

Here are my questions to the EPers (or anybody else):

Is my Medela Pump in Style likely to handle 5-7 pumps a day?

Do you have spare pairs of valves and breastshields?

Should I set an alarm early in the morning and try to pump before DD wakes up?

How do you entertain your child while you pump?

Any other pearls of pumping wisdom?

ProfessorPedals825 · August 2013

EPer here! I did have to supplement with one bottle of formula a day when I went back to work, but I only had to do this for one month then my supply shot back up. So congrats on being ahead! It definitely relieves the pressure of having to pump a certain needed amount.

Is my Medela Pump in Style likely to handle 5-7 pumps a day? I have zero experience with that model, but it should be able to handle that many pumps. I have a hospital rented Medela Symphony.

Do you have spare pairs of valves and breastshields? I do. There was one time that I was certain I lost a valve and freaked out! It was 11pm and there was no way I could handle not pumping until the store opened the next day. Luckily it was hidden and not lost and I was able to pump. Having spares will make sure you don't end up in a bad situation.

Should I set an alarm early in the morning and try to pump before DD wakes up? It's not necessary but it doesn't hurt. DD wakes up at 6ish and on weekends, I definitely try to get up by 5ish to make sure I pump and head back to bed knowing she'll be up in a few minutes.

How do you entertain your child while you pump? On mornings she wakes up before I pump, I feed her, burp her, cuddle her, then immediately put her in the RNP while I pump. That way she's relaxed and in a good mood. I hand her some toys and sit in a chair where I can almost hover over her. I use a hands free pumping bra so that I can read to her, make faces at her, and play while I'm pumping.

Any other pearls of pumping wisdom?
I like to give my pump parts a quick rinse then put them all in a ziplock bag and stick them in the fridge. I wash and sterilize everything at night once she's gone to bed.
I make the whole next day's bottles the night before. This has to be planned a bit and you have to be a bit ahead to do, but it's helped tremendously! Each night, I take the day's worth of pumped milk and one bag of thawed milk (or formula if needed) and make her 5 bottles for the next day. Then anything I pump that evening and through the next day is all just thrown in the fridge and not dealt with until that evening when I make bottles again.
The longer you go between pumps means the longer you'll be sitting at the pump too. Allow time for that. I pump every 5 hours now and I do have to sit there for 35 mins, but I'm down to only 4 pumps a day. On weekends, IF I feel rested enough, I'll pump more often or even set a middle of the night alarm just to up my milk production.

Good luck and let me know if you need anything!

ct103 · August 2013

Andreahshields, you're awesome! I was hoping you would respond because I know you're an EPer. That is all really great advice you gave me, thank you. Here are some more questions for you or anybody else:

How many bottles does LO eat in a day, and how many oz's?

How much is currently in your freezer stash?

How do you transport your breast milk while on the go? Is there an easy way to heat up a bottle for LO?

ProfessorPedals825 · August 2013

Glad I can help!

How many bottles does LO eat in a day, and how many oz's? Ok, I struggled with this one. But I think we've finally figured out what she likes, 5 bottles per day. I make the morning bottle 6oz. That's huge for BM but she really downs almost all of it after sleeping 10-11 hrs. The other bottles are 5oz each. She won't always finish a bottle, but unlike formula (which goes bad after being out for 1 hr), she can usually finish the rest a couple hours later. Once it's pulled from the fridge, I don't ever let it sit out longer than 4 hrs.

How much is currently in your freezer stash? I have a huge stash since I've been EPing for a while. It's probably close to 400oz. I use one bag every day to rotate my stash. If I have extra after preparing her bottles for the next day, I'll freeze it. So some days, I freeze one bag (to replace the one I pulled out), two bags if it was a good production day, and some days zero. Some advice somebody told me once that helped a ton was "You're feeding the baby, not the freezer."

How do you transport your breast milk while on the go? Is there an easy way to heat up a bottle for LO? I have a cooler bag that I carry around. I found it in the lunch bag aisle at Target. it zips and has a good handle, looks like a purse, and I love it. If you're at a restaurant, it's very easy to ask them for a cup of hot water to warm the milk in. Other than that, we actually don't heat her milk often. We have a bottle warmer that plugs into the car adapter, but it takes 20 mins to heat so I really only use that on longer trips. I try not to give her milk straight from the fridge. I do like to warm it a bit to take the edge off, but if we're out and about, she'll take it cold from the cooler bag. We really warm up the bedtime bottle because the warm milk does help her sleep.

jbranden12 · August 2013

I EPed while Anna was in the nicu and pump at work now. My answers:

Is my Medela Pump in Style likely to handle 5-7 pumps a day? Currently I use mine 3-4x per day. To build my supply I used a Symphony but once I was at my max output I didn't see a difference between the two.

Do you have spare pairs of valves and breastshields? Yes but the other set is for emergencies, I don't rotate. I put them in the fridge in between pumps and wash once a day.

Should I set an alarm early in the morning and try to pump before DD wakes up? I would recommend it. I found that I would get a higher total if I pumped at say 6A and 9A than if I waited until 8A and then again at 11A. Milk production is highest in the morning and then it absorbs if not expressed and doesn't replenish as much.

How do you entertain your child while you pump? I never mastered holding her while pumping, so I pretty much just talk to her and have her practice reaching and grabbing her favorite toys.

Any other pearls of pumping wisdom? I love the simple wishes hands-free bra. I get more when I lean over and use gravity. Sometimes I take a break after 20 minutes, do a massage, then hook back up and get another letdown. I get more after a hot shower or even better, soaking in a hot tub.

How many bottles does LO eat in a day, and how many oz's? She eats about 4 oz every 3 hours.

ETA @andreahshields is right, I think Anna would eat more in the morning or ate least be ready to eat again sooner. We also re-offer at least once if she doesn't finish a bottle.

How much is currently in your freezer stash? Probably about 300 oz.

How do you transport your breast milk while on the go? Is there an easy way to heat up a bottle for LO? We have a portable cooler that we can fit prepared bottles in. At home we use a kiinde kozii (LOVE IT), out and about we use warm water.

Albah · August 2013

Higs ct!! Have you tried seeing a Lactation consultant?

Albah · August 2013

Hugs, not higs.

ct103 · August 2013

andreahshields and jbranden12- holy crap you two have big freezer stashes! I thought my 40oz was a lot, ha ha. Well, at least it's a starting point. Thank you both for your advice and support, it has made me feel a LOT better about the situation, and very motivated that I could EP for a long time to come!

Albah- I did see the LC when DD was 4 days old, and again at 2 wks old when I had my first clogged duct. I may consider seeing her again, we'll see...

neon252 · August 2013

Following - may be in the boat with you all soon. I have been struggling with my LO. He isn't on a nursing strike, he has just gotten very fussy.

I always remind myself not to quit on a bad day and also tell myself I'll reevaluate in two weeks. But this has been going on for over a month now. My plan is to EP if we can't keep up the nursing.

Glad to hear the positive experiences, makes me feel better.

jbranden12 · August 2013

ct103 said:

andreahshields and jbranden12- holy crap you two have big freezer stashes!

I only recently started pumping only for missed feeds. I was so terrified of losing my supply that I was pumping as much as I could even when I was home with her. Like andreahshields said, it's easy to get into a mindset that you are pumping to feed the freezer and not the baby, which will drive you nuts!

ct103 · August 2013

Thanks again ladies. I added a 5:30am pump this morning, making my pumping schedule 5:30am, 7:30am, 9:30am, 12:00pm, 2:30pm, and them whenever I get the chance in the evening! Hopefully my body can get used to that routine and maintain or even build up a supply from that. DD loved her morning bottle, and I loved giving it to her. It put me in a good mood today!

ProfessorPedals825 · August 2013

ct103 said:

Thanks again ladies. I added a 5:30am pump this morning, making my pumping schedule 5:30am, 7:30am, 9:30am, 12:00pm, 2:30pm, and them whenever I get the chance in the evening! Hopefully my body can get used to that routine and maintain or even build up a supply from that. DD loved her morning bottle, and I loved giving it to her. It put me in a good mood today!

This is great news! I love the first morning bottle, it really does good things for the soul. DH gives the morning bottle during the week, so I only get to do it on weekends. That's why I'm willing to wake up early to pump so that I can spend that extra time cuddling her. I'm so glad you both had a great start to your day!

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