Preemies

Re: Pumping ?

  • I'm no expert but I think within a weeks time that is good. Maybe decrease time you pump? My LC said no more then 15 mins at a time. I am sure everyone has their own guidelines tho. My LC also stressed to make sure the phalanges fit right as it will effect supply too. Just keep going!!! You can do it!
  • Thank u all. Ill definitely try to increase the suction on it. I actually got 60 ml this morning. The girls are up to 32 each this morning though so i was 4 short luckily I had a tiny amount leftover in the fridge and the nicu nurse had just enough for them. She said we may have to supplement soon with formula To keep up the demand of twins.
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  • Try to power pump for an hour at night.  I know it can be tough when you come home from the NICU, but it is worth it.  Pump for 10 minutes, take 10 minutes off and repeat for an hour.  This will stimulate production.  I did it most nights of the week until my production came up.
  • carrotcake06carrotcake06 member
    edited August 2013
    It took me about 10 days to catch up w my twins. I did the same as you, every 3 hours for 30 min and got so pitifully little for so many days. It was so defeating bc the NICU kept upping their feeds and I just couldn't keep up. They supplemented w formula, there was nothing I could do.

    Eventually around day 10, I caught up w their feeds. What helped me the most was to BF them first for 20-30 min each and then go pump for 30 min. I made a deal w the NICU that they'd bf for half a feed and then get half through their feeding tube. We did this for a couple days and then switched to bf only feeds while I was there w them.

    The bf and pump routine consumed my days but I didnt particularly care since it gave me something to do during their NICU stay, you know? Now at home, we EBF and haven't had to supplement at all.

    Keep going! You're doing a great job!
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  • Congratulations on your twins!

    It sounds like you're doing okay for this early, but there are a lot of things you can do to encourage more to come out. Some people have trouble responding to the pump. Try massaging your breasts to encourage let-down, both before and during.

    Try doing 15-20 minutes every 2 hours instead of 30 minutes every 3.

    If you find you're still not getting what it seems like it should be, talk to the NICU LC. I even had one come in and watch me do it so she could tell me if I was doing it right and if I had the right sizes. It was a little uncomfortable, but it helped.

    Also, fenugreek can help boost your supply.

     

    The breastfeeding board is really helpful for tips on boosting supply.

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  • jnetx said:
    My LC recommended every 2 hours during the day and every 3 at night for 20 minutes. Mine was a singleton though, so twin guidelines may be different. I had my baby a day before you, and really feel like my supply started to really make progress about 2-3 days ago. Until then I would get a lot some sessions and very little at others. Someone on the breastfeeding board suggested i eat and drink something with every session and that seems to have helped too.

    This exactly for me - no longer than two hour between sessions during the day, three at night. It was rough to get used to, and my "bedtime" routine started at 7PM so I could get in 6-7 hours of cumulative (albeit very broken) sleep. Over time, adding in two power pump sessions a day and making sure I ate and drank a bunch, I was able to get up to 50oz a day, and have maintained that since -- now being able to go 3-3.5 hrs between pumping sessions during the day, and one glorious 5 hour stretch overnight (granted, I only sleep like 4 hours of that, but still). :)  Sadly, that's still not going to be enough to keep up with my hungry monkeys -- we're a few short weeks from needing to supplement, as they've burned through the freezer stash I was able to amass while they were in the NICU and pumping ahead of them. Bonus will be no longer having to cycle through the freezer milk to keep it fresh, AND having the freezer space back (need to look on the positive side!)

    Keep it up! You're doing great -- it took me literally 3 months to get my supply up to where it is now -- I was definitely a slow one.
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  • I was told every two hours for no more than 20 minutes. For me increasing suction and slowing down the speed helped a lot. Don't increase it too much or you will get nothing but sore nipples.

    Be careful with fenugreek. Add it slowly. For me it caused horrible gas for ds. I tried it when I thought I had a supply dip when he was farther along. Turns out it was just my oversupply regulating.

    Good luck and congratulations!!!
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  • I second playing around with suction, but I actually ended up decreasing suction to get more out. I did every three hours during the day (no set time, just until I was very soft but usually 20-30 minutes) and two four hour stretches at night. After a month or so, I started sleeping a full 8 hours once a week which helped my brain and my supply!


      Our Angel Patricia born sleeping 3/30/12 at 31 weeks
    Our Fighter Anna born early 1/8/13 at 26 weeks
    Hoping to bring home #3 due 9/9/15
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