When to start pumping? ???

Doridoodles · April 2015

After my baby is born..I plan to exclusively bf..but have to return to part time work at 6 weeks. My question is. ..how and when do i start to pump (to have a supply while im working so Dad can bottle feed...) and have enough to feed the baby regularly at the same time? When do I fit in a pumping session? Im afraid of I pump I will be empty when the baby needs to feed. I will only be working a few hrs at a time...so I will probably only need 1 bottle feeding a day.

pamis626 · April 2015

Since your going back so soon I recommend starting as soon as you feel comfortable enough with starting.
As far as timing, you can pump right after baby is done with it's first morning feed this would be good because typically our bodies produce more milk in the early morning hrs.
Also (some) babies sleep a longer stretch at night time so that would be a good opportunity to set an alarm and pump.
Another option is feed baby on one breast and pump the other at the same time. Again this works best in morning hours.
Then when baby is done on that side just turn off pump and offer the other breast.
You will never be "empty" your body will always be producing milk.
It's a good idea to limit the pumping for extra milk to once maybe twice a day in the beginning because you don't want to give yourself an over supply.
At first that might sound like a great thing but it definitely can give you big issues.

TheBorg7of9 · April 2015

Don't start too soon. Give yourself time to get used to your new baby first.

Personally, I started pumping around 3 weeks with both my babies. I pumped after the first morning feeding when the sun was up.

Then around 10-12 weeks, each baby dropped the 10pm feeding. They started going to bed for the night around 8 and sleeping until around 2. So, I started pumping at that time too.

You will also want to pump each and every time your husband gives a bottle, in addition to your regular pumping times. Good luck!

Doridoodles · April 2015

Great advice. .thank you.

ABeautifulMind · April 2015

I always pumped in the middle of the night (usually around 3 am) while my dd was asleep. I'd have everything set up the night before so I'd only be up for 15-20 minutes total then I'd go right back to bed. I know a lot of people thought that was nuts but I wanted to ensure I had a large freezer stash when I went back to work at 18 weeks. It worked for me so it wasn't a huge deal.

laurasuzanne2006 · May 2015

I started right away with going back to work

When to start pumping? ???

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