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Nursing then pumping - exhausted! Any tips?

marijaa333marijaa333 member
in Breastfeeding
Is anyone else nursing and then pumping while feeding the baby expressed milk? My son is 3.5 weeks and while his latch is MILES better than at the beginning, he is still getting the hang of it and most of all isn't terribly efficient at the breast. The lactation consultant has recommended that we start off with him nursing, and then switch to bottle feeding expressed breast milk when he slows down (he tends to just hang out at the breast after 5-10 minutes; I can usually stimulate him to try again once but he still gives up way before he's full or my breasts empty).  

My goal is to transition to *either* nursing a full feed *or* expressing a full feed, as this combo is not really sustainable over the long term (I've been doing nothing but nursing or pumping for the last 3. weeks...).  Does anyone have any advice on how to increase his efficiency and transition to solely nursing for at least half of the daily feeds? 
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Re: Nursing then pumping - exhausted! Any tips?

  • etayisloveetayislove member
    I had to 'bother' my son to keep him motivated especially at night. Tickling his feet, pushing gently on my breasts (think firm massaging) to express milk into his mouth while he was latched, unlatching him then undressing him, talking to him, etc.
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  • marijaa333marijaa333 member
    etayislove said:
    I had to 'bother' my son to keep him motivated especially at night. Tickling his feet, pushing gently on my breasts (think firm massaging) to express milk into his mouth while he was latched, unlatching him then undressing him, talking to him, etc.
    @etayislove thanks! *sigh* yes, i've tried all of those, he just goes into some sort of milk coma and only wakes up 5-10 minutes later, then falls asleep again as soon as he starts to nurse.
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  • ldmwldmw member
    I was in your shoes a few weeks ago, but also had an additional step of bottle feeding supplement formula. So I would nurse, bottle feed BM, bottle feed formula, and pump. I've been exclusively pumping for 3 weeks and it is SO MUCH BETTER! I'm no longer trying to get LO to eat better at the breast and I'm enjoying it all much better. I have no advice on increasing efficiency, but if you choose to EP, you can make the change immediately - no need to transition.
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  • marijaa333marijaa333 member
    edited June 2015
    ldmw said:
    I was in your shoes a few weeks ago, but also had an additional step of bottle feeding supplement formula. So I would nurse, bottle feed BM, bottle feed formula, and pump. I've been exclusively pumping for 3 weeks and it is SO MUCH BETTER! I'm no longer trying to get LO to eat better at the breast and I'm enjoying it all much better. I have no advice on increasing efficiency, but if you choose to EP, you can make the change immediately - no need to transition.
    Thank you @ldmw! So nice to hear from someone in the same shoes (or even more uncomfortable ones with the formula supplement)! I would like to think he will improve his efficiency as he gets bigger and stronger, but if I knew now that he will never get better at the breast, I would switch to EP immediately.  I'll give it another week or so and talk to the consultant... 
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  • etayisloveetayislove member
    Good game plan, I truly wish you the best! Maybe look up your local La Leche League group in the meantime to see if they can give you other suggestions? Most groups have a facebook page nowadays.
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  • marijaa333marijaa333 member
    Thanks, @etayislove... Left side is going well today but I may have thrush on the right side. As I'm learning with this newborn thing, if it's not one thing, it's another... :o
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  • orangecurlsorangecurls member
    I would practice nursing (and supplement) during the day only. Bottle feed at night, so that you can sleep more. Hopefully soon he gets better at breastfeeding so you can drop supplementing. With my first 2, they got much better at breastfeeding efficiently after 5 weeks and we were able to transition to solely breastfeeding.
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  • marijaa333marijaa333 member
    orangecurls said:
    I would practice nursing (and supplement) during the day only. Bottle feed at night, so that you can sleep more. Hopefully soon he gets better at breastfeeding so you can drop supplementing. With my first 2, they got much better at breastfeeding efficiently after 5 weeks and we were able to transition to solely breastfeeding.
    @orangecurls that is so promising - thanks! I hope we can turn a corner at the 5 week mark too!
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  • EllenStargardtEllenStargardt member
    I understand what you are going through; it's exhausting! My DS was born at 36 weeks and wasn't strong enough to exclusively breastfeed so I had to pump and syringe feed until he could take the breastmilk supplement in a bottle.
    We turned a slight corner around 4-5 weeks. I took away his morning supplement and then his 5pm supplement. I pumped every other time I nursed, that alone saved my sanity. Over a week we weaned all supplements during the day and just supplemented between 10pm - 5am since a full belly equals more sleep for me! On this schedule I would pump after his morning feeding and then his last nighttime feeding.
    He does eat more often during the day and sometimes I'll give him a supplement if he is frustrated at the breast but still hungry.
    I'm not going to lie, it's still hard but way better than before. I've also contemplated EP but I really want the bond of breastfeeding and it's something I've been looking forward to as a mother. Sometimes I think that makes me selfish but every week I see improvement so I'm hoping to exclusively breastfeed for at least a few weeks before returning to work and having to pump more anyway.

    Good luck with your DS!
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  • marijaa333marijaa333 member
    @EllenStargardt  Thanks, that's encouraging! Was his latch ok? My son is clamping down on my nipples about 70% of the time and my right nipple is currently so sore I can't feed him on that side.

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