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FTM breastfeeding/pumping

amyidamyid member
edited March 2016 in March 2016 Moms
how is breastfeeding or pumping going ladies ? I will literally collect 1-2oz in a collette whilst my baby nurses but if I try to pump I get nothing ! An ounce or so at very most, it's sooooo frustrating. My baby lost weight and has put weight on but "slowly"... They are saying I should maybe supplement but my supply is surely good because I could easily get an ounce from a breast pad... I'm like a leaking cow ! Anyone else had pumping issues they've managed to get a handle on ? 
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Re: FTM breastfeeding/pumping

  • FutureMrsCaesarFutureMrsCaesar member
    Are you having a letdown when you use the pump?  My guess is no, that's what really gets the milk flowing.  Do you have access to a LC or breastfeeding support line from your hospital? I'd call them and see if you can get some help. You may even need to rent a hospital grade pump.  Drs can be quick to jump the gun on slow weight gain and supplementing, so I'd do your own research before starting.  Kellymom.com is a great website for all things breastfeeding.  
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  • amyidamyid member
    Yes my LC said kellymom is good.. No letdown with the pump at all, mind block totally sets in. I'm able to collect 1-2oz per feeding in this special breast cup though so that's made me more positive and im
    sure it'll improve. I'm going to see LC again Tuesday. I gave her 1oz of formula last night, she spit it up.. Hates it :( 
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  • smushismushi member
    I wouldn't go by pump output to tell if your supply is good or not.  Is LO making plenty of wet diapers/dirty diapers?  If you can get 1-2 oz on the other side just from let down that's amazing.  I get a drop or two but never any more.
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  • clairemwalkerclairemwalker member
    Maybe try pumping one side while you nurse the other? It helped me with letdown and after a few positive pumping experiences i was able to get the let down to happen without nursing. I also notice if i pump while looking at the baby i get better let downs and more milk in general. Dont worry if you get more milk on one side either, thats normal. I always pump after ive fed her (trying to boost supply by making sure breasts are totally empty after a feed) and i can only get about 1/2oz out of one but 2-3oz out of the other! My boobs are wonky
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  • CalebsHabibiCalebsHabibi member
    I feel like Breastfeeding is going great but now I'm worried about pumping. I started pumping after the first morning feed. At first I would get 1/2 an ounce in 20 minutes  but now I'm up to 2- 2 &1/2 ounces in less than 10 minutes. 

    1.) What is "normal" to get after a feed?  I only get 2 ounces. I feel like it should be more? I'm worried about not being able to pump enough at work for him to have the next day.

    2.) Should I start pumping after every feed? I don't want to get engorged or infected. I also don't want to be tied to the pump all day and night. I guess my question is: how do you pump to get ready to go back to work? Is it a schedule you should start before going back- like maybe 3 times a day- the same times you would be pumping at work?

    Also, I've NEVER felt letdown. I read you're supposed to "feel" it like tingling or warmth, but I've never felt anything!

    3.) Is it possible to not have a letdown or maybe it's too slow? Baby is 3 weeks old and is gaining weight with 6-8 wet diapers per day and 3-4 poopy diapers, so I know he has to be getting milk... What does a letdown look like when you pump? I see milk spraying out, sometimes 3 streams at once, but I wouldn't call it a "letdown" because it sprays out immediately when I start pumping and I don't feel anything. I also read you can have multiple letdown but what I see happens immediately when I start to pump, but doesn't just flood out like I thought a letdown would and I've yet to see a second one while pumping. It's like it immediately starts spraying out then gradually goes away. 
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  • irenewsleeirenewslee member
    With DD, I got one let down a couple mins into pumping and then one more time about 20 mins into pumping. I didnt feel a let down either, I just see my milk spraying more than usual. I didnt make a lot when I went back to work and had to supplement. I would pump 3 times at work and for about 20ish mins (stopped after the second letdown).  Each time I got about 4-5oz which was barely enough for her at daycare.

    Before I went back to work, I added one extra pumping session in between DD's feed, around 10am when she was napping. I heard this would signal my boobs that she wanted more.  I would only get about 2-3oz because she would have just finished eating like an hr ago. I kept those in the freezer as my little stash and sent those to daycare as backup. I also tried pumping after DD's feed but it didnt help much with my supply.  I got maybe 0.5oz each time so I got discouraged and stopped.
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  • CalebsHabibiCalebsHabibi member
    @irenewslee 4-5 ounces each time was barely enough? How often did she feed? How much was she taking each time at daycare? Do you think they were over feeding her? I read that exclusively breastfed babies take 19-30 oz per day. At 8 feedings per day that would be 4 oz each time. This is what I worry about too. 
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  • smushismushi member
    CalebsHabibi said:
    I feel like Breastfeeding is going great but now I'm worried about pumping. I started pumping after the first morning feed. At first I would get 1/2 an ounce in 20 minutes  but now I'm up to 2- 2 &1/2 ounces in less than 10 minutes. 

    1.) What is "normal" to get after a feed?  I only get 2 ounces. I feel like it should be more? I'm worried about not being able to pump enough at work for him to have the next day.

    You have to remember how small baby's stomach is at this point.  If they get a full feed in and you're still able to pump 2 ounces after, that's quite a bit.  I would not get a full ounce out of both breasts if I pumped after a feeding right now, and my LO is eating and gaining well. 

    2.) Should I start pumping after every feed? I don't want to get engorged or infected. I also don't want to be tied to the pump all day and night. I guess my question is: how do you pump to get ready to go back to work? Is it a schedule you should start before going back- like maybe 3 times a day- the same times you would be pumping at work?

    There is no reason to pump after every feed if LO is nursing well.  This will only lead to overproduction and a potential imbalance of foremilk/hindmilk for LO.  For example, LO might get too full on foremilk and poos would be come green and frothy.  Your LO's nursing will signal how much your breasts should make through nursing.  When I was preparing to go back to work, I pumped each morning on one side while LO nursed from the other side.  The letdown from LO nursing allowed me to pump well from the other side (hand pump).  I practiced a few times with my electric pump to get the hang of it, but not to create a stash.  When you're back at work, you try to pump as often as LO would nurse - at least every 3 hours - to keep up your supply.  If you wanted to practice your pump schedule before returning to work, you could always have someone sit with your LO at home while you pump every few hours (and they just give LO the bottle). 

    Also, I've NEVER felt letdown. I read you're supposed to "feel" it like tingling or warmth, but I've never felt anything!

    I didn't feel letdowns at first but once I had pumped for awhile I started to feel the tingling.  I would watch videos of my LO and look at pictures of him while pumping to help with letdown and output.

    3.) Is it possible to not have a letdown or maybe it's too slow? Baby is 3 weeks old and is gaining weight with 6-8 wet diapers per day and 3-4 poopy diapers, so I know he has to be getting milk... What does a letdown look like when you pump? I see milk spraying out, sometimes 3 streams at once, but I wouldn't call it a "letdown" because it sprays out immediately when I start pumping and I don't feel anything. I also read you can have multiple letdown but what I see happens immediately when I start to pump, but doesn't just flood out like I thought a letdown would and I've yet to see a second one while pumping. It's like it immediately starts spraying out then gradually goes away. 

    With my first LO I never got multiple letdowns.  Just one at the beginning  of each session (with about 4-5 big sprays then the 'power' of the stream slowed and got steady).  With this one, when he nurses, sometimes I feel two letdowns.  When I was at work, I would pump 4-5 ounces at each session (between both breasts) and I would send 12 - 16 ounces of milk to daycare each day.

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  • smushismushi member
    When returning to work, and LO goes to daycare, the biggest thing to make sure of is that your daycare provider knows just how to bottle feed a breastfed baby.  This is the biggest mistake that so many daycare providers make, and it leads to stressed out mommas.  Many daycare providers will try to feed the bf baby a bottle the same way they would a formula fed baby, and it just doesn't work that way.  My daycare provider did this with my first LO, and they would stuff him so full he would throw up after every bottle, and they were making me feel terrible because they 'needed more milk' and that I wasn't sending enough, which was entirely not the case.

    Breastfed babies should be bottle fed using the Paced Feeding Method. 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH4T70OSzGs

    https://www.lansinoh.com/uploads/files/for-your-patients/Paced_Feeding.pdf
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  • irenewsleeirenewslee member
    @CalebsHabibi DD has a big appetitie (still does) and sometimes could drink up to 20oz per day while at daycare. I was worried that she was being overfed too but she was gaining weight at a good rate (she has always been around 60-80 percentile with her weight since birth). The one she goes to typically give them a little bit of milk before they put her down for a nap and whenver she showed signs of hunger. Daycare also give me a tracker at the end of each day to let me know when she was fed and how many wet and poopy diapers. It was relatively consistent. You can definitely work with daycare to see what gives you the most assurance.
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  • CalebsHabibiCalebsHabibi member
    Thanks for the detailed answers! Also, I've been freezing the milk from my once a day pumping session. I have no clue how much LO will eat so I've been freezing in 3 oz and 1 oz bags. I figured he could be offered 3 oz at a time and then 1 additional oz as needed. Then the thought occurred to me that whatever I send to daycare could be used throughout the day so should I be freezing in bigger batches? (I read frozen milk can be thawed in the fridge and is good for 24 hours) The Lansinoh bags can hold 6 oz. 
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  • smushismushi member
    I think keeping with the smaller bags is safer so there is less waste.  Many daycares have regulations on when they have to pour it out, etc.  You might ask the daycare ahead of time to see what they have to do.
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  • ceds07ceds07 member
    I wouldn't freeze more than 4oz. in a bag. It's super easy to defrost/thaw some but you can't really re-freeze. I think the 3/1 split is very smart too. As pp have mentioned it is VERY rare that a bf baby would take more than 4oz st a time. Even if they're crazy hungry (growth spurt or something) they should get 4oz first then get more when they demonstrate they're hungry. 
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  • tmblickleytmblickley member
    Also a FTM, after a necessary csection , my milk didn't come in for 6 days so my dr has me supplementing with formula to get her weight up.  We are reducing her supplementing as my supply ramps up or replacing the formula with pumped breast milk when I have enough available.  If the baby spits up formula, try another brand or type and try to burp after every 0.5 oz. That helped my daughter and we're putting on weight now.
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  • CalebsHabibiCalebsHabibi member
    @tmblickley - I had that same rough patch. Baby lost 11% of his birth weight by day 5, was borderline jaundiced for hospitalization for phototherapy, and wasn't pooping. My milk didn't come in until day 6. I pumped what I could and supplemented the rest with formula (doctor wanted him to get 2 ounces). Once my milk came in I began offering the breast, then whatever I pumped then topping off with formula. That way if he spit up, formula was on top
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  • smushismushi member
    DS1 and 2 both had about 11-12% weight loss by the first appointment with no poop diapers.  With DS1 my milk didn't come in until day 5.  I just kept putting baby to breast, even every 15 minutes.  It was the same with DS2.  He finally pooped on day 8 (a ton), and by our two week apt he had gained 2 lbs.  I didn't pump or supplement.  Just lots of boob time.  And I mean lots.
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  • irenewsleeirenewslee member
    @smushi Did you have to supplement if your milk didnt come in for the first few days? I have no baby in my arms yet but I am worried that it may happen to me. With DD my milk didnt come in until almost end of week 2 (??) and we did supplement.
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  • smushismushi member
    edited March 2016
    Nope, colostrum was enough.  LOs both got pretty darn 'dry' but once it came in no problem.  Plus I had had IV fluids with both labors so I knew a lot of their 'weight' was attributed to that, so when they both lost a lb in a few days I tried not to worry with my first and didn't worry at all with my second.  With my first, they tried bringing me formula and I just said  no.  We started out big with both babies (8lbs 9oz with first and 9lbs 2oz with second) though, and both had low glucose levels and I had to nurse nurse nurse to get the levels up so we could get out of the hospital.  Nurse nurse nurse!  Skin to skin (get you both naked).  Enjoy the cuddles!

    I did know another gal who had a two week wait for milk.  Just keep up the boobing and if you need to supplement no worries!  Second time around my boobs seemed to know how to do things better than the first time and things happened a little faster.
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