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View Full Version : Best time to pump?



joaninhak
08-23-2002, 07:30 PM
Hi I am a SAHM to Joshua who is five weeks old. I would like to get into a routine of pumping some and having milk in the freezer for evenings out, and will be taking some classes later this fall, so I definitely will be combining breast and bottle.

My question is for now, when is the best time to pump? If I pump between feedings and then he wakes up and is hungry, do I still have enough milk for him? I have an Avent pump that I have had very limited success with (2 oz. tops) and today got a Medela pump in Style in the mail, we will see how that works, haven't tried it yet. Is it best to wait until I feel quite full, or is anytime really ok?

TIA

JoAnna & Joshua, fast asleep on Daddy in front of the TV

brubeck
08-24-2002, 06:40 PM
I don't know about you, but when my baby was 5 weeks old I was deperately trying to get her to sleep through the night by feeding her less and less frequently in the wee hours. This meant that I was usually quite engorged in the mornings and had tons of extra milk. I would pump off a few ounces (10 or 15 minutes on the Pump In Style) and still have enough for baby's breakfast.

As baby got older I would take the previous day's pumpings and use that in a bottle for nighttime feeding (much faster than an hour of breastfeeding). Then in the morning I was SUPER engorged and ready to pump for the following night.

The other thing you can do is pump immediately after feedings. At first you won't get much, but if you keep it up for a few days you should start producing a little more. You can keep pumpings in the fridge and combine them at the end of the day in one bag for freezing.

Another option is to substitiute one feeding a day with formula instead of milk, then pump out the milk and save that.

These approaches all worked for me.

mamahill
08-24-2002, 11:27 PM
I agree with the previous post -- pump when you're the fullest. For me, that was/is always in the morning. Just remember that the more you pump, the more you produce. You generally have creamier and more milk in the morning (because of the build-up from the night), so I think it's just easier. But you could pump little bits after each feeding.

In any event, give DS a bottle as soon as possible now that he's 5 weeks, and keep up on it. We weren't consistent enough and now Ainsleigh refuses a bottle of any type. :( Oh well, my mantra now is: If I can't take her with me and I can't get it done in 3 hours, I don't need to do it!