Never know when to pump

[TraciG]

I know I should do it as soon as the baby falls asleep but she's only 2 weeks old & I dont always know how long she will be sleeping & I'm afraid that she'll wake up & want to nurse & then i'll have no milk, this has happened, I didn't know if she was getting anything at the time. I give her formula once at night , well my husband does so I can have a break & I thought it was a good idea so when I stop breastfeeding I already know she will take formula.

[Momof3Labs]

Honestly, unless you need the EBM for some reason, skip pumping until she's closer to 6 weeks old - by then your supply will be more regulated and you will be a little more rested and recovered from her birth.

But remember that you are always producing milk and are never empty - if you just pumped and she wakes up hungry, by all means nurse her! She'll do just fine.

Also, keep in mind that if you give her formula at night, you will likely always have to do that because your supply will go down to reflect that she's eating formula instead of nursing. It doesn't sound like you mind that, but just something to be aware of!

[stillplayswithbarbies]

I wouldn't pump with such a young baby. Your breasts need the stimulation of the baby to learn how much milk to make. Pumping now might cause you to have supply problems later.

If you do pump, and baby eats right afterwards, baby will still be getting milk. You have pumped off the foremilk, but the breasts keep making the rich creamy hindmilk as long as the baby is suckling.

When you do start pumping, a good way to do it is to feed baby on one side and pump on the other side at the same time. If that is not practical, the best time to pump is early in the morning when prolactin levels are the highest.

I started pumping at 5 weeks, and I pumped every morning at 5:30 AM. Logan would wake up and want to eat at about 6:00 or 6:30, so that worked out perfectly for us both.

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[deborah_r]

Kind of repeating Lori and Karen here, but most of the information out there will tell you not to pump this soon. And for your own emotional and phtsical well-being, I think it's just too early to be worrying about pumping. It's hard enough just to keep up with your baby at this point. The time you spend pumping you could be resting instead.

I'm also just a little confused why you are pumping and then giving formula at night. If you have pumped I'd think you'd want to give EBM in the bottle.

I'm sure you have your reasons and I don't want to criticize how you are doing this. I think there's still plenty of time later on to introduce formula. Sometime around 3 months they seem to develop their own free will and they might just reject pretty much anything you think you've gotten them used to anyway. I had my DS going back and forth from bottle to breast with no problem, then he refused it, now he takes it again.

Mostly I'm just concerned for you doing all that extra work, and also as was alrready mentioned, it's better to nurse exclusively until 4-6 weeks so that your body is getting the correct signals for how much milk to make. Good luck to you.

[TraciG]

I am pumping because if I want to go somewhere I need for her to have bottles ready, like today I had to go food shopping & my mother watched the baby, tomorrow nightwe have to go somewhere & we're not bringing the baby so what do u do then ??????????? I am CONSTANTLY breastfeeding or so it seems so by giving formula I feel like I am getting a break, hope it's not a mistake !!

[deborah_r]

Hi Traci,

I saw your other post too and I am so sorry you are having a hard time. I think other people have already offered any advice I could have come up with, but I do want to say whatever decision you make is OK, but I;m sure it WILL get better if you hang in there. I hated BFing at first and now I'm a total advocate. I think you kind of have to accept that your life is on hold for the first 4-6 weeks and just concentrate on feeding your baby.

In regards to this post, I did not understand why you needed to pump because my experience was that I was never apart from the baby for the first 6 weeks or so. Which is not to say everyone should do that, but that is why I didn't understand. I told my LC I wanted to pump in the first month and I gave some reasons similar to yours, and she basically still said "no pumping". Perhaps your mother could shop for you instead of watching the baby? Just some ideas. My DH and other family members did most of the other life stuff for the first 4 weeks so I could concentrate on the wee one.

But I never answered your original question, which was WHEN to pump. Several of the LCs at my Breastfeeding Support Group have recommended AFTER you feed the baby as the best time to pump. I'm not saying that is gospel, but that's just what I've heard.

Also, I wanted to mention- when you go out shopping or when you are going out tomorrow night, you should probably pump if you are out more than 2 hours, as you will get engorged and it may throw off the whole rhythm of your milk production.

So I guess in a nutshell I would offer this advice: if at all possible, make your life totally about feeding with and being with your baby for a few more weeks (this is all assuming you want to continue BFing) I know at the time you feel like there are other things you should be getting doen, but in the whole scheme of things it is a short period of time and you will look back and wonder how you possibly could have tried to get anything else accomplished. BFing is a BIG enough thing to devote all of energy to. This is the phase where you want to "sleep when the baby sleeps" and not worry about much else (except eating, drinking water, and as much rest as possible).

I hope this helps...sorry it's so long.

Deborah
Mom to Kai

[Momof3Labs]

In this case, since you have already offered formula, I would offer formula the first time you are away from her, and pump for the missed feeding. Then you have your pumped milk to use the next time you are away (and can pump again during the missed feeding).

But I would also suggest that you let your mother do the grocery shopping and try to nurse as much as possible - too many missed feedings (even if you pump) will impact your supply, which really isn't established until about 6 weeks. After 6 weeks, your supply is much less impacted by missed feedings (even if you pump).