I pump every day and somehow I only have enough for 7 feedings in my freezer. It's tough to strategically figure out when to pump an "extra" bottle. Unless I am willing to wake up in the middle of the night when he is not eating (no thanks!), how do you get ahead? Do you pump after the first morning's feedings? If I do that, I only have enough for half a feeding (about 2 ounces). Do you pump in between feedings? My feedings are 3 hours apart, so I am always afraid if I do that, then I won't have enough milk for his actual feeding in an hour and a half. Can that happen?
I'll be going back to work in 4 weeks and would feel better if I had at least 2 days worth of milk in the freezer. Tips?!
My pedi told me to pump after EVERY feeding to increase my supply. At first it's not a lot because P has already eaten it all. But you'll notice that your supply goes up after a few days and you'll be able to pump more after he's full.
ReplyDeleteTry doing that, and just put the bag/bottle in the fridge and keep adding to it. Remember, never add warm (fresh) milk to refrigerated. Combine them to make a full meal when they are all the same temp (cold). You might have three bags in the fridge until you can combine them all.
That's my two cents :)
Agreed. I still don't pump full feedings when it's been 3 full hours, like when I'm at work. I might pump anywhere from 3-6oz. (He gets 5-6oz bottles) I always have to combine multiple pumps. I wish I had pumped more while on maternity leave, so I am glad you are getting ahead. Even if you only get an ounce or two it's worth the pump. I tried to pump about an hour after a feeding 1-2 times a day. He can always get what he wants from you so don't worry about not having any for him. He takes what he wants when he wants it, you're never empty.
ReplyDeleteNow that Holt skips his last feeding of the day, I feed him before he gets ready for bed and then I pump before I go to bed. That has helped me build up quite the supply. Holt was about 14 weeks old before he started to skip that feeding though. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel! Best advice is to do it when you can and just freeze whatever you get.
After Crew started sleeping most of the night I started pumping in the morning after his feeding. At first it wasn't much, but then it would I would usually get enough for another feeding since he hadn't eaten all night. That helped me pump at least an extra bottle or two to freeze. Good luck, any extra you can do is great!=)
ReplyDeleteThere is some tea you can buy at a health food store that helps with that. Carol Ann used to drink it every morning when she got to work with TONS of water. She pumped when she got to work, at lunch, and before she left!
ReplyDeleteI drank the tea, and I also used fenugreek supplements you can get at Whole Foods. In the beginning I would also feed off of one breast and supplement with formula. Then I would pump both breasts afters. Babies usually like the breastmilk better so eventually Gabe's demand was satisfied by just one breast and I continued to pump after the feeding. I think he had formula less than 10 times his whole life and I built up a pretty good frozen stock with several refrigerated bottles at the same time. Hope that helps!
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