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Pumping woes

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suomynona

Thu, Mar 02 2006, 10:31 am

I am away from my baby 4 days a week for one feeding. I pump twice while I am nursing my baby on the other side - once right after work & once first thing in the morning. That way I get just enough milk for baby at the babysitter. These days, he usually finishes his bottle.

I'm finding it a little bit stressful. Every day I'm nervous that I won't get enough milk. I know a lot of people have extra pumped milk stored in the freezer, but I don't have enough milk to do that.
I started pumping on the weekends also so I can save up for a bottle or 2 to take on the plane when we travel to America for pesach. But this week I had to use that milk since I didn't get enough one day.
This week my son stopped sleeping through the night, so I don't have as much milk in the morning. The other choice is to pump at 5:30 in the morning when he wakes up.
Last night I couldn't pump while nursing him because I had to work late. (I work from home) so I can't work & nurse & pump at the same time. So when I pumped right after I nursed him, I didn't get as much as I usually get. Then I pumped while I nursed him early in the morning when it was still dark. I still didn't have enough, so I pumped a 3rd time this morning while I fed him, and I got just enough.

Sometimes I wonder if I should bother with this & just him formula for that one feeding. But I really like the idea of my baby being totally breastfed. Besides, I spent the money on the pump so I want to use it.

To top it all off, for the month of April, when I am in America, I'll have to go into the office 5 days a week. This is full time so I'll miss at least 2 feedings. My baby will be 5-6 months then . There's no way I can pump enough for all that, so I was thinking of starting him on solids for one feeding & continue what I'm doing now for the other feeding. But at the rate things are going, I don't know if I'll be able to keep up what I'm doing 'til then.

Sorry for rambling.
Any advice/support?

lucky

Thu, Mar 02 2006, 10:53 am

suomynona wrote:

so I can save up for a bottle or 2 to take on the plane when we travel to America for pesach.

I nursed on the plane. Confused

Worrying and fretting about it will definetly not give you more milk. You will cross the bridges in april when you get there. Wink

chocolate moose

Thu, Mar 02 2006, 11:40 am

I was never that good at it either.

happy2beme

Thu, Mar 02 2006, 12:11 pm

when my baby starting sleeping through the night I would actually wake up in the middle of the night & pump! It was a real pain, but I got a lot of milk out so I can freeze it. since u already stopped feeding him in middle of the night, u might not have so much in beg but once u keep pumping, it will come back again
if u think u want to give formula soon for those feedings, better start now- even just a little so baby can get accustomed to the taste. My baby's 9 mo ka"h & I dont want to pump 2x a day anymore at work so I've been trying to give him formula for the past month & he refuses!!! he takes my milk in bottle- no problem, but when there's formula in there, he pushes it away Smile

1stimer

Thu, Mar 02 2006, 2:39 pm

op, can you pump while he is away?

supermommy

Thu, Mar 02 2006, 4:13 pm

starting solids at 5-6 months is a normal time to start solids.

newmom

Thu, Mar 02 2006, 6:43 pm

Many will disagree with me, but I say to stop driving yourself nuts over this. An easy solution is to just give on bottle of formula a day. This will relieve a lot of your stress. I guess you have to ask yourself why you really don't want to give one bottle. Some people drive themselves so crazy just so they can say they "exclusively" nursed. If it's because of this, well, then I guess you have decided that for you, it is worth it to fret over this all the time. As far as the health benefits of nursing, your baby will still be getting all of them if he gets one bottle a day.

chavamom

Thu, Mar 02 2006, 7:09 pm

Can you pump while you are at work full time? When I work an 8 hour shift (means I am away for 9+ hours) I pump once while I am away and then when I come home pump from the side I am not nursing on while baby nurses. I get enough for the next time I w ork that way. Also, by the time the baby is 5-6 mos. you could introduce some cereal instead of formula.

IndyMom

Thu, Mar 02 2006, 7:27 pm

you are amazing doing all you are doing for your baby. I also had to pump a ton for my boys and I know how hard and stressful it can be, especially when you have only just enough, or sometimes not even enough. I think you can start introducing solids to make your life easier. My daughter started solids at 5 months adn would eat a jar ful while I was away at school for a few hours.

When I had my surgery last monday I was away from her for 9 hours and she ate jars of food, kedem tea biscuits, and sippy cups of water. She was fine. I nursed her when I got home. she is 8 months.

lucky

Thu, Mar 02 2006, 9:45 pm

I also start them on solids at an early age instead of supplementing formula.

BrachaVHatzlocha

Thu, Mar 02 2006, 10:07 pm

I agree that if you're able you should pump while at work. YOu may not get much at first, but if you continue, it should build up your supply. I am away from home about 6 hours and pump twice while away because I usually miss 2 feedings.

suomynona

Fri, Mar 03 2006, 2:07 am

Thanks everyone for your responses.
The reason I stopped pumping while working is because I didn't get that much milk so I had to pump a second time anyway. And I saw on this site, actually, that if you aren't getting enough, try pumping while you are nursing. So that's what I started doing. Also I was busy at work & it was hard to stop & pump.

suomynona

Fri, Mar 03 2006, 2:10 am

newmom wrote:

As far as the health benefits of nursing, your baby will still be getting all of them if he gets one bottle a day.

I thought I read somewhere that the baby doesn't get the full benefit if he even has one bottle of formula day.

suomynona

Fri, Mar 03 2006, 2:11 am

supermommy wrote:

starting solids at 5-6 months is a normal time to start solids.

How about 4 months?
That's how old he is now.
Is there any reason not to start solids now?

suomynona

Fri, Mar 03 2006, 2:13 am

chavamom wrote:

Also, by the time the baby is 5-6 mos. you could introduce some cereal instead of formula.

Any specific reason to start with cereal as opposed to mashed fruit or veggies? Since pesach is coming up, I'd rather not get him used to cereal before.

PinkandYellow

Fri, Mar 03 2006, 2:34 am

My baby is 6.5 mths. I work 6 days a week out of the house 9 hrs a day. I use an electric pump. Pump both sides 2x a day at work and sometimes once at home. Now I'm having a prob getting enough so I started him on solids once a day by babysitter (skipped cereal, straight to veggies) and I also emailed jack newman (lc in canada) and am now taking motilium (domperidone) which is doing unbelievable things for my milk supply. also started pumping 3x a day at work and nursing more often at home (every hour at day and few times a night). But it isn't easy so you have to evaluate how badly you want this. I think its worth it for me. Good luck.

1stimer

Fri, Mar 03 2006, 3:27 am

Wouldn't it be nutritionally better to supplement with formula rather than with solids?

suomynona

Fri, Mar 03 2006, 3:47 am

MosheDovid'sMom wrote:

...and am now taking motilium (domperidone) which is doing unbelievable things for my milk supply. also started pumping 3x a day at work and nursing more often at home (every hour at day and few times a night). But it isn't easy so you have to evaluate how badly you want this. I think its worth it for me. Good luck.

Can you tell me more about this motilium?

Honestly, I'm not willing to nurse more then I do now. I barely have time for anything as it is. And hey, if my baby is sleeping through the night, I certainly aint gonna stop him!

PinkandYellow

Fri, Mar 03 2006, 4:03 am

Motilium is prescription medicine. The name of the actual medicine contents is domperidone. It is actually a med for something with the stomache. Side effect is increased milk supply. 1st I went to my gyn for the med but he said there is no such thing as med to increase milk and I should stop nursing shock

. I went to my family dr and he prescribed it no prob, no questions asked. You can tell your dr Jack Newman prescribed it and he is one of the leading lact con. if your dr knows anything about nursing he mite be familiar with him. My dr said take 1 pill 3x a day, newman said 3 pills 3x per day. I started with 3 x3 and after a few days went to 1 x3.

PinkandYellow

Fri, Mar 03 2006, 4:27 am

Quote:

Wouldn't it be nutritionally better to supplement with formula rather than with solids?

For sure by 6 mths, a baby that is otherwise nursing has no need to supplement with formula but can go straight to solids. Additionally, many nursing babies refuse formula but take to solids well.

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