When should I pump?

amother

Azure

Sun, Mar 25 2018, 2:43 am

I skip the night feeds, but find that I don't have enough milk before I go to sleep or when I wake up to pump.
during the day I don't either have enough to pump between feedings.

I really need the milk though. we finished our stash in the freezer and I need about an additional 10 oz. for babys night feedings.

any suggestions?

amother

Aubergine

Mon, Mar 26 2018, 10:24 pm

From Nechoma Greisman A"H: (http://nernechoma.org/reader.asp?NBID=2&NPID=54)

Quote:

Many nursing mothers know that mother's milk can be successfully frozen. I learned this from a nursing manual. Express the milk into a clean cup. Pour it into a plastic baby bottle which you have sterilized or poured boiling water into for a while. It doesn't matter if each time you only get an ounce. It adds up. When you have a full feeding, start on the next bottle. This trick has many advantages -- again from my personal experience. 1) It can be used as a relief bottle if you absolutely must be away for feeding; 2) It can be used as a supplement for those times when your supply is low; 3) It can be used for feedings while you are fasting -- Yom Kippur or Tisha B'Av -- and feel too weak to nurse; 4) It is an excellent way to increase your milk supply.

Mother's milk works on a demand-and-supply principle. So if you consistently express milk after feedings (only for 5 minutes) your body will think that your baby needs more -- and after few days you will see you have more milk. Of course, keep eating a nutritious diet, drink a lot of water, and rest as much as you can. But this trick alone has helped me a lot through rough spots in my nursing career. In the first weeks after birth it is especially good. An electric pump is easier than hand-expressing, but not necessary. The nursing books say it takes two hours for the body to replenish a full feeding so if you'd like to express a large amount, make sure it's at least 2 hours before the baby's next feeding.

To defrost the milk, put it into the fridge the night before or let it stand at room temperature until defrosted. Slow defrosting is preferable, but if you're pressed, put the bottle in warm water. It defrosts pretty quickly. Shake well before feeding.

amother

Azure

Mon, Mar 26 2018, 10:30 pm

She is getting formula now for those 2 feedings, but ideally I'd like to mix it with expressed milk. in addition we have times that she is not allowed to have formula, so I really need the pumped milk.
pumping really does stress me out Sad

. its a very big hassle that I'd love to avoid, but I do feel it's important for this specific baby. glad to hear though that I'm not the only one who finds it stressful...
thanks for that quote aubergine.

amother

Cerise

Tue, Mar 27 2018, 12:15 am

amother wrote:

Do you work? Do you have a commute to work? I pump in the car while driving. I get it all setup and drive to work right after I dropped my baby off and she recently fed and I still have something to pump while I drive.

Why are you allowed to give formula sometimes and not others?

how the heck?

amother

Azure

Tue, Mar 27 2018, 12:58 am

amother wrote:

work from home. but I will try the pumping after feeding.
she can have breastmilk till 4 hours before anesthesia. so works better for us. b'H it's only like every two months. but every time she is sick, I also like to cut out the formula and want her to only get breastmilk. so I need to build up a freezer stash again.

amother

Salmon

Tue, Mar 27 2018, 8:31 am

I exclusively pumped for 7.5 months. I found that for the first couple of months, I couldn't skip night feeds, or I wouldn't have enough in the morning. Once I built up a consistent routine of pumping every 3 hours, including nights, I was able to slowly drop the night pumps, and my body adjusted accordingly. I would pump right before I went to sleep (approx. 10pm) and then again at 6am when I woke up. I pumped around 18-20oz in the morning.

Again, this may have just been my body, and it also may have specifically been because I was exclusively pumping.

ra_mom

Tue, Mar 27 2018, 8:45 am

I pumped all the time. It was hard but I took it one day at a time. I pumped before work (simultaneously while feeding), at work, after work (also 1 side feed, 1 side pump) and in the evening. I didn't get a lot each time but I didn't give up and had enough to exclusively feed. I tried to eat and drink to promote more and would sometimes drink non alcoholic malt when I went down in supply.