Will be back at work soon, Pumping question related to weekends

[Tellera]

---Wasn't sure if this should go here or in Breastfeeding Challenges---

I'll be back at work and pumping soon. What do I do on the weekends? Do I pump at the regular times I do at work and give her bottles whenever she's hungry, or can I simply nurse her whenever she's hungry?

(I plan to continue to nurse in the evening, night and morning as long as possible.)

Will I still be making enough to nurse during the day? I don't expect to be able to pump enough for breastmilk only and expect daycare to supplement with formula, so I guess that my question is, will I have enough to nurse her on the weekends even if my breasts are used to pumping at work where I may not pump enough to have only breastmilk.

Sorry if that is confusing. Would love your help!

[lunarlady]

I had a great book called "Working Without Weaning", you might want to check it out.

If you pumped enough on Friday to feed on Monday, then you can go the weekend without pumping since your feeding your baby will keep your supply up. I, however, always struggled to make it through the week with enough milk. Therefore, I did pump on the weekend just to make sure I had enough for the entire week. (My DD never had formula). What I did was nurse one side while pumping the other. This takes some coordination (you'll wish you had more arms and hands!), but makes for a pretty successful pumping session since baby will help with letdown. I used a boppy pillow to help so that I could hold DD with one arm and the pump horn with the other. I also would do this at night during the week to make sure I had enough ounces to send to daycare. If I was really short, I pumped in the morning before work too, and sent that.

If you are okay with formula supplementing, then you really only have to pump enough during the day to maintain your supply, and you don't have to worry about it at all when you are with baby.

ETA: Don't worry about the times. Just because you pump at 10:00 am at work doesn't mean you need to feed DD or pump at 10:00 am on the weekends. Your body is pretty flexable and doesn't need that tight a schedule.

[Harper]

I had the same experience as lunarlady. I only pumped on the weekends when I was low on milk and I was often low on milk. I tried very hard not to supplement with formula and had to do it for about a month with dd1 when she was 8 mos old and not at all with dd2. Besides that, nights and weekends were a break from pumping and the weeks I could just leave the pump at work all weekend were the best ones!

But lots of people I know were much more successful pumpers and didn't have to bother with pumping at all on the weekends.

Good luck!

[Quinalla]

Yeah, I only pump on weekends if I am low for Monday or want to add to the freezer stash. Whatever I pumped Friday, I use for Monday. It is better for your supply anyway as nursing will stimulate it more than pumping. And I have pumped maybe 1/3 of the time on the weekends to make sure I have enough for Monday, but I only have to pump maybe 2oz or so which is pretty easy for me to do.

[LindsC]

I agree with what the other ladies have said. I've only had to pump on the weekend a handful of times. I use the weekends as a break from pumping and let DD nurse as often as she would like. Pumping on one side, while your baby is nursing on the other is probably the easiest and fasest way if you need to pump enough for Monday though.

[Anna Phor]

Definitely nurse whenever you can. It's better for you and better for baby. Also easier, and there's no washing up.

[Hannah'sMommy]

Originally Posted by Anna Phor

Definitely nurse whenever you can. It's better for you and better for baby. Also easier, and there's no washing up.

I agree.

The other thing is that I've heard that some women will pump after most feedings every few weekends to give their supply a little turbo boost for the week. But not every weekend unless necessary since spending time with your LO is much more fun than pumping.