BF-ing and pumping

[Vvivo]

My son is 6 weeks old now and has been EBF. I just bought a breast pump and am starting to pump. I would like my husband to feed our son once a day to give me a break, to bond with the baby, and also to get the baby used to a bottle. I will be returning to work when my son is 5 months old.

So my questions are:
1.) When do I pump? If I'm feeding him, how do I have enough supply to pump extra? I can't pump on one side while feeding the other. It's a juggling challenge, especially when I need to burp him throughout the feeding. So I tried feeding on one side and when I was done feeding, I'd pump on the other side. But this morning I only got like one oz. So discouraging! All that time and just one measly ounce?

2.) When should I start pumping to start a milk supply in preparation for returning to work?

3.) Also, what I've been doing lately is feeding him just on one side at each feeding. I'm doing this because sometimes he gets green poop. And somewhere on the internet, I read that it could be because he's getting too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk. So I keep the feeding to just one side so that he doesn't get too much foremilk. Will doing this diminish my supply?

Thanks!!

[lunarlady]

1 oz is actually a pretty good start! It takes time for your body to get used to and respond to the stimulation of the breastpump. So save every oz and give yourself a break. You won't get full bottles (4 oz) until you've been pumping regularly for a few weeks.

You can actually pump first, feed after. This will remove the foremilk, and baby will be very efficent at removing the hind millk. This may help you get more since the fuller you are, the more you can pump (usually).

I started pumping only a week or so before returning to work, but then I knew I would be pumping multiple times a day at work, and so I was on pump as you go type of schedule (each day's milk was sent for the next day). I only had a little extra in the freezer for backup.

The first thing in the morning is the best time to pump since you will usually be very full at that time. I always got the most milk if I pumped before the morning feeding.

As for your supply, as long as baby is EBF how you feed him (one side or two) should not really affect your supply too much. But it can lead to engorgement on the non-fed side if you go too long between feedings, which can cause breast infections and other unpleasent problems. If you are fine, however, your supply should also be fine.

HTH!

[LindsC]

When I was first pumping I would always pump after her first feeding of the morning. I would pump both sides and get between 3-5oz. 1oz to start with is not bad at all. Like the pp said, it takes time for your body to get used to the pump which is not as efficient as putting your baby to the breast.

I started pumping when my daughter was a little over a month old and I returned to work when she was 2 months old. I had a small freezer stash and just sent whatever I pumped during the day to daycare the following day.

DD has always been a one sided eater and it has not affected my supply in the least. I do notice some engorgement if she goes a little bit longer between feedings, but like I said, it has not affected my supply in the least.

[Inspired007]

With both of my children I started pumping when they were just a week old. Each time it was after my milk came in and I quickly jumped in and collected as much as I could. Some may advise against pumping this early, but it enabled me to have a nice stash when I returned to work when they were 14 weeks old. I had over 150 ounces stashed by then. I could tell by the color that I had actually stored some colostrum (it was yellow!) in some of the bags. My son is now a healthy (fat!) 5 month old and my daughter is 2.5 years old so you can't convince me I did anything wrong!

I will say that if you pump that early you are probably setting yourself up to have oversupply, which in my case was a great thing. I need to be able to match my baby's intake and up until now (he's eating sooo much!) I've had no problem with either of them. Since my son is eating more now (growth spurt?) I just added an extra pumping session to my day and I've almost got him matched.