Quote:
Originally Posted by bcblondie  I'm 6 weeks pregnant right now, and I was just thinking. You know how tough the first couple days can be with a newborn, before your milk comes in? Would it be wise for me to pump in a couple months and get a small supply ready for the new baby? I remember the nights were so hard, trying to sleep with a starving newborn.
Or do you think it's a bad idea because the new baby would get less colostrum that way / other reasons I'm not thinking of?
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Are you asking if it would help increase your supply? Or are you asking if it would be good to store it so you can give baby that milk in addition to what s/he gets at your breast?
If you're asking if it will help increase your supply, the answer is no. Pumping now, while you are pregnant, will not increase your supply for when the baby's born. There are hormones at work right now to keep you from producing more milk (which is when the milk transitions into mature milk, i.e., when your milk "comes in"). A little colostrum is all your baby needs until your mature milk comes in! Colostrum is SO rich in protein and antibodies that a tiny amount of colostrum goes a very long way.
If you're asking if it would be a good idea to store it so you can give baby that colostrum in addition to nursing at the breast, I would advise against that. If your baby is term and born without any major complications that would prevent him/her from nursing at the breast, there is no reason to do anything other than nursing at the breast. Bottles can cause nipple preference and nipple confusion, which are NOT easy to correct. Even if you don't use bottles and instead used another method, you are putting your supply at risk. Every little bit the baby doesn't get directly from your breast is less that your breasts are told to make. This can, and very often will, delay the introduction of mature milk. That can lead to serious supply problems. Honestly, it's a road you just don't want to go down.
Babies will sometimes nurse a lot before your mature milk comes in, it's their way of saying, "All right, I'm getting enough colostrum, bring on the mature milk!" Sometimes they will be very fussy in the first few days before your mature milk comes in. This does NOT mean you don't have enough colostrum for your baby. I haven't heard of a story of a woman who thought she didn't have enough colostrum where there weren't other factors involved (the two biggest being a pure misconception that she didn't have enough, either by herself or someone else, or by limiting time at the breast, either by not nursing often enough or by supplementing baby or even giving pacifiers and therefore not allowing to comfort nurse which also speeds up the introduction of mature milk).
If baby doesn't seem to be happy before your mature milk comes in, chances are it has nothing to do with whether or not baby is satisfied with your colostrum (exception being if someone has supplemented baby, and then it's a matter of nipple preference). Good luck, mama!
