15 year old HS student wants to breastfeed ANY Advice?

[cdmommie]

My 15 year old cousin had her baby yesterday afternoon and has decided to breastfeed . She is working and still going to high school at the "alternative" school so she can go at night. She is planning to pump for the baby when she is at school and work. I am worried this is going to be a big challenge for her. Any advice or BTDT stories? I plan on taking a pump to her soon, she doesn't have one and she nor I can afford a new one so I am parting with mine . How soon should she start pumping? And how often?

[JamieCatheryn]

She can start pumping in between feeds and freezing the milk whenever it's convenient, it's easiest to pump in the morning (more milk available) and not too many extra pumping sessions in addition to breastfeeding so as not to confuse the supply. Tell her don't feed any bottles until nursing is going well and baby is about 4-6 weeks if it is possible to stay with baby and exclusively nurse til then. And to pump every time she misses a feed and baby drinks a bottle instead, or as often as she gets the chance while away from the baby.

It's a lot of pressure starting to build a supply of expressed milk at first. When I went back to school after DS1 I worried I couldn't get enough pumped and I couldn't go (I was determined to avoid formula). Pump enough times and you get the milk though, even if it's just .5oz at a time. And if it's too great a challenge supplementing doesn't mean she has to stop nursing when together and pumping when she can.

[la mamita]

I would advise the girl to find a supportive teacher, hopefully a mom herself, or her advisor or something, so she has a private place to pump at school. I would hate to have her pumping in the bathroom!

[SandyBeachBums]

You might want to check with WIC or LLL to see if their are any scholarships for pumps. You would think they would want to support her for that.

[MamitaM]

That's wonderful that she wants to breast feed and that you're willing to give her the pump. Just encourage her as much as you can and tell her she can call you anytime she needs to and maybe even go to a LLL meeting with her.

On weekends maybe she can power pump to help get more of a stash then. You pump for 10 minutes,take a 10 minute break then pump again for 10 minutes. That's how I'm told it's done.

Good luck to her!

[Ornery]

I was 16 when I had my oldest and bf until he was 3. I wasn't in HS as I got my GED while pregnant but I worked 35 hours a week as a waitress to support us and went to community college taking 18 credits. It was really hard and took a huge commitment from me to exclusively bf. I pumped massive quantities, usually in my car as I couldn't even imagine asking anyone about where. I think I had a loaner pump from WIC, but can't remember exactly where I got it. I was lucky because I had a huge supply.

I would definitely find a LLL person to connect her with. I felt so ostracized for bf at the time. All of my friends thought it was gross, blah, blah, blah, but I felt it was really important to try to give my boy the best possible start nutritionally.

[lunarlady]

WIC will provide a pump for her, and she can look into getting food support for herself with them too. If she is at the alternative HS, she might have a daycare on site? If so, she could ask them about pumping and/or coming in to nurse between classes. The school nurse office also is a frequent mom's retreat.

Good for her for wanting to BF! Too many of our young moms turn to formula right away. Hopefully she will find a support network as she figures out mothering. Good for you for stepping in to help. It is hard being a new mom, but even more so when juggling work and school.

[sammymama]

This site has a lot of tips, strategies, etc, for starting a pumping routine:

http://www.workandpump.com/

And I second the PP's suggestion of support a thousand times over. Your cousin is making an AMAZING decision, but I imagine she will encounter some moments of difficulty and/or self-doubt. Perhaps there is a local LLL leader that can come meet with her to make sure she gets off to a good start? And can offer her some numbers of people to call if she should run into a problem? Last thought: maybe there is some sort of support group available through her school (perhaps she is not the only teen mom attending there?)?

It's awesome of you to help support this new mama!!