after a year, won't let down to pump?

[baby.fatty]

Hey all -

The weirdest thing is happening to me and I was hoping I could get some advice.

My son is 12.5 months old and we are starting to make some changes in his nursing world.  First, we are starting to introduce some goat's milk in addition to nursing.  Second, he's been reverse cycling since I went back to work when he was 4.5 months old and we are ready to change that.  We're going to start by introducing bottles of 50/50 goat and breast instead of the breast between 11pm and 6am.  

Here's the problem: despite the fact that I've been pumping my little heart out since he was 3 days old and not once had problems letting down for the pump, last night I dragged out the pump at 1am as my partner was giving the boy a bottle and... nothing.  I was able to hand express a little, so I know there was milk in there... I even tried getting the milk going with my hand and then quick strapping on the pump - no dice.  I pumped for 20 minutes and NOTHING, despite trying to vary the speed and suction, thinking of my son, looking at pictures of him on my phone...  Huh???

Any thoughts?

Sarah

[KoalaMommy]

Do you usually pump at that hour?  I find I get different results at different times of the day.  I used to be able to pump 1st thing in the morning while or after DS nursed, now he nurses all night and there's no way, but around 11 am or noon I can get a good 4 ounces.  However, if I try to pump at 4 pm, I'm lucky to get 1 or 2. 

I'm going to guess that it's a fluke and nothing to worry about.  Of course, the more you stress about it, the harder it is to get a let down.  Usually when I'm not getting a let down, I take a few deep breaths and then try to think about something else entirely.  Could you let the baby nurse on one side while you pump the other?  That's the best way to get a let down, and if you're pumping while the baby is there, why not?  If you need to follow up that nursing with some goat's milk, it's no different than having a bottle of half your milk and half goat's milk except the flavor.

[baby.fatty]

I don't usually pump at that hour, but I usually nurse.  For quite some time now (6 months, maybe?) I've pretty much only been pumping while I'm at work during the day and nursing the rest of the time.  DS has definitely been a night nurser, eating every hour or two throughout the night and taking very little via bottle during the day.  The whole plan is to try to discourage eating so much at night - so we're making it less appealing by only offering the bottle when I'd prefer to be sleeping.  The idea behind the goat milk is to further enhance the making eating less appealing part, and also to take pressure off me to pump enough to keep up.  I didn't even know what to expect as for quantity I'd pump at that hour, but I figured I'd get at least an ounce or two since DS consistently nurses around that time and I had last nursed him about 3 hours before (also typical) - I'm pretty sure the letdown was the problem.

Thanks for helping me think this through!

[Llyra]

Letdown is such a tricky thing sometimes. There is a strong psychological component to it. I EPed for DD1 for months and months-- never had any trouble pumping at all. Along comes my twins (note: TWINS so clearly I have plenty of milk-- they were nursing and growing just fine) and suddenly with the same brand pump, all new soft parts, everything just right, I couldn't pump a drop, even when I was away four or five hours. What I finally discovered was that if I took my Dr. Sears baby book, and read the part about where it explains the hormonal components of the letdown reflex, reading that page would trigger a letdown, but heaven help me if I forgot the book. And often, once we become worried about letting down for the pump, that alone is enough to inhibit the letdown. It's so frustrating.

I did have a lot of luck putting a baby on one breast, and a pump flange on the other, and letting baby elicit the letdown-- but that's only helpful when you have a baby handy.

In the meantime-- the best thing I can say is try not to stress about it, because it only makes it worse. And try to find something that triggers it for you-- it might be something that smells like baby, or a baby picture, or an item of baby clothing (or some silly passage in a book, like it was for me.) And have you changed the soft parts of your pump recently? Those can wear out, and many mamas will see reduced pumping output, which improves once the parts are replaced.

[KoalaMommy]

well if your goal is night weaning, I'd use Dr. Jay Gordon's night weaning protocol and skip the pumping.  The babe may be comfort nursing but not getting as much as you think.  I don't think my body would respond well if I tried to pump in the middle of the night.  DS can get milk when a pump can't