pumped for 1st time

[LHcj2008]

I was shocked because I was only able to get out close to 2 oz. from BOTH breasts. I know that doesn't necessarily mean all that much in terms of supply, but I was surprised. The pump wasn't working properly though, and I've since fixed it, and I did pump right after nursing my baby, so that could be why.

Anyway, my baby is 5 weeks old, is EBF, and I'm dying to leave the house. So I pumped this amount out to see if he'd take a bottle. Well, he gulped down the ~2 oz. bottle in about 90 seconds, I kid you not. Then he still wanted to nurse. Now, he is a huge comfort nurser, so this doesn't necessarily mean he was still hungry, but how do I know?

So now I'm nervous to leave the house for more than an hour. The strange thing is that I have been block-feeding due to oversupply issues and leak constantly, so I'm surprised I couldn't get out more when I pumped, but I'll try again. I'm just a little freaked now that about 20-30 min of pumping with such little results took my baby a minute and a half to gulp down.

Should I be worried that he is going to be still hungry? Or is ~2 oz. likely enough for him? I tried to calculate how much he should be eating based on kellymom but I can't keep track of how much he eats during the day since he is a big comfort nurser. Thoughts?

[Marissamom]

I feel there's a bit of a learning curve to pumping effectively. I know a lot of mom's have a hard time pumping much in between regular feedings (myself included). in that case you may need to combine milk from 2 pumping sessions to get enough to have enough of a bottle, which he could be okay with 2 oz, but may want closer to 3ish if he has a big appetite. you can also try pumping one side while feeding on the other, taking advantage of the baby induced let-down. 

[JudiAU]

Pumping takes practice too. At 5 weeks 2 oz is probably fine. Keep in mind that most working moms never feed more than 3 5 oz during a whole day.

[LHcj2008]

Well, this morning I pumped on one side after my baby had nursed on the other. I was able to pump about 2 oz. from one side, and then pumped an additional .75 oz from the other. So that was some improvement.

I must admit, this pumping thing has me overanalyzing my BFing experience. All this time I thought I had an oversupply issue b/c my baby had green poop, would scream and pull back while nursing, I leak constantly, have multiple let-downs a feeding, etc. etc., and I seemingly fixed it by block-feeding for about a week and a half. So, I'm surprised I'm unable to pump more. Did I screw up my supply somehow by block-feeding? Could it be that my baby is not getting enough?

At this point, from yesterday and this morning, I have close to 4 oz. in the freezer for a 1-2 hour trip away from home for me, so hopefully that will be good for a feeding.

[carepear]

Well, 2.75 ounces is pretty much a whole bottle.  So you got a whole extra meal in one pumping session AFTER nursing.  That seems pretty good to me. 

[kiwiva]

According to kellymom: "Most moms who are nursing full-time are able to pump around 1/2 to 2 ounces total (for both breasts) per pumping session. Moms who pump more milk per session may have an oversupply of milk, or may respond better than average to the pump, or may have been able to increase pump output with practice. Many moms think that they should be able to pump 4-8 ounces per pumping session, but even 4 ounces is an unusually large pumping output."

So that sounds like a fine amount that you got, especially for a first time and with a pump that wasn't working correctly! Also, as someone else said, pumping is a learned skill. It is not necessarily a good indication of how much the baby is getting directly. If he's gaining well, active, looks good, having enough diapers then he should be getting enough from you.

[Marissamom]

Originally Posted by LHcj2008 

Well, this morning I pumped on one side after my baby had nursed on the other. I was able to pump about 2 oz. from one side, and then pumped an additional .75 oz from the other. So that was some improvement.

I must admit, this pumping thing has me overanalyzing my BFing experience. All this time I thought I had an oversupply issue b/c my baby had green poop, would scream and pull back while nursing, I leak constantly, have multiple let-downs a feeding, etc. etc., and I seemingly fixed it by block-feeding for about a week and a half. So, I'm surprised I'm unable to pump more. Did I screw up my supply somehow by block-feeding? Could it be that my baby is not getting enough?

At this point, from yesterday and this morning, I have close to 4 oz. in the freezer for a 1-2 hour trip away from home for me, so hopefully that will be good for a feeding.

I think your supply is fine. when I was pumping in between feedings (rather than instead of feeding) I would only get 1 oz. and 4 oz for 1-2 hours away from mom at 5-6 weeks is more than any baby should really need. when mom isn't around most babies will happily wait an a few hours until she gets back, so he may not even take the bottle.