WOH Mama having bfing/pumping issues

[singermom]

Help! I’ve just gone back to work after dd#2,
who is now 4 mo, and I’m having trouble
establishing a pumping schedule that we all
like and can stick to.

Original situation was, I would pump twice a day
work (mid-morning and late afternoon), plus go
nurse her at the day care center around 1:00pm.
That gave me enough time to be ready to pick her
up a little after 5pm. This worked alright until she
began taking her afternoon bottle late at the day
care center—I’d come in at 5pm, ready to nurse her,
and she would have no interest, because she had
just finished the bottle 15 minutes before—and
unlike dd#1, this girl doesn’t seem to need that
“reconnect with Mama” nursing time right at 5pm.

Other problem arose when she started going to sleep
around 8pm, dropped the midnight feeding (probably
because she was tired from the activity of the day care
center), and wouldn’t wake up till 2 or 3am—I’d be
miserable, engorged, and leaking all over the place.
So I started pumping right before I went to bed,
reluctantly, because that meant three pumping
sessions a day. And I don’t always get a lot at that
time, depending on what kind of day I’ve had, and then
I am behind on the milk to send with her the next day.
(BTW, my little Virgo put herself on this rigid schedule--
it wasn't my idea!)

So right now, I’m frustrated because I feel like I am
pumping more than I’m nursing, I’m going through my
milk bank at an alarming rate, and I’m worried about
my supply diminishing. I bfed/pumped for dd#1 while
working with no problems whatsoever until she
self-weaned at 26 months—and I am dedicated to
doing the same for dd#2—the thought of leaving her
during the day AND weaning her is more than I can bear.
But it is harder this time…

Is there anything I am missing or could be doing
differently?

[DaryLLL]

A couple ideas...could they not give her that after noon bottle at the daycare, or just give her a little to hold her off until you get there?

Then, you say she "dropped" the midnight feeding. Well, could you "pick it up" again? Do you co-sleep? Co-sleeping babies of working moms feed more often at night. Frequent feeds throughout the day are what keep your hormone lvls up enough to keep producing. You say she wouldn't wake up til 2 or 3 AM, but would you be able to rouse her just enough to feed then anyway? She may not even wake fully, but still nurse. then do you feed her at, say 5 or 6 AM, and one more time before work? Just try to fit in as many feed as you can when together, no matter how short, frequency is the key.

Have you read Nursing Mother Working Mother?

[singermom]

Daryl:

Yeah, you're right...I just needed to remember some of this stuff, so thanks for the reminder. We had been going back and forth on co-sleeping with this baby, as she didn't seem to like it as much as our older girl, and also it was the ONE area where our older daughter really expressed some jealousy (and with both of us working full time it just exhausted us to have four in the bed on weekdays...). But we're still tinkering with different things, such as splitting the nights up, or having dh go to another room, etc., and the situation is improving.

Of course, I would have dearly loved to blame this problem on the fact that I felt coerced into going back to work so soon, but that is another story for another post, I guess...

I also realized that I forgot to put my name in my signature...how silly of me. I'm Mia.

Thanks for the advice, and I think we are getting back on track!

Mia