? re: breastfeeding & pumping

[chaibaby]

I've been exclusively bfing Caleigh since day one. She was on a bottle at night in the hospital b/c we couldn't stay there with her (she was there for 9 days in the ICU) but it was my pumped milk.

She gets up at least twice a night sometimes three or four times. Each time is at least 20 minutes but usually goes 45-60 minutes. And as a result, I'm getting exhausted (I probably get between 4-5 hours sleep total per night). It's been recommended to me that I pump so that my DH can feed her at least one of these times so I can get some more sleep.

Do a lot of moms do this? Pump their milk on off times so that it can be fed with a bottle at night? (I kind of assumed that if I chose to bf, I should bf exclusively....I guess I'm wrong?)

Is nipple confusion a concern?

How do you warm up breast milk? Our "bottle warmer" says it is not recommended for breast milk but is there really a concern? (It's a First Years Night & Day Bottle Warmer).

Thanks in advance for any advice/help you can give!

[Peony]

You can do that, but I've always felt that pumping for dad to give a bottle at night was a lot of work when there was easier ways to get sleep. Try going to bed really early, I'm in bed by 8pm most nights because I know I will be waking up so many times, handing baby to dad in the am and going back to sleep, and napping, take advance of all the time baby is sleeping now because it does not last. I would give anything for dd1 to nap now so I could sleep too. I know that if dd2 sleeps longer at night then I'm used to then I wake up with very full, uncomfortable breasts and have to wake dd2 up to nurse so I can go back to sleep. Some women don't have that issue though. Bfing isn't an all or nothing, there are many ways to do it. If your ds got a bottle in the NICU and didn't have issues bfing later then you have a good chance of him not getting nipple confusion now. Check out a LLL meeting in your town, it's a great way to met other bfing moms and get good advice at the same time.

[mama_om]

Hi Andrea,
I agree with the previous poster -- pumping is not exactly a great way to get a break, esp. at night. If you go without feeding your babe in the night, you may wake up with really full, uncomfortable breasts (which would need be relieved either by pumping or putting your babe to the breast).

What worked for me was to go to bed around 8 and get up around 8, so while I was in bed for 12 hours, I maybe got 8 hours of sleep. We also coslept and the baby nursed while side-lying (or while lying on top of me) once the baby got better neck control (around 6 weeks or so -- I can't remember when exactly!). Also, as the baby ages, she will get more efficient at nursing, so the night wake-ups will get shorter; and if you're cosleeping, after a while you don't even wake up all the way so you get more rest that way.

My husband starting giving our son (who is now 3) a bottle each morning when my son was around 2 months old or so. I would just pump enough for one bottle, then he would take the morning wake-up (around 5 or 6 AM or so) and give the baby the bottle. They would fall back asleep, then I would wake up around 8 AM or so and pump the next day's bottle, eat breakfast, and make it back upstairs in time to feed the baby again.

So, yes, you can definitely offer your baby a bottle and still breastfeed! You can just come up with whatever works for you.

I hope you find more rest --

[chaibaby]

Thank you! Her feeding schedule is all over the place. Last night she would latch on, feed for a couple of minutes (if that), start coughing & as a result come off my breast, and then she would fall asleep! But she was waking up every hour and nothing but putting her on the breast would calm her. It was really weird.

I think we're just working into a schedule. I'll try the side lying position (we do co-sleep) although I'm a little worried b/c she still spits up at least every other feeding so I think the sheets might get a little wet! I guess I could put a burp cloth underneath her though.

Thanks for your advice ladies!!!

[Peony]

She might be going through a growth spurt, she's 5 weeks old right? There are several different ones that happen in the early months but 4-6 weeks is a really common one. They nurse ALOT, and might be fussier then normal, it usually lasts just a couple days, but can take a week.

We are going through one right now, dd2 woke up every single hour last night to nurse, and still wanted to be attached to the breast during the few times she wasn't actually nursing. I nurse her lying down sometimes and sit up other times, depending on how tired I am. She spits up more when we are lying down, that is normal and will get the older they get. If she spits up alot I just thorw a burp cloth over it and go back to sleep. Last night my bed was covered in them.

[lab80]

I bf but pump when I'm engorged and DS isn't hungry, usually in the am when he's been nursing on one side all night (side lying). Depending on how long he nurses I do have to sit up and burp him occasionally because I have an over supply problem and he spits up A LOT if he isn't burped. As soon as we figured out the problem we have only gotten spitup on the bed like once. DS and I sleep on one of his recieving blankets and under him is also a large prefold diaper for extra absorbancy, I'm not taking any chances. I need something under me because of leaking of breastmilk as well as the fact that he sleeps right up next to me so if it landed on me it would go straight to the bed. My SIL has suggested a wool blanket under the sheet to soak up anything so mattresses don't get ruined. She said it breathes really well so you don't get hot.