[SomedayMom]

I have a 3 week old baby boy. You have all been such a great help

We've gotten off to a rough start and right now I am basically exclusively pumping and bottlefeeding (long story) but I am still hopeful to get him on the breast for more than comfort at some point.

Anyway, I read that I should pump as many times as he eats which is about 8-10 times a day depending. If I pump every 2-3 hours I get 2-3 ounces of breastmilk, sometimes 4. He eats about 3 ounces per big feeding. If he eats 10x a day he has a few smaller feedings in there. If I go a longer stretch between pumpings (like last night, he was waking every 2 hours and eating 1 1/2 ounces and I never got the chance to pump) I can get 6-9 ounces in 15-20 minutes of pumping instead of 2-3.

It seems more sleep and time conservative to pump fewer times a day and get that much more breastmilk out, especially in the middle of the night. But I'm afraid if I pump less often my supply will dwindle over time. Is it more important that I pump more frequently and get the smaller outputs or is it the amount I can pump that matters? I don't want to lose my supply since I am just barely getting more than he eats either way...I would actually prefer to get more...

 

[Dylan'sMom]

In my experience its better to pump/nurse more often and get less. That way the breasts are getting more stimulation to make milk and should keep the supply up with the demand.

DS will go thru spurts where he sleeps more at night. The first morning I am extremely full, but if he goes a few more nights in the same pattern, I'm not as full in the morning.

Just some things I have noticed. Hope others have some imput as well.

 

[mum2 4]

You baby is still very young and if you want to get him nursing you will find
many tricks of the trade on fourfriends.com/abrw/ where many Moms are trying to establish bf relationships with their adopted babies who have been on bottles for weeks, months or even in some cases years. Do check it out.
You can set up an expressing routine of every two hours from 6 am to 12 pm and once or twice in the night depending on how often baby wakes. Have a drink with each pumping session, eat a bowl of oatmeal daily and keep taking your vitamins as well as eating foods rich in B vitamins. This should let you stay current or ahead of baby's needs. Amounts will vary from a big early morning output to less in the late afternoon/evening as this is the norm. ON a bottle baby may be wanting more than he'd take when bf. do use a single hole nipple which encourages baby to open wide ( like Avent newborn) and work hard so the tranistion back to the breast is esier. Also hold baby next to your breast as you bottle feed so he associates milk with Mom...

 

[bigbellydreams]

I would probably keep pumping every two hours for a couple more weeks, and then switch to every 3-4 hours. Which is probably how often your baby will be eating anyway. Pumping is such a pain and having to wash all the parts all the time, but it will be worth it. Hopefully he will learn to eat from the breast and you won't need to pump much longer.
Also did you know you can get a second letdown. At first it took forever for me, and then after a few days of continueing to pump I started to get the second letdown at 10 minutes everytime. Not sure this is something you would want to do now since you would be spending your entire day pumping and washing parts but after you are able to get another hour between pumping sessions you may want to try it.