Pumping/bfeeding ????

[riogirl71]

Hi girls,
I am starting to pump and I have a few questions...

How long after the baby bfeeds do you pump?

Do you ever mix formula with bmilk?

How many oz of bmilk for a 6 week old per feeding?

Right after my 1st pumping today, bean woke up hungry and was mad that the breast didn't have enough milk, how do you catch up between bfeeding and being abe to store milk in advance?

thanks!!!!!!!

[2ndtimer]

Hi Rio,
My sister's advice on this after 2 babies is to plan on spending 1 to 1 1/2 days pumping at your feeding times, and give the baby formula during those feedings. That way you can store it up & get use to the pump, and baby gets used to the bottle. Your body needs a little time to get used to the pumping.

I tried this. In theory, it should have worked BUT my little one had his first bottle and never wanted the breast again. I quickly lost patience with pumping breast milk and then turning around and feeding him the breast milk in the bottle. Everything seemed like it was taking twice as long. So...I switched him to formula and never looked back. He's thrived on the formula, loves it, gains weight, hasn't been sick. It's worked out for us.
Good Luck with things,
2ndtimer

[KatieG]

Rio Parker is now taking 3-1/2 to 4 oz every 3-4 hours. I am not getting that much per pump due to the antibiotics from getting mastitis. I hope my supply will go back up after i am done with the meds but I am just not sure. I have to get ahead so I give him formula in the middle of the night and sometimes one other feeding in the day. At night he eats between 9-10 pm and I pump afterwards between 10-11 and then I let him wake up on his own-- its normally between 2 and 4 am which is nice to get the extra sleep. Hope this helps. Let me know how many ounces you are getting when you pump.I get Normally close to 4oz in middle of the night and only like 2-2 1/2 durning the day when I pump more frequently.

[weezie]

Rio- I have had the same question about when to pump and here's my story. The advice came from my sis who I deemed the BF queen.

I was alway trying to pump the breast that Gavin didn't feed on (he is a super slow eater and would only take one breast b4 falling asleep). But I never seemed to get much milk. So my sis told me to "step away from the pump" for a good 3 days. And if Gavin nursed for 10 minutes, split the ten minutes across both breast (5 and 5). I was doubtful it would work but it did. After 3 days I tried pumping 1hour20 minutes after he ate and I got 3 oz!!! (this was 3 weeks ago). Now I can pump 4 oz.

For the past 2 days Gavin has gone through a growth spurt and it sent me into a whirl wind, but I'm back on track and now that he is 6 weeks he's nursing 20 min on one side and 10 on the other. If I want to pump I just do it 1hour30 minutes after a feeding. And if he gets hungry I just have to nurse again. And this little guy eats every two hours. Since the growth spurt he seems to be going up to 3 hours (thank goodness!!)

My sis always chants to me "supply and demand". And that really seemed to prove true in our case. It was NOT easy. And at first I thought I was always feeding. But, it has gotten better. Oh yeah, now that I have found a formula that agrees with him (nutramigen) I do give him 3oz of formula at night and I let him nurse till he is full. It has helped with his colic and we all are sleeping much better.

We are all different and I hope you are successful in finding what works for you.

[riogirl71]

thank you for the replies! He has been feeding every 2 hours so I think it is a growth spurt so I can only pump 2oz during day time once or twice, I was also on antibiotics so that might have worked against me, I will keep trying but it seems difficult to get ahead without using formula to complement the bmilk, I might try that tonight.
Katie what formula do you use?

[Warren Dew]

Just as a counterpoint, my wife started pumping about a week before her maternity leave ended at 3 months, and she never used formula.

What she did was start by pumping when both breasts were full but the baby only took one, or pumping an hour or two after baby went to sleep, when she knew she had a couple hours before she had to nurse again. Once she went to work she pumped at work while the baby was using the bottles, plus she still pumps in the middle of the baby's longest sleep period.

The baby was occasionally hungry at first, but with the pumping during the day and the nursing in the evening, night, and morning, her supply quickly picked up the slack.

At three months, the baby would take 2-3 ounces from a bottle at a feeding, so I wouldn't fill them much fuller than that at first. Even now at 5 months, she generally only takes about 3-4 oz per feeding, with 3-4 feedings while mommy is away at work.