Breastfeeding - Exclusively Pump?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would give yourself two more weeks. If you're still miserable, switch to formula. By then the baby has gotten the biggest benefits from breastfeeding anyway.

bizarre comment- she currently has an oversupply. my baby is almost 6 months and still doesn't need 40 oz a day. our pediatrician said on the high end she needs 29-32 oz now. i'd focus less on trying to preserve oversupply. i did triple feed for a month and it was so exhausting. use haaka or hand express/manual pump after to catch extra but no need to pump up extra supply.

my supply fluctuates between oversupply/undersupply on any given week- but my worst fear about losing supply would be having to heat bottles in middle of the night and pump, so much easier to nurse then and on the go.

OP here. The pediatrician and lactation consultant said he would eat closer to 32oz/day by 3 months. Most of my friends who breastfeed ( track with scale), exclusively pump, or formula feed had babies taking in 28-32oz by 2-3 months and that stayed until like 9/10 months.

I’ve been exclusively pumping for 9 months now and my son has never taken even close to 32 ozs. The most he takes is 25 ozs and now that he’s 9 months, he averages 22-24 ozs a day max. Formula fed babies take a lot more than breastfed but I wouldn’t plan on your baby needing 32 ozs a day.

Formula fed babies do not necessarily take more than breastfed babies. They are nutritionally equivalent, and both contain about 20 calories per ounce. Whenever I see people say this, I wonder how much formula they think babies are drinking. It is recommended that babies have between 24-32 ounces of breast milk or formula per day.

[Anonymous]

With the caveat that HOPEFULLY you're getting good advice from the lactation consultant so listen to her over me... Here's my personal experience and what I've heard/read from various sources so offering FWIW. As far as personal experience, I exclusively pumped for #1 because he wouldn't latch, and exclusively nursed number 2 for a while ~6 mos until it didn't work with our schedules any more.

If your baby is eating well from you and gaining weight at 4 weeks and nursing fine (i.e., you don't have to give bottles to fill her up) you DO NOT need to pump! Babies drink what they drink, and your body keeps up. (Obviously if there are special considerations, listen to the healthcare professionals, but I understand generally that it's pretty rare that you'd need to pump to keep up supply if your baby is nursing regularly and gaining weight). It is normal-ish for a little baby to only drink one boob, and then drink the other boob the next time. There's nothing inherently wrong with that!

Exclusively pumping is not fun. It takes a lot of time. Think about the trade off between time with your baby and the time it takes to pump. For me with #1 anxiety made me do it for 9 months. Looking back, I sort of regret it. He's happy and healthy and all that now, so not to say it was 100% the wrong decision, BUT I don't think I would do it again. Before #2 was born, I told my friends/family/SO to help me keep track of whether exclusively pumping was good for my mental health with #2. ALSO if you want to nurse and use formula it is possible. Will you BF until your kid is 2 like that? Probably not. But if you want to nurse mostly to nurse at night, you can do both. Or pump once per day instead of every time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah there is something missing in this OP, unless your kid isn’t gaining weight you’re pumping to create an over supply. You may just have high capacity boobs and your kid only want one, or swap them in the middle of the feed. I would do 10 mins on one side then swap, he would do 10-15 on the other side and that was the feed. No pumping required

OP here. The lactation consultant said I make a normal amount of milk. She said she that you’re supply may be a lot in the beginning but it will balance out. She said to not try to secede my supply or not pump because then I will have a baby wanting more milk than I make and will need to supplement. The lactation consultant also said not to switch side mid feed because my baby will only get the milk in front and none of the fatty milk. She said to let him drain one breast and then offer the other if he wants it. He does take both sometimes during the evening when my supply decreases but he only eats 2-3oz every 2-3 hours.

I think your lc is making me you anxious. Mine suggested switching sides after 10 min on each boob and pediatrician told us either doing half and half or switching breast each feed were both fine. An oversupply is making more than your baby needs- and can contribute to the foremilk/hindmilk issue as if you are making more than they need they're not going to get to the fatty spot. Pumping after nursing is what I do when I want my supply to go up. I wouldn't recommend missing a pump session if it's a replacement for a meal but does she know you're pumping after each nursing?

OP here. I don’t pump the breast he eats from, only the breast he doesn’t. I also switch breasts each feed and pump the other side. I have never been able to pump more than 2-3 ounces per pump session from one breast. The lactation consultant said she would tell me to not pump as often if I were making 4+ ounces from breast increasing over time, but I’ve steadily pumping 2-3 ounces from one breast.

I pump while he nurses on the other side or after on the opposite side after using the Haakaa to catch any letdown. I only feed from one breast and be completely drains me. I offer the other side but he often won’t take it. He is gazing weight well and has no signs of a hindmilk/foremilk imbalance. He’s only 4 weeks and 2-3 ounces is normal at this age. I’m saving all of the pumped milk because I plan to stop breastfeeding at 6 months.

I understand it's the opposite boob- but that's the definition of oversupply- you are pumping more than the baby needs. if your baby only needs 2-3 ounces no need to pump the other boob each time. you are choosing to do so to build a freezer stash-- but just as an fyi my pediatrician said frozen milk has less antibody properties, and i personally think is a pain compared to nursing (heating it, having it with you, etc)... and some babies reject it because of lipase. i'd nurse what your baby needs and do one extra pump session in the morning to make a freezer stash and not torture yourself

OP here. I’m doing it because that’s what I make and it’s a normal amount. If I let my supply dry up, I will not make enough for when he eats more in the bet. 1-2 months and will have to supplement. The lactation consultant said frozen milk is still nutritious. We have not had any issues with the frozen milk. I only plan to breastfeed until 6 months so we will be using bottles anyway.

Your supply is not going to dry up if you stop pumping. You are not working with a very reputable LC if she is leading you to believe that you need to pump after every feed in order to maintain your supply. Just let your baby feed for as long as they like on each breast, and you will be fine. You are making this into more of an issue than it needs to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah there is something missing in this OP, unless your kid isn’t gaining weight you’re pumping to create an over supply. You may just have high capacity boobs and your kid only want one, or swap them in the middle of the feed. I would do 10 mins on one side then swap, he would do 10-15 on the other side and that was the feed. No pumping required

OP here. The lactation consultant said I make a normal amount of milk. She said she that you’re supply may be a lot in the beginning but it will balance out. She said to not try to secede my supply or not pump because then I will have a baby wanting more milk than I make and will need to supplement. The lactation consultant also said not to switch side mid feed because my baby will only get the milk in front and none of the fatty milk. She said to let him drain one breast and then offer the other if he wants it. He does take both sometimes during the evening when my supply decreases but he only eats 2-3oz every 2-3 hours.

I think your lc is making me you anxious. Mine suggested switching sides after 10 min on each boob and pediatrician told us either doing half and half or switching breast each feed were both fine. An oversupply is making more than your baby needs- and can contribute to the foremilk/hindmilk issue as if you are making more than they need they're not going to get to the fatty spot. Pumping after nursing is what I do when I want my supply to go up. I wouldn't recommend missing a pump session if it's a replacement for a meal but does she know you're pumping after each nursing?

OP here. I don’t pump the breast he eats from, only the breast he doesn’t. I also switch breasts each feed and pump the other side. I have never been able to pump more than 2-3 ounces per pump session from one breast. The lactation consultant said she would tell me to not pump as often if I were making 4+ ounces from breast increasing over time, but I’ve steadily pumping 2-3 ounces from one breast.

I pump while he nurses on the other side or after on the opposite side after using the Haakaa to catch any letdown. I only feed from one breast and be completely drains me. I offer the other side but he often won’t take it. He is gazing weight well and has no signs of a hindmilk/foremilk imbalance. He’s only 4 weeks and 2-3 ounces is normal at this age. I’m saving all of the pumped milk because I plan to stop breastfeeding at 6 months.

I understand it's the opposite boob- but that's the definition of oversupply- you are pumping more than the baby needs. if your baby only needs 2-3 ounces no need to pump the other boob each time. you are choosing to do so to build a freezer stash-- but just as an fyi my pediatrician said frozen milk has less antibody properties, and i personally think is a pain compared to nursing (heating it, having it with you, etc)... and some babies reject it because of lipase. i'd nurse what your baby needs and do one extra pump session in the morning to make a freezer stash and not torture yourself

OP here. I’m doing it because that’s what I make and it’s a normal amount. If I let my supply dry up, I will not make enough for when he eats more in the bet. 1-2 months and will have to supplement. The lactation consultant said frozen milk is still nutritious. We have not had any issues with the frozen milk. I only plan to breastfeed until 6 months so we will be using bottles anyway.

Your supply is not going to dry up if you stop pumping. You are not working with a very reputable LC if she is leading you to believe that you need to pump after every feed in order to maintain your supply. Just let your baby feed for as long as they like on each breast, and you will be fine. You are making this into more of an issue than it needs to be.

It can happen. I was like OP and used a manual pump on the opposite breast when my baby fed. I stopped pumping and switched off breasts every feed per advice from multiple lactation consultant. Guess what? I went from making 32-35 ounces a day to only around 20-24 ounces. That worked for the first 6 weeks until my baby demanded more. I tried nursing often - every 2 hours during the day and every 2-3 hours at night, and I was never able to get my supply up. I tried extra pumping after feedings and a bunch of supplements. I lost my supply within 2 weeks of not pumping and it never increased. We even used a baby scale and I went from getting 3-4 ounces to no more than 2 ounces a feed. I had to supplement after using up my freezer stash. My baby started taking 28 ounces at 8 weeks and 32 ounces at 3 months. I kept pumping with my second and never lost my supply. I was able to stop pumping at 2 months when my baby started eating more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would give yourself two more weeks. If you're still miserable, switch to formula. By then the baby has gotten the biggest benefits from breastfeeding anyway.

bizarre comment- she currently has an oversupply. my baby is almost 6 months and still doesn't need 40 oz a day. our pediatrician said on the high end she needs 29-32 oz now. i'd focus less on trying to preserve oversupply. i did triple feed for a month and it was so exhausting. use haaka or hand express/manual pump after to catch extra but no need to pump up extra supply.

my supply fluctuates between oversupply/undersupply on any given week- but my worst fear about losing supply would be having to heat bottles in middle of the night and pump, so much easier to nurse then and on the go.

OP here. The pediatrician and lactation consultant said he would eat closer to 32oz/day by 3 months. Most of my friends who breastfeed ( track with scale), exclusively pump, or formula feed had babies taking in 28-32oz by 2-3 months and that stayed until like 9/10 months.

I’ve been exclusively pumping for 9 months now and my son has never taken even close to 32 ozs. The most he takes is 25 ozs and now that he’s 9 months, he averages 22-24 ozs a day max. Formula fed babies take a lot more than breastfed but I wouldn’t plan on your baby needing 32 ozs a day.

I have many friends who formula feed and their babies always have 6-8oz bottles. My best friends daughter is a month younger than my baby (8 months) and her baby takes 7 ozs of formula every 3 hours. I’ve always known of formula babies to drink way more than breastfed.

Formula fed babies do not necessarily take more than breastfed babies. They are nutritionally equivalent, and both contain about 20 calories per ounce. Whenever I see people say this, I wonder how much formula they think babies are drinking. It is recommended that babies have between 24-32 ounces of breast milk or formula per day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would give yourself two more weeks. If you're still miserable, switch to formula. By then the baby has gotten the biggest benefits from breastfeeding anyway.

bizarre comment- she currently has an oversupply. my baby is almost 6 months and still doesn't need 40 oz a day. our pediatrician said on the high end she needs 29-32 oz now. i'd focus less on trying to preserve oversupply. i did triple feed for a month and it was so exhausting. use haaka or hand express/manual pump after to catch extra but no need to pump up extra supply.

my supply fluctuates between oversupply/undersupply on any given week- but my worst fear about losing supply would be having to heat bottles in middle of the night and pump, so much easier to nurse then and on the go.

OP here. The pediatrician and lactation consultant said he would eat closer to 32oz/day by 3 months. Most of my friends who breastfeed ( track with scale), exclusively pump, or formula feed had babies taking in 28-32oz by 2-3 months and that stayed until like 9/10 months.

I’ve been exclusively pumping for 9 months now and my son has never taken even close to 32 ozs. The most he takes is 25 ozs and now that he’s 9 months, he averages 22-24 ozs a day max. Formula fed babies take a lot more than breastfed but I wouldn’t plan on your baby needing 32 ozs a day.

Formula fed babies do not necessarily take more than breastfed babies. They are nutritionally equivalent, and both contain about 20 calories per ounce. Whenever I see people say this, I wonder how much formula they think babies are drinking. It is recommended that babies have between 24-32 ounces of breast milk or formula per day.

I have many friends who formula feed and their babies always have 6-8oz bottles. My best friends daughter is a month younger than my baby (8 months) and her baby takes 7 ozs of formula every 3 hours. I’ve always known of formula babies to drink way more than breastfed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would give yourself two more weeks. If you're still miserable, switch to formula. By then the baby has gotten the biggest benefits from breastfeeding anyway.

bizarre comment- she currently has an oversupply. my baby is almost 6 months and still doesn't need 40 oz a day. our pediatrician said on the high end she needs 29-32 oz now. i'd focus less on trying to preserve oversupply. i did triple feed for a month and it was so exhausting. use haaka or hand express/manual pump after to catch extra but no need to pump up extra supply.

my supply fluctuates between oversupply/undersupply on any given week- but my worst fear about losing supply would be having to heat bottles in middle of the night and pump, so much easier to nurse then and on the go.

OP here. The pediatrician and lactation consultant said he would eat closer to 32oz/day by 3 months. Most of my friends who breastfeed ( track with scale), exclusively pump, or formula feed had babies taking in 28-32oz by 2-3 months and that stayed until like 9/10 months.

I’ve been exclusively pumping for 9 months now and my son has never taken even close to 32 ozs. The most he takes is 25 ozs and now that he’s 9 months, he averages 22-24 ozs a day max. Formula fed babies take a lot more than breastfed but I wouldn’t plan on your baby needing 32 ozs a day.

Formula fed babies do not necessarily take more than breastfed babies. They are nutritionally equivalent, and both contain about 20 calories per ounce. Whenever I see people say this, I wonder how much formula they think babies are drinking. It is recommended that babies have between 24-32 ounces of breast milk or formula per day.

I have many friends who formula feed and their babies always have 6-8oz bottles. My best friends daughter is a month younger than my baby (8 months) and her baby takes 7 ozs of formula every 3 hours. I’ve always known of formula babies to drink way more than breastfed.

Former nanny here. It depends on the baby. I’ve had FF babies taking in only 4oz at older infant age or 6-8 ounces. I’ve had breastfed babies take 4oz and some taking 6-8 ounces. The last baby I cared for was eating 6oz of BM every 3 hours from 2-3 months old. How much they eat during the day will also depend how long they sleep at night. Many FF babies are taking in larger volumes because they eat over a 12-14 hour period and sleep 10-12 hours at night. Most breastfed babies taking longer to sleep through the night and eat more times in a 24 hour period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would give yourself two more weeks. If you're still miserable, switch to formula. By then the baby has gotten the biggest benefits from breastfeeding anyway.

bizarre comment- she currently has an oversupply. my baby is almost 6 months and still doesn't need 40 oz a day. our pediatrician said on the high end she needs 29-32 oz now. i'd focus less on trying to preserve oversupply. i did triple feed for a month and it was so exhausting. use haaka or hand express/manual pump after to catch extra but no need to pump up extra supply.

my supply fluctuates between oversupply/undersupply on any given week- but my worst fear about losing supply would be having to heat bottles in middle of the night and pump, so much easier to nurse then and on the go.

OP here. The pediatrician and lactation consultant said he would eat closer to 32oz/day by 3 months. Most of my friends who breastfeed ( track with scale), exclusively pump, or formula feed had babies taking in 28-32oz by 2-3 months and that stayed until like 9/10 months.

I’ve been exclusively pumping for 9 months now and my son has never taken even close to 32 ozs. The most he takes is 25 ozs and now that he’s 9 months, he averages 22-24 ozs a day max. Formula fed babies take a lot more than breastfed but I wouldn’t plan on your baby needing 32 ozs a day.

Formula fed babies do not necessarily take more than breastfed babies. They are nutritionally equivalent, and both contain about 20 calories per ounce. Whenever I see people say this, I wonder how much formula they think babies are drinking. It is recommended that babies have between 24-32 ounces of breast milk or formula per day.

I have many friends who formula feed and their babies always have 6-8oz bottles. My best friends daughter is a month younger than my baby (8 months) and her baby takes 7 ozs of formula every 3 hours. I’ve always known of formula babies to drink way more than breastfed.

Former nanny here. It depends on the baby. I’ve had FF babies taking in only 4oz at older infant age or 6-8 ounces. I’ve had breastfed babies take 4oz and some taking 6-8 ounces. The last baby I cared for was eating 6oz of BM every 3 hours from 2-3 months old. How much they eat during the day will also depend how long they sleep at night. Many FF babies are taking in larger volumes because they eat over a 12-14 hour period and sleep 10-12 hours at night. Most breastfed babies taking longer to sleep through the night and eat more times in a 24 hour period.

If a breastfed baby is waking up at night, they may be eating 8 times a day and only need 4oz per feed. If a FF fed is sleeping through the night, they may only eat 5-6 times a day and will take a larger amount.