Breasteed or Pump?

[Anonymous]

I have an 8-week-old son and I’m currently nursing/pumping. I have a small oversupply ( produce around 40oz a day). He only eats around 24oz a day
( roughly 3oz per feeding). He eats from one side at each feed ( I alternate sides every feed), and so I’m pumping the other breast either during or after. I make around 4oz per breast, so I have to pump a little before he eats to make sure he drains the breast to get all of the fat. I love nursing him, and he enjoys it, but it’s just a lot. He eats anywhere from 9-10x a day, so I’m constantly hooked up to a pump. Part of me just feels pumping will be easier, but I love nursing. I’ve tried decreasing my supply, but I ended up tanking it down to like 20oz. I got it back up, and now I’m making what I used to, but I’m afraid to do anything for fear of tanking my supply again. I’m not anti-formula, but feel why spend that money on it when I have enough to feed him? Any ladies have a similar experience and can offer some advice?

[Anonymous]

Why can’t you just nurse and not pump?

[Anonymous]

Are you going back to work? If you're going back to work, keep pumping maybe once per day. The rest of the time, just leak in order to decrease supply.

Nursing become very enjoyable and easier the older babies get. They become super fast (way faster than pumps) and it's easier to do on the go. Nursing is only hard in the beginning.

[Anonymous]

keep doing what you are doing. freeze what your baby isnt eating. there might come a time when your supply naturally decreases (like mine did around the 8 month mark) but you might still want to be able to give your baby breast milk.

feeling like you are constantly hooked up to a pump is totally normal. I can commiserate- I pumped breastmilk for my baby when i went back to work since he was 3 months old. Sometimes I had to add an extra pump here and there when my supply dipped. (the worst) Once I hit 8 months or so, there wasnt much I could do to get it back to where it was when he was first born and I've been riding out my freezer stash to supplement his bottles for daycare. My baby will turn one year very soon and I am looking forward to leaving the pump behind and just nursing in the morning and night.

You can do it!

[Anonymous]

Keep pumping to build up your supply. I had oversupply and took it for granted, now that I'm back at work I have to make sure i pump enough for him to drink. At 3mo he's going through a growth spurt and I am trying to keep up.

I also love nursing, and wouldn't give that up at all!

[Anonymous]

This doesn't sound natural. It sounds to me like you're artificially creating an oversupply. I would work on gradually getting rid of the pump. Unless you're eventually going back to work, like PP said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why can’t you just nurse and not pump?

OP here. He eats every 3 hours. It’s too uncomfortable to not pump the other breast. Hat would mean 6 hours in between feedings for one breast. I don’t want to waste the milk that I could be stashing. I’m in healthcare, and will likely have a huge decrease in supply when I got back to work in a month. I’ve always been using the little milk saver things that catches my milk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This doesn't sound natural. It sounds to me like you're artificially creating an oversupply. I would work on gradually getting rid of the pump. Unless you're eventually going back to work, like PP said.

OP here. I had an oversupply from the start. I was actually choking him during feeds because I didn’t realize I made too much. We thought he had reflux from all of the spit up, but I realized he was just taking too much in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you going back to work? If you're going back to work, keep pumping maybe once per day. The rest of the time, just leak in order to decrease supply.

Nursing become very enjoyable and easier the older babies get. They become super fast (way faster than pumps) and it's easier to do on the go. Nursing is only hard in the beginning.

This. Sounds like you're creating oversupply by pumping more than he's eating. If you're uncomfortable, just hand express or use a haakaa to get some relief. No need to empty your breasts every time. If you stop pumping so much, you'll give your body a chance to adjust to what baby actually eats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can’t you just nurse and not pump?

OP here. He eats every 3 hours. It’s too uncomfortable to not pump the other breast. Hat would mean 6 hours in between feedings for one breast. I don’t want to waste the milk that I could be stashing. I’m in healthcare, and will likely have a huge decrease in supply when I got back to work in a month. I’ve always been using the little milk saver things that catches my milk.

Start getting him to switch sides each time. That's always been more comfortable to me. In the morning when I'm incredibly engorged, I have him switch sides the second the first side feels better. That way I know I won't be in pain in case he fills up on just one side.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This doesn't sound natural. It sounds to me like you're artificially creating an oversupply. I would work on gradually getting rid of the pump. Unless you're eventually going back to work, like PP said.

OP here. I had an oversupply from the start. I was actually choking him during feeds because I didn’t realize I made too much. We thought he had reflux from all of the spit up, but I realized he was just taking too much in.

That's a sign of a fast letdown, which is different from an oversupply. If you're uncomfortable, pump a LITTLE or hand express to the point where you get relief, but if you keep pumping as much as you are, you're not going to adjust to the amount your baby actually eats.

Now if you WANT a huge freezer stash, which it sounds like maybe you do, then this system seems okay to me. But you could also build a freezer stash more slowly by just setting aside enough for one extra bottle every day. That would minimize your pumping time probably quite a lot.

Oh, one other trick a lactation consultant taught me was to do a "milkshake" before feeding DS if I was concerned he was getting too much foremilk and not enough of the fatty hindmilk. Basically, just jiggle your boobs up and down and give them a little massage before you feed him

[Anonymous]

I think you should visit a lactation consultant to wean yourself from the pump. You have the worst of both worlds right now! In your shoes, I would opt for stopping pumping (under the advice of an LC about how to ramp down) and then supplement if your supply actually dips. My guess is that you could pump just 1x/day and would maintain your supply just fine, plus build a bit of a stash.

[Anonymous]

NP- if you have a fast letdown, just wait. My baby now loves the fast letdown. Older babies really like it. It's only an issue when they're super little. At night my letdown isn't as fast and I can tell my 4 month old is frustrated that it doesn't start so quickly or forecefully as in the morning.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I had a huge supply and on,y ever nursed one side ata time. At 8 weeks, your body is still regulating your supply. If he only eats 3 oz, and you currently ‘make’ 4 oz every three hours, why does it matter if you dip down a few over the course of the day? I actually think three hour feeds are too widely paced for a two month old on exclusive breast milk. Rather than wait three hours and get uncomfortable, put baby to the other breast at 2:15-2:30 hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I had a huge supply and on,y ever nursed one side ata time. At 8 weeks, your body is still regulating your supply. If he only eats 3 oz, and you currently ‘make’ 4 oz every three hours, why does it matter if you dip down a few over the course of the day? I actually think three hour feeds are too widely paced for a two month old on exclusive breast milk. Rather than wait three hours and get uncomfortable, put baby to the other breast at 2:15-2:30 hours.

3 hours between feeds is normal for a 2 month old. That’s not too long at all.