[Etph007]

How many times during the day (at work) do you pump and for how long? Are you still nursing some too?

What do you do on the weekends when you're not at work?

When/if you leave your LO with a sitter and go out, how do you handle the pumping/feeding situation? Are you pumping enough to freeze or just to get through the days?

Thanks so much!

[KCMomma]

Oh you so sound like me right before I delivered. The whole pumping/bfing thing is just so foreign!!

Anyway, here is what I did. Starting at about 2-3 weeks after she would feed I would pump out whatever was left. Starting at 4 weeks we gave her one bottle at some point during the day and I would pump that time. Also if she ever refused any side I would just pump and store up all of that! Huge piece of advice...STORE STORE STORE!!!! They say to have 8 "emptings" of your breast a day..whether that is with a feeding or pumping. So try to keep that in mind. Once she started sleeping well, she ended up with only 7 feedings which was fine since she was gaining well! Just try and make sure she is getting 25oz a day. Now i know that is hard when you are bfing because you don't know, but I was always told if they are gaining then they are getting enough so don't worry. Now when you go back to work and will be pumping just remember it's like you are feeding your LO so pump when they will be eating. At first I was pumping 3 times a day for 10 minutes a session. Then I started not getting enough so I upped my pumping sessions to 20 minutes and changed the membranes on my pump and that made a HUGE difference. Not right away but after a week or so I noticed it. I hope this helps some. Please feel free to ask away or join the pumping/bf boards!! Those ladies are so very helpful!!!

[NortheastWifey]

I was very bad about pumping before I went back to work. It just was really a pain because Amelia would usually fall asleep after eating so I didn't want to move and wake her up. Not to mention I would be lucky to get an ounce of milk after she was finished eating.

So what I did was when she woke up to eat in the very early morning I would feed her on the same side twice. She usually would fall asleep after eating for five minutes so she wasn't emptying a side anyway. Then after feeding her the second time I would go and pump the other side. That would usually get me 3-4 ounces that I could store. I did this 3 days a week or so a couple weeks before I went back to work.

Now that I'm back to work I pump for about 10-15 minutes every two hours. I'm getting between 3-5 ounces each time. Then I just nurse her whenever I'm with her - at night and on the weekends. I don't do the morning pump at home anymore and I don't pump on the weekends either.

The whole pumping thing was very confusing to me in the beginning, but I just experimented and figured out what was best for us. I did have a couple of times where I got sore spots in my breasts so I was probaby overdoing it or doing something wrong, but ultimately we've figured it out. Don't hesitate to ask any questions about BFing or pumping. I was VERY overwhelmed with it all at first but now I feel like an "old pro."

[Lyz]

Erin, you can always post these questions in on the pumping mommies board (where Gwen said as well). I lurk there all the time and they are completely fine with people posting questions like these!

[~Andrea~]

I am not working yet, but I still pump a ton. Whenever Lily only eats from one side, I pump from the other! Also, once she started sleeping more at night, I would get in an extra pumping session.

The best thing to do is to pump every time your baby would nurse. This will keep up your supply! And when you are at home, on nights and on weekends, be sure to nurse your baby on demand!

You can either get a good freezer stash going and pull from that every day, or you can pump on Monday what you will need for Tuesday, etc, Then Friday's milk can be used for Monday. (Either way, I would try and get a small freezer stash going)

I too was very paranoid about how I was going to get a freezer stash when the baby is nursing all the time! But...10 weeks later, this is what I have! (And I really only started pumping a month ago)

[Celry]

i can't seem to get time to pump. the girls are almost always latched on. i have about 30 oz frozen and that's it.