Hellobee Boards

Thankfully my supply kept up while I pumped twice a day at work. I pumped every four hours at work. I do think my son nursing a lot while at home and a few times throughout the night helped me keep up a good supply. I'm curious to see what will happen when I have LO2 and have to go back to work.

When I went back to work, I started out pumping twice, around 10am and 2pm. I actually was able to pump much more than I expected and built up a huge stash. After 2 months back, I switched to pumping once at noon, and that almost always got enough for daycare the next day. But I have always responded very well to a pump. I also only nursed her from one side in the morning and pumped the other side. I was realllllllly full in the morning and would get 6-7 ounces from one side. When she was 9 months, I dropped my morning pump and supplemented from my stash, and when she was 11.5 months, I quit my work pump and made it to 1 year using up my stash.

@bubblegum: I think what really helped me is I started pumping early, at about 3 weeks postpartum. So she was exclusively nursing, but I pumped a bit during a couple of her naps, and was able to "trick" my body into over-producing. By the time I went back to work, I had worked my way up to pumping an additional 8 oz. on top of what she was eating each day so I continued to overproduce. I was really ocd about it haha, but it worked out!

My supply dropped continually until I stopped pumping around 13 months. Some of the drop was probably normal adjustments - I started with what was probably oversupply and a healthy freezer stash, both a result of needing to pump from day one when DS couldn't nurse. At first (8 weeks pp) I could get what I needed out of three 15 minute pumps and even two 20 minute sessions, but I had to ramp back up months later. I got back up to three or four pumps a day (some during my commute), sometimes up to 30 minutes at a time, and was barely covering the next day's needs (not counting my freezer stash). Granted, our pediatrician kept encouraging me to send more and more milk, as much as DS was willing to drink, because he's off the charts tiny. I tried more pumps, power pumps, pumping at 2 am, fenugreek, anything to build supply . . . but it kept dropping. I tracked it all in a spreadsheet, and it was so depressing to see the numbers getting lower and lower. That said, between my efforts and the frozen milk, we had enough to send only BM through his first birthday and BM/WCM mix until 14 or 15 months.

I hope that's not too discouraging, and that you have it easier than I did. Good luck!

@bubblegum: Looking back I'm not sure whether all the stress I put on myself was worth it. It wasn't even the BF vs FF thing. I don't care how anyone chooses to feed their baby, and DS had already had plenty of formula in the NICU. It was more of a personal challenge to meet a goal I set for myself than out of pure altruism to give my baby "the best" (quotes b/c the best thing is to just feed the baby however you can, obviously). I guess what I'm trying to say is allow yourself some limits as to what you're willing to put up with and try not to drive yourself crazy over it like I did.

When I first came back I had plenty of milk and a stubborn baby who completely refused bottles for 4 months. So months 2-6 I made more than what he should eat, months 7-10 I was right at what he'd drink. 11-12 I was always short and relied on my freezer. 13-15 I was good again. 16-17 I am short. But that's the plan-- I'm using up my freezer stash. No more pumping after 18 months

With DS1 my supply dropped significantly once I started work. I think I just didn't respond as well to the pump as I did during nursing. I'd get more than I needed on Monday and less than I needed by Friday so I was barely scraping by each week.

So far with DS2 I have an oversupply though so it'd be ok if it dropped a bit when I go back to work next week.