My LO is 5 days old and due to heart defects and a perforated bowel, has been in the NICU/PICU since birth. As such, I have been pumping to get my milk in and and get a stash going for when he is able to start feeds. The lactation specialists had told me to shoot for 8 15-20 minute sessions a day, but I am finding it difficult to get in that many sessions each day with everything going on and my own exhaustion. For those of you who are or have exclusively pumped, do you think it is more important to get more/longer pumping sessions in, or is the final volume more important as I am building my supply? I have been able to get almost 1 oz per hour between pumps over the last day or so by going longer at each session, but I don't know if this is enough to make sure I have a good (and not super excessive) supply for my little guy once he is able to eat and hopefully transition to BF.
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I EPed pretty much from the beginning. They told me to do 8x a day, but that was impossible for me. I aimed for 7 but most days it was 6. I think while you are trying to build your supply it's important to pump as often as you can without losing your sanity. And know it won't always be that hard!
After a month, I dropped to 5x a day. At 2 months I dropped to4x a day which was very doable and did that for many months. I found that once my supply was established, it didn't matter if I pumped 8x a day or 4x, I always got the same amount. When I dropped to 3x, I did notice a drop in supply. So 4 was my magic number.
Congratulations on your little one!
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@Charm54: Thanks! I would love to be at 4x a day, but again, I have no idea if I am doing enough now in the beginning to get to that point, but I am glad it sounds like 6-7 could be enough! How long did you pump each time or do you remember about how much volume you were pumping at each session?
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@MrsScallop: I EPed for my first for 8.5 months. In the beginning I pumped every 2-3 hours to establish my supply, I had to set an alarm. Once my supply was in I slowly moved to every 3 or 4 hours (I still set an alarm). I did ultimatey get down to 4 pumps a day. I also built up a great freezer stash so N got breast milk until 10 months.
This time with E being born early I had to pump from the start. I started pumping every 2-3 hours (again setting an alarm). Since he has been home he hasn't taken a bottle so I have a ton that I pumped in the freezer.
Wall me if you have any specific questions. Also feel free to join us in the preemie momma thread.
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@MrsScallop: Looking back at my Baby connect app where I tracked everything, for the first month I pumped 6-7x a day and got about 3-3.5oz each time. That slowly increased until I was getting about 6oz each session by 6 weeks. She started STTN then so I no longer woke up to pump. My LC said it was fine as long as I got a pump in before I went to bed around 10 or 11 o'clock.
I don't remember the length of time I spent pumping in the beginning but I think it was probably similar to when my supply was established (between 10-15 mins). Power pumping really helped me in beginning! Hope that helps! I know it seems awful and time consuming right now (because it is!) but it does get better. I found that every month was a huge improvement. If you want any more tips about EPing, let me know !
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I EPd till my LO was 13 months and the first 5 months I pumped 8x a day... The first 3 months I nursed first and pumped after 8x a day.
It really just depends on what your final goal was. I knew I wanted to provide BM exclusively so I was really protective of my supply so I set my alarm to pump twice overnight, pumped while my baby was crying in the rock n play and I rocked her with my foot, pumped instead of going places. I pumped at parties, in airport bathrooms, on a plane, in my car countless times...I missed out on a lot.
If you are okay with combo feeding in the future, then you don't have to be so crazy about protecting your supply, and it will give you some freedom too.
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@Charm54: ive been at 5x a day for a total of 28 oz/day on average, and I think my supply is pretty established. LO drinks about 20 - 24 oz per day. I'd love to drop my 3am pump... do you mind sharing your 4x a day pump schedule? My current schedule is roughly 3am, 7:30am, 1pm, 5pm and 9:30pm.
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@Meridian: When I was on 4x a day I would do 8:00am, 12:00pm, 4:00pm and 10pm. Basically just skipped the MOTN feeding. My morning pump was always a great output because of it. But @Anagram makes a good point, I didn't mind supplementing or combo feeding - since EBF wasn't a goal of mine I didn't mind dropping that MOTN session and risking it - but in the end 4x a day didn't affect my supply at all.
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I just asked in a thread how I could drop that MOTN pumping also. My breasts feel so full if I don't pump in MOTN. It's been 3 months and I'm still basically pumping every 3 hours. I'd love to make it 4x/day also.
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To be truly successful, you really need 8 times a day. and at least one needs to be between 1-5 am. You can drop pumps after 12 weeks, but these first 3 months really tell your body how much milk to make. Also - pump until you're empty. That might be 20 minutes, or it might be 40. Think about it - if you were nursing, baby wouldn't just stop after 15 minutes. And it won't damage your nipple or breast tissue.
Most nurses and lactation consultants don't know the ins and outs of eping. There's some great fb groups that offer a ton of support - or you can PM me. I'm just now stopping EPing, after 11 months, and I have over 2500 oz frozen (and I've donated 5000 oz). I got this stuff down.
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@AmandaB8: agree!
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