Hellobee Boards

We have been breastfeeding, pumping, and doing formula for all of LOs 5 weeks of life. My supply never took off like I had hoped so we continue doing all three to meet her needs. But we mix and match as we go. Sometimes I BF, pump, and give formula at a feeding if she needs it, other times I will only breastfeed, only pump, or only give a bottle depending on the circumstances. It works out great foreveryone as soon as I quit stressing out about exclusively breastfeeding. For now, this works.

I specifically like pumping because I can see exactly how much I'm getting and she happily takes a bottle. So thankful for my hospital grade pump that we are renting. Will be pumping a lot if/when I return to work next month.

I WISH I could EBF DS who is 4 months old. Here's the long/short version: From day 1 in the hospital he was a champion nurser. To be quite honest, I have never had any problems with actual breastfeeding. About two weeks before I went back to work, I started getting really bad anxiety about going back to work and my supply took a huge hit. I went from oversupply to almost no supply. My OB had me get a hospital grade pump before he prescribed me something because he said it had a side effect of sleepiness...definitely the last thing I need as a new mom! So, back to work I went...but before going back to work, I managed to build up a freezer stash to last about two weeks at daycare. Well, at work I was only able to pump about 4-6 oz per day, which was not enough for LO at daycare. So, since he was about 11-12 weeks old, I have been supplementing with 2 bottles of formula while he is at daycare, and still breastfeed in the morning, when I get home, and at night, as well as one of his bottles at daycare is breastmilk.

I have been using a hand pump at work to pump since I'm barely pumping anything anyway and it saves me time. I have been considering going back and renting a hospital grade pump again, but I don't know if it will really build my supply back up. I can't decide what I want to do! I love nursing so much and want to keep it up and stay committed to it as long as possible.

I have the same experience as @highwire:
Since LO was born 3 weeks ago Ive been doing a mix of BFing, pumping, and formula. Since I was seperated from LO after delivery, he was fed formula and I pumped to get my supply going.

Ideally i would like to reduce/eliminate the formula but like highwire said, i cant stress over that.

My biggest issue is that I only get milk from one breast. I get about 4oz per pumping session from the right breast and 0 .5oz from the left.

Ohhh I'll join in! I go back to work tomorrow so I will be pumping a lot more. Right now I just pump in the morning to help build up my stash (107 oz!!). I plan on pumping 3 x a day at work. Not sure what my supply will be like since I've been primarily nursing... Fingers crossed it'll be enough for LO to eat at daycare.

@travelingbrit: sounds like you have a great start going!! As for let downs, let down is what happens when the milk starts flowing. Some women don't feel it and for some women it's a tingling or burning feeling, and sometimes it hurts. For some women if you keep pumping after the milk stops flowing, you will have a second let down and the milk will start flowing again. For me, it only means an extra ounce or two, but that's huge when you're talking about liquid gold!!

ETA: after the milk stops flowing and you want to wait for a second let down, you should hit the let down button on your pump that puts it to the short, quick pumps again.

I'll join in!

LO is 9 days old and is fed almost exclusively with pumping, with a little formula to supplement each day. I pump every 3-4 hours, with one approximate 5 hour break around 4-9 a.m. In the mornings I get very little milk, maybe a combined total of an ounce to an ounce and a half, but at night I can get 4-5 ounces. I pump for 15-25 minutes.
I'm going to go back to work in about 5 weeks and know that I need to start a stash soon.

hi guys! I'll join too... it's been hard for me to consistently add to the boards but I'm going to try my best!

I've been eping since LO was around 3-4 weeks. He had jaundice and not knowing how much milk he was getting was starting to stress me out so I eventually just pumped for ease of mind and haven't looked back.

I got sick a couple of weeks back and my pump tubes needed replacing which was a double whammy to my supply (mostly on my left boob!) We have to start supplementing with formula until I can catch up again. I'm going through an emotional roller coaster right now with having to supplement again and not really sure why. I know there's nothing wrong with formula but I'm still so sad about it! I thought I would be happier and feel less stress about pumping but it has been the exact opposite for me. I just want to pump more and am actually considering taking a break from work to stay at home and go through a power pumping session to get my supply back to where it was before!
I totally just tried the "massage, stroke, shake" method and I think it messed up my mojo rather than help. Has anyone else tried this with success?

@matador84 they say not to look while you're pumping! I know its hard, but I try to catch up on tv shows online or something else to distract myself. If you still have to watch, try imagining "waterfalls of milk". unfortunately stress can effect our supply which causes us stress! ah!

@travelingbrit i think the suggestion is to pump 5 minutes past when your milk has stop coming out? I usually pump for 30 minutes.

@Mrs Green Grass: do you mind sharing with me how much you paid to rent the symphony? I think I want to rent one to see if I can boost my supply at all. I love my pumps because they empty me out but they haven't helped me boost my supply much:/
Now that all the holidays are over, I am think about making the rest of Jan a time for me to just be married to the pump. I want to fill any time not BFing, with pumping. I need an established supply! I'm so sad/tired of never getting him full:/

@Running Elley: I've been keeping close track of how much output I have for the entire day. I started out pumping every 2-3 hours all day, and usually once or twice in the middle of the night as well. I was really scared of plugged ducts because I got mastitis this time around and it SUCKED. Then very slowly I dropped pumping sessions and I kept a very close eye on my supply. It never went down so I'd drop a pumping session again, and if it dipped I'd add in another pumping session. I think my body regulated about a month ago so I know I can pump only 4x a day (and not wake up to pump in the middle of the night, going almost 8 hrs without pumping overnight) and still produce the same amount. This is also my second time breastfeeding so my supply and body are pretty regulated now. I know it would have been tougher the first time around!