I'm trying to figure out the best time to pump.
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9am, 12pm, 3pm, 5:30pm. Then depending on Olive's sleep (she might sleep past midnight, she might be up every hour... I have no idea), I'll pump once more around 11pm or so.
Any time Olive wakes up between the hours of 6:30pm - 8:00am, I'll nurse.
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This works for me since I'm home and nursing sporadically through the day:
Pump in the morning by 10am, again by dinner time at 6ish, and one last time by midnight before bed. I do not pump overnight (too tired), I give him a pumped bottle and have him take the edge off and nurse for a little bit.All of the literature and lactation consultants recommended after each feeding for 15 minutes (so like 8 times a day)- this lasted me a week, I really got burned out on all things milk and was ready to quit.
Using my own schedule means I make enough milk for him and enough to freeze a bag extra each day and more importantly- stay sane. My supply has been fine (I'm sure I would make more if I followed the other schedule) but I can get about 5oz from each side per pumping. I just had to move to bigger bottles to pump in since I was about to overflow the 4oz ones.
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oh but i pump while i'm working and olive gets bottles.
if i were watching baby full time, i would pump after a feeding when i could, and once in the middle of the night/early morning when you get the most milk.
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Holy moly! How do you ladies do it?? I feel like I have no time to pump after I nurse because I always have a baby in my arms. I guess I need to start working on that.
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@BabyBoecksMom: He's usually napping during my AM pumping (which today turned out to be around noon instead of 9-10 because he was so needy today), my husband gets him for the dinner pumping, and he has been put to bed for the last one. I rarely pump for more than 10 minutes, and it isn't necessarily right after I nurse either.
I'm a rule breaker, but you gotta do what works best for your schedule.
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@BabyBoecksMom: when i was home i had the same problem, so i tried to pump in the mornings when someone else was around, or stay up and pump for 10 minutes after an early morning feeding if Lo went back to sleep. Once i had a little stash, i just pumped while DH gave her a bottle.
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@BabyBoecksMom: i can pump in the daytime because we have a nanny. during the weekends when i nurse exclusively, i don't pump. i know it's hard to squeeze it in!
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@lemondrop: That's what I used to do, too. I got so burned out and haven't pumped in so long. I need to get back into it and get LO used to drinking from a bottle so I can be away for more than 3 hours at a time because I'm getting really burnt out by that, too.
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At 10 months postpartum I usually pump once in the afternoon around 5 and at night before I go to bed, sometimes after 11p (usually12a-1a) depending on when LO goes to sleep.
LO still does not STTN so I nurse often, but if I wasn't I would wake up and pump again in the AM. Breastmilk production is at it's peak between 2a-5a, so keep that in milk. You should express your most during those hours.
In the beginning I pumped whenever I could, before, after, during a feeding (if I was trying to increase supply), and always at night before I went to bed.
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While I was home on maternity, baby boy was not able to get any milk from breastfeeding, so I did that about 4 times a day just to keep him practicing and pumped every 2 hours to try to get my supply up. It was exhausting but I think it worked. Now he feeds just fine and I'm back at work, I pump every 3-5 hours at work and before I go to bed in the evening. He sleeps all night and I wake up overnight once to pump.
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