Question for Moms that exclusively pump

I'm considering this as the decision to stop breastfeeding is really taking a toll on me. I know I can't continue as it's making me completely miserable, but I really want DD to get breastmilk.

DD needs between 4-5ozs to be full after eating. I know she is not getting this from our breastfeeding sessions. I pump in between feedings right now, but am lucky if I get 1-2oz. Most often it's .75ozs I'm getting. I figure I need to have about 8 4-5oz bottles in the fridge at all times.

My question is, how do I go about pumping exclusively? What do I do about her feedings until I have enough of a supply in the fridge to give her a bottle instead of the breast? Will I also eventually be able to build up enough of supply to also store in the freezer?

Can some of you lay out what you have done so I have some idea? I really don't have a clue how to begin.

TIA!

Re: Question for Moms that exclusively pump

I exclusively pump right now because Alexa is still having issues with her mouth opening wide enough and being able to latch on properly and take the breast....


I found that at first it took my breasts a little while to get used to the breast pump and be able to pump enough milk out. Here are a few tips of what I do to get the most out of each pumping session.

ABout 10 minutes before I pump I put a heating pad on my breasts to warm them up.
I also pump with the baby near me and I look at her a bunch while I'm pumping.
I only pump 1 breast at a time in the begining so that I could massage my breasts while pumping. I massage them from teh top to teh bottom and I get a lot more milk this way.

I would pump every 3-4 hours in the begining to stimulate my supply and I pump until there is not milk left. THis way you make sure you are getting all teh hind milk which makes baby full and by emptying the breast you tell your body that ou need to produce more than what you are currently making.

I also drink mother milk tea and take another supplement called "mother's lactation tonic"

After about 5 days of doing this I was able to pump about 5-6 ozs/ breast every 4 hours. I usually only pump every 6 hours (4 X a day) because Alexa doesn't drink that much and I have a lot stored.

I guess since you are already supplementing I would start pumping as often as you can to stimulate your supply and get your breasts use to pumping and in the mean time supplement what you have to until you can get all on breastmilk!!!!

FYI: I usually have 4 feedings at a time in the fridge in bottles as well as 2 feedings in bags as back-ups to make me feel comfortable....

Re: Question for Moms that exclusively pump

Re: Question for Moms that exclusively pump

Message edited 3/12/2009 1:21:05 PM.

Re: Question for Moms that exclusively pump

I exclusively pumped for about 7 months from the day DS was born because he was having latching issues and was in the NICU. I pumped every 3 hours (day and night) for the first 12 weeks to build up my supply. Then I eventually spread my pumping to every 4 hours and 6 hours, while making sure my supply didn't take too big of a hit. I also drank a ton of water and ate a lot of oatmeal. By pumping at night early on, I was able to build a freezer stash. It didn't happen overnight though, it took a few weeks.

I'll be honest though, EP'ing was a big pain. I felt like a slave to my pump and was miserable. I stuck with it as long as I could before my sanity went out the window. I found this web site really helpful with all my exclusive pumping questions:

Exclusive Pumping

Good luck!

Re: Question for Moms that exclusively pump

I exclusively pumped for 3.5 months as DS would not latch on. I pumped 7-8 times per day. truthfully I was never able to pump enought to feed him exclusively, he always needed formula. It was so much work and I just wasn't producing enough. I ate oatmeal every day, took fenugreek drank water etc, it just didn't really work for me. I'm sure it had benefits though as ds is 6 months old and knock on wood has never ever been sick

Re: Question for Moms that exclusively pump

I exclusively pumped from about 7 wks until a year old. Thankfully by 7 wks my supply was pretty good, although when it would get low I swore by Fenugreek (buy at vitamin store) tablets.

Definitely invest in a halter bra so you can do hands free pumping.

In the beginning I was pumping every 3 hours...then as the months went on, it was every 4-5 hours. By 9-10 months I was pumping every 8 hours (3x a day).

It can be done; it was really all I knew so I just got used to it. It also agreed well w/ my DD & now at 20 months she's only had 3 colds & was thankfully never truly sick.

Re: Question for Moms that exclusively pump

I exclusively pumped for 6 months. I never froze any though, so I can't really help with that. I had a supply in the fridge and just relied on that.

The one warning I have is-- DS slept thru the night at 10 weeks, and a few weeks after that, I got lazy and stopped getting up once during the night to pump. At least for ME, my milk supply was never really the same after that. In fact, after that I always found myself one feeding short of a full day's supply, so DS frequently had one bottle of formula per day.

Re: Question for Moms that exclusively pump

Have you tried power pumping at all? That's when you pump for 10 minutes, rest for 10 minutes, then pump, rest, pump for a total of 60 minutes. Hopefully, you'll be able to get more that way.

Re: Question for Moms that exclusively pump

I have exclusively pumped since day one... to get my supply up i did initially supplement one feeding with formula... I also pumped every two hours... One habit I did get into was drinking a big glass of either water or milk right before pumping... also the gerber heated breast pads were a life saver... Now at 6 months pp I pump 4-6times a day.. I gave up on having 8 bottles in the fridge because ds eats so much i can never truly keep up... ALSO now that your cycle will effect how much you can pump out... when af is visiting i only get 7 ounce bottles at a clip...when she is on vaca then i get 10 oz...