breast feeding, when to start a stash
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If it’s any consolation—I’m 2 weeks pp with a c section and I pump at most 2.5 oz. My son is eating nonstop and my breasts never feel like there is extra to pump! I’m still trying to pump 2-3x a day after nursing.. no solution, but a similar situation!
Also I’d make sure he’s getting his full feed so keeping him awake and then un latch him to sleep so your nipples get a break! and you can pump. They aren’t truly eating when they’re using you as a pacifier anyway
@Holly okay that’s super helpful. So once at night & then in the morning? I’ve heard morning is when it’s the highest as well.. & I definitely don’t think he’s eating till his full he eats & then passes out & used my nipple as a pacifier. How long is a feed would you say, like 20min? Thank you for your help!
My daughter is 8 weeks. I'm an overproducer and have been getting 30-40 oz a day on top of nursing ☠️ it's a blessing and a curse. I have almost 1k oz in my freezer
@Juliette yeah I do like a 2 am and then a 10am depending on when she wakes up and naps. At night, right after she feeds I do my pump for about 20 mins. It started out with just an ounce or so per side, now it’s anywhere from 2-4 oz per side depending on how long I go and my left produces more. But start with 15 mins and usually you are drained by 25 mins 30 max. You’ll have to assess. In the morning, I usually wait 30 mins after she eats (it takes this long to get everything together anyway) and once she’s asleep I do a quick pump. Or if she’s fussy or just won’t sleep, I use a manual- highly recommend having a manual too. Sometimes they are even better. It’s actually very convenient. And re him eating- yeah it sounds like you both would benefit from trying to keep him awake for day feeds as much as possible to get full feeds. Blow on his head, play with toes and hands- whatever you can to keep him awake so he’s actively eating. If he falls asleep, try to burp.
@Juliette And yeah my girl eats probably 15/20 mins depending
My first baby was also a snacker. It will pass! If you could try a pacifier that would really help
@Holly this is extremely helpful thank you so much holly! going to try this tonight
@Juliette happy to share! Hope it goes well for you. Just give yourself grace and your supply time to adjust! You got this
My baby girl is almost 4 weeks and she does cluster feed a lot ! But what I found useful is that I will still squeeze in that extra 10 -15 min to pump after the feeding. And it’s usually 1-3oz totaling both breast on top of her feeding. I would stash up that and I have been using that to bottlefeed my baby when she is cluster feeding really bad. I would give her ten min to breastfeed and if she’s continuing to reach for boobs even after I tried about 2-3x to BF , then I will just give her extra 1-2oz of breastmilk through bottlefeed and she seems to fall asleep full and content. That would allow me to have pump session because then she would finally sleep. I feed her every 2-3hrs and pump after every feeding (of course after cluster BF , it’s hard to do it but I try to squeeze in one more even if it’s dry pumping since it gives signal to increase the flow). I also recommend power pumping once in the morning and once towards evening ! In that way I always have extra 3 bottle worth milk!
It’s supply and demand so even if you start to pump and only get a little, more will come in time! And truly- you don’t need to over complicate pumping! Start with one over night session when milk is the highest generally. I only pump 2x a day at 5 weeks postpartum. Started last week, and I’m getting enough now for 2 bottles a day and some for the freezer.