Breast feeding plus pumping???

Petra
Hello ladies, my little one is two weeks old and not gaining much weight. I was EBF but after talking to my lactation nurse today we decided to start pumping and try to boost my supply. I'm new to this and it would be great if you gave me some advice. Like how did you work BF and pumping together? Did you feed from one breast and pumped the other one? Did you pump with every feed, in my case it would be every two hours even more? And when did you give the pumped milk, once every few feeds? At the start of the feeding? Or instead of boob? I'm very confused and I know the nurse probably told me all this but my baby brain didn't get it.. Thanks for any advice, I really don't want to add formula yet.. 
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COMMENT (13)

La

Posted at
Pump after baby eats and just store the milk. If you google breast milk storage, you'll find all kinds of info on it. Always nurse first, babies are way better than pumps at increasing supply. 😊

Ra

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I was told to pump after each feed, 10-15 mins each side. Offer the stored pumped milk after a feed if baby seems to be still hungry. 

Al

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I'm in the same boat. Right now I BF 15 minutes on each breast (more or less) and then pass my son to my husband who gives him what I pumped from the last feeding while I pump. The goal is to get the supply up so I don't have to pump anymore. I feel like all I do is feed and pump, but my pediatrician and lactation consultant assure me it will get easier!

El

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Just wondering, how often do you feed her, do you nurse on demand? I don't know your situation but our babies are much more efficient at increasing our milk supply then pumping. After I had my baby I had a hard time getting my supply up and I was going to start pumping but my lactation consultant suggested that I feed on demand as often as he wanted it( which was a lot). We kept an eye on his weight every day or so or whenever I felt the need, to make sure he wasn't losing weight. And after a week or two my supply is to where he needs it though he still eats pretty often it's spaced out a little bit more.

El

Elizabeth • Sep 30, 2015
one thing that I didn't realize with my first son was that when they say feed every 2 hours that means if they starting at 2 they need to eat at 4. You start counting from the start of the feed. some babies will eat more often than every 2 hours. I'm pretty sure my second son eats often then every 2 hours though I'm not sure because I haven't been watching the clock lately.

El

Elizabeth • Sep 30, 2015
I hope that everything works out for you:) if you have anymore questions feel free to ask.

El

Elizabeth • Sep 30, 2015
it's good to listen to our mommy instincts when something doesn't feel right. with my second son who I had on August 3rd after we got home from the hospital I ended up giving him a little bit of formula for a day or two after nursing him because I didn't feel like my milk was coming in fast enough for him but I didn't have to give him formula for very long and we we're back to exclusively breastfeeding. so formula can sometimes help you over the rough spots. even if for some reason breastfeeding doesn't completely workout it doesn't have to be all or nothing. with my first son even though I struggled with production the whole time I still nursed him first and then gave him formula. any little bit of breast milk that they get benefits them

L

Posted at
My LC recommended a morning of power pumping. Where every hour I would pump 10min each side from like 7-12. AND feed baby on demand from breast as if I wasn't pumping. It was a lot and I set alarms on my phone to go off every hour. If for ex) it was 11am and she was feeding I would just pump when she was done... Say 11:20 then pump again at 12:20. It truly worked though!Also, my pediatrician wanted to give 1oz supplement pumped bottles after each feed so it helped me get enough milk for those. First two weeks were hard! (I only power pumped one or maybe two days)