Balancing breast feeding and pumping. Help!
I wanted to get your take on my current feeding/pumping situation as it's currently the most challenging part of being a new mom (besides the sleep deprivation, of course). My son will be 6 weeks old tomorrow and eats like a horse! I nurse him 10-12 times a day for about 20-30 minutes on each boob, and a lot of the time, he's still hungry! We try to distract him. Change his diaper, do everything we can to make sure that he's actually hungry. When this happens, we top him off with a bottle of breast milk, sometimes .5 ounces, sometimes as much as 3 ounces. After breast feeding for an hour, this seems crazy to me! Plus, my husband gives him a bottle for the night feeding which averages about 6 ounces of pumped milk (I pump while he gives the bottle). In the mornings I get between 4-8 ounces total per pumping session (20 minutes), but after that I find it really hard to make time to pump. With my son breast feeding about every 2 hours, I worry about emptying my breasts by pumping and having nothing left if he needs to feed. My goal is to build up a supply, but right now, I'm barely pumping enough for this nighttime bottle and occasional day time supplement bottles. My question is, how do I balance breastfeeding him for all but one feed and trying to pump? It's driving me insane to try to find the perfect time to pump where it won't affect my ability to breast feed, and I had really hoped to have more of a freezer stash by now. I guess what I'm asking is when do I pump in relation to when my son feeds, and is it normal to feel like I'm spending 90% of my awake time breast feeding or pumping, and that's only when my husband is home (it's almost impossible to pump during the day when he's at work). Maybe that's just how it is for everyone and I need to adjust my expectations. Your thoughts? Thanks ladies!
Comment
Add Comment
Let's Glow!
Achieve your health goals from period to parenting.
