How do you know when to pump ?

Question

When do you know to pump ? After each feed or how does that work ? My boobs always feel like soft but full. But sometimes baby will only latch on one side and fall asleep for an hour regardless of diaper change, she’ll continue to sleep deep. They never feel huge huge

Answer

The hospital pushed hand expressing so hard on me when I had this baby. They did not do that with my last baby. Apparently there is a study that says hand expressing colostrum 5x a day until your milk comes in increases supply by an average of 150%. They literally came in and hand expressed it for me several times a day because I couldn't make it work myself. It was painful and I hated it, but my supply is way over the top this time for sure! Im nursing my baby and a toddler and I can still pump even after they both nurse. I would definitely recommend hand expression if you plan on having another baby. But for now, pumping in the morning is the best time to pump. Most women have more milk in the morning. Also you can pump after each feed. Even if you only get a little. Try pumping 3x a day and just adding it to the same bottle. So do the morning pump and stick it in the fridge, then take the same bottle and pump into it again for the other times. Put it right back in the fridge when you're finished and after the last pump you can put it in the freezer. That way you can get a one decent size bag a day and increase supply with the added pumping.

Answer

My lactation consultant told me to just breastfeed to feed baby if they are getting enough. If you add in pumping on top of full feeds, then it makes you have an oversupply. Although, you can pump in place of a feeding and then give baby that milk. I’ll pump once a day and feed a bottle to my baby. I usually pump more than he would need in one feed, so I use the excess to build a stash.

Answer

I think I’m the only breastfeeding mamma in the world who cannot figure out a Hakka. Maybe it’s the way I position the baby but it won’t stay on so I returned it. Anyway, I pump every morning because that is when I get the most. I usually get 6-8oz and I split that into a 4 oz bottle and the.my whatever extra I have goes into a bag to freeze. I use the 4 oz bottle so my husband can do one overnight feed and then the extra goes towards my freezer stash. I have built up a pretty big stash that way and I now use I’m that for times when I need to go out or when my parents are watching the baby. If that happens I usually pump a second time if they get too full and start hurting. I keep a small manual pump at my parents’ house for that. Last night, my brother visited for the first time and I let him feed the baby so while he did that, I pumped a bottle to replace the one he used. It’s nice only doing it once a day though so I don’t have to think about it again unless I feel them start to get too full.

Answer

My supply isn’t great and hasn’t been since the hospital. I was pumping regularly for feeds, so every 2-3 hours when my husband would feed him because we had trouble latching for awhile, so now when he breastfeeds (we’re still learning) I’ll usually pump for 10-15 minutes depending on how long he ate off of both sides. If he only latches on to one side I pump the other side first for as long as he latched and then pump them both for another 10-15 to get my supply up. If I pump to replace a feed I pump for 20-25 minutes.

Answer

If baby only feeds on one side I would pump the other side periodically. They say if you are breastfeeding exclusivly anything you pump is basically extra. But I also like having a freezer stash just in case . Also try the haakaa on the side babe isn't eating while nursing you'd be surprised how much you can bag that way. I use the haakaa on 2 night feeds usually and get between 4/5 ounces between the two feeds combined

Answer

If you are trying to build supply (like baby isnt getting enough off boob and you need produce more), pump right after a feed. If you just want extra for storage you can pump between feeds.
Otherwise if baby is getting enough and you arent going to work you dont really to pump at all. I am pumping 3x a day between every other day feed just to help a friend out. I initially pumped after feeds to build up a supply and for a 3 day stash in my freezer for emergencies. 
Otherwise you can trust your body to meet baby's demands.

How do you know when to pump ?

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