a whole bunch of questions

[@llli*deeyn]

Hello! My first post here I've been a silent stalker for a while now. I have some questions that my local breastfeeding association doesn't have answers for, so I'm hoping anyone here can help.

DD is 5mos now and I've been pumping (quite) religiously that I've built up a decent freezer stash. I even had to donate some of them. My pumping routine is just every 3-4hours. I'm away from her typically 12 hours everyday, 7am-7pm (or more if traffic is extremely crazy). She takes bottles of expressed milk while I'm away (I leave out 4 4oz bottles for the caregiver) and she's been introduced to bottles too early (my bad, I know) because of my working circumstances and earlier latching on problems. She nurses pretty well now tho, so far no signs of nipple confusion but I am fully aware of the possibility and is willing to e-ping.

My qns are:
1) My schedule is now not as rigid as before, because I'm on the go a lot. Sometimes I only pump 5 times in 24hrs (one session every 4-6hrs). Will this have a detrimental effect on my supply? I typically produce about 20-35oz per day depending on how many times I pump, and DD only takes 16-18oz, never more.

2) At this point, can I reduce my pumping schedule to one session every 4-5hours but pump for a longer session (say 30 mins each side)?

3) When can I pump wean? (Too early now I know, I just want to look forward to something). DD typically nurses every 3-4hours at night when I'm with her.

I must add that this is a 24/7 schedule. I do not have whole weekends where she nurses the whole day.

Thankyou for answering I wish we have a local LLL chapter

[@llli*aprilsmagic]

More often is better. Both for short term and long term. I know right now you are making enough....but that 9 month slump will sneak up on you. Longer pumping won't guarantee anything...as soon as I cut number of sessions a day, my supply always dropped. Even though I always total 120 minutes a day, it still results in a decrease in supply.

I don't think you have a high chance of EPing if you are nursing on demand when you are home. A 5 month old knows where milk comes from and usually prefers it from the tap

Most mothers pump to 12 months. If you get enough milk stored, you could pump wean earlier than that, but I would NOT try to pump wean before 11 months myself. Most moms have a supply established well enough by then they can pump wean. However, if you are gone 12 hours a day 7 days a week, you might not want to totally pump wean.

[@llli*mommal]

1. Pumping just 5 times a day isn't ideal, but it's hard to say for sure if it's going to sink your supply. For a lot of moms it would, for some moms it wouldn't.

2. I think it's probably better to choose increased frequency over increased duration when pumping. I don't think one 30 minute session every 4-5 hours is likely to get you more milk or maintain supply better than a couple of 10-15 minute sessions every 2-3 hours. The long milk sits unused in the breast, the more likely it is that the body will reduce supply.

3. When you wean from the pump depends on how much milk you have stashed away as you get towards the end of the first year. If you make it to 10-11 months with an enormous freezer stash, you can contemplate weaning from the pump before a year. If you look in the fridge and see you're starting to run short, don't pump wean before the end of the year.

[@llli*auderey]

i agree with PPs, but just wanted to chime in to say - that sounds like a grueling schedule! good for you for breastfeeding/pumping with that work schedule.

[@llli*deeyn]

Alright then back to every 3 hours.. The reason why I really want to BF/pump is basically the gruelling schedule, its my bonding time

Thankyou so much for the answers!

[@llli*aprilsmagic]

Donate or store your excess. Then when you pump wean, you have plenty, or you can drop sessions later and then fill in the gaps with frozen milk. Fresh is best anyway when they can't have it directly. Freezing does damage it in some ways, and pumping could alter it too, but there isn't a lot of research on that.

[@llli*deeyn]

Hello! I'm back again with more questions.. DD is turning 9mos this week and I cut down work hours so that I can have more time with her, but she's fallen into a habit of bottled BM only during daytime. She is breastfed at night tho, usually starting after dinner time. So I've settled into a schedule of pumping about 3-4 times during the day (12hrs) and not pumping at night. DD feeds every 3-4hours at night still, and in the daytime she takes about 15-18oz still. She's on solid food 3x a day and I'd say she's eating ok - not too much. Is 15-18oz every 2hrs enough for her age? My mom is worried she is not having enough milk - she only takes 3 bottles for the 12 hrs.

I've donated about half my frozen stock and still holding on to the rest, but since I've stopped pumping at night I noticed a drop in production. But I'm still pumping enough - sometimes in excess - for DD's 12 hours needs. Is this ok? Do I need to go back to pumping at night again? DD only feeds on one side of the breast everytime she wakes up for milk, but I felt that if I pump the other side, when she wakes up for her next feed (I give her the pumped side) she drinks longer and sometimes still fussy or becomes fussy a short while later, wanting to latch on..

Any idea on how to get her to latch during daytime? I think its because she's easily distracted when its bright and noisy. I've tried taking her to the bedroom n turning down the lights but she's still distratced by traffic sounds from outside..

Thankyou for taking the time to answer my silly questions..

[@llli*auderey]

your questions aren't silly!

clarification: when you say youve cut down your work hours but she's still only taking bottles during the day - does that mean you're giving her bottles? that you're pumping when you're with her?

distractability is really common this age apart from the bottle issue. dark often helps, but so does white noise, a bath, skin-to-skin, going outside, going on a walk ... try to change things up. going up/down from naps is a great time to nurse too.

so she's taking 3 bottles for 12 hours during hte day, then nursing 3? times at night? that doesn't sound like a ton. she doesn't need any/very much solid food, so anything you try to "add" should be breastmilk. how's her weight gain, diapers, milestones?

[@llli*deeyn]

Yes, she very rarely wants to latch on in the daytime. Maybe partly because even cutting down work hours I'm still very mobile. She rides along. At night in the car she latches fine, but in the daytime she won't concentrate. Even with the bottle she has to look this way and that. Is this nipple confusion? I can nurse her to sleep fine, in the car, in the bedroom (naps). At night until she wakes up (about 12hrs) she nurses 3-4x for about 10-15 minutes. I co-sleep and always wait until she latches off on her own. She rarely asks for milk but I keep offering, most of the time getting rejected. It seems that she doesn't want milk unless she's sleepy (bottle or breast).
She doesn't need solid you mean? I don't think I overfeed her, I've checked this out with the doctor and most even said that she should be eating more. She loves plain water and I've even restricted that. She doesn't get juice except freshly squeezed no sugar added and that's only 1 fruit a day.

Milestones she's hitting all on target. She's cruising, trying to stand up handsfree. Crawled like a pro, sat down on her own at 2 weeks to 6mths. Weight gaining on track with the WHO anthro chart except maybe this month I weighed her 2 weeks ago she didn't gain any but she had a fever one day and the flu (still) so I thought that might be the reason for not gaining. She was 18.18lbs, 28" on her 8th month measurement..