Let my baby sleep

[@llli*monu2005]

My baby is nearly 7 months old. He was exclusively breastfed before starting solids at 6 months. I pump at work and he gets 2 - 3 bottles a day. He is a terrible sleeper and we are always struggling to balance his sleeping. His sleep has just started to improve, waking twice per night and wanting to sleep till about 7:30 but I have to leave to get to work by 7:15 so I typically wake him up about 7 which I hate to do. I pump the first time right when I get to work and always get the majority of my milk during that first pumping session. The problem is that he doesn't always want to nurse when he first wakes up so I end up leaving for work without nursing.

I sometimes notice that if he eats a lot right before I leave that I get less milk during the first pumping session, but often it seems like I don't get any less if he eats than if he doesn't.

Everything I have read has said that you should nurse right before you leave but if he doesn't want to, should I just let him sleep?

I have been pumping at work for about 2 months now - and I am also beginning to have more difficulty letting down and getting as much milk as the day progresses.

[@llli*wuvamber]

I usually let my baby sleep in the morning because my fiance is a SAHD and takes care of her. So if she's sleeping, we just go about our morning together and he waits for her to wake up

On those mornings I pump a lot of milk at work.
If you are having trouble with letdown let's examine what could be causing that....

1. are you stressed? let down can be inhibited by strong emotions or stress
2. does it help to be distracted from pumping or paying attention when you pump?
(I get the most pumped when I am working on something at the same time, for some reason...)

Also, I usually do breast compressions on both sides while I am pumping so that I can maximize my output.

happy nursing and pumping

[@llli*filmmommy]

I left for work at 6:00 a.m. and I never woke up my DD to nurse. I just pumped when I woke up, around 5:00 a.m. If she woke up and nursed at 4:00 a.m. or something, I'd just pump earlier at work. Sometimes I'd hear her cry while I was pumping, so I'd stop and go in and nurse her, but that wasn't frequent. Are you getting a lot less milk as the day goes on? I was more concerned about output for the entire day, so I can't recall if it decreased throughout the day. Right now I get about 2.5 oz per session at 15.5 months.

[@llli*monu2005]

It does decrease throughout the day pretty dramatically. That being said, I am only able to pump three times and the second of those is very quick (during a 15 minute break at school - I am a teacher.) part of my concern has been not being able to get much milk during my quick pumping session. I used to be able to pump a couple ounces on each side and I now get maybe one. Because it takes so long for me to let down I often have to stop pumping just as the milk starts to flow because of my time constraints. I don't know it is stress or it being cold in my office. I have thought about dropping that pumping, it is only an hour before my next break, but I worry that the stimulation is helping me keep my production up.