Hello all,
I am a SAHM and my daughter is 7 1/2 weeks old. Due to anatomy issues, she was bottlefed for a couple of days in the first week, then on the nipple shield. She was bottlefed again then due to poor weight gain. She has been eating directly at the breast, no bottles, for a little over 4 weeks.
I am writing because I would like to start pumping a little to build a supply for emergencies etc. I know pumping for a SAHM is not the same game as folks who are pumping to go back to work, so I am looking for thoughts/suggestions/advice/resources that are geared towards stay at home moms who are in my position. Questions I need answered are whether you need to pump daily, when, how long/much? Do you need to offer a bottle daily to keep the baby accepting them? We have never had issues getting our dd to take bottles/pacifiers, though she has not had them in over 4 weeks as I previously mentioned. We were using the Medela Calm nipples/bottles.
I have a doctor's appointment in 2 weeks that I do not want to take her to, simply to limit her exposure to folks while flu season is at such a high level here. I think I need to plan on having my husband give her a bottle while I am there, because I don't think it will be a short trip. And, if he's defrosting the milk anyways (we have a little in the freezer from when I was having to bottle feed her), I don't want it to go to waste even if I do get back on time. How do we know how much to give her? And when he bottle feeds her (this time or any), do I need to pump as well? I assume yes, but people keep saying "Let hubby give her a bottle once a day so you can get a break!" but I don't see how it's much of a break if I have to pump anyways. And how does that work if I am somewhere I can't pump (ie doc office)? Should I just pump some before I go, even if it's not her feeding time?
Thanks for your help, I know it's a lot of questions.