Night time feedings with my 2mo

[@llli*clareleigh88]

My daughter is 2mo and we EBF. During the day she eats about every two hours sometimes three depending on her naps. Her weight gain is on track and she has plenty of wet diapers. My question is kind of two fold 1) at night she usually goes to sleep by 830 but then will sleep at minimum 6 hours and has slept 8. I have been waking her up after six hours ( I set an alarm) because I heard BF babies should still be eating at least twice during the night. Is it ok to wake her up to eat and should I be waking her up at a shorter interval? Once she wakes up from the 6 hour stretch she usually wakes up every 2 after that.
And 2) I am returning to work this next week. I have been pumping once a day to build a supply for when she is away from me, but I am concerned that if she is not BF enough at night my supply will go down, so then should I be waking her up or should I at least get up and pump? And if she only eats off of one side at night should I pump the other?
Any advice would be appreciated! Thank you!!

[@llli*still.here]

I would let her sleep for now and enjoy it while it lasts (because it probably won't). That is, unless you are getting uncomfortably engorged. It is very likely that she will start waking more frequently at night once you go back to work. This is called reverse cycling and is pretty common with babies whose moms work full time. It's a way to stimulate supply, catch up on milk, and reconnect emotionally. It works best if you just let it happen. I was never able to respond well to the pump and I am pretty certain my daughter's frequent night feedings once I went back to work are what kept my supply going.

If she only eats on one side at night, it's fine. I wouldn't worry about pumping, I'd just try to nurse off the other side first next time. Again, that is unless you are uncomfortably engorged.

[@llli*djs.mom]

Also in terms of supply, How much of a stash do you have going right now?

[@llli*clareleigh88]

For my stash so far I have probably enough for a day and a half. I work three 12h shifts a week and I have my schedule so I don't work back to back days. I am hoping that will be enough...

[@llli*djs.mom]

Try to get in a couple more sessions. Before you go back. Technically 1 days worth of milk should be all you need. Because you should be pumping the NEXT days worth WHILE at work. Especially on a 12hour shift. But.....12hour shifts 3 days a week sound like you are either a nurse or an Emergency responder of some sort. Is that true? Because people in those industries unfortunately have the WORST time carving out and protecting time to pump. Not that it never happens! It does....but if you work in one of those industries than besides a full days stash I would like to see you have a little of what we call supplemental stash meaning on a 12hr shift you should be pumping 12-16oz. But let's say you only get 2 pump breaks in 12hours instead of the three that you will likely NEED to maintain supply, So you only come home with 8-10oz. It would be nice if you had at least a days worth so that you could then supplement what you pumped fresh with a little freezer stash. Does that make sense?

[@llli*clareleigh88]

Yes I am a nurse, and I am worried about getting enough time to pump three times during work. But thankfully we have a lot of new mommas on our floor so I am hoping we can all help each other out with pumping breaks. I will try to get a few more feedings before I go back! Thank you for the help! Also not sure if you can recommend any tips but for pumping at work I am confused about what to do with my flanges after I pump. Currently I wash them right after I pump, but with limited time at work and limited clean sinks ( i am a germaphob!) what do I do since I will be pumping multiple times?

[@llli*still.here]

You don't need to wash them between uses. Just stow them away with the milk in the fridge if you don't have a clean place to rinse them. It saves a lot of time for sure because you don't have to break down, wash, then reassemble next time.