How many times a day do you pump?

[AquaDementia]

I have to pump at least 4 times a day in order to feel normal.
And I feed Mia in between on the boob as well.
I think that since my boobs are still on the smaller side for a bf mommy they get engorged very quickly if I don't pump on time.

If Mia is sleeping I don't have the heart to wake her up just so she could eat and help me out. I would rather pump it out and let her have it from the bottle.

It's just crazy how I can do 3-4 ounces in a single sitting now. And it happens 3-4 times a day. Plus, I have NO idea how much she takes in on her own. I try to leave her on for about 30 mins on each boob.

Ugh, this is rather confusing.

 

[kookie]

sorry i cant help i dont pump i breastfeed only just wanted to say your doing great.

 

[lily24]

Breastfeeding confuses the hell out of me to! and im so worried about it! but i really want to feed the baby this way. I was thinking the same. Feed from the boob, then express with the pump into bottles and use at night ect... Im sure i will get the hang when baby is here..... Some1 tell me it is lol

 

[missjess]

I pump every 3-4 hours and I get about 2onz from each boob...

 

[AquaDementia]

that's good jess! are you giving josh formula as well, or is it just you?

 

[JennyOwens]

Hiya

When I was finding out about breastfeeding I was told not to express as well as normal breastfeeding. Although it makes you feel better at first your body will just learn to keep making that much milk (it must assume that your baby is drinking it all). Although its tough, I would recommend that you just put up with the engorgement and in a day or two they'll settle down. Now I only get painful boobs when its been a long time since baby fed on that boob.

Hope that helps...

 

[coccyx]

The more you pump the more your body makes and so on. Why do you need to pump? I just feed from the breast, any extra is absorbed by a breastpad and my body soon regulates how much milk to produce. I only started to pump around the 10 week mark when my boobs were not going to be available and someone else could feed from a bottle.

 

[AquaDementia]

Because I still can't get up every 2 hrs during the night and I like to have milk available to her during night? Does that make sense?

 

[missjess]

that's good jess! are you giving josh formula as well, or is it just you?

He gets formula as well!

 

[TashaAndBump]

I'm mainly breastfeeding from the breast at the moment - I feed Anna on demand and this means putting her to the breast ranging from every four hours to ever hour! But have started expressing once a day - got 6oz yesterday and 7oz today - need to up the pace a bit, though; at the moment we're just feeding whatever I express to Anna when we go out, but I need to get enough frozen to completely feed Anna from stored breastmilk when I have my operation... would hate to have to supplement forumula when my breasts are out of order for a few days, but only have about 7oz spare over from what she eats herself...! Trying to slowly increase my supply...

 

[coccyx]

No sorry does not make sense to me!!!!I have always fed on demand, usually every 2 or so hours. Like other poster I was told too early to pump and mix feeds/ bottles unless absolutely necessary. But hey as we all know everyone has different experiences.

 

[Carley]

I pumped every 3 hours in the day

 

[goldlion]

I'm the same Aqua-- I usually have to pump a few times a day because my breasts become too hard and engorged. I pump about 4oz each time unless Aspen had just fed not too long before... she still tends to eat every 2 hours so I don't really find too much time to pump but like you, I like to have a bottle or two ready for night-time just incase I'm too tired to BF but I find she usually falls asleep better if I BF at night because she gets more fatty acids then if I give her a bottle of breastmilk.

 

[goldlion]

No sorry does not make sense to me!!!!I have always fed on demand, usually every 2 or so hours. Like other poster I was told too early to pump and mix feeds/ bottles unless absolutely necessary. But hey as we all know everyone has different experiences.

I feed on demand as well, but sometimes in between feedings I get too engorged and uncomfortable so that is why I pump. It helps keep me regular and on schedule until she's ready for her next feed. It isn't as though I don't feed on demand... it's just that sometimes she's fine for several hours so I need to express.

 

[luckyme225]

I pumped at the beginning because I was engorged and he wasn't feeding very often so I wanted to make sure he was getting enough milk so his jaundice wouldn't become worse. I've stopped pumping for now but I will probably start back up in the next month so that I will have milk stored for when I go back to work part-time.

 

[BurtonBaby]

We give Erica both breast and bottle, and she happily takes both. I intended on strictly breastfeeding at least until I went back to work, but they gave her a bottle in the hospital at birth since she had low blood sugar, and she takes them very happily now. I try to breastfeed mostly during the day, and once a night we lay down and feed in bed. Then I let DH give her a bottle during the night. My pump seemed to work really well in the beginning but last night (not even after a feed!) I tried pumping for 20 mins and didn't even get an ounce!!!! I know there was milk there, cuz I accidently shot it at DH. It takes a while to get these things under control! LOL.

If your LO takes a bottle and still accepts the breast, I dont see any problem with doing both. If you decide you want a night out with your hubby or whoever, babies gotta take a bottle with whoever they are with. You ladies are doing great!!