How to go from ebf to ep?

[mommalove]

I'm exclusively breastfeeding my 5 month old and he still nurses like a newborn every 1-2 hours day and night, because of this I'm always stressed about my milk supply and have thought many a times to quit. I've to start work from next month. So I've started pumping but can barely express an ounce. I'll be working odd hours, no fixed routine. So want to start exclusively pumping, also cause it would give me some peace knowing how much he is drinking. Thanks in advance!

 

[angelandbump]

The best time to express is in the early hours of the morning which isn't that great for you if your going to work.
I express every night after LO has had his last feed and I have a double pump so I do both breasts at the same time. At first I struggled to get anything out, now I get 4/5 oz every time and I also pump every morning after bus first feed and every afternoon after his nap.
It's silly because I have no reason to pump but I have a large stack in the freezer and it's part of my routine to pump xx

 

[TCK_Runner]

I'm no expert as I've only been pumping for a few weeks, but I have been almost exclusively pumping due to latch + nipple issues. Some days I am not putting her on the breast at all, while others it's 2x per day. I hate pumping, but at least it isn't painful like her latch and, perhaps more importantly, she is getting enough in measurable amounts AND my husband takes over 1-2 feeds every night while I SLEEP. My midwife told me that if I don't pump every 3 hours (which is what is recommended by just about everybody) it isn't a big deal to wait 5-6 hours if I'm using that time to sleep. She said that when you're stressed and sleep deprived and not taking care of your own body then the milk supply starts to decrease. She also recommended massaging the breasts during pumping and using warm compresses/hot water bottle or a hot shower right beforehand. I can tell you that following all of this advice - sleeping more, massaging while pumping, warm compresses (I microwave those bean bag kind while preparing the pump) - has really really noticeably increased my supply and made me feel better. It did take a few days to build it up, but I went from pumping a dismal average of like 20-30 mL (total, from both! I have a double pump too) to averaging 120 mL these days.

My best pump of the day is as the pp said, early morning (like 4am) - I can sometimes pump 180-190mL at that time of the day! I make a point of being up then, so I try to be in bed by 10pm every night and sleep straight through. My husband tends to take over with bottle feeds between those hours so I can sleep.

 

[Jin]

JMy baby is 3 months and nurses every 1.5-2hrs. Its exhausting and tbh I'm getti g a bit fed up keep getting my boobs out. I know its not a supply issue as ive expressed and given bottles and even with the bottle she only takes 3oz every 2 hrs. I did wonder if maybe I had low supply but when I pump I pump 5-6 oz so its def not that. I'm thinking about switching to formula to see if it fills her up for longer but I'm scared it will make no difference and my supply will drop in the meantime plus she really likes the comfort of the boob. Sorry for hijaking your thread just I really cant decide what to do for the best.

 

[TCK_Runner]

JMy baby is 3 months and nurses every 1.5-2hrs. Its exhausting and tbh I'm getti g a bit fed up keep getting my boobs out. I know its not a supply issue as ive expressed and given bottles and even with the bottle she only takes 3oz every 2 hrs. I did wonder if maybe I had low supply but when I pump I pump 5-6 oz so its def not that. I'm thinking about switching to formula to see if it fills her up for longer but I'm scared it will make no difference and my supply will drop in the meantime plus she really likes the comfort of the boob. Sorry for hijaking your thread just I really cant decide what to do for the best.

Just FYI, until the other day we were giving one ff per day (late in the evening) because I couldn't express enough to satisfy demand... it's the only time she consistently sleeps 3+ hours without asking for more. I've heard not all babies will deal well with formula, and I know some people are inherently against it, and we're lucky that right now she is doing ok with expressed milk in a bottle, but honestly if she reverts to sleeping 1-2 hours or less at a time I'm going to continue this method just the one time per day (and you don't need to feed much formula I've noticed, we are not feeding her more than the 3 ounces at a time, although she's not old yet so I'm sure that makes a difference). Since we know she'll take the formula already without any big problems (including no major GI issues we've noticed since it's just one time) it's no big deal. But I'd say you'll need to try it out and see what happens with your baby.

 

[AC1987]

With DD1 she'd feed til she puked and then want more.. whether it was bf or ff.. she just constantly wanted to be fed like every 2 hours until she was mostly on solids.

With DD2... who is ebf feeds every 2 hours and seems content most of the time, she is still quite young so I don't expect her to sleep long stretches.

As for pumping, when they're still young and if you're able to get a letdown you will probably get a decent amount of milk pumped. But when they're older I found my letdown stopped working when I pumped and also the amount I could pump was hardly any. So I'd feed from one breast and pump from the other with a manual hand held one.
But that said mornings I could get the most pumped.