Milk regulating and maturing

[Jaymelynn]

My son is 7 weeks old and is starting to sleep longer at night, so breasts get engorged. He also typically only takes one breast at a time. My mother is worrying me saying that I should pump at night so my supply does not decrease. He beginning to have some rare days where he will go 3 hours between feedings, but other times it is more like 1-1.5 hours. He is so inconsistent that I worry what will happen to my supply. Will I never regulate or will my supply decrease? My second question (geez I really have a million running through my head!) is about "mature milk." I have some pumped milk in my freezer from a month ago, can I give it to him now? Will it meet his nutritional needs?
Thanks for reading a long post from a confused FTM.

 

[Hope83]

Hey Jaymelynn, how are you doing?
Have your evenings settled down a bit or is your lo still fussy?
I'll be stalking, as my lo has no routine during the night just yet either...

 

[Rachel_C]

If you're getting engorged that means your body is making more milk than is needed. In that case, your supply regulating would mean it would decrease but that's not bad as long as it decreases in line with what LO needs. Your body is very clever, it will learn when milk is needed and when it's not... and if it decreases a little too much LO will just feed for longer for a couple of days and it will increase again. You shouldn't really need to think about it too much at this point, just feed LO when he's hungry and your body will work it out. Overthinking it will only make you worry! Carry on doing what you're doing and if you have any problems, then you can think about it I wouldn't express overnight unless you have problems without it as then you'll be telling your body milk is needed when it's not - that is artificially messing with your supply.

You're fine to give milk from a month ago. It may not be exactly like what you're giving LO fresh from the tap but it will be a whole lot closer than formula would be and plenty of babies drink that

 

[Jaymelynn]

Hey Jaymelynn, how are you doing?
Have your evenings settled down a bit or is your lo still fussy?
I'll be stalking, as my lo has no routine during the night just yet either...

Things are getting better! I realized he was so overtired from not napping or taking catnaps. It is still a huge challenge to get him to nap and stay asleep past 30 mins. If he does not get one long nap in he is miserable in the evenings. He started going to sleep earlier 930 instead of 1030, which helps. I took him to the doctor for reflux and we discussed his trouble sleeping. Her "diagnosis" is that he is too alert and wants to know what is going on. Its true, but does not help- haha. How about your lo??

 

[Jaymelynn]

If you're getting engorged that means your body is making more milk than is needed. In that case, your supply regulating would mean it would decrease but that's not bad as long as it decreases in line with what LO needs. Your body is very clever, it will learn when milk is needed and when it's not... and if it decreases a little too much LO will just feed for longer for a couple of days and it will increase again. You shouldn't really need to think about it too much at this point, just feed LO when he's hungry and your body will work it out. Overthinking it will only make you worry! Carry on doing what you're doing and if you have any problems, then you can think about it I wouldn't express overnight unless you have problems without it as then you'll be telling your body milk is needed when it's not - that is artificially messing with your supply.

You're fine to give milk from a month ago. It may not be exactly like what you're giving LO fresh from the tap but it will be a whole lot closer than formula would be and plenty of babies drink that

Thank you for the explanation!! The whole regulating thing confuses me. Plus I feel like everyone talks about decrease in supply and drying up that it causes fear. Im glad that I do not have to throw away the frozen milk.
Feeding him when he is hungry is easy- that is whenever he is awake haha. The problem is telling when he is full because he has NEVER refused a feeding or even pulled off himself without falling asleep. I know he gets enough (weight gain and wet diapers), but I worry that I am making him a snacker if I take him off when I *think hes full.

 

[Here_we_go]

When my daughter started doing this leaving me feeling like Dolly Parton when I woke in the mornings, I would pump and completely drain one boob for my freezer stash. Then when she woke up or for her next feeding, I'd give her the boob that was still full.

It's nice to have a freezer stash for just in case moments. I had a hospital stay back in August so I was able to build up quite a stash.

I would go ahead and let her have the older frozen milk every once in a while, rotating what you have frozen for fresh. It's what I did