fanini
03-03-2008, 01:52 PM
My son is 6.5 weeks old. He is in good health and gaining weight with no problem. I have a tendency to have an oversupply problem if I do not manage my nursing closely. Because of my oversupply issue, I only nurse from one side in each feeding. My son nurses every 2-3 hrs for about 10-15 mins. If he feeds for more than 15 min, he tends to spit up a lot and get gassy. I believe this is because he is getting too much milk for his little tummy to handle due to the fact that my milk comes out at a high flow rate.
I am still on family leave from work, but I plan to go back sometime between mid April and mid May. I have been pumping every morning around 9am. I am storing my milk in the freezer so I always have some on hand. Plus I am starting to build my supplies for when I return from work. When I return to work, I am planning on working 2 days a week. My son will be with my parents from about 8am-4pm, so I estimate that they will need to feed him 3 times while I am gone.
A few days a week, I save the milk that I pump in the frig so my husband can feed the baby with it for his last feeding of the evening (between 10pm-12am). That enables me to go to bed around 8 or 9pm and get a solid 5-6 hrs of sleep before my son wakes to be nursed for his middle of the night feeding (usually around 2-3am). Doing this helps me tremendously as far as fatigue and stress goes. The only problem with that regime is that the side that I do not nurse him on in the middle of the night gets engorged. I realize I could pump that engorged side right after his 2-3am feeding, but that kind of negates the benefit of getting to bed early (because I wind up being awake longer in the middle of the night). My question is:
Am I at a stage that I can pump 2 times a day on the days that I am going to go to bed early? For instance, on those 2-3 days that i am going to bed early, I could pump as usual at 9am and store the milk in the freezer, then pump again at 7pm and leave that milk for my husband to feed between 10pm-12am). Or will that make my oversupply issue worse?
Basically, I am looking for some guidance on whether I can pump more than one time a day if I am not yet in a "back to work" routine. Thanks!
I am still on family leave from work, but I plan to go back sometime between mid April and mid May. I have been pumping every morning around 9am. I am storing my milk in the freezer so I always have some on hand. Plus I am starting to build my supplies for when I return from work. When I return to work, I am planning on working 2 days a week. My son will be with my parents from about 8am-4pm, so I estimate that they will need to feed him 3 times while I am gone.
A few days a week, I save the milk that I pump in the frig so my husband can feed the baby with it for his last feeding of the evening (between 10pm-12am). That enables me to go to bed around 8 or 9pm and get a solid 5-6 hrs of sleep before my son wakes to be nursed for his middle of the night feeding (usually around 2-3am). Doing this helps me tremendously as far as fatigue and stress goes. The only problem with that regime is that the side that I do not nurse him on in the middle of the night gets engorged. I realize I could pump that engorged side right after his 2-3am feeding, but that kind of negates the benefit of getting to bed early (because I wind up being awake longer in the middle of the night). My question is:
Am I at a stage that I can pump 2 times a day on the days that I am going to go to bed early? For instance, on those 2-3 days that i am going to bed early, I could pump as usual at 9am and store the milk in the freezer, then pump again at 7pm and leave that milk for my husband to feed between 10pm-12am). Or will that make my oversupply issue worse?
Basically, I am looking for some guidance on whether I can pump more than one time a day if I am not yet in a "back to work" routine. Thanks!