Pumping sessions at work

[Maha]

my baby is 6 months now and she is exclusively breastfed.
i started pumping when she was almost 4 months and a half, that's when i went back to work.
i work from 7 to 2, usually i feed her at 6:15AM and i will feed her at 2:00PM and continue feeding her until the next morning.
my question is:
i'm pumping around 9:00AM and 12:00AM,
can i cut down the pumping to one time only?!
i am going to start giving her food this week.

Maha

[whitnessforhim]

I know for me I couldn't do this. I actually pumped 3x's a day at work until DD was a year old just because when I went down to two I didn't produce enough milk. Some women can do this some can't so you are just going to have to see what works for you. Also remember that food is not suppose to replace any nursing/milk that the baby is getting. It is only to add to the nursing/milk that they are already getting. It's suppose to be for experimental purposes to introduce them to the world of foods but done slowly and at the baby's own pace. Breastmilk should be the main source of a babies nutrition for the first year of life. Also remember that introducing solids too quickly can interfere with your supply. A 6mo. baby needs to be nursing first and then offered solids. I hope this has helped and sorry for the late response.

[crystal555rose]

The rule of thumb that I read on here often is pump for every nursing session that you miss. I missed two nursing session working full time (lucky enough to go see him on my lunch break) so I would pump in the morning and then at lunch. I got tired of pumping at lunch so I switched to pumping right before bed. Perhaps you could try that before eliminating one pumping session.

Whitness is right- do not expect eating to replace a significant amount of calories. It is really just for fun at this point. Eating too much solid food can cause their immature digestive tract to get constipated (in my experience).

[BreastfeedingMama]

I agree with both ladies - if you cut down your pumping sessions, it will signal to your body that less milk is needed. It's the equivalent of cutting out a feeding session, but if I'm remembering correctly, your baby still needs 4-6 liquid feedings per day at this point. You could supplement that feeding with formula, but - not to freak you out - I've read a lot of studies that basically said that once you start using formula, it's the beginning of the end of breastfeeding. It depends on what your ultimate goal is for breastfeeding, and what you feel comfortable with. I think I went down to pumping just twice a day when she was around 1 year, so you're halfway there!

If you need help making it easier to pump at work, I put together a page for working mothers on my Web site - http://www.breastfeeding-bff.com/working-mothers.html. I went back to work when my daughter was 11 weeks old, and I pumped at work until she was 15 months old; sometimes it's just a matter of finding ways to make the process easier and quicker for you. Good luck!

[Golfing_Girl]

With my first baby, I was able to do this because my supply was ample and I always had multiple letdowns. Toward the end of the year (9-12 months), I only pumped once per day and still ended up throwing out a bunch of frozen milk when I weaned her. It's going to depend on your personal supply. Try for a day and see if you can get multiple let downs in that one session and compare with your normal production.

[StillSingingMom]

Remember that when you start giving baby food, it is for experiencing new tastes and textures and not a major source of calories.

Most baby food has no fat and no protein calories- especially the stuff sold for starting baby out on foods, like rice cereal and canned pureed fruits.

Most babies will not eat more calories a day than they need, so if you give your baby any significant amount of those foods, she may end up short on fat and protein.

Baby's primary source of calories for the first year should be breastmilk or formula.