pumping or not pumping? Help!?

Question

When our baby is born we want to breast feed our child but i wouldnt know how much the baby will eat so would pumping sounds better to know how much they are getting fed but i heard that your milk can dry up if you pump and if baby gets breastfed then your milk keeps forming?

Answer 1

the thing is that no matter how power full a pump, it will never pum as much or with the varying demands of your baby. So, if you just breastfeed, there wil be plenty of milk, however, that means that it's all on her, and if you want to both go out and have the baby babysat, you cannot. Exclusively breastfeeding is very exhausting. However, pumping alone will not keep up with the baby's growing demand. Therefore, I would suggest breastfeeding and in between feedings a little pumping. Breast milk can remain good in the freezer for quite while that way if she wants to sleep through the night and you want to feed the baby you can give he that rest or if yo both want to go out one day.

Answer 2

Pumping is a good idea mainly if you want others to bottle feed or if you will have to return to work. I pumped and breastfed. Pumping exclusively can dry up your milk supply but I know of a Mom who exclusively pumped and could get an amazing amount of milk in 15 minutes. I never produced that much. If you are worried about pumping to continue feeding your baby after breastfeeding then it's a waste of time. It depends on the baby but what I was told and what I did was 15 minutes on each side. My daughter loved to fall asleep when I was nursing her so I had to keep her awake and concentrate on eating. If you exclusively breastfeed you will produce enough milk for your baby's appetite, you may have to nurse more often during growth spurts but that too will increase your milk supply.

A great website is www.lalecheleague.org.

Congrats on breastfeeding and your baby!

Answer 3

If you really want to know how much baby is getting from the breast, invest in a digital infant scale instead of a pump (unless you're going back to work then get both). You can weigh baby before feeding, and after. Leaving all clothing diaper, blanket, hat, mittens... That will tell you how much he/she is eating and you're not jeapordizing your supply.

Pumping exclusively is very difficult. It can be done, but requires a lot of time and effort. You'd be surprised how well your body will respond to breastfeeding. If you feed your baby on cue, in the first month trying to not let more than 2.5 to 3 hours pass between feeds (except for one 4 hour sleep stretch at night) you shouldn't have to worry about ounces. Ounces also vary from woman to woman, and baby to baby. In our support group we joke that some of the moms make skimmed milk, some make 2%, some whole, some even make heavy cream!! So the calorie count for each type is different, thus the number of ounces required by each baby is different.

So the best bet to keeping your baby breastfed and full, is just to watch your baby.

Answer 4

It's great you want to breastfeed, but I think you should wait till the baby is here and just nurse him/her and get both of you used to it. If you need to pump for bottles while you are away or something like that I would do that, but I wouldn't plan on just pumping and feeding from a bottle.

I also contemplated doing that and discussed it with a lactation consultant, she said I could do it but she wouldn't recommend it since the baby can get more milk out than the pump. Pumping is not good judgement of how much milk you're producing, and I know for me I have to pump 3 times while at work, once at night and a couple times on the weekend to make sure my daughter has enough for daycare bottles - some women just don't pump enough.

I think every mom that breastfeeds for the first time thinks they're baby isn't getting enough to drink. My daughter is almost 6 months old and for months I wasn't sure if she was getting enough, until her 4 month check up and she had doubled her weight. As long as your baby has enough wet and poopy diapers it's fine.

Also breastfeeding is such a bonding experience for you both, I look forward to evenings when I can just sit with my daughter and let her nurse - it's relaxing and it's time I get to spend with her.

Answer 5

Pumping does NOT dry up your milk supply. I'm not sure where you heard that, but I pumped occasionally before I went back to work, and then every day after I went back to work (nursing when I was home) and never had a problem. Expressing milk is expressing milk, be it your baby doing the job or a breast pump! What will dry up your milk is if you go long periods without pumping or nursing, as your body naturally adjusts. If it senses the demand is not there, the supply will go down. If the demand is there (you pump in between feedings and then nurse when the baby is hungry), then your supply will go up. As far as knowing how much your baby is taking in, unless your baby is not peeing, pooping, or gaining wait, there is really no need to monitor how much milk he/she is receiving when they nurse. They will stop when they have either emptied one side and are ready for the other one, or when they are full. Good luck!

Answer 6

As stated in most of these answers, I would do both. In fact, I do both now.
Word of wisdom, speaking from experience. The sooner you get the baby using the bottle the better. However, you need to have a well established milk supply (can take 4-6 weeks). Our guy had a really good latch right from day 1. So when we introduced the bottle at about 2 weeks, he adapted right away and went back and forth easily. It never affected my milk supply.
If your baby has latching problems, it is far better to work on getting the latch down, then to worry about getting them on the bottle.
Don't worry about number amounts the baby is getting. You have enough to think about. As long as the baby is gaining weight and is having the right amount of poops and pees, he's getting enough. And keep in mind that not all babies will take a bottle. So go with the flow and follow your baby's lead. That is always the best answer!

Answer 7

How much you pump does not necessarily equal how much baby will get. Baby works much more effectively at getting the milk out than a pump does. I do not pump, my baby is 8 months old and has never had a bottle. It is hard at first sometimes, if you are prone to worry, to trust that baby is getting enough to eat, but if baby is having enough wet diapers during the day and looks healthy, then there is nothing to worry about. Also, pumping and having the baby go back and forth between breast and bottle can be a bit confusing to baby and can cause him/her to refuse the breast. If you follow the baby's lead and feed on demand, there should be nothing to worry about. Baby should get enough.

Answer 8

Don't pump unless you have to be away from your baby during feeding time. In my personal experience, pumping did decrease milk flow--and I never got it back well enough to nurse again.

You'll know whether your child is getting enough breast milk (2-4oz) if the baby is satisfied, and makes several wet diapers a day. There is also a way to tell based on baby's weight, but you'd have to google that one.

Breastfeeding can be highly rewarding, and it's completely natural. Do it nature's way and there will be few problems.

Answer 9

You will want to breastfeed your baby for the first few months to get your milk supply established. Then after a few months, you could pump if you wanted. Of course, if you will be gone from your baby, you could pump enough to feed the baby. You could also supplement with formula also. I have a 15 month old and she is still breastfeeding. She doesn't nurse as much as she did when she was first born, but she still nurses three or four times a day. Good Luck!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 10

If you pump, it wont dry up your milk, as long as you do it as often as the baby eats to keep the supply up. You can do both, so then if you happen to go out sometime, someone can feed the baby for you. And then as well if you work.
You can always tell how much the baby is eating with soiled diapers, and the baby gaining weight. It's a personal choice, so only you can choose.
Good luck.

And you might want to speak with a lactation consultant, and get info from them.