Pumping while away from baby for the weekend?
Mandy asked:
I’m preg with baby #2 and I’m planning to breastfeed. My husband and I are taking a kid-free vacation weekend when our baby will be 4 months old. How often and for how long must I pump during the weekend to keep my supply up?? I’m terrified that I’ll reduce my supply and never get it back to where it was.
I have a medela electric double.
How long do I need to pump for each time? 10, 15, 20 minutes?
I’m preg with baby #2 and I’m planning to breastfeed. My husband and I are taking a kid-free vacation weekend when our baby will be 4 months old. How often and for how long must I pump during the weekend to keep my supply up?? I’m terrified that I’ll reduce my supply and never get it back to where it was.
I have a medela electric double.
How long do I need to pump for each time? 10, 15, 20 minutes?
I am an exclusive pumper.
Make sure you use a good pump. that’s important. Which one do you have, or going to use?
You want to pump as often as the baby would nurse, so you keep your supply the same. Make sure you double pump if possible. That will stimulate the milk production. Two days isn’t going to decrease your milk supply too terribly bad. Just make sure you resume nursing asap… because baby obviously gets the milk out better then a pump.
I would also recommend taking Fenugreek. You can find that at GNC. That will stimulate milk production. It usually takes 2 days for it to start make’n a difference.
Enjoy your vacation! And best of luck with the new baby!
EDIT: The medelas are nice pumps. that’s what i use. I would think if you double pump… even if you cut back by one “nursing session” while you are on vacation… I’m sure you will be OK. But come to think about it…i assume you are going to freeze milk before you leave, while ****** feeding… so you will have a greater supply BEFORE you leave… which in turn.. your not going to loose much of your supply!
EDIT again:You should pump for as long as you need to. You need to continue pumping for a few minutes after the LAST drop of milk has come out. This way, it stimulates your ******* to make more milk. Since ****** feeding/pumping is based on supply and demand.
You just pump at the times that your baby usually nurses.
An even easier way to go is to just pump every time your ******* fill up and you should be fine.
Rule of thumb is to pump whenever the baby would have nursed, but if you have a 2 hourly baby, you may not be able to pump every 2 hrs when on vacation. Don’t let more than 4 – 6 hrs go by without pumping though. Your supply may drop a bit, but it won’t be by much – unless you get lazy (and I do on a regular basis) and don’t pump quite as often as you should over the weekend. Rest assured though, that your milk won’t dry up over a weekend, especially if you pump as often as you can. Just save the milk you pumped over the weekend, and nurse your baby as soon as you get home. If your supply dropped a bit and they don’t get enough from your breast, you will have BM available. Nurse first (at least until your ******* are empty) and then offer the bottle if your baby is still hungry. Nurse as often as you can, comfort feeding included, and within a day or two your supply should be right back where it was.
You can always get your supply back up by nursing, drinking lots of water, eating oatmeal or taking Fenugreek tablets (or blessed thistle, or mother’s milk tea… your options are endless).
Congrats on the new baby and enjoy the rest of your pregnancy.
I agree pump when the baby would normally eat. Also, the fenugreek does work, I’ve used that before. One other thing that works if you’re having trouble with letdown while pumping: look at a photo of your baby – it really does work, even if you think it won’t! (I’m not a super-emotional, touchy-feely kinda person, so when I first heard the “look at a photo” tip I was like, yeah, right. But then I was having trouble with my milk supply after a ****** infection, so I finally pulled out a photo while pumping and WHAM – 10 ounces! It was crazy! After that, I always looked at a photo while pumping!)
Good luck and have a great vacation – wish I was going with you!!!
EDIT: You’ll pretty much know when to stop pumping because you’ll stop getting any milk – the time varies by person. Try to pump until you get at least 3-4 ounces per side (and don’t be worried if one side gives more than the other, that’s normal!) If you’ve only gotten 1-2 ounces and stopped letting down, pull out the photo!