Breast pumping questions?

Question

From your experience:

1. How often do you pump (every xx hours)

2. How much milk do you get from each breast

3. Is it enough for the baby, if not, do you supplement?

4. Can you pump both b*****s at once?

5. If you pump both b*****s at the same time, how long does it take?

6. Has pumping helped you lose the baby weight, if so, how much?

Answer 1

1. as often as the baby eats (about every 3 hrs)

2. depends on how often you pump, I was getting up to 8 oz each breast

3. if it isn't enough for the baby, pump more frequently and don't stop until milk has stoped flowing for 2 minutes to increase supply.

4. yes, it is most effective to have a double pump

5. 10-20 minutes depending on how fast your milk comes out, how high a speed it is set to, and how much milk you have.

6. producing milk takes at least an extra 500 calories a day.

Answer 2

1. When I was pumping, I had some trouble at first and had to pump every two hours. Then I was able to space it out to 3x a day.

2. The amount of milk increased as my baby got older.

3. I didn't ever have to supplement, although it was hard work at first.

4. You can and should pump both b*****s at once with a good pump. It takes less time and increases your milk production.

5. Pumping both b*****s at the same time, it usually took me 15 minutes per session to set up, pump, and clean up.

6. Breastfeed/pumping has definitely made me lose more weight. I lost all my baby weight after about 7 months, and after 1 year was about 10 lb below my pre-pregnancy weight.

I'm not sure what your situation is, but here's a website that should help if you are or will breastfeed/pump:

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/index...

Answer 3

I have an 8 month old and am a full time working mom that is still breastfeeding.

1.  I pump every 3-4 hours.  In the beginning it was every two to mimic what my son would do if I was home.

2.  I now get 3 ounces from each breast.  This also depends on the pump you have

3.  It is enough for my baby because he only eats one time sometimes one and half while I'm at work

4.  Yes you can and this will depend on the pump you have as some pumps are only single pumps.  If you have a double pump then they make hands free bras.

5.  I pump for 10-12 minutes.  

6.  It helped me!  I lost all my baby weight and am working to get off a few extra :)

The best advance is to get a good pump!

Answer 4

1.  I hate pumping, and I am able to stay at home with my almost three-month old daughter, so I do not regularly pump.  Besides, once she got the hang of nursing, she's hated pacifiers and bottles since.  However, the first week of my daughter's life, she wouldn't eat once she latched on (too lethargic), so I pumped exclusively the first week I was home.  I pumped every two hours.

2.  When I do pump (I pump if I have to go somewhere for more than two hours and someone else is watching the baby at home), I normally get about 2-3 ounces from each side.  This is after pumping for about 15 minutes.

3.  What I pump is usually more than enough.  It is rare that we have to supplement, and the only case I supplement with formula is in the rare occasion that I am out for the evening, and my husband might run out of my milk.  That's only happened once, and that's because I didn't plan ahead well enough.  If you pump and/or feed your baby regularly, there should be no need to supplement.  The more you feed from your b*****s, the more milk they will produce.

4.  Yes, I can pump both sides at once with a double electric pump.  Those are expensive, but worth every penny, as they save a great deal of time.

5.  I usually pump both sides for about 15 minutes.

6.  Breastfeeding in general has helped me lose baby weight.  When I was a week postpartum, the visiting nurse was amazed at how small my uterus was.  Then again, I think other factors were involved, such as my diet.  I ate healthy, balanced meals (still do!), drank lots of water, and almost cut caffeine and snacks completely out of my diet.  That really helped.  I'm now five pounds less than my pre-pregnancy weight!

Answer 5

1.  This depends on if you want to increase your milk supply and how old your baby is.  If you want to increase your milk supply, you can pump every time after your baby eats (which depends on age).  Our daughter is 10 weeks old and my wife pumps to freeze extra milk for when she goes back to work - so she pumps 2-3 times a day.  If you're pumping because you're away from your baby, you should pump as often as she would be eating (again, depends on age, but anywhere from every 2-4 hours).

2.  This depends on age of baby also.  At first, my wife would be able to get maybe 1/2 oz. on each side after our daughter ate, but now, she can get anywhere from 1 - 3 oz. on each side after pumping.  She usually gets the most milk after our daughter has had a long sleep and then eats (4+ hours).  If she pumps when she's away from the baby (where baby doesn't eat first), she gets anywhere from 2 - 4 oz. on each side.

3.  Initially, my wife's milk supply was not enough and we did need to supplement with formula.  If you do this and want to eventually breastfeed, make sure you pump every time you use the formula.  We spent quite a bit of time with the lactation consultant, who wanted to get us off the formula (as did we) as soon as possible.  If you use formula and don't pump, your body won't get the signal to increase your milk supply.  After less than a week of pumping after every feeding, my wife's milk supply increased quite a bit.  She now is getting enough milk.  A couple ways to test this:  a)  when you would feed your baby, pump instead and see how much you get (then feed to your baby in a bottle).  This would be good only if the baby is 6+ weeks.  If the baby is younger than that, don't use a bottle yet.  b)  Weigh your baby before and after you feed her (on a precise scale), this will also help you determine if you have enough milk.  Talk to your doctor about how many oz. she should be getting.    Note:  If you need to supplement with formula but want to exclusively breastfeed and your baby is still little, talk to a lactation consultant about either a syringe or cupfeeding - these will help the baby get milk without s******g up breastfeeding.  We used a syringe - which was a LOT of washing, but made sure our baby gained enough weight and got her to exclusively breastfeed.

4.  You can pump both b*****s at once, but only if you have a good pump.  My wife has a Medela Pump In Style and really likes it.  

5.  It takes my wife about 10 minutes to actually pump.  Don't forget to figure in time to wash the pump parts afterwards (another 5 minutes or so).

6.  If you ask my wife, just general breastfeeding has helped her lose weight (not fast - around 1 pound or so per week).  She has been pumping quite a bit and freezing an additional 5-10 oz. each day, which probably does help her slowly lose weight also.

Answer 6

I pump 3 times a day when I am working...Once in the morning before work...at 9 am and again at 1230pm

The first pumping I can around 9 oz...the next one around 5 oz..and the last one..around 3oz...

Yes I have enough for my baby and no I don't supplement with formula...

Yes I pump both at the same time with the Medela Pump in Style..

I can pump in around 10 mins.

I don't really think that breastfeeding has helped me lose weight...