Pumping Overnight vs. DD's sleeping habits

I am sooo sleepy

I am mostly an EPer with a few nursing sessions thrown in here and there. I just recently started spacing my pump sessions out from every 2-3 hours to every 4 and I try to space it out more overnight.

The problem is, DD sometimes sleeps 4 hours, sometimes 5, and sometimes 7,8,9 straight at night .. when she sleeps 4/5 hours, it's perfectly in line with my pump schedule so I'll feed her, pump, and back to bed.

But it rarely happens that well.. for the past few nights I'd go to bed say at 10:30, wake up at 3:30 and talk myself into pumping and she wakes up at 4:30 so I'm up for like 2.5 hours straight.

I'm still in "build my supply" mode so I want to pump as much as possible... and I worry if I wait for her it could be 8/9 hours in between sessions.. couldn't that eventually ruin my supply?

Sorry so whiney, but what should I do?? I need sleep but I also need milk!

Re: Pumping Overnight vs. DD's sleeping habits

Your body will eventually get use to the ebb and flow of nursing. I never pumped at night. Pump only when you feed your child. I really don't think you need to do much more than that. Right now you are trying to make your body give milk ever 4 or 5 hours which will not always be the case. Go by when your DC eats and pump only those times.

Re: Pumping Overnight vs. DD's sleeping habits

the same thing still happens to me now and my DD is 6.5mos old. i usually wake up in the middle of the night, when i can't take the pain anymore and pump. if it was close to her time when she usually wakes up, i would just pump to alleviate some pressure.

why don't you pump and oz or two in the middle of the night? but keep in mind, if you pump and your DD wakes up a bit later, she is getting the hind milk which is good for her, but also coming close to emptying your breast which stimulates milk production. i know you're tired but unfortunately if you want to keep your supply up, sometimes you gotta bite the bullet.

you could also try to pump at midnight before going to sleep. i tried this too for a while and worked well for me. if you need to pump, follow what i did above!

Re: Pumping Overnight vs. DD's sleeping habits

with my older ds i eped exclusively and always woke up atleast once a night... straight through until he was done... what i eventually was able to was pump at midnight and then again at 6 am... this time around my ds is exclusively bf instead of pumped, but i still pump at midnight so i have some milk for cereal/sippys... i found when i drop that pump my supply drops as well.. and when i was exclusively pumping it was easier to keep my supply up and avoid plugged ducts when i pumped on a fairly strict routine...

Re: Pumping Overnight vs. DD's sleeping habits

Thanks ladies.. I was hoping someone would say "don't sweat it!"

Re: Pumping Overnight vs. DD's sleeping habits

Why not just pump when she wakes up to eat? My DS nurses from one side, so I pump out the other. At least then you're only getting up when she does.

Re: Pumping Overnight vs. DD's sleeping habits

I'm not pumping much this time around.

But with DD I would pump when she woke up. I would feed her first and then pump after the feeding.

Re: Pumping Overnight vs. DD's sleeping habits

Don't sweat it! :)

I have never pumped overnight. I'm a sleeper and I was not doing well in the beginning. At about 6 weeks I decided to cut out all feedings in the middle of the night. Even if she woke up to eat I would give her a bottle of formula. I'm not sure if that is an option for you, but it really helped my sanity. DH was able to give her a bottle on the weekends and it was so much quicker than BF. Now DD sleeps through the night so there's no need to feed in the middle of the night any way. I'm back at work now, but I can still BF 3 times a day.

Re: Pumping Overnight vs. DD's sleeping habits

Re: Pumping Overnight vs. DD's sleeping habits

Re: Pumping Overnight vs. DD's sleeping habits

Posted by melbalalala

Posted by Porrruss

Why not just pump when she wakes up to eat? My DS nurses from one side, so I pump out the other. At least then you're only getting up when she does.

That's what I want to do, but it could be anywhere from 4-9 hours since my last pump, depending on when she gets up.. thus causing this pickle

Re: Pumping Overnight vs. DD's sleeping habits

I don't get up to pump in the middle of the night.

I pump at 10:30 or so and then again at 6am

Re: Pumping Overnight vs. DD's sleeping habits

Re: Pumping Overnight vs. DD's sleeping habits

Posted by Porrruss

Posted by melbalalala

Posted by Porrruss

Why not just pump when she wakes up to eat? My DS nurses from one side, so I pump out the other. At least then you're only getting up when she does.

That's what I want to do, but it could be anywhere from 4-9 hours since my last pump, depending on when she gets up.. thus causing this pickle

But if you pump only when she needs to eat then your supply will be stabilized according to her needs. If you're looking to build an extra stash, then just have an extra pumping session during the day. If she's not waking at night to eat, then there is no reason for that extra session.