New Mom - breastfeeding/pumping question

Hi,

I am a new mom - had my baby girl two weeks ago and have been breastfeeding.

I would like to start pumping to be able to freeze some milk incase i need to be away for an afternoon and also to help increase my supply. I just don't know when i should be pumping.

Do I pump right after she feeds? will there be any left?
Do I feed her on one breast per feeding and pump the other?
Do I pump in between feedings?
And how many times a day should I pump?

I don't want to take away from her eating and have this fear that if I pump there won't be enough milk for her when she nurses.

TIA for any help!!!

Re: New Mom - breastfeeding/pumping question

Congrats and welcome

A good way to start is to pump right after she eats. Have you already introduced a bottle? What really jump-started my freezer supply was nursing during the day, and pumping at night. I was pumping more milk than she was drinking, so it gave me a head start on freezing 3oz and 2 oz bags. I did that for about 1.5 weeks. Also, DD gets 1 bottle of pumped BM a day, and the same goes for when I pump then.

Re: New Mom - breastfeeding/pumping question

To help bring up my supply I pumped after every feeding. I only did this for about 4 days, but it really helped increase what I had. After that I only pumped after the first feeding of the day because I always had the highest supply in the morning. When DD stared sleeping longer stretches I'd pump about an hour after her last feeding of the night, right before I went to bed.

Re: New Mom - breastfeeding/pumping question

CONGRATS!
I would pump after first feed in morning. IF you are not having a supply issue I would not pump after each feed b/c you don't want to over prodcue.

Re: New Mom - breastfeeding/pumping question

Congrats!

Like the PP, I would pump after every feeding so I was pumping every 3 hours or so (even during the night). DS usually nursed from both sides each feeding but on the occasion that he only nursed from one side, I'd pump the other side that nursing session. I also took Fenugreek to increase my supply so that even after nursing, I was still pumping anywhere from 5-15 oz each feeding.

Re: New Mom - breastfeeding/pumping question

Re: New Mom - breastfeeding/pumping question

First of all, congrats!

I would make sure she eats and then pump after. As I recall, your supply is not regulated that early on, so you should be fine. The more you pump and nurse, the more you will increase your supply to meet the demand.

As for the other questions-up to you! I pumped after the first few morning feedings and I found after awhile that DD would nurse and fall back asleep on one side. So I would pump the other. I had a great supply from it. You can also pump in between feedings. You might not always get as much, but you can start pumping and keep adding until you get the 6 ozs for the freezer bag, but I would make sure it is refrigerated and frozen the same day.

Good luck!

Re: New Mom - breastfeeding/pumping question

thank you everyone! I am going to try pumping a few times after she feeds and see how it goes. I will try to make sure one of those times is after the morning feeding.

i really appreciate all the feedback! You can read a lot about these things, but it really helps to hear real life experiences.