pumping q's

my2monkeyboys wrote: I am finally ready to give a little of our feeding time to someone else (say, my parents so DH and I can go out to eat along every once in a while). Here is where I need help....
since I'm strictly BFing, when do I pump for the bottle? Sometime Waylon takes both sides during a feeding, so I'm not sure which one/when I'd pump so that it doesn't take away from his meal time. I know to expect only an ounce or 2 at a time and that I'll have to pump quite a bit to get a bottle, which leads me to the other question. How do I know when I have enough? I have no idea how much he eats now -- no measurement marks on the side of my boob, ya know. So do I just pump a bunch and hope it's enough when the time comes?
Thanks!

~Roo'sMama~ replied: I think I'd just let him eat, and them pump when he's done to make sure you don't short him. Or you could feed him on one side, and pump the other side while he's eating - I tried that when I was nursing because I hated all the wasted milk because both sides let down while they're eating. I wasn't very coordinated so it didn't work well for me but you might have better luck with it.

I would store the milk in the fridge until I got four to six ounces and then put it in the freezer. That amount always seemed to be enough (for Andrew anyways... we never could get Allie to take a bottle no matter how many times we tried ) but if it wasn't enough it isn't hard to take another four oz bag out of the freezer and warm it up, but if an 8 oz bottle is too much you can't save it for later.

my2monkeyboys replied: Can I add milk to the container that is already in the fridge (bottle A), or do I need to add it to bottle B until it is cold and then put it in bottle A?
Thanks for the tips! Now I'm just hoping I'll be able to get to take a bottle!

A&A'smommy replied:
they have to be cool before you can mix them goodluck

Mommy2Isabella replied: When I pumped for extra milk, I pumped about 15 mins. after Isaia nursed last, and only for 5 mins. Because he nursed about every 3 hours. I also when he was nursing caught the "letdown" from the other side.

I had a HUGE OVERSUPPLY so my letdown alone was almost an oz. and pumping after he ate I got about 2 oz. from each side.

Good Luck!!

AlexsPajamaMama replied: I get 2oz from each side
And I pump for about 10mins

Breat Milk is good for 5 days in the fridge
and 5 hours left out on the counter

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
I didn't know that! I always just mixed them right away - oops!

coasterqueen replied: You know, you'd think as long as I pumped for both girls (2 years for each one) I'd remember this stuff, but it's like a fog in my brain trying to remember it.

This site always helped me and I encourage you to look it over. The page is regarding pumping and bottle feeding a breastfed baby. I hope it helps.

Kelly Mom

my2monkeyboys replied: Thank you! I pumped this morning for about 10 min, but only got 1/2 oz! Hopefully I'll get better at it soon!

luvmykids replied: When I was ready to lean more towards bottling my milk than bf'ing the twins, I started pumping like crazy after they ate. It was a little bit of a pain because then of course I started producing more, but if that is your goal, you can always pump longer to increase your supply. You may not get much extra the first few (or several) times, but since bf'ing is a demand and supply kind of thing , if you continue you will. I don't remember for certain, but it seems like I was eventually getting six oz each side, each time I pumped.

When I had enough to switch them to bottles exclusively, I kept pumping so that I *could* nurse them if I needed to (because they were NOT picky, LOL!) and because I didn't know for sure when I was going to wean them completely and didn't want to lose my supply and not have enough stored.

A&A'smommy replied: old post

luvmykids replied:
HAHA! I should have caught that