6 weeks in....

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lts009
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2012
6 weeks in....
3
 Fri, 04-20-2012 - 10:38am
I'm now 6 weeks into exclusively pumping for my son. I recently dropped to 7 pumps a day, mainly because pumping 2 times at night was killing me. I pump for 30 minutes at each session.... Which is about 210 minutes a day, well above the 120 minutes im supposed to be pumping.... Can i maintain a good supply by staying at 7 pumps a day, or should i try to fit in an extra pump somewhere? I pump every 3 hours, and in the middle of the night ill pump at 2 am, and then not again until 7.
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emd2004
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-14-2010
In reply to: lts009
Re: 6 weeks in....
 Sat, 04-21-2012 - 3:10pm
The annoying answer is that everyone's really different. Some people can get away with pumping only a few times a day right from the beginning, and others can't. I think the bottom line is that you have to stay sane, so if dropping to 7 allowed you to do that, then that's what needed to happen. Also, I'm pretty sure I didn't pump 8x a day in the beginning. I didn't know about this board then and I just pumped when my daughter ate (I figured that's what breastfeeding would be--only feeding when she was eating) and I ended up with an average supply that got me to the year mark without supplementing after the first 2 weeks. Also, you are pumping longer at each pump than I did. I hope it works out for you, and good luck!

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kungfu_manda
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-24-2012
In reply to: lts009
Re: 6 weeks in....
 Tue, 04-24-2012 - 12:58pm

Hi! I'm 6 weeks in too! I'm doing 7-8 times a day typically 8 and I try to get up twice in the night, but last two nights I fudged up and went over 5 hours! I hope it didn't do damage. I think 7 or 8 it wouldn't make a big difference but also I try to vary it so maybe get 8 a few times a week if you can handle it, you can add an extra session in the day instead of the night- thats what I try to do to make it up.. How much does your son/daughter eat? Does he/she eat every 3 hours? My son just started eating 4oz every 3 hours but at night he started going on longer stretches probably why I missed my pumps in the last few nights- he's the best alarm ever!! LOL

lts009
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2012
In reply to: lts009
Re: 6 weeks in....
 Tue, 04-24-2012 - 1:29pm
Thank you both for replying! My son is eating about the same as yours, 4 oz. Every 3 hours. Although that doesnt change much at night, which is why i was so exhausted pumping twice at night. That and i take care of my one month old and a toddler during the day. I am part of an eping page on fb and someone told me it would be ok to drop to 7 since im 6 weeks, but i wanted second opinions.
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