If you went from 3 pumping sessions at work to 2

[anna7602]

I think I already told you in another post that I did a first-thing-in-the-morning pump in lieu of a 3rd pumping session at work. I was borrowing someone's office and it was unsustainable to displace him 3x/day. I also ended up adding an evening pumping session along the way, but I can't remember when. Maybe 5 or 6 months in?

Are you still pumping first thing in the morning and at night on weekends? I basically kept up with what DD was drinking by pumping even on days when I was with her. Granted, this was easier because I was only in the office 3 days/week and when I WAH, sometimes I actually nursed her AND pumped afterwards. DD got to a point where she was drinking about 21-24 oz. of pumped milk when I was away from her, so even though I got a decent amount each time I pumped, I needed a lot available!

I am not sure if it's too late for this, but I also built up quite a freezer stash by continuing to wake up and pump once DD started sleeping through her usual 2 am session (around 4 months of age or so). I think I did this for a few weeks.

And finally, my biggest piece of advice is to be less hard on yourself if you end up having to give her formula. I don't know why I put so much pressure on myself to EBF, but if we have another kid, I will pump again, but will not make my entire life revolve around pumping. That 2am pumping thing seems a little crazy in retrospect. I am certain I would have been a much more pleasant person if I hadn't been waking up at 2am to hook myself up to a machine for 15 minutes. Of course, I was so sleep deprived that I had no problem falling right back asleep after pumping.

[pamela]

Well, mine was over 10.5 hours in the office, 11.5 hours away from baby. So yeah, cutting down was definitely the beginning of the end. You can reduce some of your setup/tear down by just putting all the pieces in a ziploc in the fridge without taking them apart (and in a opaque bag or lunchbox if you don't want them seen). Can you keep your pump bag/pump bra in the room? Consider what you wear to make undressing as quick as possible.

[loskadoodle]

Not related to your question, but once you introduce formula you can always do 2 oz of formula and 2-3 of bm. That's what I try to do so he almost always has at least some bm. It may make no difference, but it makes me feel better.

[jenjen]

I went from 3 to 2 pumps at work. I started out at 9:30, 12:30, 3:30 and got enough to cover bottles and then some but I only got 2 oz at my 3:30 pump and felt empty when I nursed DS in the evenings. So I dropped to a 9:30 and 2 pm pump and usually get 10-14 oz (depending on my water/food intake I think). DS takes 12 oz at daycare so usually cover it but do have a big freezer stash to use too.

Sometimes I do pump once before I go to bed becuase I usually only nurse 1x between daycare pickup and bed. DS often will sleep 7-2 or 3 am so one boob goes 12 hours without being used. Or if LO miraculously sleeps through the night, I will feed one boob and pump the other before work. So I don't think it's affected my output much but I just have to pump other times since Lo is going longer between feedings.