EP'ers Welcome

[MrsMB]

Well...we are combo feeding 60/40 formula due to my supply issues...but I need help from my EP'ers rather than advice from people who haven't been here....

So, I am currently pumping when she eats motn and every two hours during the day at the advice of my LC. I have supply issues and we are trying to increase my milk.

During MOTN feedings, I have to be quick about feeding her. She gives you about 30 seconds before the banshee screaming begins. Normally, I run and grab a bottle from the fridge to sit out while I change her, change her, feed her bottle, sooth her back to sleep, then go into the room where I pump.

This takes a long time. I love spending time with her....and yet I also think there could be a more efficient way to do this.

Thoughts?

[zarapipe]

Not an EP.


When are you pumping the milk that's In the fridge? If it's before bed cam you just leave it at room temp on your night stand? I left milk out for 6 hours as I've seen recommended as ok.

You could also do a mini fridge in your bedroom.

[soozy87]

Or a cooler w ice packs

[boiler717]

Can your husband change her while you hook up to the pump? Then either of you can feed while you pump. Ditto the cooler with ice packs or mini fridge.
Do you have multiple pump parts so you can have them all set out and ready for multiple MOTN pumps? Then if you have the cooler / fridge you can stick back in and deal with cleaning in the morning. I keep mine all assembled and on the pump so I just put on my hands free bra and then start going.

[melsamoony]

DH fed DS MOTN while I pumped. If that isn't an option I would have a bottle ready to go...ie if you are using formula have the water in the bottle, I also kept my pumped breast milk bottle out either on ice by my bed/when DS was waking every 2 hours I just left it out since it is good at room temp for 6-8 hours. Also I only changed DS at night if he pooped.

Hang in there you are doing great.

[MrsMB]

Jan 22, 2016 6:08:40 GMT -5 zarapipe said:

Not an EP.


When are you pumping the milk that's In the fridge? If it's before bed cam you just leave it at room temp on your night stand? I left milk out for 6 hours as I've seen recommended as ok.

You could also do a mini fridge in your bedroom.

I'm one ahead of her...meaning I have either a formula bottle or breast milk bottle ready to go for the next feeding.

I may do that with the BM bottles...

[MrsMB]

Jan 22, 2016 6:24:14 GMT -5 @simpledog said:

ETA - I'm assuming it's the combination of bottle feeding and pumping that's taking a long time, right?

On ML I pumped while giving a bottle in bed in the Boppy. I was moderately successful unless he got upset/needed to be held/pulled on the tubing.

At night my H would feed him while I pumped.

Good luck!

ETA2 - I combo fed / EPed and loved having a mini fridge as PPs suggested!

Yeah, I may try to pump and feed at the same time with the bottle I have prepared in advance. I stay one ahead of her as to have it ready. Like you, I tried a few times and she would get fussy or pull in tubing. BUT, I it's worth a shot again now that you mention it. I'll try.

DH is feeding her now while I pump. I've split the MOTN feedings up to have him help me with one of them. He offered after I got short with him a few days ago and it has helped tremendously. At least I'm back to bed a good 15 minutes earlier that way.

ETA: for anyone asking about pump parts, I do have spare sets I rotate. I wash the current set during the day and put them in the fridge in between feedings. So I'm not having to wash them in between each session.

[MrsMB]

Jan 22, 2016 7:15:08 GMT -5 melsamoony said:

DH fed DS MOTN while I pumped. If that isn't an option I would have a bottle ready to go...ie if you are using formula have the water in the bottle, I also kept my pumped breast milk bottle out either on ice by my bed/when DS was waking every 2 hours I just left it out since it is good at room temp for 6-8 hours. Also I only changed DS at night if he pooped.

Hang in there you are doing great.

Thank you that always helps to hear it

[nachos]

How many MOTN feedings are there? Does she have to be changed each time? I know that I tried to avoid diaper changes overnight because it would wake DS up more, so I'd probably do every other wake up. I'd also leave the bottle out. BM is fine for six hours at room temperature. If it's formula, I'd leave the water in the bottle so it is ready to mix.

Basically, I'd set up for the feeding before bed.

I've combo fed (DS1), EPd (DD) and am now EBFing.

As you get further in, pumping will take less time as well. You've got this!

[degal99]

We brought up whatever we needed in a small cooler bag (premade the formula or had the BM bottle ready to go). Then I would just throw my pumped milk in there just because I would know where it was. And DH did anything with the baby while I pumped MOTN since I had to pump for at least 30 minutes. He wad usually back asleep before I was done.

[MrsMB]

Jan 22, 2016 7:58:26 GMT -5 nachos said:

How many MOTN feedings are there? Does she have to be changed each time? I know that I tried to avoid diaper changes overnight because it would wake DS up more, so I'd probably do every other wake up. I'd also leave the bottle out. BM is fine for six hours at room temperature. If it's formula, I'd leave the water in the bottle so it is ready to mix.

Basically, I'd set up for the feeding before bed.

I've combo fed (DS1), EPd (DD) and am now EBFing.

As you get further in, pumping will take less time as well. You've got this!

There are two What I consider MOTN....since I am a former sleep lover...ha! I probably could forgo one diaper change. I think the only reason j was changing her was that if it was soiled, she wouldn't eat very well....but you make me think...that might just have been during the day.

With formula, we mix in advance and leave it in the fridge..since we know we will need it within the net 4-6 hours. That's ok right?

[nachos]

Jan 22, 2016 8:04:10 GMT -5 MrsMB said:

Jan 22, 2016 7:58:26 GMT -5 nachos said:

How many MOTN feedings are there? Does she have to be changed each time? I know that I tried to avoid diaper changes overnight because it would wake DS up more, so I'd probably do every other wake up. I'd also leave the bottle out. BM is fine for six hours at room temperature. If it's formula, I'd leave the water in the bottle so it is ready to mix.

Basically, I'd set up for the feeding before bed.

I've combo fed (DS1), EPd (DD) and am now EBFing.

As you get further in, pumping will take less time as well. You've got this!

There are two What I consider MOTN....since I am a former sleep lover...ha! I probably could forgo one diaper change. I think the only reason j was changing her was that if it was soiled, she wouldn't eat very well....but you make me think...that might just have been during the day.

With formula, we mix in advance and leave it in the fridge..since we know we will need it within the net 4-6 hours. That's ok right?

Absolutely! 

I'd keep it in a cooler next to where you're feeding her if possible. She's still very young, right? Try to get her as soon as she starts to fuss; that way you might get her to the dream feed stage. My DS got to that point around 8 weeks - if I caught him in time, he would nurse for about 10-15 minutes. By day his feedings were 30-45 at the same age. When she gets older you can let her fuss a bit to see if she will settle (I'm at that stage now).


I'm a sleep lover too.  

[snowflurry]

I used to keep the last bottle I pumped before I went to bed out on the counter for the MOTN feeding. Then I'd feed that bottle while pumping the next one.

[kate1482]

I pumped on a set schedule instead of every time the baby ate. I would pump every four hours and leave the freshly pumped bottle out on the counter. That way I always had a bottle ready to go when she was hungry without having to deal with warming it up or pumping first. In the early days I would pump at 11pm & 4am for my MOTN pumps.

[Deleted]

I always left milk out for MOTN feeds.

My son is 11 months and I am finishing up EPing, so let me know if you need help:). I tried to nurse the first 3 weeks, but I was pumping from day one even then.

[sent]

It took a while, but I figured out how to balance DD on the Boppy while I pumped. I would definitely leave out a "fresh" bottle of milk that I pumped at like 11 pm if I knew she's be getting up at midnight. The faster we could shove the bottle into her mouth the more peaceful it was for everyone. But when we had to get a bottle from the fridge and wait 6 minutes for the Kiinde Kozi to heat it up, those 6 minutes felt like an eternity.

[linz]

I always pumped while I fed my kids. DD would be on a pillow on my lap, DS would be on a boppy next to me on the couch. I would never have survived EP'ing twins for a year if I hadn't done that. So maybe consider doing that? Or could at least 1 MOTN feeding H do while you pump? 

[MrsMB]

Jan 22, 2016 9:14:25 GMT -5 @kcpokergal said:

I always left milk out for MOTN feeds.

My son is 11 months and I am finishing up EPing, so let me know if you need help:). I tried to nurse the first 3 weeks, but I was pumping from day one even then.

Thank you

For the EP'ers how frequent did you pump and for how long while on ML? Like was it 20 mins every 2 hours for instance?

[Deleted]

Jan 22, 2016 10:51:50 GMT -5 MrsMB said:

Jan 22, 2016 9:14:25 GMT -5 @kcpokergal said:

I always left milk out for MOTN feeds.

My son is 11 months and I am finishing up EPing, so let me know if you need help:). I tried to nurse the first 3 weeks, but I was pumping from day one even then.

Thank you

For the EP'ers how frequent did you pump and for how long while on ML? Like was it 20 mins every 2 hours for instance?

I pumped every 3 hours, including through the night. I found my body was happiest when I kept on a very strict schedule until about 12 weeks when I went to 7 pumps a day and stretched out my night pumps.

I pumped 5 minutes past when the milk stopped flowing during maternity leave for the most part. For me it usually took about 30 minutes to empty. I unfortunately have not run into many EPers that could consistently empty in 20 minutes.

[cst2cst]

I pumped for 9 months. DD was on a mix of BM and high calorie preemie formula. I also had supply issues.

I pumped 8 times a day. That usually worked out to a 5 hour stretch at night and the rest during the day. I pumped every time I fed dd. I really resented pumping but felt better about it when I did it during "wasted" time. So, i pumped when I was in the car or feeding since it wasn't taking me away from something. I used a hands free pumping bra and got the flanges hooked up to the bra while dd was on the changing table. Then I would take her and her bottle, sit in a chair in her room, hook up the pump and then feed her.

Dd also gave about 10 seconds notice from "oh, hey, I'm getting hungry" to " oh my god, I've never eaten and I may starve". This usually worked for us. I used a bottle warmer and would put the bottle in, get dd and change her, grab the bottle, hook everything up and feed. I was able to sit cross legged on the chair and I would lay dd on my lap. I used a cooler in her room and put everything in it so I didn't have to deal with pump parts at night.

[wonderfezz]

I'm with the people that left the previous pumped bottle on the side. I would grab it- feed, put directly back to bed. Pump and set it right on my nightstand until next wake up. I did this religiously for a few months until I got a little ahead of myself. I never could really stop doing MOTN pumps even 6 months in.

[melsamoony]

I pumped every 3 hours during the day for 20 minutes while on ML. I went 1 longer stretch of 4/5 hours during the night. I think I averaged 7-8 pumping sessions/day.

Ps I struggled bottle feeding and pumping at the same time until DS was a little older and I mastered the boppy.

[Koala]

I'm a little late to the game here...
I would either leave the previously pumped bottle or a formula bottle in a cooler next to where you feed. You could also just have pre-measured formula and room temp water (pre-measured) next to where you feed, shake it up and feed right away. That is what we do now for our early morning feed.
As for feeding/pumping in the middle of the night, it is hard and takes a long time. When I first started, it would sometimes take 1.5 - 2 hours for the whole process (2 babies). I've now gotten it down to about 50 mins, including pumping. If you can feed her while you pump, that would definitely save time.

Early on, I pumped every 3 hours. At about 7 weeks, I started cutting down pumping sessions, because I just couldn't keep up and wanted a bit more flexibility. I now pump 4x per day, and feel like it is a schedule I can keep up with for a long time.

Good luck. Feel free to message me if you want to talk about it more. EPing can suck!

[MrsMB]

One more question...I swear....just noticed that I'm leaking some milk down my bra as I pump. Is that normal or a sign that I need a bigger shield?

[Deleted]

Jan 22, 2016 14:39:45 GMT -5 MrsMB said:

One more question...I swear....just noticed that I'm leaking some milk down my bra as I pump. Is that normal or a sign that I need a bigger shield?

You might just need to adjust things. I've had drops escape certainly. Sometimes if I lean wrong it comes out the back of the pump, so watch for that.

Usually flange size is based on your nipple.

[Koala]

Jan 22, 2016 14:39:45 GMT -5 MrsMB said:

One more question...I swear....just noticed that I'm leaking some milk down my bra as I pump. Is that normal or a sign that I need a bigger shield?

This happens to me once in a while.  Usually it is just not adjusted properly.  Sometimes it happens if I have used too much coconut oil and it doesn't form a good seal.  

[longtimenopost]

For the first 3 months A was in the NICU and I pumped 8 times a day. Every 2.5-3hrs during the day and two 4 hour stretches at night. I would also power pump between 8-9 pm (20 on, 10 off, 10 on, 10 off, 10 on) and (if I could) take a hot shower first.

Could you change her after she eats? Then you could take turns where sometimes you feed her then pump while H changes and soothes, sometimes he feeds while you pump then change and soothe. Then you still get some time with her.

[sarahsas]

I have EP for almost 10 months. It's hard to even read that! At the beginning I only produced about 75% and supplemented. I stopped combo feeding around 8-9 weeks when I started producing more. I rented a hospital pump (Ameda platinum ) and used it for about 6 weeks, which rocketed my supply to where it is and has remained. I went back to the PISA and have maintained. I pumped about 8x a day. I would feed baby and then pump. I pumped 8x a day. Now I pump 5-6 and no MOTN - I haven't pumped MOTN since he started STTN around 8-9weeks. When he was not mobile, I put him either on the boppy lounger or rock n play, but IN REACH of me so I could pop in his paci if needed, or just touch him to comfort him. Now I use the super seat usually, to contain him. DH contains him most of the time when I pump now - and he washed all parts and bottles, which is his contribution. I have two sets of parts.

EP is HARD. Hang in there!

[MrsMB]

luckydog I think I was leaning too far back.