Breast feeding by pumping, need advice please.

[KATE535]

My baby girl is 12 days old and I am breast feeding her via pumping with a complementary feed of formula about twice in 24 hours. I'm expressing 4 ounces per pumping session which she takes and is satisfied by quantity-wise. As I have two boys, a busy family life in itself, I end up expressing every 4 hours throughout the day rather than every 3 hours, and I pump at about 3 am too so wake up to do one session at night. I would like to increase my supply to replace all formula with breast milk and need some advice as to how I can express more milk.
I do take Fenugreek already.
Should I be strictly pumping every 3 hours and that would do it? Is there any other advice to increase my supply?

Please advise,
Thanks, Kate

[PamelaBee]

Congratulations on your baby girl!  Is there any reason why she needs the extra 2 formula feedings?  4oz per feeding for a 12 day old newborn is more than adequate.

I take Fenugreek too, and for some it works, others it does not.  If you skip a day or miss a dosage, you have to start the process all over again.

Power pumping is a technique I just learned about through my hospitals lactation consultant.  If you pump 10min on, 10min off for a full hour, it will trick your body into producing more milk.  It requires an uninterrupted hour, so it's kind of hard to commit to doing it.  I have done it and it seems to increase my supply.

Eating oatmeal and drinking Mothers milk tea are also known to increase milk production.

Do you have a Medela breast pump?  If you use a lesser grade breast pump, you may not get the maximum amount of milk extracted from each session.  Good luck!

[PamelaBee]

and...the more you nurse her, the more your milk supply will replenish!

[KATE535]

Thankyou so much. I will definately try the hour trick. I have never heard of that before so is definately worth a go.
Yes medela is what I use.
I have been trying to get ahead of her - ie, I want a breast milk feed ready in advance in the fridge so that she doesn't need any formula. As I was very engorged 4 days after she was born, I struggled to get the milk out as they were so sore and hard. Only now does my body seem to be getting used to providing enough milk at the right time. I am almost there with being ahead of her. She has not had formula since yesterday, and it's 2:30 pm here in the UK. I'm hoping it is the start of things.
Thanks for the advice about fenugreek too.
So does 4 ounces sound normal as an amount to express at this stage?

[KATE535]

... btw, she has been taking the extra formula because she has been demanding the extra, and that maybe when i dont have a breast milk feed ready for her. She is a greedy little missy. I have felt no choice other than to supplement at those times ;-)

[tiredbuthappy]

unfortunately, the best way to boost supply is pumping more often. this early on, you actually should be pumping every 2-3 hours, or as often as a baby would nurse. Even a jump to every 3 hrs would probaby be enough since you're doing pretty good for pumping only every 4 hrs.
i can see how it would be difficult for you to pump that often. there are some other things you can try instead that may or may not help.
first is simply pumping longer during the times yuo do pump. how long do you pump and with which pump? that can signal to your body you need more and gradually increase supply.
you can also try commiting to power pumping every now and then. this mimics a baby's cluster feeds or growth spurts. for example, when dd was 2 weeks old, she went through a growth spurt and did nothing but eat for a few days straight. It was exhausting, but it definitely boosted my supply. When you pump, you don't get these naturally supply boosters, so some people try to mimic them. There's a few ways you can do this. You can take a few days where you simply pump more frequently (not as long as normal) to mimic a growth spurt. Or you can mimic an evening cluster feed by pumping 10 min, off 10 min, on 10 min, etc... for an hour. Doing this a couple times a week can help boost supply as well.  

If you use a good double electric pump like the medela, then it may be a hassle to sit down and get extra sessions in. Another option is to keep a small but good hand pump on hand, and in between those 4 hours just take a couple minutes to pump a little using the manual. I like the Medela Harmony. You might even be able to pump a feed in as little as 5 minutes (less time than it takes to warm a bottle!). This could be a good way to get a little extra stimulation in without having to take the whole huge pump setup out. I walk around the house while doing it, but you could also sneak into the bathroom if you worry about your boys seeing it:)  Still continue your regular schedule, but these little extra pumps may make a huge difference. When you're done pumping, rinse the pump quickly (no need to wash) and throw it into the fridge for the next time. You can do this all day and just wash at the end of the day. That is a huge timesaver.

[tiredbuthappy]

sorry if i was redundant and repeated pamela- it took me an hour to type that btw nursing and chasing a toddler :)

another tip- take advantage of the fact that breastmilk is good at room temperature for a very long time. I used to pump after a feed and just keep it out until she was hungry. That way you don't have to warm the milk- it's ready to go!
Everyone's milk is different, but in general milk is good at room temp for at least 5 hours. In the summer when it's warm, it's less- in the winter it's longer. When I pumped for my first, i used to pump before bed, leave it next to me, and feed it to her up to 10 hours later when she woke up. No warming bottles at night :) This was possible because the room was chilly at night.
You can tell if the milk is good by simply sniffing it. It will smell bad if spoiled. Also, my LC told me that a baby won't take spoiled milk so I should worry too much.

[tiredbuthappy]

oh yea- her being greedy is probably that growth spurt :)

[RebeccaRox]

power pumping is very important during a growth spurt, as well as, pumping every 2-3 hours or your supply just won't be able to keep up if you don't "simulate" those spurts which are typically at 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months... but every baby is different.

Just wondering... why not just breastfeed her? I always wonder this about pumping only moms since it just seems like so much more work to be on the pump every 2-3 hours than it would be to just pop her on the boob.

[KATE535]

I would love to breastfeed from the breast - I managed it for a day after she was born, but I became painfully sore and engorged and found pumping a relief. My nipples also are flat-ish so latching on is very difficult. I couldn't even latch her on to my right side at all. Pumping can get the milk out regardless of the way the nipples are formed, so it works better for me. I am all for breastfeeding but have to do it the hard way.

Tiredbuthappy, thankyou, your advice is very helpful, and Rebecca. I have increased my pumping to 3 hourly, and I have rushed to top up a bottle of expressed milk in between pumping. I just spent around 3 mins doing so and got her another 2 ounces on top. So I'm guessing if I do that inbetween, I will increase my supply.