How many times a night do you pump/nurse?

For the most part I pump and bottle feed rather than nuse and I never nurse her at night. She's a slow eater and so in the middle of the night she would nurse forever and still not be full. So if you are nursing or pumping at night how often? Right now I pump every 3 to 4 hours except for at night I go about 6 hours and skip one.

If you are nursing at night do you have any tips? I've heard that it''s much easier than bottle feeding. I would love to not have to pump in the middle of the night and just be able to grab the baby and put her into bed to nurse. The problem is that she falls back asleep after only 15 minutes and then is starving again in an hour. Oh the other night feeding issue is that she is so hungry. I think during the day I see her start to move around and make noises so I feed her before the screaming starts. At night I'm asleep until she starts grunting or crying so by the time I get up the 5 minutes grace period is up and she wants milk right away. She has no patience for nursing when she gets to that point.

[tiredbuthappy]

funny... i was going to ask about everyone's night routine too. i wanted to know how people can nurse while laying down? i've tried, but the latch isn't perfect and it hurts my nipples. Plus, don't you have to sit up and burp the baby anyway?

i am an very light sleeper so i wake to subtle feeding cues. if it's less than 2 hours, i try to stall with the bassinet vibrate function and a binky.

our routine-
btw 8 and 9 i nurse downstairs and pump whatever is left. i then go upstairs for a little uninterrupted sleep (usually 10- 1 or 2). DH does the next feed with the pumped milk and brings her for the next feed. if he's working the next day, we try to have him asleep by 1. he usually changes her diaper right before they come up. by that point i nurse (btw 1 and 2) and i have to pump the other side because it's full. after that i nurse every 2 hours or so- i'm waiting for that magical day when she goes longer. For now, i appreciate the 3-4 hr stretch that dh gives me.

dd actually only nurses 1 side for 7-10 minutes. it does take very long to burp her though and i often find myself dozing during that time. even if she nurses longer, she still wakes every 2 hrs, so i don't force her to go longer.

with my first, i had to pump. i did come up with some short cuts- for example, i took advantage of the fact that ebm is good at room temp for several hours, so i didn't have to warm milk. i just saved whatever i pumped for the next feed. even when she slept through the night, my milk was good 10 hrs later if the room was cool. if i had extra milk, i put it in a cooler bag so i didn't have to trek downstairs to the fridge (the playtex fridge-to-go is great for this!). if you're skipping a pump and bottle feeding, these tricks may help get you back to sleep faster.

as for your dd, what if you gave an ounce by bottle then tried the breast to slowly transition her to nursing in the night? I'd suggest the other way around, but if she's starving and frustrated, satiating her a little before putting her on the breast may help. Is she sleeping in your room? If she's not, having her right next to you in a bassinet may help you pick up on some of the cues earlier.

[NicMom]

She's sleeping right next to me in the bassinet it's just that she's pretty quiet until it's too late. I think your right bottle feeding an ounce and then switching might work better. I did start to leave the expressed milk out at night. At first I would rush it to the fridge now I leave it on the night stand for up to 4 hours. I'm paranoid so after 4 or like 4 1/2 hours I dump it out. I've only had to do that like twice.

[NicMom]

Oh I'm also not very good at the lying down latch. I think my bed isn't firm enough for that.

[tiredbuthappy]

sniff the milk- if it smells ok it should be fine. my LC told me that i don't need to worry about spoiled milk because the baby would refuse it.

[Mumita]

Gosh I have the same issue.  My baby (2mo) will not nurse for more than 5-10 minutes then he gets all agitated or falls asleep so he's hungry really fast.  I started pumping and giving him the expressed milk and he lasts from 10-2am this way, he's in a better mood and I can atleast get 4 hours of sleep.  Then after that is the issue, he wakes up at 5am and then at 6:30am. So at 5am I usually give him a bottle of expressed milk and then at 6:30am I bring him with me to bed and I snoose while he "nurses" but he falls asleep and we sleep til about 8:30am...
So I pump at 10pm right after he falls asleep and then I'll pump again at 2am and then I don't pump until 8:30am.... I should do it at 6:30 when he wakes up but I just want to go back to sleep...
I heard that a bit of cammomile tea in his milk helps put him to sleep nd soothe his stomach so I'm going to try that soon and I'll let you all know.  I am looking forward to the day that he only wakes up once during the night....

how old are your babies?

[meiram]

My baby nurses right before bed, about 8:00, then again about 12:00.  After that, it's anybody's guess.   Usually around 2, 4,and 6, but that could vary, depending on his mood :)  We get up together around 6:00 and I get stuff done while he plays then I nurse him again before his morning nap and before his sister gets up. I sometimes pump before I go to bed, around 9 or 10.  
He usually falls asleep during nursing, but quite often will need a diaper change, so that wakes him up enough to nurse from the other side.   I remember side-lying nursing with my dd for naps, but haven't tried it with my son yet due to his reflux issues.  

[tiredbuthappy]

all i can say is i'm happy to hear i'm not alone with a baby up so often. i don't even want to talk to my neighbor who claims her 3 month old has slept 12 hrs straight since 6 weeks. misery likes company :P

[meiram]

My MIL claims my dh slept from 7 to 9:00 from night one.  I don't even like telling her about my kiddos when she asks how things are going.  

[tiredbuthappy]

so many oldder people don't understand some things... first off, breastfed babies have different needs than formula babies (that generation mostly formula fed) and babies today can't sleep on their tummies. i think it's the tummy thing that has more of an impact on sleep. you try sleeping on your back on a hard mattress with no pillows. their babies got to sleep face down and snug, surrounded by pillows and blankies,

[NicMom]

LOL tiredbuthappy, I have a similar deal with a woman next door who had her baby 4 days after mine. She never had any issues bfing and they sleep like 7 hours a night. It's to the point where I look outside before leaving the house so I don't run into her. It was bad enough she didn't gain any weight while pregnant now this ;-)

Bella will be 2 months this Saturday. The last few nights she's been sleeping from 10 to 4 and then again from 5 to 8. I think I'm going to just stick to giving her pumped milk at night. Trying to night nurse again seems like it would be a step backwards.

[IsabelleCanada]

I nurse my 2 month old at night easily... he sleeps in my bed so he first sleeps from 8pm to 4 am, then wakes up, I nurse him lying down (no problem latching) and fall back asleep... no burping or nothing, we litterally roll back asleep til about 6-7 am for another round and then I get up and burp him... co-sleeping is not for everyone but it sure works well for us!

[Latrice414]

NICMOM:  cant remember if you work or if your a SAHM.  Since you pump your milk and give it to bella for feeds, if you do work, how and when do you find time to pump milk and store it.

I pump my milk and give it to Trinity also, sometimes i will jus nurse her, but she doesnt get full after suckling for an hour, at least i no what she is getting in the bottle.  I am also supplementing with formula at night.  I go back to work first week of November and im hoping to have enough milk stored.  The LC told me to pump 3 times a day to store milk and if i could do a 4th time to do it, she suggested 12 midnite, 12pm, 6am and 6pm but it jus seems impossible to pump those times and pump to feed her.