how do you transition to/incorporate pumping

Hello-

My son Ryder is 4 1/2 weeks old. he is a great feeder. I have been pumping about 1 bottle a day for him (so that his daddy can feed him too) and he takes the bottle pretty well. I am going back to work at the beginning of May and will not be able to bf nor pump at that time for logistic reasons. I was hoping to freeze a bunch of milk ahead of time so that he could get 2-3 bm bottles a day for a while after I return to work. My problem is that Ryder doesn't nap in the mornings and feeds about once an hour from 7-12/1. He then takes a couple of naps in the afternoon and early evening, but the lengths are unpredictable so I don't know when I can pump so that it does not interfere with my supply when he next gets hungry. any suggestions on how to incorporate pumping into a routine when there isn't really a clearly defined routine?

I have been thinking about transitioning to pumping exclusively so that I can pump on a specific schedule. Are there issues I should consider in how to best make this transition?

Thanks for any advice!

-Shannon

[tiredbuthappy]

if you want to do both, i would work up to feeding from 1 side at a time. then you can pump the otherside at the same feed, and evenually trick your boobs into thinking you need much more milk.   i know he's feeding very frequently. if he's willing, feed from the same side for a 2 hr stretch.

There's not much to do if you plan to pump exclusively other than pump whenever he would have fed. When you pump exclusively, you need to pump every 2-3 hours, for 10-15 minutes or 5 minutes past the last drops. Basically, pump 8-10 times a day. You need to maintain this schedule for 12 weeks, after which you can spread the pumps out a bit more.  

If I were you, i wouldn't go straight to exclusively pumping. Keep nursing, at least at night. Waking to pump in the middle of the night is a huge pain in the butt.

By the way, if you want him to get only 2 to 3 bm bottles/day after you go back to work, it may be possible to pump only in the AM and before bed, and make enough for that. I know a couple people at work who managed to do that for a few months. They didn't produce enough to give only breast milk, but produced enough to get their babies a few bottles/day.