- ⏰ Supply and demand: After 1 month, when you start bottle feeding, your supply might drop if you don’t pump. If there is no demand, your body will produce less. Hence, even if my boyfriend and I took turns feeding at night, I still set an alarm to wake up at 3 am to pump at least once a night​
DOs:
- 🤱🍼 Get a hospital grade breast pump and make sure the flanges are the right size.
- 🏢 Pumping schedule: To keep your supply, you need to pump at the same time the baby is feeding. Read more about “when to pump”
- So then, “what’s the point, you ask?” Well, if you need to go to work, it helps maintain your supply. Additionally, pumping is faster than breastfeeding, so if someone else is bottle-feeding the baby at night, you can wake up, pump for 15 minutes (on both sides), and go back to sleep. Breastfeeding takes double the time, plus you need to burp, change diapers, and put the baby back to sleep. Another way to maintain your supply is to pump after the baby feeds if you think there is still milk left. However, doing this in the first month may risk overproduction, which can lead to problems like mastitis and painful breasts
DON’Ts:
- 🚫 Avoid pumping or bottle feeding in the first 4 weeks: It’s recommended not to pump or bottle feed the baby in the first 4 weeks to establish a supply based on demand and to avoid nipple rejection
- 🍼Don’t stop pumping if you want to continue your milk supply especially during the night. Here is how to increase your milks supply and what to do when your milk supply drop.
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