Hi Mamas -
My daughter is 10.5 months. We nurse first thing in the morning and right before bedtime. I had started removing the daytime feedings/pumping at 9 months. Two mornings/week, I need to be in at work super early, so I pump those mornings and she gets fed later at daycare. When bottle-fed in the morning, she drinks 6-7oz. When I pump, however, I am getting about 3oz only, even though I'm spending about 20 mins total pumping.
I am not concerned that she's not getting enough when we nurse. She doesn't act hungry, she pushes away, etc. But has anyone else out there experienced this drastic difference in what their babies eat and what they pump? I am just pumping those two mornings/week, but sometimes I think, what is the point??? It's not enough for one full feeding, so we add formula to it. I don't necessarily want to try increase my supply since when we nurse it's fine, and I plan to just stick to nursing twice/day.
Any thoughts? Is this normal?
Thanks for the help!
I feel like I wrote this. I am having the exact issue with my 9 mth old. I am looking forward to the responses.
I went through this with my daughter. I was only able to pump 2 oz at one time. The pediatrian (who was also a lactation specialist and a strong believer in nursing) told me that the baby can get more milk out than the pump. She told me to use fenugreek, but that only helped a little. After a couple of weeks, my baby started to lose weight and the jaundice won't go away. I then had to supplement with formula with a supplemental feeding system and I pumped regularly. After a while, I started giving formula straight out of a bottle.
My daughter's weight throughout the first year was mostly in the 10%-25% range. I felt discouraged and disappointed in my inability to produce milk, but the doctor said a small percentage of women just can't produce enough milk and there's nothing wrong with supplementing with formula. I stopped nursing after 4 months and went to all formula. My husband got to bond with the baby and to this day is a tremendous help with our daughter.
My take away from the entire experience is that as long as your baby is gaining weight and is healthy, then she's taking in enough milk. But for the small percentage of us who just can't produce enough milk, formula is fine too. I know the literature say breast milk is best, etc, etc, etc. But when you've tried and tried and tried and your baby's weight becomes a concern, then by all means supplement! I wished I had stressed less about it and enjoyed the time with my infant while I was on maternity leave.
Completely normal. Like another mom said, the pump is never as efficient as a baby. If your daughter seems content, then what you're doing is just fine :)
The pump is never as efficient as a baby. A pump can never get the same amount. As you go along and switch to pumping your breasts will adjust to make what the pump is now requiring.
Your breasts will also adjust to the twice a day feedings and not produce as much.
They make the amount of milk that is being asked of them.
Just to add to what the other respondents have said: make sure you have a high quality pump, and that your pump is working properly. You will still never get as much milk from pumping as your baby is able to get while nursing, but a poor quality pump or one that is not working properly will get even less milk out. You can also try gentle breast compression or massage while you pump if you haven't already. Some women find that manual expression works better for them than a pump. You may have to do a little experimentation to find out what works best for you.
I would continue to pump on the morning she's not nursing, even though it hardly seems worth it to get the 3 oz. This is because you're not nursing very often at this point and a further decrease in the times you nurse could be the tipping point that pushes you over the "not enough milk even for baby" cliff. The more milk you can remove from your breasts the more milk you will continue to produce.
Good luck!
Every mom I have talked to has the same discrepancy - a pump is just not the same as a baby! I also know that your body is trained to produce milk at certain times and not at others based on your schedule of feeding so pumping usually works best if you pick a time that you can do it every day and stay consistent with it (I did this and decided that right before bed every night worked the best for me so I pumped at ~10pm each night and froze the milk.) This way, you have enough of a supply saved in the freezer to accommodate the amount that she needs and your body is accustomed to it (you would also want to pump if she is skipping a normal feeding time on the days that you work). As far as whether or not she is getting enough I would just watch that she is having normal elimination (pooping and peeing regularly) and staying on her growth curves and not worry too much about it otherwise! Good luck.
Kimmie G is absolutely right. And some mom's simply don't get much when they pump - their body knows when it is being "fooled."
To really keep up your supply, you need to feed her at the breast as much of the time as you can. If your daughter is available, use her, not the pump.
When I was nursing I would pump one side wile nursing the other. I made sure I had a let down and was totally relaxed. If you are tense at all while trying to pump it won't work. It is a little tricky to pump and nurse at the same time but if you can prop your baby up on a pillow and use your hands to pump you will probably produce more pumped milk.
