If I nurse on one side and then pump both breasts once my son's done eating do I still need to switch sides for the next feeding?
Yes, still switch sides for the next feeding. The baby empties the breast more thoroughly then the pump. If you only feed the baby on one side all the time you'll start to get lopsided :-)
J.
yes, unless of course you are so sore and really need to give that breast a "break" for a day or two... but ideally, yes :-)
Yep. Totally agree with Jodi. The pump just doesn't do the same job that your baby will do. Always switch to keep things even. :)
Yes. Your child is better at emptying the breast then the pump so if you don't switch the other breast will not be signaled to make as much milk as the other and you could end up with one breast producing much more than the other.
If you aren't going to switch breast during a feeding you can pump on one side while nursing on the other. Some women get better results this way because the baby nursing on the other side encourages multiple letdowns that pumps are often unable to reproduce themselves.
Ideally, yes. I see how you'd think they're both being emptied so you'd be back to square one, but the one you nurse and pump is getting double the stimulation. That one will produce more because of nature's supply and demand system. Don't stress about always remembering which side he nursed before you double pumped, but I wouldn't continually nurse him on the same side and then double pump. Plus, if you do this often and your supply gets off balance, he'll likely come to prefer that one because it will produce more, and that could become troublesome.
yes... alternating the actual suckling from baby is ideal - because the pump doesn't give near 25% of what the baby's suckling will do!
Yes, definintely. Pumping is great but it doesn't empty the breast as well as a baby nursing. If you favor one side, you will produce more milk on the favorite and less on the other. Hope this helps you and congrats on your little one :)
Yes, because pumping usually won't get out all the hind milk like baby can, plus pumping both sides is giving the side baby ate on extra stimulation. Switching baby is the only way to keep both sides even.
