tinytoes

Teddy is now 12 days old. At first I pumped off about 40ml for him every 3 hours. Now he's soooo hungry and gets through about 60 or 70 ml (or 80, as he's just finished) every 2 hours. and i'm sure he would take more if i gave it him. And he has "snacks" of direct breast feeding (I'm not sure he gets much milk though) between feeds.....is it too much?!

Holldoll

He's probably going through a growth spurt. Have you read Marge's post on pumping? It's called Pumping - Destined to Fail, you should probably read it.

kiwimama

He is probably having a growth spurt that all babies go through. It usually takes no more than 2-3 days before your body realises it needs to make more milk to satisfy your growing babies needs. This advice is all through what I have read though, I'm sure some of the other ladies will be able to give you first hand advice!

KarenLV

Wait until he is 6 weeks old and then you will discover the word APPETITE!This is just the start....Good luck!

Margerle

Yeah after about 7-10 days the next 4-6 weeks are one roller coaster of growth spurts. There's appx 4 spurts within the first 6 weeks of life.

It's like the first spurts are to get mom and baby on the same page. Mom's making enough milk, then cued by baby to make more, then she's making enough, then she's cued again. This helps the transition from an automatic milk making mama, to one that does it on baby's cue. By six weeks this should be pretty well established.

Then baby can really hit the gas and start growing

tinytoes

i read it. while i find it interesting, i also find it interesting that my mid wives are happy with my routine - breast AND pump. these are ladies who are very keen on breast feeding.

there are times when using a pump is the best thing. Ted wasnt getting enough milk through suckling alone. by pumping 80% of his needs right now i've increased his weight and have a happy baby.

Margerle

Great job! The point of that thread was only to caution women that pumping can undermine their production when they have a hard time pumping. The average woman does have a hard time pumping. I think Holldoll was refering to some of the information other than the 'don't pump till you're established in production'. And if you can't wait, find someone who can support you and help you - which you've obviously done.

The point is, he's getting breastmilk, and that's awesome!

Samantha675

I agree with it being a growth spurt. There have been times with Bren, that I felt like he was off the breast for about 5 minutes in total some days.