u/BlueCarpetArea

Hey,

I'm currently working towards majority breastfeeding after a rough start (PPH affecting supply, poor latch and transfer) and I'm at 6 weeks PP now. We've had a period of triple feeding, and I've been pumping most of the time to bring up my supply, and to get milk into baby after she lost weight during week 2 when we tried to EBF (she'd actually gained weight at the 5 day point while pumping and supplementing with formula). Her latch, transfer and my production have all improved and we've not had to use formula for more than a week. This sub has been so helpful over the last few weeks as basically got "left to it" in regards to pumping.

Over the last few days I've started breastfeeding overnight instead of pumping and bottle feeding, but we can't seem to drop a bottle or 2 between 5pm and 10pm. She cluster feeds during this time but never seems satisfied and last night ended up crying and screaming due to hunger. There's milk there but it doesn't seem to be enough for her. Jump to this morning and I wake up with engorged boobs, she eats for 15 mins and passes out. They are no where near empty so I pumped 2 hours later (8am) as she is still deep asleep and got 285ml, without being bone dry empty. Based on my usual evening pumps when I was breastfeeding less I would get an average of 100ml at 8pm.

Is there any way to try and increase/decrease production at different times of day? I know about prolactin levels being highest 1-5am and I try to keep my hydration levels up during the day. I worry if I keep pumping off the excess in the morning for the evening then this will just make things worse, but letting her cluster feed in the evening isn't making it better (?yet). Would adding back in a pump session in the late afternoon/evening be useful?

TLDR: I make the majority of my milk in the morning by baby drinks the majority in the evening. What do?

Hey,

I'm currently working towards majority/exclusive breastfeeding after a rough start (PPH affecting supply, poor latch and transfer) and I'm at 6 weeks PP now. We've had a period of triple feeding, and I've been pumping most of the time to bring up my supply, and to get milk into baby after she lost weight during week 2 when we tried to EBF (she'd actually gained weight at the 5 day point while pumping and supplementing with formula). Her latch, transfer and my production have all improved, thank goodness, and we've not had to use formula for more than a week.

Over the last few days I've started breastfeeding overnight instead of pumping and bottle feeding, but we can't seem to get rid of a bottle or 2 between 5pm and 10pm. She cluster feeds during this time but never seems satisfied and last night ended up crying and screaming due to hunger. There's milk there but it doesn't seem to be enough for her. Jump to this morning and I wake up with engorged boobs, she eats for 15 mins and passes out. They are no where near empty so I pumped 2 hours later (8am) as she is still deep asleep and got 285ml, without being bone dry empty. Based on my usual evening pumps when I was breastfeeding less I would get an average of 100ml at 8pm.

Is there any way to try and increase/decrease production at different times of day? I know about prolactin levels being highest 1-5am and I try to keep my hydration levels up during the day. I worry if I keep pumping off the excess in the morning for the evening then this will just make things worse, but letting her cluster feed in the evening isn't making it better (?yet).

TLDR: I make the majority of my milk in the morning by baby drinks the majority in the evening. What do?

Kia ora!

I could do with some advice after a bad day of pumping yesterday.

I'm 5 and a half weeks PP, and I've been using a Medela Swing Maxi with in bra cups after a couple of days of the hospital grade Symphony and a week of the Swing Maxi with the standard bottle/flange set up that needs a bra or hands to hold it in place. Initially I was pumping because of latching issues that made breastfeeding difficult, and then continued after baby lost weight due to poor transfer when breastfeeding. The aim is to eventually be largely breast feeding with the option to pump and allow my husband to feed, or if I don't feel comfortable breastfeeding in public.

Generally my supply has been slowly increasing but I had a bad day yesterday where I was only getting half to two thirds of my usual amount for the last 5 days, and I was needing to manually express my breasts halfway through to get that volume. They felt full and I was able to get things moving when I expressed, but still a bit disappointing. I usually pump for 15-20 mins.

I need help troubleshooting. Am I moving about too much? Do I need to crank up the power? I usually sit with it at 6 or 7. I generally didn't have my bra clipped up because it compressed the cups into the breast, but did occasionally when moving for security. The flange size hasn't changed obviously, but is it normal to have milk on the flange section, not just in the tunnel bit? Anything else I'm missing go consider?