Am I nursing enough?

[BCsMom]

DS is just about to be 5months. About two weeks ago, he started sleeping through the night relatively regularly - he only wakes up once on other nights. I work FT, so I'm nursing him in the morning before he goes to daycare, then he's currently getting 4 bottles for 18 ounces total at daycare, and I nurse him before bed. I pump three times at work and added a regular pump session at night. So I'm pumping or nursing only 6-7 times per day, depending on whether he wakes up at night.

Today, a Saturday, he only nursed 5 times. I'll pump before bed, but then that's it. Should I be trying to nurse him more often? I know the 18 ounces at daycare is a lot (he's there about 10 hours), but since he's eating less at night I thought it would be okay. He has very short nursing sessions - often only 5-6 minutes. Thoughts? I'm just so worried about losing milk supply!

[keen1981]

Considering he is being overfed at day are, you could lose your supply. I would consider adding a pumping session before you go to bed to keep up. 18 ounces in 10 hours is a lot. Alot.


I would check out kellymom.com for bottle feeding tips and pump advice. It's the leasing source for up to date and proven breastfeeding advice.


Also, to keep my supply I would go into my sons room at night, before I went to sleep, and dream feed him.

[yogamama28]

18 ounces??? Wow, that's a ton of milk in 10 hours!
Are you able to pump all 18 of those ounces during your three pumping sessions when you are at work?

[momof3boys1girl]

I agree with above posts. The golden rule is once ounce per hour away. So he should be getting 10 to 11 ounces at daycare.

[BCsMom]

I am pumping enough during the day and I have a pretty large freezer stash, so I'm not concerned about running out. But I can see if the daycare will feed him three bottles instead of four and try to stretch it out enough. I'm more concerned as to whether DS is getting enough feedings during the day, now that he's sleeping through the night...I'd rather not wake him up - do dream feeds still allow him to sleep?

[keen1981]

yes, often they will just sleep as they nurse. Acting as a pump, instead of actually pumping. LOL

[tibeca]

Your best measurement is going to be number of wet/poopy diapers (a very soaked bed time diaper counts as at least 2) and weight gain. Is he happy/satisfied?

[yogamama28]

My dd's ped says that as long as they are getting 5-6 feedings/day that they're good.

[keen1981]

Originally Posted by yogamama28 My dd's ped says that as long as they are getting 5-6 feedings/day that they're good.

This is a statement about your child. It's a dangerous blanket statement when directed to all nursing mothers. I have seen some very suck babies in my clinicals because their mother nursed to a very strict schedule or nursed too few times in a day. Even under the advice of their doctors.

[yogamama28]

Originally Posted by keen1981 This is a statement about your child. It's a dangerous blanket statement when directed to all nursing mothers. I have seen some very suck babies in my clinicals because their mother nursed to a very strict schedule or nursed too few times in a day. Even under the advice of their doctors.

You're right. I should have been more clear. That was the response that I got from my daughters' ped when I asked him a very specific question about her (she is the opposite as OP and only drinks 3-5 ounces while she is at her sitters during the day). It was also framed with additional direction to keep an eye out for wet diapers and weight gain. I apologize for the blanket-ness of my statement. That wasn't what I intended. I nurse on demand and do not put my daughter on a schedule at all. She nurses whenever she desires and whenever she's thirsty, hungry, or just needing some mommy time. In my case, she doesn't drink much while away from me and then nurses much more frequently during the evening/night to compensate.