Pumping before feeding?

[mayliz]

Hi ladies,

This is my first time asking for some breastfeeding support. We have been going strong for 3 months and other than a few early hiccups, we have done well, I think. Baby is gaining well, lots of wet diapers, and he sleeps well at night...most nights. Lately, however, my baby has started eating every three hours, instead of every 1.5 hrs, and while it is nice to have a break, I'm also accumulating a lot of milk and when he goes to drink, the poor thing ends up with milk all over. It's not an over supply issue, I don't think. He gets extremely irritated and won't eat. He latches, cries/fusses and then unlatches. So today I did a simple test and pumped 1oz of each breast, which he happily drinks from a bottle, and then he latches on perfectly. Great. But how do I do this when we are on the go? Will this resolve? This happened at my mom's house yesterday, the baby was crying and had trouble latching, which of course caused all kinds of questions from my mother. Is he ok? What's wrong? Etc. He is generally very happy and giggly, so of course my mother was worried about the turn-around.

Any thoughts?

[mibarra]

If you can avoid the pumping unless absolutely necessary, your supply should regulate itself fairly quickly. They make as much milk as you use

[Leiiki]

Try hand-expressing a little instead of pumping. Just express until you get past the "jet stream" mode Pumping runs the risk of increasing your supply further.

ETA: you can either express into a towel or catch it in a bowl if you are desperate to save the milk. I know it's hard to just discard any!

[mamasbaby]

i tend to agree with the hand expressing part. I'd also just try to stay calm and away from anyone who could stress you out. Your body producess the amount your baby needs so I guess if you just relax and let him figure it out a little it will sort itself out, if not keep a bottle next to you and express a little and then give him his feed.