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Post by gimmesugar on Nov 8, 2017 15:37:31 GMT -6
Hi! I haven't posted here in awhile 😕
DS just turned 6 months old and nurses on demand during the day (or has a bottle of expressed BM at daycare approximately every 3 hours). He usually just has 1 MOTN feeding between 3-5 AM. Sometimes he'll feed earlier, but that's usually his window. Before I go to bed, I pump a small bottle around 10PM to simulate a dream feed so that I don't have too long of a stretch without emptying.
Lately, though, I've been tempted to occasionally go to bed at, like, 8:30 just to get a little more sleep. This means I would skip that pump session and potentially go 7 or 8 hours. Will that kill my supply? I wouldn't do it all the time, but sometimes I'm just extra tired from work and would really like an early bedtime. Not sure if it matters but we have not started solids yet. That's on the horizon.
Thanks!
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vvvvvfee
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Post by vvvvvfee on Nov 8, 2017 16:32:55 GMT -6
i would absolutely sleep! it might take your body a week or so to adjust-- you might wake up really engorged if you're not used to it-- but you will find a balance.
why not actually dream feed instead of pumping? does LO have trouble settling back down? you could always try to do a dream feed right before you go to bed (whenever that is), in order to try to get a longer stretch of sleep.
but yeah, i would take sleep where you can get it. bc unfortunately good sleep is usually just a phase, like most things child-related.
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Post by gimmesugar on Nov 8, 2017 16:43:35 GMT -6
vvvvvfee Thanks for the advice! We never did a dream feed. When DS was young, he would wake to feed around that time anyway, and then that was the first feed that he dropped. I didn't want to train him to expect a feed at that time, and now I don't feed within 5 hours of bedtime in order to make sure a suck/eat to sleep association isn't created. There were a couple of times when I was just too lazy to pump. I didn't go to bed super early or anything. I just didn't feel like assembling all the parts. I did get engorged and leak, and I swear my hormones got all out of wack and my supply dipped. It could have just been a coincidence, or it could be because I did it a few days in a row....or that could have just been the result of my supply regulating. 🤷🏻♀️
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vvvvvfee
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Post by vvvvvfee on Nov 9, 2017 9:31:10 GMT -6
I didn't want to train him to expect a feed at that time, and now I don't feed within 5 hours of bedtime in order to make sure a suck/eat to sleep association isn't created. say whaaaaaat?? i can see how maybe you don't want to rely on nursing to fall asleep (although it is very natural and normal for a baby to want to nurse to sleep)... but how would your LO possibly be able to make an association between nursing hours before bedtime (or even 30 minutes before bedtime!) and falling asleep? you could certainly nurse before you begin the nighttime routine. that is plenty of separation between the two events. it would be far easier than pumping each night and then you wouldn't have to worry about getting engorged overnight. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2017 10:13:38 GMT -6
Drop the pumping session.
Add a nursing session sometime in those five hours you don't before bed....
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Post by gimmesugar on Nov 9, 2017 10:20:55 GMT -6
vvvvvfee I probably wasn't very clear. I do nurse at the beginning of our bedtime routine. I've just never done a dream feed because he's a pretty deep sleeper in that first stretch. I also had a friend who said that the dream feed really messed them up once object permanence hit because she would wake specifically out of habit at that time. When he was tiny, I was super nervous to even slightly wake him to dream feed lol. I was just too chicken to do it, especially when he started sleeping longer stretches. At this point, I would just rather not disturb his sleep. Last night, I did a short pump session at 8:30 and then went to bed at 9. He fed a little after 2:30 and then was good til morning. I didn't feel super engorged or anything, so that was good. I also use those small extra bottles for daycare if I don't pump as much as I need at work. I don't *always* need them, though, so if I just skip it occasionally, perhaps it won't cause any issues.
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vvvvvfee
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Post by vvvvvfee on Nov 9, 2017 10:25:28 GMT -6
gimmesugar, ok, makes sense. i get it about not wanting to disturb his sleep. if the bottles are useful to you as backup for DC, then go for it. once your LO starts solids, you will have more of a cushion (i.e., you could send some solids in to DC if you're a little short on BM), and you could def. drop that nighttime pump just to make things easier on yourself.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2017 10:27:02 GMT -6
gimmesugar, that makes more sense. we never did a dreamfeed. dd has always woken up multiple times a night so it's never been on my radar.
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Post by gimmesugar on Nov 9, 2017 10:34:33 GMT -6
vvvvvfee @kelltothekell Thanks for your help! I think I got stuck on some sort of 6 hour rule. Not sure where I heard about not wanting to go longer than 6 hours without emptying, so I was afraid that my daytime supply would tank if I went too long at night. When he started sleeping through his 1AM feed, I was excited and nervous at the same time.
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vvvvvfee
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Post by vvvvvfee on Nov 9, 2017 10:41:02 GMT -6
gimmesugar, maybe you're thinking of how they say you shouldn't let a newborn sleep more than 4 hours overnight w/o nursing? by this age, they can definitely go longer stretches at night. LO's milk intake will gradually decrease once solids are started, and your supply will dip a little bit after that happens-- but that is normal!
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Post by gimmesugar on Nov 9, 2017 10:43:37 GMT -6
vvvvvfee Thank you for the reassurance! I love BFing and already have all the feels about having to pump at work, so I guess I'm extra paranoid about causing issues.
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Post by marshian on Nov 9, 2017 17:17:21 GMT -6
Just wanted to say I'm in a similar situation. My 4-month-old goes 6:45pm-12/1/2am without eating. I pump around 8:30pm before bed. There's been 2x the past month or so where I've skipped the pump session because I was exhausted. I definitely felt engorged but no supply issues. Once every now and then won't hurt (except if your boobs hurt when super full). I would be cautious about dropping the pump session completely because from what I've read it's not the amount you remove but the number of times you remove milk which keeps your supply the same.
ETA: But if your supply is more than enough and your LO starts taking less milk, drop it!
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Post by gimmesugar on Nov 9, 2017 17:20:31 GMT -6
Just wanted to say I'm in a similar situation. My 4-month-old goes 6:45pm-12/1/2am without eating. I pump around 8:30pm before bed. There's been 2x the past month or so where I've skipped the pump session because I was exhausted. I definitely felt engorged but no supply issues. Once every now and then won't hurt (except if your boobs hurt when super full). I would be cautious about dropping the pump session completely because from what I've read it's not the amount you remove but the number of times you remove milk which keeps your supply the same. ETA: But if your supply is more than enough and your LO starts taking less milk, drop it! OK good to know. I don't mind pumping usually. It's mindless TV watching activity. I just don't like staying up later specifically to do it, so I think if I just stick to *usually* doing it for now before going to bed (whatever time that is) with only the occasional skip if I'm particularly tired, it sounds like I should be good. |
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Post by marshian on Nov 9, 2017 18:08:16 GMT -6
Just wanted to say I'm in a similar situation. My 4-month-old goes 6:45pm-12/1/2am without eating. I pump around 8:30pm before bed. There's been 2x the past month or so where I've skipped the pump session because I was exhausted. I definitely felt engorged but no supply issues. Once every now and then won't hurt (except if your boobs hurt when super full). I would be cautious about dropping the pump session completely because from what I've read it's not the amount you remove but the number of times you remove milk which keeps your supply the same. ETA: But if your supply is more than enough and your LO starts taking less milk, drop it! OK good to know. I don't mind pumping usually. It's mindless TV watching activity. I just don't like staying up later specifically to do it, so I think if I just stick to *usually* doing it for now before going to bed (whatever time that is) with only the occasional skip if I'm particularly tired, it sounds like I should be good. I watch TV during my night pump too! I agree. Skip every now and then and don't worry! |
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