Breastfeeding journey tips

Hello! I have been exclusively breastpumping since my LO was 2 weekish old. She is now 4 months old. Yesterday i was pumping and she got fussy and I thought she may be hungry (she doesnt show the typical hunger cues so its always a hit or miss with feeding her 🤣) so i offered her my breast since I was pumping anyway. I was actually so sure she would not take it but she did! Today i tried again and she actually latched a few times and drank (after she spat up milk as usual…) so I assume she really drank. I didnt so my 12 pm pump and now wont do the 4 pm one as well since she took the breast. Or should I continue pumping? I dropped few weeks ago to 6 pumps per day and get out between 1300 ml to 1500 ml milk per day. If she keeps taking my breast, how often should i pump? Is it still necessary? How do i know she drinks well? She is a very slow weight gainer and thats one of my biggest concerns! Doctor said so far she is OK just tiny bit little and light (2nd percentile) but she was that during pregnancy and after as well so he wasnt too concerned. Since i “missed” the start of breastfeeding it is kind of new to me now. So i would be happy about any tips and knowledge you cna give me.

Show your support

Wow you produce a lot of milk ! So yes you will or is not have to keep pumping a little bit or else you will probably be uncomfortable I would still link a few times a day right after baby feeds ! And before you go to bed at night ! Unfortunately you will never know how much she is getting with breastfeeding but just watch for she cues that she seems full etc . You can always offer her a few ounces from a bottle after breast feeding as well to make sure she is full / got enough ?

I've only exclusively breastfed so I can't give any tips on combining with pumping unfortunately. But if you want to switch to breastfeeding and your lo is also taking to it I would say try increasing one feed at a time on the boob to see how it goes. You have an established supply so she should be theoretically okay to take it all directly from the breast and you shouldn't need to pump. But of course she might just prefer to have a bottle sometimes instead or as a top up since she is used to it. To encourage more breastfeeding try as much skin to skin as possible and just keep offering her the boob. The more she latches the more likely she'll have more. Also remember that breastfeeding isn't supposed to be painful, so if that's the case check if she's latched properly. On the weight, there shouldn't be any difference if you're breastfeeding/bottle feeding. My lo went from 13 to 95 percentile in 6 weeks after birth just breastfeeding and stayed at 95 all the while he was breastfeeding.

@Akansha @Aspen thank you both! Tomorrow im going to add pumps after breastfeeding since she doesnt empty both of them. Today was very successful and im happy! I am going to check if i can get a lactation consultant after the holidays to help me out :) but thank god it is not as painful anymore as it was when she was a newborn. I think she even latches slightly better. But very interesting how it all developed out of nowhere. Few weeks ago she denied the breast and I was sure I could never breastfeed 🤣

@Rabia I’m so glad she is latching for you that is absolutely amazing! I exclusively lumped as well and always hoped my daughter would eventually latch but no such luck ! So happy it’s working out for you !!

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌