Feeding your baby is a deeply personal choice. One that is riddled with ‘advice’ from well meaning grandparents’ and relatives’ opinions. But what about what you want to do?
You have read a ton of books (ahem, googled a ton of articles), and have come to the conclusion that breast milk is best for your child. In an ideal world, feeding the child breast milk exclusively for 6 months to a year is possible. But then there’s reality…reality that says there a million things that come in the way of establishing this perfect breastfeeding relationship. And that’s why mothers turn to a combination of breastfeeding and pumping to meet the breast milk goals for their little ones.
It is important to understand scenarios where combining Breastfeeding & Pumping is beneficial:
You are trying to build up your milk supply.
You are about to return to work, and will be away from your baby, but you still want to offer breast milk to your baby.
You want greater flexibility in your life.
Your baby has difficulty latching on or has a tongue-tie.
You want to measure & monitor your baby’s milk intake.
You have an underlying medical condition that restricts breastfeeding (ex. yeast infection, etc)
These are all great reasons why a combination of breastfeeding and pumping will be beneficial for both you and your baby.
Things you need to Breastfeed & Pump: A baby, a breastfeeding mommy & a breast pump.
There are many types of breast pumps available in the market - traditional electric breast pumps with the long tubes and bottles that attach to your breasts, manual pumps and the brand new wearable breast pumps (like théa) that fit right in your bra and give you the most flexibility while pumping breast milk. Make sure to choose the one that fits best to your lifestyle.
Things to Remember while creating a schedule of breastfeeding & pumping:
Babies are generally fed at intervals of 2-3 hours - try to maintain this schedule while pumping as well.
Below is a suggestion of what your combined breastfeeding & pumping schedule can look like, feel free to personalize it according to what works best for you and your baby.
6am: Breastfeed
8am: Breastfeed before heading out to work or dropping of your baby at childcare
10am: Pump at work/ wherever convenient
1pm: Pump at work/ wherever convenient
4pm: Breastfeed when you return home
6pm: Breastfeed
7:30 pm/8pm: Breastfeed according to baby's bedtime
10:30pm: Pump before you sleep
3:00am: Pump or breastfeed according to your convenience
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