Well here I am, 7 weeks postpartum. Still completely exhausted, delirious, and in the thick of breastfeeding my newborn…but at the same time so extremely grateful for baby Camille & the ability to be able to provide her with “liquid gold.” I’ve been sharing a lot about my breastfeeding journey thus far on social media and a lot of you have taken A LOT of interest in my journey, as well as have a ton of breastfeeding questions. So I figured I would do a blog solely dedicated to breastfeeding for you guys. I allowed my followers to ask all their breastfeeding questions which I answer below! If I didn’t get to your question, feel free to email me and I’ll get it answered for you!
Before diving in to the questions, I just want to say that breastfeeding is such a journey. For some it’s a very easy journey that comes extremely naturally and for others it can be a very difficult journey filled with a bunch of different emotions and mom guilt. I personally believe that moms should be more educated about the possible difficulties that may arise in the beginning of their breastfeeding journeys and be taught how to get past those difficulties. I thought that once you have a baby your milk just comes in, you put the baby to the boob, they nurse for a year (or more) and it’s as simple as that. I mean it a natural process right? So why does it seem like it doesn’t come naturally for all women? I wish I knew the answer to that question, but all we can do is once we learn how to navigate this breastfeeding world in a way that works for us, be sure to share with other mamas in hopes to help them and get all the babies this liquid gold!
And FYI, no matter where you’re at in your breastfeeding journey, you are doing a great job mama! Whether you breastfed for a week, 6 months, or 3 years. Whether you had to exclusively pump because your baby wouldn’t latch so you had to bottle feed. Whether or not you had to give your baby formula because your breastfeeding journey didn’t go as you planned. As moms, we all simply do the best that we can to nourish and take of our babies. We have got to stop with the mom guilt AND judging other moms on their journeys. Mom shaming is real these days, a big thanks to social media and the internet. A lot of us moms compare ourselves to others and allow that to make us fell less than as a mother. But we must STOP this.
Okay, now that I got that out of the way…let’s hop in to the questions you guys asked:
What’s the difference in pumping and breastfeeding?
PUMPING IS BREASTFEEDING! A lot of pumping moms are made to feel less than because they don’t actually put the baby to the breast. Instead, they pump and feed the baby breastmilk through a bottle. But it’s all still breastfeeding. Whether you nurse directly or pump and bottle feed. Maybe you meant what’s the difference between nursing and pumping? If so, I just stated that above. You’ll have to figure out which method works best for you. A lot of moms do a combination of both. If you’re a working mom, you’ll have to pump at work while you’re away from the baby every 3 hours so that way your milk supply doesn’t diminish. (I’ll get more in to this when answering another question)
Do you exclusively pump or nurse too?
I pretty much exclusively pump. I exclusively pumped with my second born for almost a year. It’s one of the hardest things I’ve done. Being hooked up to a breast pump every few hours, all while having to tend to a new baby is no joke. But with that being my only breastfeeding experience, it’s second nature to me. When I ran in to latching issues with Camille, I naturally went back to pumping because it’s all I know. But I haven’t given up on nursing her as well. I recently tried to latch her, and she surprised me and latched on. Prayerfully she’ll be nursing like a pro in the near future!
Does breastfeeding feel different with each child or is it the same?
Well my first born was formula fed (and she turned out just fine lol). My second I exclusively pumped for her. Now with my third, I mainly pump for her as well. So for me it’s been the same but I have heard from moms who’ve nursed all their children that each baby is different when it comes to breastfeeding.
What do you eat or drink to increase your milk supply?
This is the number one question I get all the time! I’ve shared pics of my stash (frozen breastmilk in my freezer) on social media and you ladies blew up my dm’s asking do I eat or drink anything to increase my supply. The answer is NO! There’s nothing in my diet that I specifically eat or drink that allows me to produce so much milk. People will debate all day whether or not there is anything you can eat to increase your supply. Some swear by certain foods and some believe that’s all pretty much myths. One thing that’s for certain is breastfeeding is supply and demand. Meaning, the more you nurse or pump, you’re telling your body to continue to produce milk. The less you nurse or pump, you’re telling your body that it no longer needs to produce as much milk. One thing that’s surprising to a lot of new moms is breastfeeding is extremely time consuming. Especially in the beginning. You MUST nurse baby or pump every 2-3 hours for the first few months (even throughout the night) in order to build and maintain your milk supply. A lot of moms think they suffer from low supply, when in reality, they just aren’t breastfeeding enough or taking too long of breaks in between in feeding. Once your supply regulates then you’re able to go longer stretches in between feedings. So instead of worrying so much about eating and drinking things to increase your supply, just make sure you’re breastfeeding every 2-3 round the clock. Trust me, if you do this you will make all the milk your baby needs.
How many ounces is your baby drinking?
Camille averages about an oz per hour. In one feeding she’ll take 3-4 oz and that’ll hold her over for about 3-4 hours. If you’re confused on how much you baby should be eating, I would ask your doctor and also do your own research. This is something that’s always highly debated in all the breastfeeding groups I’m in. But from my own personal research, babies should average about 1 oz per hour.
I’m considering only pumping. How many hours can you go without pumping?
I pump every three hours on the dot, 5 times a day, for 20 minutes at a time now. I cut out middle of the night pumps for my sanity lol BUT I’m able to do this because I produce a lot of milk. If you’re struggling with your supply, I wouldn’t recommend doing this. You don’t want to go longer than 3-4 hours in between each pump session, so that way your milk supply doesn’t’ decrease. Chile, I take my pump bag with me every where so that I’m able to stay on my pump schedule. Exclusively pumping is a lot of work, but it works for certain mom’s lifestyles. If this is the route you want to take you can do it girl!!!
How long after birth did it take for your milk to come in? Did you have to add formula as well?
The first few days in the hospital after dealing with latching issues, I had to use a manual pump to try and pump out colostrum (which is the first form of milk moms make before the milk that’s produced later in breastfeeding comes.) I was literally only able to pump just a few milliliters of colostrum those first few days. The amount was so little that I would have to use a syringe to get the pumped milk out and feed the baby with the syringe. Their stomachs are so little when they are first born that it doesn’t take much for them to get full. What I was able to pump those first few days was just what she needed. I started to see an increase in my milk within the first two weeks of bringing baby home. Don’t get discourage with what you’re producing those first few days if you have to pump early on. Trust me, your milk will increase if you keep nursing or pumping every 2-3 hours. I’m grateful that with Camille I haven’t had to supplement with formula at all. But with Channing, I did have to supplement in the beginning. I would alternate breastmilk milk bottles and formula bottles until my milk increased. I was able to eliminate formula with her all together after about one week from her birth.
I’m worried about baby having enough milk when I return to work Monday!
A lot of moms see other mom’s stashes and start to get worried that they aren’t producing enough. Especially when it’s time for them to go back to work. You only need to be ahead of baby by ONE day when you go back to work. This is because when you’re at work, you will pump enough for the baby to have the next day. You just have to be sure to pump every 3 hours while you’re at work. So need to worry mama. You got this!!!
I will stop it here for the sake of this blog not being too extremely long. Like I stated previously, if I didn’t answer your question, feel free to email me. Also, do what works for you mamas. You will get BOMBARDED with information and advice when it comes to breastfeeding. Most moms mean well but at the end of the day you still have to follow your own mother’s intuition and do what’s best for you and your baby. For example, a lot of people will tell breastfeeding moms not to pump within the first 6 weeks of bringing the baby home so that you don’t create an oversupply. I however started pumping while I was I the hospital with Camille. In hindsight, I’m so glad I did because my husband ended up having a very close death in the family that we had to travel for when Camille was just two weeks old. I wasn’t willing to travel with her and have her around a bunch of people with her being so young. But due to me starting to pump early I already had enough milk for my mom to watch her for me. I didn’t have to stress at all. I pumped while I was away from baby and she had all the milk she needed. This is a great example of doing what works for YOU! I hope this blog helped you guys out some. All the products I use on my breastfeeding journey are below:
Medela pump instyle advanced electric breast pump
Parent’s choice breastmilk storage bags
I also store all my milk in a deep freezer (shoutout to my girl BK for letting me borrow hers!) In a deep freezer your milk can last up to a year!
As Always…Love you All,
Courtney N. Williams
Very informative and good blog Court😘