How long for your supply to regulate?
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RBXChas
Posts: 2,708 Member
Hey ladies!
I am the proud mama of a one week old boy, my second son and second baby
I had a horrible time breastfeeding my first because I had supply issues from the start, so I supplemented him until 3 months before giving up on nursing and pumping and moving over to formula 100%.
This time due to perseverance and a total 180 in the hospital's policies on rooming in, skin to skin, immediate breastfeeding after birth, and not pushing formula, my new baby has been 100% EBF so far. My supply is awesome, and he is eating well. He had a doctor's appointment yesterday (at 6 days old) and had gained back all but 2 ounces of his birth weight, which I was told is awesome.
I have pumped a couple of times for relief because while I nurse on demand (which is often), as soon as he feeds and my boobs are nice and soft, they start getting full shortly thereafter. Sometimes it gets uncomfortable. While pumping helps relieve the discomfort, I clearly have a good enough supply and don't want to encourage my body to create an oversupply. (Seriously, I never thought I'd have this problem!)
How long did it take for your supply to self-regulate so that you weren't super full most of the time? Any tips on whether I should or should not pump?
Thanks so much!!!:flowerforyou:
ETA that I am at home all day with the baby, and since my husband and I have our own business, I can be flexible about being in or out of the office, at least for the first year or so, after which point we will send him to the same preschool full-time where our older son goes to school. As such, pumping is a luxury in the sense that I can do it for relief/supply increase/having a random supply in my freezer/giving myself the ability to not have to be there for every single feeding.
I am the proud mama of a one week old boy, my second son and second baby
I had a horrible time breastfeeding my first because I had supply issues from the start, so I supplemented him until 3 months before giving up on nursing and pumping and moving over to formula 100%.This time due to perseverance and a total 180 in the hospital's policies on rooming in, skin to skin, immediate breastfeeding after birth, and not pushing formula, my new baby has been 100% EBF so far. My supply is awesome, and he is eating well. He had a doctor's appointment yesterday (at 6 days old) and had gained back all but 2 ounces of his birth weight, which I was told is awesome.
I have pumped a couple of times for relief because while I nurse on demand (which is often), as soon as he feeds and my boobs are nice and soft, they start getting full shortly thereafter. Sometimes it gets uncomfortable. While pumping helps relieve the discomfort, I clearly have a good enough supply and don't want to encourage my body to create an oversupply. (Seriously, I never thought I'd have this problem!)
How long did it take for your supply to self-regulate so that you weren't super full most of the time? Any tips on whether I should or should not pump?
Thanks so much!!!:flowerforyou:
ETA that I am at home all day with the baby, and since my husband and I have our own business, I can be flexible about being in or out of the office, at least for the first year or so, after which point we will send him to the same preschool full-time where our older son goes to school. As such, pumping is a luxury in the sense that I can do it for relief/supply increase/having a random supply in my freezer/giving myself the ability to not have to be there for every single feeding.
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Congrats Momma!! My little one turned 4 months yesterday - we had some nursing issues in the beginning - but once they got sorted out it's been grand. I now have a bit of an oversupply "problem" as well. The first day or two after skipping a pump session I felt full - but by day three my body figured it out that I didn't need the extra milk at that time. My little one was TINY coming home so the first few weeks I fed on demand or every two hours - which ever came first. Now I feed on demand or every 3.5 hours (except at night- she's sleeping through and I'm not gonna wake her!!) and only feel full first thing in the morning after an 8 - 10 hour sleep. I feed my LO and then pump on the other side to relieve the pressure and to build a freezer stash.
I would suggest if you feel super engorged or are leaking - just to pump a little to relieve the pressure (using a pump or you can do it manually) I wouldn't pump to the point where you feel empty. Just enough to relieve the pressure when you can't stand it anymore.
I found the first 8 weeks were the toughest breastfeeding. But after that it got SO much easier and my boobs don't hurt anymore. I wish you lots of success and joy!!0 -
First of GOOD JOB!!!!!
For me it was around 6-8 week till I stopped leaking. The less you pump the better. I only pump once a week for this reason.
It's normal for one breast to produce more than another. So even now at six months, my right breast sometimes feels engorged. I won't pump, I'll just wait for baby.0 -
Thanks, ladies! It is good to know that I won't be like this until we decide to stop nursing!
I've thought about pumping a little just to relieve it a bit, but the pump is such a pain to set up for so little milk (it's an Avent double electric). Maybe I will get a hand pump for this purpose, since they are relatively inexpensive,
I definitely produce more on my left side; it was that way with my older son, plus my left one is a little bigger anyway
My issue comes during the night when he feeds on one side, and the other side is full and only gets more full (and uncomfortable) until the next feeding. He has given me some 3-4 hour stretches during the night, so that gives me plenty of time to fill back up even on the side he fed from. I woke up this morning and had leaked a bit from my left side onto my t-shirt 
I guess I am hoping my supply regulates itself soon so that I don't have to be uncomfortable/engorged for most of the day (and all night) like I am now. I'm sure as he starts sleeping through the night it will work it out, too. I just hoped it would come within a week or two rather than 8 weeks or so!0 -
It took me three months to regulate, but there was a 6 week delay because I was exclusively pumping for a while (you know my hospitalization story). Pumping will definitely help give you an oversupply. If you don't want an oversupply, I would say don't pump anymore or limit pumping to once a day (when not BF'ing) with a hand pump. For me the biggest thing that helped regulate was nursing on one side only for one feed.
Now, I SLIGHTLY struggle with my supply when I restrict. I find that when I diet my supply goes down, and since I don't want to risk losing the ability to breastfeed yet, I'm not really dieting...Also, when I notice supply going down, I use my electric pump a few times a day, and I see the supply go back up...0 -
PS: Just remembered that something else I did in the beginning to help regulate was to express some by hand in the shower. It definitely takes some of the pressure off you without signaling "PRODUCE MORE!" the way the pump does.0
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PS: Just remembered that something else I did in the beginning to help regulate was to express some by hand in the shower. It definitely takes some of the pressure off you without signaling "PRODUCE MORE!" the way the pump does.
I was in the shower yesterday, thinking about this. Definitely a good option! I think your other suggestions are good, too, of feeding on one side only for each feeding, then maybe loosening the regulation (or pumping more) if it causes the opposite issue.
Also, he slept for 5 hours during one stretch last night (I had to wake him up for a diaper change and feeding) and noticed that I wasn't as full. In other words, I wasn't uncomfortable! I'm hoping my body is figuring this out.0
