Exclusively pumping

[Hope54321]

Has anyone started pumping after exclusively breastfeeding for 6 months.

How often do you need to pump? How do you know how much your baby will need.

I ask because my baby is now 15 weeks and I seem to have horrible upper back pain from having to leaning forward as baby won’t allow me to lean back and he unlatches when I do. I’m hoping this will get better, but if it doesn’t then I want to pump from 6 months and onwards.

I've not pumped exclusively no, but there is some information on Kellymom on how much LO will need

Practicing different positions would be a lot easier...

I have exclusively pumped for nearly 7 months now because we were not able to get a latch. You will probably need to pump at least as many times as you would feed, so every few hours in the beginning, including during the night which will be very important to get established. It is hard work with all the cleaning of pump parts, sterilising equipment and the time spent pumping, as Aprilshowersandhail said, trying different positions would be a lot easier if you can. Even now I only pump 4 times a day, it is still hard work, especially now we are coming out of lockdown and there are opportunities to go out. Kelly mom is a good source of information, also there are some Instagram accounts that might be useful, such as exclusively_pumping. As for how much they need, at the age of your baby it will pretty much stay the same until they start on solids, the average is 750ml according to Kelly mom. When I started pumping there seemed to be a lot of negative opinions on if it is sustainable, it is for some, with a lot of hard work and dedication. I hope it works for you if this is the route you need to take.

Pumping is not easy - I did it for 9 months with DS1 then Bf DS2. You need to work on sitting more comfortably as a first prong of attack - pumping means 6-8 times a day, never feeling like you're producing enough, and trying to sit and pump while your baby becomes mobile... chaos.