Struggling with feeding, expressing, and finding the time to even eat

[BoyMumToBe34]

How is it possible to feed every 2 hours, pump every 2 hours, keep my reflux baby upright for atleast 30mins after a feed, feed my baby slowly so they don’t take in too much air, and then I’m told “sleep when the baby sleeps” there is no time. I barely have time to brush my teeth and eat. I’m exhausted. How is it possible to them pump? Please can someone share their newborn schedule ideally their newborn who has reflux or colic. I’m extremely sleep deprived and struggling.

Hello! Congratulations! Are you directly bf your baby at all, or exclusively expressing and bottle feeding? I did almost exclusive expressing with DS for various reasons and it's bloody tough. The problem is newborns, especially ones fed breast milk, don't really stick to a schedule. Do you have a partner who can bottle feed while you pump?

Edited to ask, how many weeks is your baby?

Oh bless you! I remember those days so well. How old is your little one? Do you have a partner to support you? Or family nearby?

First, do you really need to pump at the moment? Could you wait until little one is more settled, and you have managed to catch up on some sleep?

Second get your partner/family to make you a flask of tea/ sandwich so that you can eat while you feed. Have bananas/chocolate/qla drink close to hand at all times.

Do you have/could you borrow a vibrating baby chair? (That helped ds1 after feeds. Ds2 hated it!)

Best of luck. You are doing brilliantly and will look back one day on this period and smile. (Mine - both colicky babies) are now late twenties and I'm just about there.

I dumped pumping by week 6 because the balance of feeding her (formula), pumping, holding her upright for 45 mins (but couldn't hold her on my chest at the same time as the pump), trying to take basic care of myself, and trying to get any sleep was impossible and was genuinely causing postnatal depression/anxiety. The catalyst for saying "f this" was a nurse saying in order for pumping to work it really needed to be at least 6 times a day and middle of night was better.

I say this basically to stress that your wellbeing is more important than pumping. My only regret is not stopping sooner

If baby won’t latch, has Tongue Tie been ruled out? It could be the cause if the reflux symptoms

Do you need to pump? If it’s just so they can have the occasional bottle why not just use formula? Would make a huge difference to your mental health. How old is baby?

Why are you pumping?

I remember those days! I did 30 minutes breast feeding followed by 20 minutes bottle feeding (I had poor supply) and then 30 minutes pumping. The baby would often fall asleep during the pumping and when I was done, it was time to start again. I dropped one of the night feeds/pumps at 8 weeks and let my partner give just a bottle instead, and at 3 months we went to formula only.

Do you need to pump? I never really did as baby wouldn't take a bottle. Can you use a carrier to keep them upright, so your hands are free to eat??

Pumping is a nightmare when they’re tiny and feeding is so frequent. If you have to pump then you need someone else to feed and water you and do everything around the house and you still won’t get enough sleep. If it’s so someone else can feed the baby then don’t put yourself out to do it, it’s just not worth it. When they’re older it’s a bit more possible.