Help only 20oz ebm left in freezer...

[Magscat]

...I'm back at work FT and despite pumping at lunchtime (and a small amount breakfast and bedtime) I can't express enough to keep up with dd's demand.

She's 5.5 months old and so far exclusively bf but it looks like we'll need formula by next week.

I was hoping to do without it (e.g. bf morning, solids in the day & small amount ebm, bf evenings & night).

Anyon got any ideas on how I can increase milk supply while being away from her all day or should I just give I just get used to the idea that formula is fine for the next 6 months?
If I start formula I 'm assuming that we should use the ordinary one not the follow on?

Magscat, I'd say you'd need to pump twice a day at work, is that possible?, is she on solids yet? When I went back to work after ds1, I could only pump once a day and had to supplement with formula, with ds2 I pumped twice a day and he rarely had formula, if ever. How much is she drinking during the day? And if she's not actually finishing the bottle maybe you could just put less in each bottle?

Are you also pumping on your days off?

Actually Magscat, somebody on Mumsnet said that they pumped from one breast while feeding from the other and were gradually able to increase supply.

I pumped more than once a day at work in the early months. Also, when ds dropped his 10pm feed, I "used" it for a pumping session. I also used to pump at weekends, when ds was hiaving nice long naps.

If I was really depsarate - or he was going thorugh a growth spurt, I ouwl dwake up in the middle of the night and do a pumping session then.

I was back at work ft when ds was 4 months old - and fully bf him for 12 months.
I never managed to get the hang of pumping on one boob while he fed on the other.

There are people on here who know a lot more about this than me, but my understanding of the whole b/milk thing is supply and demand is the key, so it would make sense to pump as much as you can. Is this possible at your workplace? I hope so. Best of luck.

In fact, if I remember correctly (ds is now 4.5, so it's a while ago), I pumped about 3-4 times at first, ie every c.2 hours, reducing to twice a day later (and could cope with one).

I was lucky that I had a supportive boss.

It was more of a problem when we had all day team meetings - had to do a big pump at lunch time!

I found that pumping at night gave me lots of milk.

And Magscat, what pump are you using? Double pumping is supposed to help supply

Thanks for this. I'm using an Avent Isis which I get on fine with when I'm full but struggle to get more than a couple of ounces in the evening if she's had a good feed at tea time.

I could try pumping twice at work. (There's no designated space but I can usually find a quiet office and the time out would be ok so long as I'm not in meetings) Haven't felt the need though. I found with ds 3.5 years ago that once I slowed down on bf, my supply went very quickly. I never got engorged.

Yes, I am pumping on my days off but not at night cos she's still feeding at least 11pm. 3am ish and 6am ish - often more.
She's not on solids yet but I tihnk we'll try soon

oh good luck magscat
I pumped when I went back to work FT with dd1 a few years ago - pumped twice a day at work. It worked well for a couple of weeks but I just didn't have enough time to do it all ( am teacher) and found I had to stay longer at the end of the day to get everything done ......I eventually went to formula during the day but dd didn't really like it and wouldn't have any or have v little milk during the day. I would arrive at childminders and feed her in the car and as soon as I picked her up I fed her again - typing that out I must have been crazy! But it worked for us. We had 3 months of that and then it was summer hols and by the time I was back to work in Sept she was on cows milk

Thanks Hana. Will be intersting to see how she takes to solids. She's showing mild curiosity when she sees us eating but not real signs of 'I want that now'. I'm tempted to start very soon cos she's up feeding for 20-30 mins at least once or twice a night and now I'm working again it's doing my head in.
There's varying opinion about whether solids help with night sleeping but the other reason I was tempted was to see if she'd be happy with just solids & breastmilk & then I don't have to bother with formula.
Chipmonkey - she's drinking about 2 lots of 6-7oz and then a 4-5oz bottle to keep her going if she's still hungry before I can pick her up about 5.30pm. Then she breastfeeds for anything from 20 mins to an hour & goes down for about 7pm. SHe then feeds again at least twice before waking about 6.30am whne she isn't particularly hungry.

Magscat, if she's drinking that much you really would need to be pumping twice a day in work, although less if she takes to solids as hana says. I've just got an Isis IQ duo and I find the double pumping more effective, more milk in less time! But if you're not time-constrained in work (like I will be) then the Isis hand-pump should be fine. Good luck!

Chipmonkey - do you think that it sounds like she's drinking alot or just too frequently? I.e. If she took more in the day time she'd stop the night feeds.

How much did the Isis duo cost?

magscat - I think our dd's are about the same age - in the last threee weeks she's gone from waking once and sometimes never during the night to waking every 2 hours pretty much - have had lots of opinions on if she needs more milk or solids - since Monday I've been giving her babyrice at teatime and giving her formula after she's drained both sides at 7;30 (bedtime) and 11 when she wakes and her sleep is already a little better.
your dd isn't long off having solids so hopefully that will make a difference as well! i've been so v v tired when she's been waking 3 and more times a night lately and I'm not back to work yet so I can imagine how you are feeling!
hope it works out

magscat the Isis duo is VERY expensive, 250 pounds. And I'm in Ireland so its nearly 400 Euro which for some reason sounds so much more expensive. I got it because when I go back to work I will only have 15 minutes for each pumping session and I needed 20 with the normal Isis. You can get double pumps cheaper, someone on here was recommending the Ameda Lactaline, they said about 75 pounds. I went for the Isis duo because I found my ordinary Isis more effective than the hospital grade pumps when ds3 was born prem, so I wanted a double pump based on the same principle IYKWIM. Dh nearly had a heart attack when he saw the price though!

TBH, I don't think you can do too much about what she WANTS to drink, I know some bf babies start sleeping more during the day and waking up for a bf at night instead. Is she draining her bottles? What I mean is, if you're putting 7 oz into a bottle and she's only drinking 5oz, you could maybe try giving 4 small bottles instead of 3 big ones and then if she doesn't drink the fourth, you get to refrigerate/freeze it for another time. What you're supposed to do is express at those times that she's feeding, so if you're saying that she's feeding 3 times a day, then you should be pumping 3 times a day. Hard work, though!!

Thanks. She seems to want 6-7oz - i.e. she usually finsihes or nearly finishes a 7oz bottle so I send her to nursery with 2 of those then we give them a 4-5oz bottle in case she still seems hungry about 5pm ish (sometimes I can't get to her till half five). Monday/Tuesday she's at home with dp so I can get out of work early & feed her at team time.

There's no way I'm spending that much on the duo machine as I'm not planning any more children and I'd probably end up only using it for a few weeks until she is taking enough solids to need less milk iyswim.

I think you're right about pumping twice at work. Will give it a go next week.

Hana - glad you're getting a bit more sleep. I hope I'll be able to say the same in a few weeks!

tbh, mags, I am planning to to try for another baby at some stage, otherwise I wouldn't have forked out for it either! I'd say that if you just pump twice a day with your Isis and do extra little pumpings here and there it should be enough. Solids should make a big difference too. Best of luck!