Pumping Breast Milk For Newborn

Source: Pumping Breast Milk For Newborn

Different mothers may have different reasons for choosing to feed their babies exclusively with pumped breast milk: Premature baby who is not able to latch onto breast.

In this case, pumping helps babies to enjoy the benefits of breast milk which include better immune system, lower risk of obesity, cancer and other diseases. 

Timing of the first pump

You can use a breast pump soon after delivery, as desired. Early and regular stimulation of the breast encourages the breast milk secretion.

However, if you are feeling uncomfortable after delivery, you may want to wait for one hour or two. This will not affect success of pumping or breastfeeding. If you are going to a c-section, you may wait a bit longer. 

Frequency of pumping
When your baby is under three months of age, it is recommended that you pump once in every two to three hours, or 8 to 10 times a day if you decide to pump exclusively. This is the frequency whereby most newborns will need to be fed in the first three months.

How long should I pump for?

If you are exclusively pumping, you should be pumping for about 120 minutes per day. 

How much breast milk for each pumping section?

You would probably pump small amount like 3ml or 4ml each time on the first day. This amount is sufficient to fill the tiny stomach in a day. The amount of breast milk produced will gradually increase to about 90ml each time when your baby reaches 3 months old of age.Ideally, 

How long can I store my freshly expressed milk?

This will depend on the temperature of the surrounding where your expressed milk is stored. The following is a guideline.* At room temp: 4-6 hours* In the refrigerator: up to a week*  In the freezer above or below a refrigerator: up to 3 months* In a deep freezer: 6-12 months* Once defrosted milk is thawed, it must be used within 24hrs. 

How often to breastfeed

First, there is no definite number for this question. In the first four months, it is recommended that nursing mothers practice breastfeeding on demand rather than scheduled breastfeeding. 

Breastfeeding on demand means you breastfeed your baby whenever she shows sign of hunger like hand sucking motion. 

Breastfeeding on demand has shown to be much more beneficial than scheduled feeding as scheduled feeding has shown to be linked with poor academic performance in the future.
Another reason  that breastfeeding on demand is better is because there is growth spurt in the first year in which baby will put on more weight than usual. 

In general, in the first four months, frequency of breastfeeding is about 8 to 12 times a day. This will usually decrease as the size of tummy of baby increases. 

Number of times of feeding will drop to 3 to 5 times a day when your baby is 6 to 12 months old. 

For duration, there is no specific guideline, nursing mothers should look for sign that the baby is full like stop sucking for a minute. 

In general, duration of breastfeeding can last from 10 minutes to 45 minutes. 

One of the major concern that parents have is whether their babies have sufficient milk or not for each session of breastfeeding. 

To know that, parents can monitor the weight of the baby. In the first three days, baby will lose about 7% of weight after birth and gain 35 grams daily thereafter in the first week. 

In the second week to 2 months old, the baby is expected to gain weight by 170 gram every week. The increase in weight will drop to 120g to 160g per week in the 2 months to 6 months. The number will drop further to about 80 when the baby is between 6 months to 12 months old. 

Please refer to how often to breastfeed for more information.

How to Stop Your Breast From Producing Milk Naturally

Most doctors in Singapore will not prescribe medicine to stop breast from producing milk. Some claim that the available medicine may have some undesirable side effects. Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, however, will be able to give you some traditional Chinese medicine to help you to stop the milk production.

If you want to stop the milk naturally, you may consider the following:

http://www.babyment.com/infant/stopmilk.php

"poop" during feeding or immediately after feeding

Some babies may "poop" during feeding or immediately after feeding. Find out more about this here:
http://www.babyment.com/infant/poopingduringfeed.php

How to increase breast milk supply

First and foremost is to ensure that the breast receive enough stimulation. Take a look for more details about how to increase breast milk supply.
http://www.babyment.com//infant/increase_breast_milk.php

Benefits of Breastfeeding

Do you know that breastfeeding can help mothers to slim down? Find out more benefits of breastfeeding to babies, mothers and families here:
http://www.babyment.com/infant/milk_breast_benefits.php

How to increase breast milk

Breastfeeding is demand-supply process. Amount of milk that a mother can supply is mainly determined by the stimulation that the breast receives. However, they are some other factors that can influence the amount of milk a mother can supply.

Learn here on how to increase breast milk.