Pumping the Oversupply

[laece]

I've got an oversupply. My 3 week old just takes 1 side per feeding. I've been toying with the idea of exclusively pumping one side and feeding her from the other from here on out. I could donate the pumped milk--it's hugely important to me to help out another mom who may need supplementation with breastfeeding. 

Is this ultimately a good idea? I don't want to cause more problems for myself with engorgement or whatever by pumping one side. My daughter is gaining weight VERY well at this point and seems content with nursing from the one side. 

[Scootaloo]

I had a similar situation when my daughter was a newborn, and I did pump the oversupply whenever she wouldn't take the second side. It helped me establish a good freezer stash before I went back to work. Your supply will calm down a bit with time, so it probably won't always be an issue, but I don't see anything wrong with pumping if you want to.

One thing to watch out for with an oversupply is the foremilk/hindmilk balance. Sometimes baby will fill up on the foremilk and not get enough of the hind milk, which is fattier and necessary for tiny brains. Too much fore milk can cause digestive issues too (gas and diarrhea). If you think this might be happening, pump off some of the foremilk before you latch baby on.

Good for you for wanting to donate milk! I did, and it was super rewarding and I'm so happy I was able to help another family.

[chubs]

Just to be clear..you plan on switching up which side you pump and nurse from, right?

I did this a lot during the early weeks and got a decent sized stash. I didn't do it at every feeding because I pretty much hate pumping, hah... I think if you did it every time baby nursed you could end up *needing* to pump every time. Does that make sense?

[casey]

If you pump the oversupply, you'll encourage it to continue. If you want to keep it so you can donate, there's no problem there. Just know that if you may have to ease back slowly to avoid clogged ducts, etc if you change your mind.

I didn't donate a ton, but it did feel great to donate.

[nursefrizz]

Feb 4, 2015 22:03:17 GMT -5 chubs said:

Just to be clear..you plan on switching up which side you pump and nurse from, right?

I was wondering this too. I think that,for example, if you only pumped on the right and only nursed on the left, your supply on the right might drop. Maybe not though. People respond differently to pumps. If it were me, I'd probably keep switching sides to stay even.

And awesome for considering donating! I'm considering it too, but I don't know much about it -- requirements for the milk banks and all of that.

[casey]

Feb 4, 2015 22:42:33 GMT -5 nursefrizz said:

Feb 4, 2015 22:03:17 GMT -5 chubs said:

Just to be clear..you plan on switching up which side you pump and nurse from, right?

I was wondering this too. I think that,for example, if you only pumped on the right and only nursed on the left, your supply on the right might drop. Maybe not though. People respond differently to pumps. If it were me, I'd probably keep switching sides to stay even.

And awesome for considering donating! I'm considering it too, but I don't know much about it -- requirements for the milk banks and all of that.

Yep, I'd also switch up the sides if I was going to do this. 

Keep in mind you don't have to pump every single feed (that would get so old fast!). You could alternate one-sided feeds with your babe and pump to donate at the same one or two times every day. 

I went through our local milk bank rather than a mom-to-mom donation. I had to fill out a history, do an interview, get forms signed by OB and pedi, and go for a blood draw (they paid). They gave me lots of options for drop sites - including the NICU in same building as our pedi. 

[flcl]

I think this depends on how much of an OS problem you have, how comfortable (or uncomfortable) you're feeling and how much effort you want to put into this. If you continue to take milk out, by nursing or pumping, you're just telling your body to continue producing. We had an awful OS problem so I took care of remedying that first. I was still able to build an extremely large supply and donate over 400oz. (I used a HMBANA site and went through the same process as casey.) Best of luck!!

[lissydee]

I did this with my second. The main motive was to build a good stash for when I went back to work, but then I ended up not cycling through it fast enough, so I donated a bunch.

[Deleted]

While your heart is in the the right place to pump to donate with an oversupply I would caution you against this. Your primary goal should be to regulate your supply to meet your baby's needs without overwhelming her with too much milk too much foremilk and too fast of a flow.

Pumping right now like you suggest will encourage engorgement to continue and may cause issues ESP with baby going thru the three week and six weeks growth spurt. Most moms find trying for this kind of thing burns them out ion pumping sets them up for engorgement oversupply plugged ducts and mastitis.

Instead I would recommend regulating your supply with your baby setting the pace first. Once past the three week growth spurt try pumping once a day and see what volume you get and see how it goes. If you still are committed to this kind if thing after the sux week growth spurt then consider adding in another pump session or two to donate but also Not so much that you are totally chained to the pump and can still pump extra for your own baby.

Goals of donating need to come after goals of making this work well for your baby primarily.

[laece]

Thanks for the replies ladies!

I would switch which side I feed my daughter and pump. Probably every other day. I also was just going to pump twice a day to relieve a little pressure from the other side. I certainly want to make sure my daughter's needs are taken care of first. I didn't know how the fore-hind milk situation would pan out with nursing and pumping though. I do have a fast letdown and we nurse tummy to tummy to help her handle it.

To regulate my supply, then, I shouldn't pump and just let one side get engorged (obviously release a little with hand pumping so it doesn't cause issues)? I am concerned about losing my supply altogether. I under-produced with my first daughter and she didn't gain weight for quite a while due to it. Caused me a lot of heartache. I definitely don't want to go through that again!