Breastfeeding and pumping schedule

This is the same as me. My son falls asleep and then would wake up instantly when I put him down. I now pump on the night feeds ( feed of one boob while I pump the other) and finish on the bottle. He then happily goes down after that feed. I'm not sure if this is the right way or if there is a right or wrong way but it works for me so maybe try some different routines and see which works for you

For my last baby I exclusively pumped because he didn’t latch and the general rule was to never miss a morning pump because it will always be your biggest. This time round I’ve had the same as you, I need to top him up with a bottle if he falls asleep and isn’t getting a full feed. So I’ve been expressing every morning. Feeding off one boob and expressing the other. I spoke to a infant breastfeeding team last week when we were struggling and they suggested to pump at the end of each feed - let him take what he wants and then express the rest ready for the next feed. We did this for a while but his feeding has improved and I don’t feel like I need to do this every feed now.

a schedule might help but don't forget the more you pump/feed the more you produce. Also i think they do get the milk while asleep. Mine falls asleep but still sucks on it and swallows the now small amount I produce.

@Louise so in the morning do I feed first from both sides and then pump, or feed with one and pump the other? How long should I pump for after the feed then? From what I see now, I only have milk to pump for 10-13mind max and that's without the feeding. Should instill try 10mins after the feed?

@krystal are you weaning off the breastmilk or the amount reduced due to the baby not having a full feed ?

@Aliona so they told me that if he doesn’t feed for very long he is only getting the fore milk which is more watery/less fatty. The aim of the pump is to get the hind milk out so you can give them that. That’s what will fill them up and make them put on weight. You can normally see the difference between the two different milks when pumping. So I tend to try to get him to feed as much as he can from one boob so he gets to the hind milk. If I do a bit from each boob he will only get the fore milk from both. I try to be mindful to swap sides though so one boob isn’t always the feeding boob and the other the pumping boob.

@Louise this is very insightful, thank you. Where did you find this breastfeeding team? I'm thinking of attending a local breastfeeding session

@Aliona I attended a local one but he slept through the whole thing and didn’t feed 🙃 so I mentioned it to my health visitor (on the phone, I haven’t seen them in person yet) and they said they could send me the breastfeeding teams details. I left a voicemail and they called me back to arrange me going to see them. They can come to you but I found I could see them quicker if I went to them.

@Louise I saw my health visitor today, need to check her notes to see if she gave me any information on this. Thank you 🙏

@Aliona they have likely left you a number for the HV so you can contact them. So you can always ask them for breastfeeding support details if it’s not in your notes.

With my first who was jaundiced and very sleepy, I was advised to gently tickle his toes whilst feeding to keep him awake and feeding for longer. Seemed to work, so might be worth trying that too