Today Articles (Continue): Exclusive Pumping – The Best… Expressed! (Part 2) PUMPING – HOW LONG? Most experts agree that whatever the reason for pumping, moms should pump for about 20 minutes. Most agree its best to pump at least 15 minutes, and to avoid going much longer than 20 minutes. Experts also encourage pumping about five minutes past when the milk stops flowing, often by doing so mom will elicit another letdown, and at the very least will maintain production as well as encouraging increase in supply if needed. “The standard advice is to pump for 15-20 minutes. Even if you don’t have milk flowing that entire time, you need to pump that long to get enough nipple stimulation. Also pumping at least 5 minutes after your milk stops flowing will tell your body that you need more milk; thus increasing your supply. 15 minutes should absolutely be the minimum pumping time. I’ve talked to women who only pumped for 10 minutes and eventually started losing their supply. They had to work really hard to rebuild it.” Pump Settings “More is not better” when it comes to the suction settings on the breast pump. Most experienced moms do not set the pump speed on high, but rather keep it on lower setting for comfort. “This one was a BIGGIE for me and I want to definitely pass this one on! There should be a suction setting on your pump and a speed dial. This is very important, the higher the suction does NOT mean the more milk you make. Your pump will probably have a suction setting of minimum, medium, and maximum. I had mine set on medium when I developed a blister. Once it healed, I turned it down to minimum and have never had another blister or pain again. I keep the speed at 3 but if you feel like too much areola is being sucked into the horn, then turning down the speed will remedy that. If you are in a lot of pain and turn down the settings, you might actually get more milk because you are more relaxed!” HOW MUCH MILK PER BOTTLE? Moms may find it surprising that the breastfed baby often takes less milk in the bottle than formula babies take in. This is because breastmilk is so well utilized by the baby’s body that less is needed. Since breastmilk is so easily and completely digested, the breastfed baby needs to eat more often, but they don’t need as much per bottle. When a baby is nursed from the breast, research shows us that baby will vary their intake of milk from feeding to feeding, and the length of time at the breast doesn’t always correlate with the amount of milk taken from the breast. Overall, the average bf baby takes in between 19 and 30 oz (or 570 – 900 mL) per day (24 hrs), but the amount taken per bottle may vary somewhat from feeding to feeding, just as it does at the breast, depending on baby’s need at the time. ” According to the most current breastfeeding research, exclusively breastfed babies take in an average of 25 oz (750 mL) per day between the ages of 1 month and 6 months. This may vary a little from baby to baby, but the average range of milk intake is 19-30 oz per day (570-900 mL per day). To estimate the average amount of milk baby will need at a feeding: ■Estimate the number of times that baby nurses per day (24 hours). ■Then divide 25 oz by the number of nursings. This gives you a “ballpark” figure for the amount of expressed milk your exclusively breastfed baby will need at one feeding. Example: If baby usually nurses around 8 times per day, you can guess that baby might need around 3 ounces per feeding every 3 hours when mom is away. (25/8=3.1). NOTE: Current breastfeeding research does not indicate that breastmilk intake changes with baby’s age or weight between one and six months.” HOW TO BOTTLEFEED It is important to remember that it is very easy to overfeed a baby using bottles. This is because the way a baby drinks from a bottle is very different than how a baby would nurse from the breast. A baby cannot control the flow of milk from a bottle thus experts recommend using slow flow or “newborn” type nipples, to reduce the risk of overfeeding. The breastmilk should never be warmed in the microwave, since doing so not only creates hot spots that cannot fully be distributed evenly even when the milk is mixed (the heat adheres to the fats which “glob” together, and can result in scalding of a baby’s mouth and throat), but it actually alters the composition of the breastmilk, damaging some of the nutrients. Shaking breastmilk is also not recommended (gently swirl to mix, instead). Ideally bottlefeeding the baby should mimic how a mother breastfeeds her baby. The baby should be fed on cue, or demand, and not according to a rigid schedule. Breastmilk digests in about 90 minutes, so one would expect the feedings to be anywhere from 1.5 hrs to 3 hours apart. (younger babies often need to eat more frequently than older babies). The bottle should be offered gently, in a non-stressful manner, with the baby drawing the nipple into the mouth. The type of bottle or nipple is not as important as the manner in which the bottle is offered. A typical nursing session lasts about 15 to 20 min, and care should be taken to allow baby to take his/her time to drink the bottle, not “rushing” through a feeding as quickly as possible. Changing position mid-way through a feeding is often recommended, as is holding baby is a more upright position. Propping a bottle is also not recommended.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Jul 2013 05:35:03 +0000
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