Breastfeeding & Sleep

I fed my son or pumped.. I was lucky he would eat and then go right back down. My husband fed him bottles from day 3 ( I had latch issues so I started pumping in the hospital per the lacation consultant). Eventually when I felt he was just using me as a pacifier, I would then send my husband in. And before I knew it he was sleeping through the night. When he first started sleeping through the night I would set the alarm and pump to get the milk, since I had to work and wanted a nice stock pile of milk for him.

I don't ever do a bottle while BF. I just take all the feedings night or day. Because that is the whole problem if you skip a feeding you end up pumping anyway and if you just deal with the engorgement for a week or so your body will adjust and stop making that much milk at night but then you can run into the problem of a drop in you milk supply. And because your baby is not sleeping through the night i don't think it's a good idea to do that. For me with my first she nursed about twice a night until I weaned her from night feeds at 11 months. My second was awful and I nursed her every 2 to 3 hours round the clock for 1 year straight. Yes I'm talking every 2 to 3 hours all night every night for 13 months! So if you only have to get up twice I think you should count yourself lucky!

I took all the feedings, but then my daughter would never take a bottle. I would think that if he took 1 feeding every night then the engorgement would subside, but since you do it m-f it won't. I just brought my my daughter to my bed. When she nursed I didn't even wake up at times. That definitely had its pitfalls too. Perhaps you could work out something where you get naps on the weekends.

Hi C.,

I breastfed my son until he was 15 months old. I stay at home with him so I never pumped. My hubby never woke up to help me feed him. My son was waking up more often than twice a night though so I didn't become engorged very often. However if he did happen to sleep through the night or long enough for me to become very full, I just dealt with the pain. It didn't last long, although I would tend to be full for the rest of the day. It all worked itself out.

If your hubby is willing to wake up and feed the baby, I would say sleep through the pain if you can!

I can tell you what I did when I started replacing some feedings with a bottle. At first, I pumped so I could stock up on bottles. Then after awhile, I just skipped emptying them during that time. I would sometimes put a hot rag on my breasts and empty just enough to relieve the pain. But you don't want to empty them completely. You want your body to realize it doesn't need to produce during that time. Eventually, it does adjust. I frequently doubled up on pads in my bra too.

Your body will get used to it!! What goes out is what your body makes.

I am a teacher, so we just got out for the summer. My baby was born in March, and i had to go back for the last weeks of school. I pumped only three times at work and nursed 4 times while i was with her at home. I also nursed on weekends. It NEVER messed up my supply. Now that i'm home, my supply has increased and is making what it needs to feed her.

Our bodies are so complex!! If you don't want to do the night feeding, don't do it. Stick through the pain (apply a cold compress) for a few nights and alls well. How are you getting milk for the feeding? The best time to pump is in the morning...
My daughter is 3 mo. She is sleeping 7-9 hours a night no feeding after 7-10 and will usually wake around 6am. Since im pretty full when i wake up, she only nurses on one side. I pump (i have an electric. Bought it really cheap off of Craigslist. I already had the parts- shields and tubing, etc from the hospital) and am able to get an entire bottle. If you choose to do this and need to increase your supply, pump for 5 min after nursing in the morning. Do this for a week or so, increasing your pumping time. After a week or so, pump on one side while she nurses on the other. It's great bc i am able to freeze an entire bottle if i don't use it that day and know i will have one for tomorrow.

Check out Kellymom.com. there is some AWESOME advice about bf and pumping.
Keep it up momma!!

pump it out and store it in the fridge or in the freezer, for a longer durability. It is always handy to have some breast milk at your hand for emergencies.I am assuming this is happening on one of the night feedings and is not letting you sleep well. Other options is to use the pads inside your nursing bra and sleep with it. I had sort of the same problem before the first breastfeeding in the morning and get used to it. However, two hours after the last feeding, at night, I did pump and put it in the fridge. However, I know is very uncomfortable to sleep with the breast full. Keep letting your husband bottle feeding your baby. Eventually and with all fingers crossed, your baby will sleep through the night and everybody will have a better mood next day.

I just got up and fed my son instead of being engorged/leaking all over the bed. But my engorgement woke me up so it was not working for hubby to feed our son so I could sleep because I couldn't sleep! Once he's a few months old your engorgement won't be so bad and you'll be able to get some sleep!

You have to do what works for your family. But being in pain from engorgement shouldn't be one of the choices.

I don't know how old your baby is, but eventually, the feedings will become longer apart and your milk production should work along side of this occurance.
My sister's baby sleeps through the night now so she feeds her before bed and in the morning. My baby, around the same age of my sister's, still requests a feeding at night. I think my sister must wear a nursing bra during the night. But for me, I nurse her in bed and then take her back to her crib. She is my third child and I know that it won't last forever.

I think keeping your house 'night like' is probably the most important thing. If everyone is up making bottles or pumping, its not a good environment to sleep in and therefore your baby is getting the message that it is okay to fully wake up.

My sister swears by the book, The Happiest Baby on the Block. I have not read it but she says that it helped her get her baby to sleep through the night. (Perhaps I should:))

Good luck. Enjoy this time...it goes super fast.

How old is your son? If he is still under 3 months or so your body is probably trying to figure out how much milk it needs, so it may not be possible to completely skip the feeding. You could manually express just enough so you can sleep if it's keeping you awake, this isn't as stimulating as pumping, and may not take as long so you can get back to bed. I personally would just suck it up because I was just so tired I didn't want to get out of bed. My son is now 5 months old, and I'll occasionally take a bottle of breast milk with me if we are going out for the day or something, and I'm ok if I skip a feeding. I think it just comes with time that you won't feel as full. I think if your son will take a bottle it's a great thing to have that freedom to let someone else feed him and you can do other things. Both my boys were exclusively breast fed, and took a bottle with no problem at all. Keep up the good work, it does get easier!

I never found a solution to this problem! I just wanted to let you know that I feel your pain!

I nursed my kids whenever I was with them. The only time they didnt eat from me was when I was working and they had breastmilk in a bottle. My husband offered to feed the girls at night but I was gonna wake up anyways and engorgment was awful and I didnt wanna mess with my milk production. If your husband is only doing weekend feedings your proly doing more harm than good, and if your gonna pump you might as well feed him yourself or completly empty your breasts out to store the milk and make sure your production stays up. Good luck!