Hello Friends,

I need consistent pumping education for my 35-37WGA  late pre-term infants while in the hospital, and upon going home.    We start massaging and hand expressing followed by pumping within an hour of delivery when infants go to the NICU, and have seen wonderful things happen!  My question is for those little guys/girls who don't require the NICU and aren't so good at the breast due to their gestational age.  We also encourage massaging and hand expressing, and pumping  around the baby's breastfeeding attempts/successes as these babies are in Mom's room after delivery.  We do a lot of spoon feeding if they aren't consistently feeding well.

I know every child is different, but while they may show off and do pretty well while inpatient, I know they'll go home and tucker out.  Please share with me what you tell your Moms regarding going home and pumping to protect their supply until their baby is ready for the larger amount.  Do they put the baby to the breast every time, and then pump both breasts afterwards to empty?  What if the baby takes a little, leaves a little and doesn't even touch the other breast - pump both until empty?  Will they end up with oversupply?  Should they alternate putting to the breast with feeding from a bottle (if this is what they were doing in the hospital, or what they were instructed to do by their pediatrician?)

Please share your thoughts and expertise - I know that Moms are exhausted and want to give them a reasonable routine that they can stick to while recovering from childbirth.

Thank you in advance for any sage information on this topic.

Ann


Ann Kingrey
RN, BSN, IBCLC


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