Increasing Supply as Baby Grows

[danado16]

Hi all -
  I have a 12 week old DD and I just returned to work.  I'm planning on pumping 2 - 3 times while at work (around the times she would eat) to keep my milk supply up and so that my mother (who is watching her) will have milk to feed her each day. I'm not too concerned with meeting my goal to have 3.5 - 4 oz in each bottle (I can get about 3 ounces out of each pumping session and I think DD only takes about 3 or 3.5 ounces at feeds anyways). But I am worried about what will happen as she gets older and needs to eat more. Will my body naturally know to kick up production as she grows (I am planning on bf in the mornings and evenings) or will I need to work on increasing my milk supply when the time comes?

Any help/advice would be appreciated - this is one of the biggest things I'm stressing about.

Thanks!!

[carasmom]

Oh ... I think I can help with this one!
From the Kellymom.com site:
"In exclusively breastfed babies, milk intake increases quickly during the first few weeks of life, then stays about the same between one and six months (though it likely increases short term during growth spurts). Current breastfeeding research does not indicate that breastmilk intake changes with baby's age or weight between one and six months. After six months, breastmilk intake will continue at this same level until -- sometime after six months, depending in baby's intake from other foods -- baby's milk intake begins to decrease gradually (see below).

The research tells us that exclusively breastfed babies take in an average of 25 oz (750 mL) per day between the ages of 1 month and 6 months. Different babies take in different amounts of milk; a typical range of milk intakes is 19-30 oz per day (570-900 mL per day). "

There is a great calculator on this page http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkcalc.html for estimating bottle amounts... but the main point here is that you won't need to increase your supply as your milk changes to meet a growing baby's needs.

HTH

[~ Vik ~]

Hi there, and welcome to bw!

I was just about to sign off and go to bed when I saw your post.  I will pop on properly tomorrow sometime, but wanted to bump you up and give you a couple links to check out!

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/bf-links-pumping.html
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/index.html

In general, I don't think you have much cause for concern, especially given that you are continuing to bf when you are together  IMHO, your biggest challenge is likely going to be growth spurts.  You will have to ensure that your mom is responding to your dd's hunger cues. She will likely be feeding more frequently, and you may find that during those growth spurts you have to pump more frequently to ensure that your supply increases to meet her rising demands. Here's the link to the http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=66001.0 FAQ.

hth
Vikki

(posted at the same time as carasmom

[clh]

Hey!  Gotta run, but really quick...  I did what you listed for each of my boys.  Just so you're aware, my pumping output decreased a bit, but they stopped waking at the dream feed time, so I pumped during that time to make up anything that I lacked.  It worked fine.    And you can do it.  I weaned them at 14 and 16 months.