Away fron my nursing toddler for 36hr, how many times should I pump?

[katie80]

I'll be gone from about 5/6pm tonight until 10pm/12am on Saturday. He's currently nursing 2-3 times a day and we've just dropped a couple NFs in the last two nights. I will feed him before I go, so was thinking I could get away with just pumping once in the morning on Saturday and either DFing when I get home or pumping again (a bit nervous to DF as we've just dropped feeds, but wouldn't mind it, really). Does that sound reasonable? Ideally, I'd like to not pump at all, but don't want to become engorged and don't want to lose my supply as he's not ready to be done.

[~*~Little Miss Sunshine~*~]

Ideally you would want to pump each time you would typically feed, however, pumping once on Saturday AM and feeding when you get home would be fine.  SInce it is such a short period of time, it really should not significantly affect your supply

[*Ali*]

I went away for 48hrs when Colby was 13mo and he was feeding 4 times in 24hrs and I pumped 3 times a day. I was still a little engorged and got a slight blockage in one Breast but that went immediately when I fed him upon my return. I didn't really plan when to pump I just did so each time I felt them getting full. Maybe you could just do that and see how you feel?

[katie80]

Thanks, ladies. Ali, I kind of did what you mentioned and it ended up working out to the times I was originally planning. However, I was a bit disappointed to see that when I pumped Sat morning, I only got about 3.5oz. I did end up feeding him when I got home around 1am, as I wasn't able to pump in the car and there was really no other option before then.

I'm now a little worried I don't have much of a supply left. With each of the kids, I've only ever felt really full once as we've dropped feeds and with C I didn't even get much of that last week when I didn't feed him at night. I figured it was because he maybe wasn't taking all that much in and was just using me to get back to sleep. But, then when I got so little from pumping I started to wonder if I just wasn't making much anymore. It seems a little silly as I was feeding him 4-5 times in 24hr just a week ago, but my breasts really don't feel full at all. Maybe since now I've dropped down to mainly two, it was just too much of a drop. Or, maybe he's happy with just 3-4oz per feed?! I don't know if I should try feeding him mid-day again for awhile (so 3 feeds) and see if that helps or just continue with the two until he seems unsatisfied, or continue weaning and drop the last two over the next few weeks (which makes me pretty sad, tbh ).

Can I get your thoughts, please?

Oh, and congratulations, Anne!! I hadn't seen your new ticker til this thread... how exciting!!

[*Ali*]

I'd probably stick with the two feeds unless you think he is missing the midday feed or you're worried about how much milk he gets.

The yield test used to say baby will get an ounce more than you can pump so that would mean C is getting 4.5oz anyway. But actually pumping is an unreliable indicator, hence why we don't recommend the yield test anymore, so he is most likely getting even more when he feeds directly from you.

[katie80]

Thanks, Ali, I appreciate it. I know pumping can be inaccurate, but I've never had trouble getting a good amount before, so was uneasy. But, he doesn't seem unhappy with the amount he's getting, so I guess I'll just go with that. He eats yogurt pretty much daily and also has some cheese, so I don't think I need to worry about overall milk intake. He's hit or miss with the mid-day feed, often refusing it if there's something else he wants to be doing, so I'll just offer if he seems to want it. Otherwise, will stick with morning and BT. Thanks, again.

[*Ali*]

Sounds good to me 

[katie80]

Oh, look at your cute new avatar... cuties!!

[*Ali*]

Ah Thank you.  Suddenly realised i didn't have a pic of all 3 of them.