How often should I pump?

It really depends on how much you want to be able to give him breastmilk. To optimize being able to pump enough to fully breastfeed you pump at minimum 8-12 times daily - the more the better & no longer then every 3 hrs at night. Since you are still new & milk supply is not established, even *if* you are fine giving some formula, pumping less will likely be catastrophic to supply & yo will dry up rather quickly because you wont' be keeping your prolactin levels high enough. Your body needs a minimal amount of stimulus or biologically your body will basically believe your baby has died & it no longer needs to make milk. I *know* that sounds horrible to say, but that is how the body reads it when it isn't getting stimulation for milk production or it is getting inadequate stimulus. There are "dwon regulator" peptides in milk - they are a type of amino acid - when milk gets removed regularly - these amino acids stay in the milk & leave the body. When pumping or nursing is delayed & milk is allowed to stay in the ducts, the body absorbs these amino acids & read it as a cue to reduce milk supply. The body does this to protect YOU from issues like plugged ducts & mastistis which can be caused by oversupply - so whatever you do not remove will be reduced.

So the answer is, the more often the better. it is better to pump for short durations more often then long durations less often - so it is better to pump for 10 mins every 2 hrs then 20 mins every 4 hrs. What you *should* do is get with a lactation consultant & work on his latch. Tongue sucking isn't unusual & being 10 days early shouldn't be a latch issue at all - that is a full term baby. I am not sure who told you they would be why - but it isn't. If he has a latch issue, then it is unrelated to gestational age. Preemies DO have more latch issues, but term babies either do or don't have them - but being 10 days before a due date or 10 days after has no statistical bearing on that. If you had a lactation consultant at the hospital she should have been able to work with you on pumping to avoid the use of formula early on as that is the worst time to use it - for damaging your supply, for increasing any latch issues as well as for any health risks associated with it's use. If you qualify for WIC you can get assistance with latch for free from them as they have lactation consultants on staff. You can go to a La Leche League leader for help with latch & you can go to an IBCLC (you should be able to get a referral to one through your Pedi or your Ob) & an IBCLC may or may not be covered under insurance - they could all help you to get him on the breast. If he isn't going to nurse directly, maintaining supply will be much harder. In the meantime you should have been instructed at MINIMUM in the use of a nipple shield. If he can latch to a bottle he should be able to use a nipple shield. You can get those at most pharmacies & many big box retailers. I know Target carries them.

If you don't care whether you formula feed or not, then just do whatever you want in regard to pumping & don't worry over the latch. If you do want to nurse, you need to minimize any formula he takes in as it totally messes with the milk supply issue. It takes him longer to digest, so you have to pump as many times as he would be eating if he were purely breastmilk fed to try to catch up your supply. You can also continue once you are back to work. i went back at 6 weeks too - and I had to supplement a little at first until I could work out how to get enough output while away from him, but I managed through & made it past a year. It all boils down to how much it matters to you really. If you really wanted to do this, then get real professional help & get him latched on otherwise the odds are grim that you'll be doing any breastmilk feeding by 3 months if he is already being supplement at a few days old. If you just sort of wanted to do it if it was easy & worked out well, then pump whenever you feel the need & do whatever works from there.

it is hard to tell you what you *should* do as you don't say at all what you REALLY want to do. Do you want to continue nursing? Would you prefer to be nursing? Are you feeling at all relieved that he isn't latching so others (like Dh) can do bottles for you? Did you already plan to stop nursing when you went back to work? I am NOT asking you to answer those questions - I am saying that YOU know the answers to those questions i am sure & that is part of determining what YOU *should* do...do it really is up to you.

You should pump at least as often as you would be nursing, which is about every 2-3 hours, even at night. I would pump for at least 10 minutes and no more than 30 minutes. Keep in mind that the amount of milk you pump is not the amount of supply you have in your breasts. You always have more milk than what you actually see after you finish pumping. Congratulations and good luck!

Your lactation nures should have consulted you before you left the hospital but my wife does it every 3 hours to get a good flow.