Busting Bad Advice: “No Pumping for 6 weeks.”
Did you leave the hospital or your breastfeeding class being told, “Don’t pump for at least the first 6 weeks?”
I often get asked why someone can’t pump for the first six weeks. This advice seems to come from well intentioned hospital LCs who may only have a few minutes to spend with a new nursing parent, and the advice is given with the intention of preserving the nursing relationship without consideration for what the goals of that parent actually are. So let’s breakdown what is the truth behind this idea, and what the advice is actually intended to convey.
The truths behind the concept:
Babies need time to learn to effectively breastfeed and the first few weeks are important for the baby to spend large amounts of time at the breast to encourage good nursing and milk supply. If your goal is to exclusively or primarily nurse, we want to utilize this crucial time to establish a successful nursing relationship.
Pumping in the early days is often done after nursing, and therefore, more milk is removed than the baby needed. This can lead to an oversupply which can be a problem in a exclusive or primarily nursing relationship.
If pumping is done in place of a nursing session in the early weeks, baby will likely be feed with a bottle, and there is a significant chance baby will be fed with too fast of a bottle, or with the wrong nipple shape, and it may negatively impact the nursing relationship.
So now that we know the basic ideas behind the advice, let’s see if it applies to you meeting your goals?
Are you wanting to exclusively or primarily nurse?
Maybe avoiding pumping in the early days might be supportive of your goal.
Are you wanting to partially bottle feed from the start?
If you are wanting to bottle feed at least part of the time from the start, bringing in your full milk supply would require use of a pump to replace the nursing sessions you are choosing to bottle feed for.
Pumping in the early days would be supportive of your goals.
Are you wanting to exclusively pump?
The answer here is obvious - pumping is required to meet your goals.
So is this good advice?
Well, it’s not terrible advice founded in myths and nonsense like some advice I’ve heard, but it’s probably not exactly helpful to give this type of advice without knowing what a parent’s goals are and if it’s applicable.
What would better advice be?
Better advice for breastfeeding is always going to be comprehensive education that allows a parent to make an informed choice about how to feed their baby and support their goals. This advice falls short of that standard, and we should never be okay with that.
What’s the best advice?
The first 4-6 weeks are a crucial time for breastfeeding success long term. This is when your body is regulating your milk supply, your baby is becoming more coordinated and learning how to effectively and efficiently nurse, and proper breastfeeding and milk supply management is vital to long-term success.
You need to remove milk from your breasts 8-12 times per day during this period to establish a healthy and reliable milk supply.
You need to be aware of how to monitor that your baby is getting enough to eat.
You need to know the signs of a good feeding and a poor feeding and when to seek the help of a lactation consultant.
You need to know how to bottle feed in a manner supportive of maintaining the nursing relationship if that is what you are hoping for.
You need to know what normal milk production looks like and what you should expect when you are producing a normal supply.
You need to know what the true signs of low milk supply are and how to handle them while getting the help you need. We don’t have a good figure for how many parents have low milk supply, and we need to equip all parents with this information to protect babies and breastfeeding. Ignoring it is dangerous.
You need to know the causes and signs of a milk oversupply and how to handle those if they arise and are problematic for you.
You need to know how to properly use your breast pump and how your breast pump flange should fit.
You need to know how to use pumping meet your breastfeeding goals as a breast pump is a tool to meet your goals. It’s only a necessity to use a pump if it serves the purpose of getting you where you want to go.
You need to know that pain is never normal, and if this happens, you need to see a lactation consultant ASAP, not just when the pain gets so bad you want to quit.
You need to know where to turn for helpful breastfeeding information that won’t let you down.
Now you have the bare minimum amount of information, you need to allow yourself time to decide how to proceed with using a breast pump. If it supports your goals form Day 1, that is perfect. If you never want to use one, that’s great too. This is all about equipping you to breastfeed how you want to breastfeed.
To learn more about busting bad breastfeeding advice, check our virtual breastfeeding video class and our crash course in pumping from our On-Demand™ program.
If you need help defining your goals and learning how to meet, them book a consultation today!
