sick of pumping, and stash is almost gone

Since DD was about a month old, I have been pumping almost every day.
When I was on maternity leave, I pumped after her morning feeding. I
continued that on the days I was home with her even after I went back
to work, until she was about 9 months. At work, I have been pumping
several times a day. Well, she's nearing a year now (on Friday!), and
I am sick to death of it. Also, the stash that I'd built up while I
was on maternity leave has been dwindling down slowly, and will be
gone in a week or two. So, I've been trying to consider my options.
At the very least, I will have to supplement with something. I've
mentioned this before, but DD is allergic to dairy. My question is
then, should I go to a lower allergenic-type formula, or just try to
get her the calcium she needs from fortified ricemilk or something
similar? Also, if I stop pumping on the 4 days I'm at work
(M,W,Th,F), will I still have milk to give her during the day on the
days I am home with her?

Sara

Sara-anne wrote:

At the very least, I will have to supplement with something. I've
mentioned this before, but DD is allergic to dairy. My question is
then, should I go to a lower allergenic-type formula, or just try to
get her the calcium she needs from fortified ricemilk or something
similar? Also, if I stop pumping on the 4 days I'm at work
(M,W,Th,F), will I still have milk to give her during the day on the
days I am home with her?



I know the feeling ;-) I stopped pumping the day mine turned one, Lol. I
replaced it with cows milk (rice milk for you?) and nursed as usual when we
were together. I had no issues with supply and they still nursed enough to
get all their calcium needs met even if they never drank the regular milk at
all. It did take quite awhile for them to want more then a sip of the cows
milk. I spiced it up for Hunter by mixing regular milk with chocolate milk.
I just kept offering and also made sure they had as much water as they
wanted for thirst.

How often does your dd nurse? I think I was told to figure at least 6
ounces a session and they need between 20-24 ounces so that is only 3-4
times a day. My ped told me that and we all know how much peds know so take
that fwiw ;-)
--
Nikki
Mama to Hunter (4) and Luke (2)

Adding cow's milk to a child's diet isn't just about the calcium--it's
also
about fat and vitamin D (and probably other things). Infants and toddlers
need fat and cholesterol for brain development, which is why you're
supposed
to give them whole, not skim, milk until age 2. I don't think rice milk
has
much (if any) fat.

Yes. DS got exzema (sp?) when consuming whole milk but I too was worried
about fat, etc. He had no problem with small amounts of cheese. I could
only find yogurt in low-no fat. He loved soy milk. I'm not proud of it but
we shared McDonald's Sausage McMuffins with Egg many a morn!

It is my understanding too that EVERY meal doesn;t need to be high in fat
but there must be ample amounts (how much I haven't a clue) in his/her diet
as a whole.

Shannon

So, I've been trying to consider my options.
At the very least, I will have to supplement with something. I've
mentioned this before, but DD is allergic to dairy.

She's almost a year. (HOW is that possible?! ;-) ) You don't really need to
"supplement" with anything -- assuming she's eating a good variety of solid
foods (?) that will satisfy her during the workday.


My question is
then, should I go to a lower allergenic-type formula, or just try to
get her the calcium she needs from fortified ricemilk or something
similar?

Calcium fortified rice milk or something of the sort seems like the obvious
choice (or yogurt, if she can tolerate that). I'm sure Beth Kevles will post a
link to her dairy-free diet info.

Remember that she'll still be getting calcium from nursing, just not quite as
much as before.

Also, if I stop pumping on the 4 days I'm at work
(M,W,Th,F), will I still have milk to give her during the day on the
days I am home with her?

Sara

Yes, you will. You may find that she nurses a bit more frequently when you are
home than before, but supply will still generally meet demand.

You might also think about cutting back more gradually on your pumping. I
found that pumping once a day was a *lot* easier on me than pumping twice a
day. I was able to make that transition when DS was around 9 or 10 months old,
and then after his first birthday I began skipping days sometimes (using the
stash at first, but asking the nanny to see what happened if she didn't offer a
bottle), and stopped pumping altogether just after he turned 13 months. No
engorgement, no supply problems, happy baby. If you're still pumping "several"
times a day, no wonder you're sick of it!

Fortunately, DS *was* eating cheese and other dairy-containing foods, but he
didn't drink any cows' milk for a couple months after he stopped getting ebm.
(He had a contact sensitivity, so I held off.) It didn't cause any diet
problems for him.

Holly
Mom to Camden, 2.5 yrs

In ,
Joy wrote:

*FWIW, while formula is a pretty lousy alternative to breastmilk, it's

Formula is the very best available alternative to breastmilk.

--
hillary israeli vmd http://www.hillary.net
"uber vaccae in quattuor partes divisum est."
not-so-newly minted veterinarian-at-large

"Shannon G" wrote in message
...
Adding cow's milk to a child's diet isn't just about the calcium--it's
also
about fat and vitamin D (and probably other things). Infants and
toddlers
need fat and cholesterol for brain development, which is why you're
supposed
to give them whole, not skim, milk until age 2. I don't think rice milk
has
much (if any) fat.

Yes. DS got exzema (sp?) when consuming whole milk but I too was worried
about fat, etc. He had no problem with small amounts of cheese. I could
only find yogurt in low-no fat. He loved soy milk. I'm not proud of it
but

Do you have Yo-Baby in your supermarket? They carry it in our Albertson's
and Von's. It's full fat yogurt for babies. For anyone, really, but it's
marketed for babies because it's full fat. You have to look for it. It
isn't prominently displayed in our supermarket.

(Sara-anne) wrote in message . com...
Since DD was about a month old, I have been pumping almost every day.
When I was on maternity leave, I pumped after her morning feeding. I
continued that on the days I was home with her even after I went back
to work, until she was about 9 months. At work, I have been pumping
several times a day. Well, she's nearing a year now (on Friday!), and
I am sick to death of it. Also, the stash that I'd built up while I
was on maternity leave has been dwindling down slowly, and will be
gone in a week or two. So, I've been trying to consider my options.
At the very least, I will have to supplement with something. I've
mentioned this before, but DD is allergic to dairy. My question is
then, should I go to a lower allergenic-type formula, or just try to
get her the calcium she needs from fortified ricemilk or something
similar? Also, if I stop pumping on the 4 days I'm at work
(M,W,Th,F), will I still have milk to give her during the day on the
days I am home with her?

Sara

I'm not sure about what you will want to supplement with, but I can
say that you will want to give up pumping gradually, since you say
that you are pumping several times a day! That will give you time to
adjust your supply, and also to figure out what to use to supplement
with. If you do that, you will probably be ok on the other days, too.

Irene

Do you have Yo-Baby in your supermarket? They carry it in our Albertson's
and Von's. It's full fat yogurt for babies. For anyone, really, but it's
marketed for babies because it's full fat. You have to look for it. It
isn't prominently displayed in our supermarket.


We have Albertsons here in AZ but not Vons (isn't that CA?)? I'll have to
look for it as I suspect DD (9 months) will have the same prob as big
brother with the milk. Thanks for the suggestion!

Shannon

How often does your dd nurse? I think I was told to figure at least 6
ounces a session and they need between 20-24 ounces so that is only 3-4
times a day. My ped told me that and we all know how much peds know so take
that fwiw ;-)

I'd say 3 good nursings and 2 small ones. It's hard to imagine that
she's getting more than 4 oz. at any of them, though, so I'd guess
she's under 20 oz for the day. She's always been a rather dainty
eater. I have no idea where she got that from! )

Sara

Adding cow's milk to a child's diet isn't just about the calcium--it's also
about fat and vitamin D (and probably other things). Infants and toddlers
need fat and cholesterol for brain development, which is why you're supposed
to give them whole, not skim, milk until age 2.

Sure, but it's a lot easier to find sources of the others for her.
Calcium is a little tougher if you can't have dairy. Ricemilk is
usually fortified with vitamin D as well as calcium. She's also very
fair skinned, for a little extra vitamin D.

[snip]

FWIW, while formula is a pretty lousy alternative to breastmilk, it's
probably not a bad alternative to cow's milk, especially in a young child
with allergies (if you use a hypoallergenic one).

That was sort of my thinking. I will ask our ped about it next week,
but I was looking for a little advice in advance from you field
experts! )

Sara