How much breast milk should my wife be pumping so I can help?
Breast feeding is a supply and demand endeavor. The more your wife pumps, the more milk she will have. If your baby is only three days old–hold back on the pumping. All your baby is getting is colostrum currently. Your wife could be over-stimulating production, and put herself in great pain when her milk comes in —IF she over-stimulates her production. She will feel like she is a watermelon trying to fit into a grape skin! If you want to help at night–just have her pump on the unused breast during the last two feedings. This should give you enough to help out in the night. Also, once her milk comes in in ‘full force”–she may not be able to go through 8 hours without breastfeeding, until the milk production is established, and she is not getting engorged. A good support is LaLecheLeague. It is an all volunteer organization that has trained leaders, and can help you with all sorts of problems and questions. I referred the students in all of my childbirth classes to them for 12 years
