Manual or electric pump?

[harleysmammy]

I wanna express my milk instead of putting him straight onto formula. I was going through my hospital bag list and realized i hadnt even looked at a pump yet, i have tommee tippee bottles though so i was looking at their pumps. The manual us £30 and the electric is £99. The avent ones are cheaper and thats what my cousin suggested but i like the tommee tippee bottles better than the avent ones. I dont really wanna spend £100 on a pump but i will if need be. Obviously the electric must be easier but is it significantly easier or is the difference between then not noticeable?

Also, im planning to put him on the boob straight away but i want to express after a day or so. I was talking to my cousin at her baby shower yesterday and she just laughed when i said that and said i wouldnt be able to express for a few days anyway and to have back up formula. Does that mean i wont be able to breastfeed straight away? I also heard someone say their milk didnt come in straight away so now im a bit disheartened that i cant breastfeed from the get go? I always thought you couldnt go from bottle to breast but you could go from breast to bottle obviously, so how do i feed him for the first few days if i cant breast feed? If i put him straight on to formula wont i have to keep him on formula and forget expressing and breast feeding? Thanks x

[Prettybaffled]

You should report your op and ask mn hq to repost this in infant feeeing - you will get loads of help there.

Your first milk will be colostrum and it's a fab idea to start off feeexing the colostrum at the breast - will be much less hassle than pumping. You get extra newborn cuddles and all that skin to skin will be amazing for baby

Colostrum is amazing for antibodies and gives babies a lifelong health advantage going by stats.

After that you might find you are happy to carry on bf - easy, cheap and no hassle with sorting bottles st night. If you do find you want to express of course you can. You can use manual if you want though some people find electric easie.

[Prettybaffled]

Oh meant to say so when people talk about milk coming in they mean the gradual switch that happens between the first breast milk which is a thicker clear liquid called colostrum which is incredibly beneficial for babies in their first few days until it looks white and looks much by like the milk you get on your milk carton

Babies want to bf within an hour after being born and will be very happy inseee to latch in and get everything they need from your colostrum.

There is a fab book about all of this that's worth reading if you want more info called The Food of Love. Very clear and lots of pics

[AssassinatedBeauty]

I'm not sure, but perhaps your cousin was referring to the fact that to begin with you produce colostrum instead of mature milk. Breastfed babies can go straight on the breast, where they'll get the colostrum until your milk comes in, in a day or so usually. Colostrum is hard to express because the quantities are so small, you have to hand express which is something you need to get the hang of. You'd collect the colostrum in a cup and keep it in syringes, the quantity would be about 5ml ish, so tiny amounts.

No one would suggest you try to hand express colostrum unless you really had to, as it is so much harder work than just putting the baby to the breast.

So even if you don't want to breastfeed long term you'd still start off by putting the baby to the breast to get the colostrum. Then, tbh, it's much easier just to carry on directly breastfeeding rather than expressing to bottle feed.

[LotisBlue]

Your milk for the first few days will be colostrum, which comes out in tiny amounts so you are better off hand expressing than using a pump.

How long are you planning to express for? I have an electric pump but I bought it when my baby was in scbu and I needed to express a lot to keep my supply up. If you are only using it for a short time then a manual one is fine.

[lananzack]

I've tried both electric and manual pump and MUCH preferred manual.

[harleysmammy]

I want to put him straight on the boob and then when my milk is fully in, then express. I knew that the first lot of milk is colostrum and then milk comes in a few days but i didnt know whether they meant that the colostrum takes a few days to come in, thats why i was so confused haha. My sister breastfed an hour after birth so i didnt understand lol. I dont really want him on formula until he's at least 6 months and then i want to carry on giving him breast milk after that if i can but AT LEAST 6 months. I wanna breast feed for a week or so at first and then express it from then on x

[MrPoppersPenguins]

I would start with a manual pump (easy to use) and then if you find you do use it a lot you could get an electric one. I would strongly warn you against the tommee tippee electric pump though. I could get 4-5 oz with a medela swing but not even 1oz with the TT electric pump (using them interchangeably). They are expensive but well worth it if you intend to express long term.

I'd agree with what others have said above about colostrum- it's much easier to put baby to the breast for first few days until your milk comes in as colostrum is only there in small amounts. The baby feeding will stimulate your body to produce milk. Good luck. X

[60sname]

Have you thought how this will work logistically? My baby fed one hour on, one hour at times, and expressing, especially at first, also took ages. Will you have time to do anything else?

[Prettybaffled]

Why do you want to express op?

[Prettybaffled]

As the pp says expressing can be more hassle and to keep up a full supply you will have to also express at night

[physicsisfun]

So you don't want to use formula until 6 months but you want to exclusively express from a few days old.

In the kindest possible way, OP, you need to do some serious reading on this. Pumping is hard. It's arguably the hardest option for you. Possibly not even achievable without top ups, depending on supply.

[Letsgetreadytorumbleagain]

You can express with whichever pump you want and still use the tommee tippee bottles - you just need one compatible bottle to collect the milk in direct from the pump and then store in whichever bottle you want to feed from.

I am curious as to why you want to express to feed though, you would be making it very hard for yourself if you don't need too. I found breastfeeding all consuming as it was, my son fed every 2 hours for a long time. Woman who have to express are like superwoman to me - I don't think I would have been able to

[TataEs]

electric.
if you wanna pump anything worth pumping you'll get hand cramp with a manual.
i pumped 10oz a day (5 for my baby, 5 were donated to the milk bank) and it was only possible with an electric pump.
i had a medela mini. was bang on.

[TataEs]

posted too soon.

i dunno why ud pump instead of feeding, i did one feed a day via i wanted my oh to be able to feed him occasionally if i wanted to go out etc.

if u wanna pump full time (honestly the hardest option and only possible if you are a natural producer) u should look at hiring a hospital grade pump. it's gonna be a drag.

[FusionChefGeoff]

Exclusive pumping is very, very hard. And yes, if you d that, a hospital grade pump which you hire would be the best option.

[littledinaco]

Expressing and bottle feeding can be the worst of both worlds. Pumping is HARD WORK, baby will need holding/cuddling a lot in the early days so you're going to have to try and settle baby while you pump/pump while baby sleeps instead of resting. Then you've got all the hassle of cleaning/sterilising bottles-trying to get bottle and milk ready for baby instead of just putting baby onto boob.

Most people who exclusively express do so as there is a problem feeding.

A lot of women also struggle to get much milk expressing (baby is FAR more efficient than any pump you can buy).

Night times will be hard as instead of just putting baby on boob while you're half asleep, you'll have to express - go downstairs to put milk in fridge, clean pump out for next expressing session plus heating up the milk and feeding baby inbetween this.

kellymom.com/

This website has got a lot of good information about feeding and what to expect. I would say try and read as much as you can about breastfeeding as often expectations can be very different to the reality.
Good luck.

[AssassinatedBeauty]

Good points about hospital grade pump, if expressing long term is what you want to do. You're going to need a double pump ideally otherwise it'll take even longer to express.

Exclusively expressing is properly hard work. I've had to do it twice for both my children, due to them being unwell and tube fed. I did it for the first few weeks until I could get breastfeeding established. I was desperate to stop expressing and I don't know if I could have done it for several months.

[MyWineTime]

A hospital pump is by far the best type if you want to exclusively express feed, however, do you really know what's involved in doing that? It's really hard work. I did it for a couple of weeks as my baby was in SCBU but was able to bf during that time as well. Expressing is a lot of work. You will probably have to express during the night as well as getting up to do feeds.
I was much happier once I was able to breastfeed fully.

[Bubbinsmakesthree]

Echoing what others have said - exclusively expressing is hard work! If you go down that route you definitely need a hospital grade double pump.

It might be worth looking for advice on American sites as due to short maternity leave in the US it's more common for people to express milk (e.g. whilst at work).

[littledinaco]

Also, think about visitors coming and what you're going to do while out and about. Breastfeeding is usually very discreet but pumping is not! I wouldn't have wanted to express in front of anyone.

If you do decide to express though, a double pump like pp suggested is a good idea and you can also cut a sports bra so you can be hands free.

[mimiholls]

I exclusively pumped for 3 months due to feeding problems and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone if you are physically able to breastfeed instead. It is hard hard hard work. You will need to pump every 2 or 3 hours to start with including through the night and even if baby is sleeping. You will need a hospital grade pump- you can hire the double medela pump through their website for £40ish a month. You cannot contemplate exclusive pumping with a manual pump. Agree the kellymom website has great info on exclusive pumping.

[PonderLand]

I would suggest buying a manual cheap pump, and if anything happens in those first few weeks (slow weight gain, can't latch, exhaustion) then express some milk to give baby. And if you find that expressing works then invest further funds into a good electric pump. I wouldn't advice spending more than say £40+ until you are sure, and when you are sure then it's worth buying a good one like the medela swing.

Expressing isn't usually advised until breastfeeding is established unless there is good reason (see brackets above).
Best of luck with it OP, but please don't be too hard on yourself or pile the pressure on.
I would recommend reading up a lot on bf and what to expect. Although even then you can't really prepare mentally for it lol

[ImpetuousBride]

From experience with both, I can only say that the manuals are awful - take forever to express and your arm feels ready to fall off from exertion. Electric was one of my best investments as I was using it a lot. If you don't want to spend a lot, just look for a second hand. Regarding formula and breast milk, some babies are happy to accept both but will probably steer towards one of the two eventually - really depends which one you decide to encourage them with.

[ConvincingLiar]

Expressing seems to be harder to crack than breastfeeding. I know a few great breastfeeders (who fed to 24m+) who just couldn't express much. I had a single/domestic medela and it was ok, but a fairly miserable experience.