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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Exclusively pumping

78 replies

KayTee87 · 03/09/2016 17:58

Posting here for traffic sorry!

Are there any threads or groups for those that are feeding their baby expressed bm only?

My baby's latch was always terrible due to a traumatic birth, he's 5 weeks old tomorrow and every time we tried he hurt me and got hardly any milk so would scream shortly afterwards. As he's got used to a bottle his latch got worse so I decided to feed him expressed milk and save both of us the stress while still trying to do what I hope is best for him.

There's lots of people that bf or ff but I don't know anyone that has exclusively pumped so have no one to talk to about it or answer any questions I might have. Hoping there's a thread on here or something.

OP posts:

mmgirish · 04/09/2016 04:58

I exclusively pumped for more than 6 months for medical reasons. It wasn't too bad. You need a good double pump and an iPad to keep you distracted while you pump. Any specific questions, let me know.

Original poster

KayTee87 · 04/09/2016 05:01

Wow that's a lot of responses! I will read them all carefully when I get a chance.

I have bought a good double electric pump and hands free bra and seem to be able to pump up to 14oz sometimes, my son takes 4oz at a time and I keep 5 bottles in the fridge at any one time and am freezing some too.
In the beginning I was pumping 8 times a day but it was getting to be too much so I dropped to 7 then to 6 and now my husband is back at work I've dropped it to 5. I do 1 overnight session, then breakfast, lunch, dinner and bedtime. I hope my supply isn't affected too badly but I had to drop the sessions in order to keep my sanity!
I did try nipple shields, they were the only reason he was ever able to latch on but sadly he still wouldn't stay on long enough to get a good feed and still chewed me through them. I suspect he has gotten too used to the bottle now although it's heartening to see that older babies have gotten back onto boob - maybe I will keep trying even just once in the evening so he remembers where his food comes from.
I'm sad I can't feed him 'properly' although I keep saying as long as he is fed that's all that matters! He's not had formula since his first week and the health visitor is very happy with him so I'm congratulating myself on the small things :)

OP posts:

Original poster

KayTee87 · 04/09/2016 05:09

I meant to add, several midwives and a lactation consultant have tried to help us. One of the issues is that there is still swelling along his jaw from the delivery he doesn't seem to be able to open his mouth wide enough, maybe that will change when it's fully healed.

OP posts:

FasterThanASnakeAndAMongoose · 04/09/2016 07:20

Wow, bloody well done! I would try nipple shields. They sometimes get a bad press but there was no way I could have fed my eldest without them. We had issues with poor latch, pain and bleeding. After a couple of weeks of this (and lots of pumping) I tried shields and never looked back. No more pain at all and all healed in a few days.

We used them for several months until we didn't need them anymore, then just carried on without.

I haven't needed them with my youngest and breastfeeding hasn't been painful at all.

Good luck. It will get easier.

FasterThanASnakeAndAMongoose · 04/09/2016 07:22

Try a few different brands - they vary a lot. You can get them on Amazon. Boots do their own brand and the medela ones. Nuk are good - Ocado do them iirc.

Runningupthathill82 · 04/09/2016 07:26

Hi KayTee,
I exclusively expressed for three months and it was SO hard. I was exhausted and so stressed out with all the washing, sterilising and pumping.

But then at 12 weeks, after showing no signs whatsoever of being able to feed from the breast, DS suddenly latched on and fed. We then successfully breastfed for a year.

So don't give up hope that you might get there with bf in the end. As your DS gets bigger and his mouth is larger it might start working for you.

SouthWindsWesterly · 04/09/2016 07:32

I exclusively pumped for the eldest for nearly 2 years - no problems with milk production but it's bloody hard work and I was stubborn with the next and managed to BF with shields. Have sent you a PM with a link to an online pumping group I used an age ago. Hopefully it's of help to you and congratulations and well done you!

user1471552005 · 04/09/2016 07:34

OP, don't give up hope of getting him back on the breast. It's early days and if he is still recovering from an injury then there is hope that once this has resolved then he will learn how to latch again.
You may like to try rebirthing, a lovely technique which can be successful in stimulating early latch instincts.

Nottsangel2015 · 04/09/2016 07:54

I exclusively pumped for 8 weeks as my baby was prem. We were lucky that are unit loaned us a brilliant pump (double) and it helped a lot. It was fine for the 4 weeks on the unit as I wasn't covering every feed but when we came home it was really hard even with my partner helping, I would recommend freezing, a habit we got into on the unit so we had a stockpile at the hospital, this helped a lot as you wasn't pumping on demand as such you always had a supply in the freezer and fridge (defrosting) just remember you need to label them so you know when they were pumped as there are limits on how long you can keep in the fridge and freezer.
I moved on to formula after 8 weeks I felt bad but it was just so stressful after such a traumatic time.
Don't feel bad, lots of people as you can see from the replies end up having to express for varying reasons. And if you have to move onto formula don't feel bad about that either! The fact that they have had any amount of your breastmilk whether expressing or bf is brilliant!
We also found that expressing meant partner could feed and he loved that as when you bf they don't really get to experience that!
Whatever you end up having to do don't feel bad, do what is best for you and your baby not what someone else tells you is best. We are all different! Hugs! It is a really stressful time xx

Teladi · 04/09/2016 07:58

I would get support for your bf if you think there is still a chance you would want to bf him.

My DD never latched and I EPed for 5 months. Like others say it can be done and it's a valid choice, but it is such a lot of effort and your life ends up revolving around the pump. As I don't have a car, DD and I didn't really go far from home the whole time as I needed to get back to pump. In hindsight I am not sure if I am glad I did it or not but it felt very important to me at the time.

I had an Ameda Lactaline pump and really liked it.

KP86 · 04/09/2016 08:07

I pumped for a year. And had so much milk I donated over 120L to a few other mums via the Human Milk 4 Human Babies Facebook group.

It is very time consuming and I don't know that I would be able to do it with another because it would be hard to properly supervise a toddler while stuck to a breast pump for 3+ hours per day, but I was so lucky with my supply that I was able to pump for 45 minutes, 4 or so times per day which I worked around DS. So while it took ages it was very easy for me. At my peak I would get 1L+ in the mornings.

I had one of the older Ameda Purely Yours double pumps (Swiss made, the Chinese ones are totally crap), and when that broke I ended up with a hospital grade Ameda pump which I hired for a couple of months. DS was about 10 months by then so I knew I was just about done.

DS was allergic to cow's milk formula and refused to drink the special allergy one (even as a mix of 30ml formula to 200ml BM) so I didn't have a choice but to keep pumping. He did latch for a few months (and I pumped excess) but my supply was so much it was too fast and he vomited all of his milk, every single feed and wasn't gaining weight. Gaviscon in the bottle fixed that, but it did mean I had to continue to pump.

KP86 · 04/09/2016 08:11

Hecantbeserious, my milk definitely changed as time went on. It became more sour smelling and tasting rather than sweet. DS still loved it, but I don't think it's true that your milk doesn't adapt to your baby. That's why milk donation groups try to match you with babies of the same age.

Marmite27 · 04/09/2016 08:14

There's a couple of groups in Facebook, I found a uk one which was pretty quiet, and an American one which was busier.

I've been exclusive pumping for the majority of the last 11 months. It's not easy, especially being back at work in the last week.

I'm hopeful with what I have frozen and what I can pump over the next month we'll make it to 12 months.

Good luck!

jaguar16 · 04/09/2016 20:20

Well done, you are doing a great job!

I EE for 9 weeks with DD1 and I have no happy memories to be honest. I was so determined to feed her and had an awful time trying to get her to latch with various unhelpful breastfeeding counsellors. I look back now and think I must have been slightly mad at the time.

I wasn't lucky to produce massive amounts except early morning so I was always worried about having enough stock for the next day - I don't think your body gets the same hormonal signals as BF, so for me it dwindled gradually until I gave up at 9 weeks, much to the relief of my family!

I decided with DD2 that if there were latching problems I would go on to formula and save myself the stress. As it happened, she got it from day 1

Good luck and my only advice is to not feel bad about stopping any time you have had enough - a happy mum makes a happy baby.

Original poster

KayTee87 · 05/09/2016 15:06

I'm so bloody tired today and in agony as I've gone too long without expressing as the baby has been so unsettled, I'm really considering starting to put him onto formula. I'm really not sure how to go about it though. Would I just introduce one formula feed a day for a week and drop a pumping session, the following week introduce another formula feed and drop another session etc.? I could always keep up one session a day maybe so a couple of his feeds would remain EBM but not sure how that would affect supply, would I be engorged all the time?

OP posts:

notinagreatplace · 05/09/2016 15:22

I'm 33 weeks pregnant and thinking about this - as my baby has a cleft lip and almost certainly a cleft palate as well.

I would like him to have some breast milk but I'm pretty terrified of exclusively pumping, having read this and other threads.. How straightforward is it to mix feed from the start?

Runningupthathill82 · 05/09/2016 15:40

Hi KayTee,
Start by replacing one feed a day with formula, stop pumping for that feed, and gradually replace more and more feeds as the days go on.
From my experience, you wouldn't be engorged all the time if you kept one or two feeds a day. I kept the morning and night feeds for a few months after I dropped day feeds,with no trouble at all. Your body adapts.
If I were you I'd start by swapping the 10/11pm feed for formula. That way you can get an early night and your DP/DH can do the last feed without you having to wake up to pump.
Do the night feeds next and then see if you can perhaps aim for a morning and bedtime pumping session.
You have my every sympathy, exclusive expressing is the absolute worst. I felt so liberated when I stopped, and wasn't tied to that wretched pump any more!

HeCantBeSerious · 05/09/2016 15:42

You have my every sympathy, exclusive expressing is the absolute worst

That's really sad and not how I feel about it at all.

Runningupthathill82 · 05/09/2016 15:56

I'm glad you're having a better experience than I did, hecant. Not sure it's "really sad" though, that was just how I found it. And it was my choice to keep going as long as I did.

HeCantBeSerious · 05/09/2016 16:24

I stopped 4 years ago. I was just countering your point that it was the "worst ever".

Original poster

KayTee87 · 11/09/2016 11:08

Well my baby is 6 weeks today and I'm still going. I dropped the middle of the night session that was making me so tired so I'm down to 4 a day, I still have plenty of milk for him and am keeping a note of how much I produce at each session. If my supply drops to less than he needs then I will just supplement with formula. I feel better about it now I'm not quite as knackered.

OP posts:

Runningupthathill82 · 11/09/2016 11:10

That's fantastic, KayTee! Really good to hear you're feeling better about things.

Zebrasinpyjamas · 11/09/2016 12:15

I'm a few weeks ahead of you (DD is 14 weeks). I was worried her demand for milk would increase rapidly and I wouldn't keep up. So far it's not been an issue. I read on the Kelly mom website that other than growth spurts their average daily milk quantity doesn't go up much from 1 month to 6 months. That gives me hope I can continue for a while so I hope you find it helpful too.

Original poster

KayTee87 · 11/09/2016 13:04

Thanks zebra. 14 weeks, that's excellent! He's having a growth spurt just now I think - drank 8.5oz in about two hours last night then slept for over 5 hours. He's been hungry again this morning today. Luckily I'm making on average 3/4oz more per day than he usually drinks so always have some extra. Hopefully it stays this way!

OP posts:

Original poster

KayTee87 · 27/09/2016 06:53

Baby is just over 8 weeks now, I've dropped down to expressing just morning and bedtime to give me more freedom getting out and about during the day. I get enough for 5 or 6 of his 7 feeds doing this so he then gets one or two bottles of formula. It seems to be working for us so far.

OP posts:

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