Any advice on breast feeding and expressing milk

[jo4nn492]

Hi,
I am a first time mum and I am hoping to breast feed and express milk. I know it varies from person to person how well this goes but any advice would be appreciated. Should I get a double or a single electric pump? What extras do I need to go with breast pump? When is the best time to try and express? I am looking at getting a second hand one and cleaning and sterilising thoroughly!

[ShirleyPhallus]

I am 4 weeks in to breastfeeding and starting expressing for one feed about 2 weeks in. I have an Elvie pump which is incredible, I just put it on when the baby has finished on that side and get enough for a feed so DH can do one a night.

It goes against the advice on here but works for us and the Elvie is so quick and easy to use.

[Rubyscute]

Be careful about creating oversupply!! I had this in the beginning and it thankfully settled down. I then started to hand express a bit to mix with puree for spoonfeeding 6 month old baby and I'm going to have to stop because I have too much milk now. I figured it would be ok at that stage but I'm beginning to have problems. Some women are prone to this. Thank God I never used a pump! Beware!

[BendingSpoons]

I think you need to think about your priority. Starting bottles too early can lead to a preference for bottles (easier to get milk out) however a lot of people find if you wait until 4 or 6 weeks, your baby refuses the bottle. You can use the Hakaa before 6 weeks but decide what you feel about bottles.

[OnlyLittleMissOrganised]

You can still breastfeed and drink alcohol. Just make sure you dont drink enough to fall asleep while feeding the baby. Then its unsafe.

[AnPo]

Expressing so your DP can feed the baby will give you no extra time at all. It will take you much longer to express the milk for one feed that it will for him to feed baby

It's irrelevant how long it takes him to feed the baby... if he does a night feed it means she will get uninterrupted sleep which is the holy grail when you have a newborn!

And if you go out somewhere without baby for ( say) one day , you will still have to make time several times during that day to pump.

If she went out for an evening she could just pump when she gets home - still totally worth it if time alone is important to you.

I remember I went away for a night when my youngest was about 12 weeks old. I pumped before I left the hotel. Had dinner/drinks etc. quick pump (fairly tipsy ) at 3am while watching junk tv and straight to sleep.

It was glorious! Pumping can be fantastic once you get the hang of it.

[NarNooNarNoo]

I’m currently bf 6 month baby and using the haakaa. I manage to pump approx 200-250ml per day without too much extra effort required (mostly in the early morning). I think we tried the bottle a few weeks in once supply was established. My dh feeds baby a 180ml bottle at night which coupled with a quick feed usually gets him to sleep through. Slowly building up a small supply, but not loads spare. Need to watch out for over supply but I haven't had issues as yet. Sometimes baby feeds more from me so I'll just pump less, bit swings and roundabouts!

I used a Medela with my first ds (no haakaa around then!) and found it exhausting to pump and feed. Also used to have to drink loads of water or supply would drop. Would definitely recommend trying the haakaa if you're trying to get a smallish supply, especially given its price and ease to clean etc. There are some really good sites with tips to use it as well (such as folding the top over before applying to get a good suction). Good luck!!

[NarNooNarNoo]

Oh should also have said, my baby has from the beginning had a preference for one side so I mostly started attaching the pump to the other to collect the let down and so I'm not completely uneven size wise!

[Megan2018]

I haven’t got on with expressing. Takes bloody forever to get a tiny bit out and I hate the sensation of it, it makes my toes curl. I’ve got a single electric pump, Lansinoh-it’s a good pump but just not something I like. I tried a Hakka too but nothing comes out, I haven’t needed a single breast pad though as I don’t leak either so it’s probably just something odd about me!

Breastfeeding has been fabulous though, physically painful to start with (very sensitive nipples and let down hurt) but after about 3 weeks that stopped. But we were fortunate to find latch etc easy. I also live in an area with exceptional BF support too and all my NCT group BF so we supported each other through the cluster feeding headfuck.

Getting through those early weeks is hard but absolutely worth it. I can’t believe I was actually going to FF by choice at one point, so glad I didn’t.

We are at 32 weeks of EBF entirely by boob (have never attempted bottle) and I’ve been able to leave her for up to 2.5 hrs since about 5 months. Hoping to EBF until 12 months and beyond, I think in another couple of months (post lockdown?!) I’ll be able to leave her much longer.

I didn’t buy or attempt expressing until about 9 weeks, I was too knackered from the constant feeding before then to even try! My baby fed so much I couldn’t face a pump in the brief respite I got!

[Rubyscute]

Getting someone else to do a nightfeed might not work out at all. Some bf babies would wake up hungry in the night, cry, accept a bottle from dad then fall back asleep all without you waking up. With a lot of them, this would never work. You'd end up waking up because their dad didn't (no judgement, you might just wake easier), you'd have to wake him up by which time you'd be thoroughly awake anyway. Some babies would start off screaming and by the time dad got a bottle ready, they'd be completely inconsolable and would take hours to settle. If they feed a lot, you might get painfully engorged if you express and then skip a nightfeed. Some of them point blank refuse bottles if they know that if they cry long enough they'll get the breast. It depends on their temperament. You'd have to wait and see what they're like.

[Tableclothing]

by the time dad got a bottle ready, they'd be completely inconsolable

One of the advantages of breastmilk over formula is that breastmilk can be safely used up to 6 hours later at room temperature. So you don't have to wait until baby is hungry to get a feed ready.

[okiedokieme]

Don't worry about a pump at first, just concentrate on feeding the way nature intended. There's lots of tutorials online these days but nothing beats an experienced mum helping you at first (professionals don't have the time and not all are as supportive as you would hope) a friend, family member or someone else willing to help. Once established rent a good pump if you need to express but I found I just stuck to actually feeding mine and on the rare occasion I had to leave them (over 6 months admittedly) my h gave them formula

[Rubyscute]

My point was that some babies are not very patient. Getting them very quickly on to the breast or dream feeding might work out better because baby would be less likely to start fussing which could result in hours of soothing them back to sleep with them screaming the house down. In which case, you won't have gotten yourself extra sleep or rest - only more hassle.

[NameChange30]

FWIW we managed fine, I would get an early night and DH would give DS a bottle of expressed milk before he went to bed, so I had a longer stretch of uninterrupted sleep. It can work well. Always worth a try!

[Piglet89]

@Tableclothing

I don't think there's any hassle-free way to feed a baby, it just depends which set of pros and cons you find most tolerable.

I ended up FF because of latch and other issues and I don’t think I have agreed with a statement more in my entire life!

[Settlersofcatan]

Expressing is straightforward for many women - it was for me. It definitely is possible to share nightfeeds with expressed milk too - I recommend not being in the room and sleeping elsewhere for part of the night if you have a spare room so that your DH has to get on with it.

[NameChange30]

It is essential to leave the room if you usually breastfeed and your partner is trying to give baby a bottle instead!

Recipe for frustration all round, otherwise.

[ohwerehalfwaythere]

I did from day 3 and it was brilliant for us. Baby had 90% of feeds from the breast but there was always a couple of bottles worth of expressed in the fridge. That way DH could feed baby so I could go to bed early and also if I was having an nap in the day it gave me a bit more time to sleep. Also for date nights from about six weeks when my parents babysat.

I used a haaka and just did it on the other boob when baby had the first morning feed as that's when my supply was highest. Didn't mess up milk supply as baby was exclusively BF (I never get the arguments of messing up milk supply if you're not using formula) and never had any issues. I'd recommend expressing to anyone.

[ohwerehalfwaythere]

Also start expressing early if that's what you want otherwise baby won't take a bottle. Everyone says wait six weeks but that is rubbish, baby won't take a bottle by then. It doesn't affect supply as it's the same amount of milk your baby would have anyone, from breast or expressed

[lljkk]

I had a hand pump, expressed in mornings, max 4 oz/time... but I did that to be a milk donor. I never got my own babies to take a bottle. Good luck.

[PlanDeRaccordement]

I only started pumping because I had to return to FT work ~10weeks after birth. If I hadn’t had to go back to work so soon, I don’t think I would have pumped.

I agree, wait 6 weeks to establish breastfeeding before pumping. When you first start, you won’t get a lot of milk out. It’s like you have to train your body to express the milk. So don’t be disheartened, the more you pump, the more you’ll be able to express.

Double electric hospital grade pump is what I bought, but again I was pumping at work in 3 breaks of 15mins each during the day. And I wanted a pump that would be gentle, but quick AND last for four babies being used all day, every day without breaking or wearing out. It did. So it was worth the money for me.

[Whatsername177]

I had a great experience with expressing and it certainly helped with the switch over to formula when I went back to work. I bought an electric pump - midrange, about £80. I only bought a single pump. My midwife told me to introduce a bottle before 3 weeks or else she might reject it. I did the following:
First ten days/ two weeks end only yo establish supply.
Pump first thing in the morning. Baby drains one boob with her first feed, I pumped from the other when she was done.
Expect to only pump a small amount at first, gradually build up the supply. I ended up pumping 5-6 or at a time in the end.
Give baby one bottle a day. DH used to feed her last thing at night so I could sleep. 9/10 times she would finish the bottle and take a quick feed from the boob.
Once you have established a routine, you might be able to squeeze in another pump each day too - take it slowly though.
Freeze any excess milk.
When baby has a growth spurt and cluster feeds, dont bother to express. Clusterfeeds are hard enough.
At 6 months, I switched her over to ff one feed at a time a d it was seamless.

[AnPo]

Also start expressing early if that's what you want otherwise baby won't take a bottle. Everyone says wait six weeks but that is rubbish, baby won't take a bottle by then.

I'd agree with this. I started pumping as soon as I was home from hospital and so she was used to both breast and bottle from the start and went seamlessly between the two.

[PlanDeRaccordement]

Also start expressing early if that's what you want otherwise baby won't take a bottle. Everyone says wait six weeks but that is rubbish, baby won't take a bottle by then

Not true. I waited six weeks with all four of mine and they all took to the bottle. I worked FT starting ~10 weeks post birth, so they were bottle fed expressed breast milk all day, M-F with no problems. Breastfed the rest of the time (nights and weekends).

[CountryGirl1234]

I’m still BF my 22 month old.

I expressed colostrum and froze it ready for birth, just incase it went a bit ... horribly. Which it did for me but it is a roll of dice and I was high risk.
Had issues with supply due to trauma but combi fed until I could exclusively breastfeed. I had a lot of pain when feeding for the first 3 weeks, one of those weeks I solely expressed on one side. It works! Just do what you gotta do. I was told by my MW that’s babies have to ‘order in their milk for next week’ so if you think you haven’t got much keep going and your supply will ramp up. They have to keep trying to get your body to kick up the supply.

I used manual pumps (electric scared me) but I now have a medela electric single pump. Works amazingly. Better than hand pump but while they’re small the manual pumps are good I used these for the first 8 months.
I’ve never had mastitis, thrush or anything else. Make sure you don’t put your boob away wet, helps with keeping thrush at bay.
Good luck

[Stronger76]

Lanisoh. Pricey but OMG by far the best thing I ever bought during my entire bf adventures.

I bought a manual pump to catch the 'overflow' from the other side first thing in a morning but couldn't juggle pumping/sterilizing/storing in my sleep deprived craziness. Also dh was a dick and never fed changed/interacted with either of mine anyway so I gave pumping up.

Good luck op!