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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Any advice on breast feeding and expressing milk

66 replies

jo4nn492 · 25/04/2020 12:22

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!

OP posts:

DappledThings · 26/04/2020 14:19

expressing was mainly do DP can feed her, give me a little free time or extra sleep and maybe allow me to have the odd glass of wine

I honestly wouldn't bother trying to express for any of these reasons. No need to in order to have a drink, you can have a glass of wine and bf no problem. I wouldn't have got any extra sleep by DH doing a night feed. I got mine by him getting up both weekend mornings for a long time and letting me sleep in then. I'd have been awake in the night anyway and it was much easier to bf lying down and go back to sleep than wake up and lie there tense waiting for a bottle to be ready for baby to be settled again.

I pumped loads for DS1 so I could go to a hen for 8 hours when he was 4 months. It was a lot of effort just for one day and I didn't bother at all with DC2. Especially when we're still in lockdown so you can't go far anyway.

Original poster

jo4nn492 · 26/04/2020 14:25

I like the advice that if I want my partner to feed her that I did go in a different room. This is fine by me! We gave a spare room so that when he is at work he can go in other room to hopefully get a better sleep if he needs it (my partner is a light sleeper) but if at any point he is going to do a night feed I would go in spare room.

OP posts:

Worriedmum54321 · 26/04/2020 14:37

Some benefits of breast milk are lost if it's stored, even for a few hours. So I would just feed from the breast unless it's for your convenience. Don't go to the trouble of pumping just because dad or grandma wants to give a feed.
If you want dad to regularly give a bottle e.g. during the night it might save a load of hassle just to give formula. Baby would still be getting the benefits of breastfeeding anyway from the other feeds.

Worriedmum54321 · 26/04/2020 14:39

You won't have any time with a new baby anyway - you just have to accept that. It's only for a short period!

Rentacar · 26/04/2020 14:52

My first baby couldn't breastfeed so I pumped for 6 months exclusively.

That meant months of pumping for 40 minutes every 3 hours around the clock. Didn't leave alot if time left for washing and sterilising the equipment, looking after the baby and looking after yourself and the home.

I'm glad I did it but it was exhausting.

I'd recommend a double electric pump (preferably hospital grade). Buy extra attachments so you don't have to wash and sterilise straight away. Plus a double bra that holds the attachments in place so your hands are free to read a book, have a cup of tea etc while you're sat there. It feels weird at first.

Don't pump unless you really have to.

ShirleyPhallus · 26/04/2020 15:07

A lot of experiences on here are so different it is worth trying what’s good for you.

The elvie pump is so efficient it takes about 30 mins to get 100ml for me, and it’s hands free so really isn’t any sort of extra effort to do.

Settlersofcatan · 26/04/2020 18:34

*My first baby couldn't breastfeed so I pumped for 6 months exclusively.

That meant months of pumping for 40 minutes every 3 hours around the clock.*

Same for me. After the first couple of weeks, I only pumped three times a day and never at night for a hungry baby and still had some milk to freeze. Hospital double pump worked really well.

Currently breastfeeding my second and, in all honestly, I think exclusively pumping was easier. Breastfeeding is nicer and more bonding but I really miss my DH being able to look after the baby for a good chunk of time and overnight.

Basically everyone is different

Settlersofcatan · 26/04/2020 18:37

I wouldn't have got any extra sleep by DH doing a night feed.

Why not? I got plenty if I was in the spare room!

DappledThings · 26/04/2020 18:49

I wouldn't have got any extra sleep by DH doing a night feed.

Why not? I got plenty if I was in the spare room

Like I said, I still would have woken up because the spare room wasnt far enough away for me to not hear and I would have just been tense right away listening for the baby getting more upset while DH got a bottle ready knowing I could have just fed him immediately.

DC1 used to take hours to go back to sleep after a feed. That was where we split it and took turns walking him up and down the landing till he dropped off again. The feeding bit itself wouldn't have got me any extra sleep and the effort and irritation of pumping would definitely not have been worth it.

Just my experience though!

facevalue · 31/05/2020 19:44

hi everyone. i was searching for a group that is talking about difficult breastfeeding and having to express as baby won't latch. if you love to bf then you will understand the heartbreak i'm feeling. expressing is a major headache and commitment - if ur baby feeds of the breast then expressing occasionally isn't an issue but mine isn't latching and i'm working on trying to make her accept the boob.

we managed to hardly use any formula but the fact that we did use some upsets me because i have plenty of milk if baby just tries 😭

lots of mixed advice , myths, wrong assessments by professionals are giving me a headache 😒

how are you all coping? doing?

facevalue · 31/05/2020 19:54

@ShirleyPhallus 30mins is a long time for a 100mls😟😟😟😟

kayakingmum · 31/05/2020 19:59

I don't think it's necessary to express (unless you plan to go back to work while you're still breastfeeding).

I breast fed both DD and DS and didn't need to express.

ShirleyPhallus · 31/05/2020 20:15

@facevalue that’s an unfortunate typo , it’s loads shorter than that. The point is that it’s hands free though so you’re not pumping away with any extra effort

LazJaz · 31/05/2020 21:42

I’ve just been through this - first baby is now 7 weeks.
I thought I would BF with a pumped bottle for one of the night feeds - this is not what has happened so far!
TLDR: used the pump for about 7 days - dunno if worth £100 - BF much more convenient than I had thought.

1st tip is to get the number/email etc of a good BF counsellor/coach, as not all midwives are that expert at assessing latch and position. I was told by multiple MW that our latch and position was great- but by day 7 he was still losing weight and in the end huge chunks of my nipples (no exaggeration) came off in his mouth. Feeding was by then absolutely agony - had to have my mother and husband hold me down while I cried and screamed with baby at breast during the second week. It was much worse than labour. The MW advice about how to fix this, and help him gain weight was not helpful at all and made things worse for all involved. However - as soon as I found a good coach (around day 9) who did 2 video sessions with me things turned around very fast. I had a session with a BF specialist from the NHS too before finding the private coach but the NHS counsellor’s advice was poor and not helpful.
I needed to use expressed milk top-up in first 3 weeks to get his weight up- I bought a spectra 2 (~£90) from amazon for this. However since then I haven’t used it again. The Hakka (~£12) is much more useful for catching letdown and I got more out of it. Since he exceeded birthweight we have not been using the bottles of expressed milk anymore - Bottles are very inconvenient TBH.

Pumping/Hakka as well as BF might leave you with an over-supply issue - look out for an excess of poos which are much greener than normal and lots of burps in baby, and breasts that gush constantly - easy enough to fix but I am now trying not to use Hakka or pump at all to control this - so my point really is maybe don’t buy an expensive pump if you can rent one as you might not need it and might decide bottles are not for you.
Take a look at the Baby Feeding Book - has everything you need to know about BF, pumping, mixed feeding etc. the Author Vanessa Christie is the BF coach I saw and I would really recommend her - she also offers an antenatal coaching session online - I wish I had known about this before I delivered as I think it could have got my Son and I off to an easier start.

Good luck with BF! Hard but worth it!

LazJaz · 31/05/2020 21:46

Oh and also get nipple caps Incase your baby chews your nipples off in the early stage. I’m using these sterling silver ones from amazon - they also help prevent bacterial infection. An alternative are breast shells - but they are larger and collect your leaks.

CoffeeNeeded2019 · 31/05/2020 21:57

Hi Op,

Try not to put too much pressure on yourself.

I bf my for 1 year and after lots of support on the postnatal ward managed to exclusively bf successfully.

I started to express milk after 2 weeks as bf was well established, used a medela swing pump and kept milk in fridge or freezer. Used tommee tippee bottles and didn’t have a problem re: nipple confusion, although only gave one bottle a day for the first few weeks.

Drink lots of water and try to work out when you have most milk for expressing, mine was first thing in the morning.
I used to feed on babies’ least preferred side and pump on the ‘better’ side- would usually manage a good 5oz of milk each time. I don’t know if anyone else had a ‘better’ side but I definitely did 😂

Most importantly, be kind to yourself and enjoy the newborn snuggles

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