Breast Pump

[clairehr]

Genuinely wasn't sure where to put this post, so please do direct me somewhere else if I'm wrong!

All being well once baby is born, I would like to breastfeed, and express so that my other half/family etc are also able to feed.

What breast pumps would you recommend? Would you go manual or electric? Any bottles youve found better for BF abd EBF to avoid confusion? I'm brand new at this so in a whole new world I know very little about so any advice appreciated!

Definitely electric , if you are planning on pumping regularly ! I'd get a manual one too as that can be good for doing a quick pump if you are engorged.

I had a double medela pump and a single Lansinoh electric one - both were great.

Beware of nipple confusion if introducing bottle too early, I think you need to wait till BF is firmly established before introducing a bottle.

The medela calma teats are meant to be good for mixed feeding but all babies have their preference !

Mine will only take latex nuk orthodontic teets !

I think you’re best waiting until baby is born before you get a pump. There’s not really a need to buy anything to do with feeding before the baby is born if you are planning to BF. All you need at first is a couple of good nursing bras and sone breast pads.

Once baby is here yiu may not want to express anyway. It can be a faff compared to just feeding the baby yourself. Instead of just picking up the baby and feeding it, you’ve got to pump, store the milk, clean the bottles and pump, make sure the milk is at the right temperature. For me it was just too much with my first. Family can help out in other ways like bathing baby or taking them out for a walk while you have a bath or a snooze.

Are you going to your local Bfing Support Groups? They’re usually good as often someone is selling or giving a breast pump away. If you are getting one, I’d make sure you get one with a closed system. I had an Ameda Lactaline with my 2nd and that was pretty good as you can use it as a single pump, while you feed from the other breast or as a double after a feed or if baby isn’t there.

There’s a great section on MN called Infant Feeding which you might find useful too

As @Shazafied said, electric every time. I had trouble direct feeding so upgraded my manual (which I had as a back up plan) within a few days. I wasn't convinced I'd succeed as a result of all the scare stories about pumping not being adequate for increasing milk supply but baby took to mixing bottle and breast (and dummy) straight away and we settled the latching issue within 2 weeks. We used the standard Tommee Tippee bottles throughout and I bought the medela mini electric pump (it was cheap and I didn't want to waste money). It's a bit loud but it was very efficient and I used it for about 7 months. It still works now so will be using it when next baby arrives though I may treat myself to a double pump if budget allows. Whether or not you can successfully mix bottle and breast will depend entirely on your baby. You just need to see what works for you. The electric pumps normally come with a bottle and you can get individual bottles of other types if you're concerned and take it from there. As you'll find from the responses there is no hard and fast rule and each baby is different.

Thank you ladies! Yes, I've heard that it's best to wait until we've both established BF before trying to introduce a bottle as well so will definitely be doing that.

I've read and heard a lot of good things about Medela, so might give that a go when the time comes. I understand that it can be a gaff to express as well, but would definitely like to try it if possible. Baby will have two half brothers who will be desperate to help feed, and other half is adamant he wants to help with night feeds.

I will definitely be going to BF meetings, feel like I need all the help and advice I can get to be honest, it feels like such an alien world right now!

Am I right in saying that you're able to freeze breast milk safely for up to 6 weeks? Do most pumps have storage bags suitable to use with them?

I think the official advice is to wait 6 weeks before introducing a bottle, but by then the baby might well refuse it. I started giving DS the odd bottle from just under two weeks. Tracy Hogg's baby whisperer book recommends a variflow teat as that's closer to breastfeeding because it relies on the baby sucking to get the milk out rather than gravity.

It’s great that DH wants to help but doing the night feeds might not be the thing that gives you the most rest oddly., but it does work for some. He might just be better letting LO sleep on him and bringing baby to you when they want feeding. The sibling really don’t have to feed the baby to bond with it either, there are so many other ways to bond with a baby.

Kellymom is a great site for PG Mums and Bfing Mums. There’s also a section of articles for Dads here. I’d get him to have a read of some of the articles. Especially if he’s the one suggesting you express

Kellymom also has some good articles for PG Mums thinking of Bfing here.

I know my posts come over as a little negative and I’m sorry about that. It’s just that there seems a lot of pressure put on new Mums to get pumping and to move give the baby over to other people when really, what’s best for you and baby is spending some time together to get the hang of Bfing, get to know one another and for you to recover from the PG, Labour and birth. Look after yourself OP

Sorry, forgot to answer your question on storing BM. Have a look here

@darceybussell Fab! I've only heard of tommee tipee doing variflow teats, do you know of any others? Will obviously speak to midwives and potentially lactation specialist as well as others at BF group, but I like to be a bit more prepared beforehand I'd possible, haha!

@JiltedJohnsJulie Thank you for those links, I'll definitely have a proper perusal of them! Your post wasn't negative at all, I totally understand where you're coming from, and everyone has their own opinions 😊

It is a personal choice for me, certainly no one else pushing me to do anything, and I know everyone around me will be supportive whatever I decide and whatever ends up sitting best for me and baby. It's just something I'd like to try if possible as I feel it would make my life and baby's life easier in the long run 😊

I use the tommee tippee ones which DS has been fine with, I think the Medela Calma is a variflow one but it was way too complicated for DS to work out what he was supposed to do, he just screamed the house down, so we tried him with the tommee tippee and he took that straight away!