To pump or to quit bf, advise please....

[booreeve]

Bf ds for 3 months with mixed success before moving him on to ff, was worried about feeling guilty etc....but it turned out to be a real relief. He had dreadful reflux, it had been a drama etc....

Had DD last week, and have been exclusively bfing since. Went into it all thinking, whatever works is whatever works, I'm not going to be hung about bf or ff this time. However we are now day 6 and I know it's v early days but things are not going well......she fussed and screams and it's starting to get mega frustrating. she latches on will suck 2 or 3 times and won't wait for the letdown, she gets frustrated, pulls herself off the boob, and so it keeps going. It can take up to 30 mins just to get her to start her feed let alone completing the feed. Pumping not a problem at all, and I have tried her on the bottle to see, and no probs at all with EBF....

Have had indy midwife in who is baffled by it, and we've tried all sorts of things, but nothing working. So now thinking it's either hiring hospital pump and exclusively EBF, or just move on to FF......I have to bare in mind that I need to be looking after DS swell so can't keep having insanely long and stressful feeds every few hours......part of me thinks, that while I'm producing lots of milk surely I should try and get it into her in whatever form, or should I just go for FF?

booreeve - to help you make your decision here are some links on "exclusively pumping".

Personally I wish I'd had more info on this so that I could have maintained a supply by pumping for longer.

I think it depends how the pumping is impacting you and your relationship with your DD and DS - eg in terms of time/stress etc and this to be balanced against the hassle and guilt (which I have of FF.

www.expressyourselfmums.co.uk/

messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-ppexcluspump

www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/bf-links-excpumping.html

yesexpress.org.uk/wp/

While pumping to keep supply up and give you a break sounds good (even if you then freeze the milk!), exclusively pumping isn't often an easier option and perservering with bfing may be easier for you longer-term. A friend ended up exclusively pumping for her first after latch issues and lack of support and found it a nightmare, not least because she couldn't even look after the baby whilst pumping.

Hi - firstly congratulations on your dd & secondly sorry to hear you're having problems bfing her. DD1 never latched on & I tried and tried....so I ended up exclusively expressing for her for a year. It was tough at times - having to express 7 times a day but I'm the sort of girl that once I decide on something, then that's it! There is a really useful book called Exclusively Expressing Breastmilk which you can get on www.expressyourselfmums.co.uk

Also depending on how long you plan to express for, it might end up cheaper to buy your own double pump.

I then had DD2 and was worried she wouldn't latch - and fortunately she did. I then realised how much more time I would have had first time round if DD1 had latched. Have you spoken to a lactation consultation? I have also heard that rebirthing can help though I don't know much about it.

Ultimately you need to do what's right for you & your situation. Pumping exclusively is a bind, particularly when you have to do it so many times. I was a bit of a dairy cow and had loads of milk but was still doing it 6-7 times a day. So you need to think about the impact that this would have for you & the rest of your family. Good luck.

Thanks for all the advice......I'm looking into the hire of a proper pump as we speak, and I was thinking that I might try it out for 2 weeks, and see how we get on. I'm just worried that I might be setting myself up for another fall should i not get on with it, and of course time away from DS and DD whilst maintaing a busy pumping schedule! Sigh, just wish there was an easy, guilt, and hassle free option

I am trying to exclusively pump at the mo (after cracked, bloody nipples and now infectious mastitis) not getting quite enough milk though so having to top up with formula.

If I'm honest i'm findng it bloody tiring becuase i guess i'm expressing/feeding with EBM and then FF every 3 hours! It's the night i find the hardest so i don't know how i will cope when DP goes back to work when his paternity comes to an end.

Not sure what to do either, am hope DS will go back on the boob when they heal (have anti b's to help) but it may have been too long on the bottle now!

I expressed exclusively for 18 months with DS1. It was horrible, absolutely horrible. You are tied to to the pump (getting up at 3am every night for 6 months to maintain a good supply even when DS1 was asleep was a particular low point for me!) and it can get a LOT more sore than BF direct. It is possible but I would not recommend it to anyone who can BF direct. It is the worst of bottle and breat feeding combined!

I would also be very wary of bottle feeding for 2 weeks and then hoping to get your DD back to EBF. It often happens that the baby does not want to return to the breast (on the other hand many women have been able to do it).

It sounds to me like you could do with some expert advice on BF - you could contact one of the BF organisations or go to a baby cafe so that someone fully trained can watch you feed and see what is going on.

Has anyone checked your DD for oral thrush?

Congratulations BTW

1. Hire a lactation consultant, who will know more than a midwife

1. Try pumping for a minute to start letdown, then latching baby

1. nipple confusion from bottles of EBM may be preventing her from waiting for letdown/latching properly. Can you cup feed?

Sorry for brief reply - NAK

Exclusively pumped for months - it is possible but takes its toll.

Like Shivs, I exclusively pumped for a year or so. It's can be a bit of a nightmare but, at least in my experience, it gets better after about 4 or 5 months. It is demanding on all members of the family and it does become your life for a time. I suppose it all depends on your individual decisions and priorities. That yesexpress blog is mine (probably badly written and very opinionated - can't bring myself to look at it a year and a half later!)... please do have a look but forgive me my emotional blethering :)

Just a thought... and excuse me if this has already been looked into, but has your DD been checked for tongue tie?

Good luck with whatever you choose to do and congratulations too!

One girl who inspired me to continue BF when I had problems with ds (although not this specific problem) found that feeding her ds using a nipple shield actually helped. (She spoke at an ante natal workshop on breastfeeding)

NB: This is not for everyone, as nipple shields can in themselves cause problems, but she was all set to exclusively feed him EBM and found out by chance that he would accept her boob if she used a nipple shield. I last spke to her when her ds was about 4 months old: she had occasionally managed to get him to feed "bare breasted" but only when he was very sleepy and most of the time she still had to use the nipple shield.

Maybe worth giving it a go?

if its the latch thats the problem maybe you could get support to help you with that? my DS wouldn't latch on well and the first 2-3 weeks, his only good feeds were when i had help from an expert to latch him on for me.

interestingly though all the advice is not to give a dummy until one month old, i found giving a dummy helped DS with his latch as he was getting 'extra practise' at how to suckle!