Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Pumping tips?

10 replies

MouseyHousey · 10/10/2010 01:02

Hello all, please give me your pumping tips!
I have been ebf DD2 since she was born (4months). I have tried pumping a few times and don't seem to get much. I have an avent hand pump. I would like to learn to use this more effectively rather than investing in an electric pump as I only need to have expressed milk once in a blue moon.
I have been told that pumping in the morning would be best as supply is at its highest but I seem to get the most in the evenings.. even then I can only get approx 60ml (about 2oz) after pumping for about half an hour - 45 mins.
Any ideas would be much appreciated! :)

OP posts:
feetheart · 10/10/2010 01:11

Best thing I found was to express from one side whilst DD (and later DS) was on the other - let-down sorted and gives you something to do :)
I only ever managed to do this right-handed though so it had to be when the baby was due on left boob.

I did find I had most milk in morning but go with what works for you. It did seem to take a while to get the hang of and 'output' increased with time - 2oz doesn't sound bad, I started off barely getting a few dribbles but did build up to about 7oz eventually.

ClimberChick · 10/10/2010 02:49

I would aim to express at the same time each day, after a week there will hopefully be a good difference. Worked for me a treat, but if I missed two days I was back to where I started.

A 4oz bottle should be enough for a feed though and it's not unusual to need two pumps per feed.

SuiGeneris · 10/10/2010 06:15

Are you warm and relaxed when pumping? I found warming up the room with an air heater and sometimes having a hot water bottle on my shoulders helped a lot when expressing in the evening, when my supply was lowest. Also try to express for 5-10 mins after the milk has stopped flowing, as in a few days this will increase supply. Sometimes I also tried switch pumping: pump breast 1 for 10-15 mins, move to the other side, do the same thing, switch back to breast 1.
And read, chat, watch tv, do mumsnet,
but don't watch the pump!
For other tips, try searching for kellymom.com or drjacknewman (sorry, am on phone, links tricky).

MoonFaceMama · 10/10/2010 08:24

Also on days you want to pump get it clean and ready to go. You can pump a bit and if it's a bit slow at that time pop it in a food bag in the fridge till you have chance to have another go. I find otherwise the chance passes before I can take advantage at ti, but by pumping a bit at a time I can build up the oz, esp if you are only pumping occasionally and so won't dramatically up your supply iyswim

Porcelain · 10/10/2010 09:52

Feeding baby off the other side helps, try to copy her sucking rhythm with the pump. If you find yourself full and baby isn't hungry try pumping whilst holding and looking at her.

narmada · 10/10/2010 12:06

You might actually get more doing it completely by hand - e.g., dispense with the pump altogether. I found the hand pumps totally useless but could easily extract several oz by hand once I got used to the technique of hand expressing.

This link might help:

[[http://www.drjacknewman.com/help/Expressing%20Milk.asp][

narmada · 10/10/2010 12:07

Ooops:

www.drjacknewman.com/help/Expressing%20Milk.asp

japhrimel · 10/10/2010 18:17

The Neonatal team at Stanford have found that hand expressing and/or massaging alongside pumping can double the amount of milk you can get:

newborns.stanford.edu/Breastfeeding/HandExpression.html

barkfox · 10/10/2010 22:45

Just had a quick look at that video link, Japhrimel - had to laugh at the woman daintily milking her breast onto a teaspoon - if I express like that, I shoot thin jets of milk several feet across the room!

mousey, things that have helped me express are:- warming breast beforehand (even just rubbing hands together and placing them on breast) - gentle downwards massage towards nipple before starting - and early on, I pumped either side of feeds, start and finish, on MW's advice, so I could gradually build up reserves without suddenly rocketing my supply.

I think it helps to do it regularly too, although I know that's not what you want to do. Just most things become easier the more you do it.

I do think expressing is partly luck of the draw. Some women seem to find it easy, some have a harder time - I spent oodles of money on a medela swing, and got virtually nothing with it, but with a manual pump, I get about 5 oz in 10/15 minutes or so. I also find expressing by hand almost impossible - very slow, and it involves a ridiculous amount of spraying. Nor can I feed one side and express the other side at the same time - there seems to be too much boob and baby in the way, and not enough hands.

All of which is just to say, what works for some people doesn't for others - hopefully you'll find something that suits you.

MouseyHousey · 12/10/2010 20:51

Thankyou for all your replies.
barkfox I have the same thing with too much boob when feeding, I kind of have to support me boob while feeding so find it impossible to pump at the same time.
I had a go at hand expressing and was getting sprays of milk which were near impossible to catch while expressing! I will definitely be trying all the other tips though so thankyou all for your help.

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page