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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

The expressing clique

455 replies

popsycal · 11/09/2005 20:22

I'm Popsy and I am a pumper

DS2 is 6 months and i am bac at work 4 days a week mon-thurs. I express and lunchtime and get around 5oz.......
He needs 2 7oz feeds during the day but i am hoping to reduce his lunchtime feeds as his solids increase.
BEen back at work properly only one week but am having to express during every feed and every time on my day off to get enough.
my boobs hurt

Who else is in my gang

OP posts:
Original poster
popsycal · 22/09/2005 21:38

mam ulti teat on a wide neck bottle.....
stand up feeding her with her facing a way from you.....that is the onnly thing that worked for us at first after weeks and weeks of trying

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katzguk · 22/09/2005 21:40

got the MAM bottles. the problem seems to be that she doesn't know what to do with the teat, she doesn't suck!

savanna · 22/09/2005 21:42

Alux, thanks for the info on the Ameda lactaline pump. Is that different to the one you are renting?

My ds also feeds a lot at night - he gets about 10/11 oz while he is at the childminder's but I'm hoping to increase the amount I express and that's why I'm seriously thinking about buying a dual pump.

Popsycal, you asked earlier why those whose babies are over 6 months and on solids still express. My ds is not quite 6 months but is already on solids and I plan to express until he is a year at least. I guess I do this because we both enjoy breastfeeding so much and I would like him to have the benefits of breastmilk. Just wondered - do you give your baby other fluids as well? My ds really likes water.

alux · 22/09/2005 21:45

i'm renting an ameda egnell. its a hospital grade pump. its bulky and v. expensive. i've heard that the lactaline is just as / almost as good

Original poster
popsycal · 22/09/2005 22:08

savanna - he has a small amount of water with his solids but I am conscious I maybe ought to offer him more - throughout the day.

I express partly because of the benefits of breast milk and partly because we both enjoy it and it is so easy in the night. I work four days (day off tomorrow hurray!!!) and have decent holidays as a teacher. I can also come home by 4:30 if I choose so it is reasonably practical to keep breast feeding....and expressing is therefore the way to maintain breast feeding for us!

I am really glad that so many of us have 'come out of the woodwork'! Glad I started this thread!
Just out of interest - what are your partners' impressions of the whole thing?

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Original poster
popsycal · 22/09/2005 22:09

katzguk - ds2 was like that as well......I got him to try the MAM ulit dummy first...and although he wont take a dummy, he learned how to suck a teat by using a dummy.

Will she suck your finger?

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Shivs1974 · 22/09/2005 23:05

I too have the ameda lactaline and can highly recommend it. I still use the Avent Handpump when I'm on the move (motorways being a particular favourite ). I managed to break 2 Medela Mini Electrics and got fed up having to watch the tele with subtitles on due to the noise. The Ameda isn't as small but it's so much quieter. I'd suggest, if you do decide to get it, getting some spares of the white valves in as they can split easily.
As promised last night my expressing bible (Exclusively Expressing Breast Milk by Stephanie Casemore) suggests power pumping and cluster pumping. Power pumping means frequent pumping throughout the day - pump every 2 hrs around the clock (ahhh!) for at least 2 days. It is trying to mimic a growth spurt. Apparently some women will spend a weekend power pumping and will get family etc to care for the baby so that they can focus on pumping frequently.
Cluster pumping is pumping frequently but for shorter periods - eg pump every half and hr for ten mins. Do this for several hrs.
The book also suggests a few reasons why your supply can appear to be decreasing but there are too many to mention here.
To prove to you that it works I increased my pumping sessions from 5 to 6 over a week so that I would have enough milk to feed my daugher whilst I went on a hen weekend in Belfast. It was tough going fitting in another session but it worked.
Hope this helps!

Original poster
popsycal · 23/09/2005 20:06

Oh shiv - thanks so much for that....

I think I will try to do some cluster pumping on my days off so that when I do express at work mon-thurs my supply will be higher.......

Today was my day off and although I meant to keep expressing every feed so that saturday and sunday are not manic expressing frenzies, I needed a day off.....so I expressed during his first feed and after his lunch feed....i will express tonight around 10 when he feeds.......
I am finding it draining to be honest. I am determined to hang on in as I am sure he will be able to drop a feed soon or at least reduce his lunch time feed right down.

i also think that he does not need 7oz bottles when I am at work.

I expressed today when I fed him and although I know he will get more than the pump, I pumped from the other side at the same time and got 3oz...so he must only have had 5oz at the most??????

Anyone guess???

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chipmonkey · 23/09/2005 22:32

Popsycal, I read somewhere that the most a bf baby ever takes in a feed is 6oz but don't know how true it is as I was able to express 10oz in one go when I was feeding ds2 who was my heaviest and hungriest baby.
Alux PMSL at you expressing in the executive box. That really is "Pumping in Style!!"

savanna · 24/09/2005 17:33

Shivs, thanks for the interesting info. Can I ask where you bought your Ameda Lactaline? And have you really expressed while on the motorway? I'd like to know how!

Chipmonkey - did your ds drink all 10oz?

Popsycal - Are you expressing 14oz every day? How often do you express at work? I expresss twice and manage 10-11 oz and feel so drained. Plus my ds dreamfeeds several times most nights.

vic891 · 24/09/2005 18:07

hi ladies - have a few expressing questions and wasn't sure whether to start a new thread or hijack this one...

ds is 4 months and exclusively b/f. haven't had a need to express so far but like to do it every once in a while to check he'll still take the bottle. the first couple of times i tried, i managed to get lots from one session - maybe 5 or 6oz - but now i get little if any. today i managed 3oz but it took ages, and when i tried the other day i couldn't get more than a dribble.

i've tried being in the same room as ds, relaxing, reading, closing my eyes, etc etc but to no avail.

any ideas? tips?

i'm using a medela electric pump btw.

Original poster
popsycal · 24/09/2005 19:58

the best way I found to get expressing going is to express while feeding...have you tried this?

savanna - I am sort of getting 14oz each day! I pump once at work and get about 5oz....on tuesdays I sometimes get another shorter session in at work (in free lesson when I ought to be working ) but the rest i get by expressing whilst feeding ds2. So on a morning, I get about 2oz during the first feed. When i get in from work, I give him a tiny feed at around 4:30 mainly just to get my supply flowing then express another 2oz and I usually get another 2-3oz somewhere....

On my 3 days off, I express at each feed to get enough for a monday and a small stock in the freewzer in case it all goes wrong during the week.

SHIV- I wanted to ask....your info is really helpful. As you have read above, my whole life is basically expressing....and what I really want to do is express at work (around 5oz) then build in another session in an evening where i can get another 5 oz or so......so I am not expressing at every feed.

So for a few nights in a row, do i express every half hour and therefore increase my supply so I can in effect get another 'feed' at around 8:30....
does that make sense?

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Original poster
popsycal · 24/09/2005 20:00

vic - also, I initally found it really hard to get 'let down' when expressing but I have to really lcose my eyes and picture myself feeding ds2 then it happens.

BTW I had a really weird experience the other day. There was a small amount of defrosted milk in the fridge which had to be used up or thrown away that night so I fed it to ds2 in a bottle......I havent fed him a bottle since the very early days of expressing.....I was feeding away, looking at how beautiful he was when all of a sudden....bang...the let down reflex kicked in. Found ti very veyr odd indeed!

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chipmonkey · 24/09/2005 20:04

Vic, don't know how the Medela pump works but with the Isis, both hand-pump and double-pump, I find that if I pump really quickly, like 2 pumps a second it makes the let-down kick in. Btw I find I can pump very little if baby is going through a growth spurt because they take it all!

chipmonkey · 24/09/2005 20:05

Savanna, I never gave ds2 that much in a bottle but he would drink 8oz. Ds3 will only drink 1oz under protest!

Original poster
popsycal · 24/09/2005 20:13

agreee with chipmonkey...when i use the hand pump i do lots of little quick pumps first...
also massage your breasts before hand...

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vic891 · 24/09/2005 21:22

thanks. there's no speed adjustment on the medela pump - only strength of 'suck' (i.e. full power = purple nipple!). will try the 'close your eyes and think of baby suckling' technique and breast massage tomorrow and see if either helps.

lua · 24/09/2005 21:31

Vic- I didn't have much success with the medela eletric pump. I would sit there for 10 or 15 minutes qand get nothing, and then try the manual one and get 4 oz....
Not sure why, perhaps the machine thing turned me off? I did felt it did actually hurt me, so maybe that's why it wasn't working?
Anyway, maybe worth trying a different pump?

Original poster
popsycal · 24/09/2005 21:35

i use both the medela mini electric and avent isis hnd pump......find the hand pump eaiset to get let down...

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Shivs1974 · 25/09/2005 17:19

Just catching up with this thread as had DD's christening yesterday.
Yes, I really have expressed on the motorway - M25, M1, M4 and M3. However I wasn't driivng - dh was! Afterwards when I told my NCT group, they asked whether i had been bothered my the lorry drivers getting an eyeful. It hadn't crossed my mind...but I try to be as subtle as I can!
Popsycal - your post is exactly how I saw cluster pumping given the details in the book. When I've tried to increase my supply I've typically just added in another pump around 7pm (7, 10, 1, 5, 7 and 10). Sometimes I don't get that much off (say 120-150ml) at the extra pump but it all counts to feeding those hungry babies. Does that help?

chipmonkey · 25/09/2005 18:02

I think the massage cushion on the Isis definitely helps with let-down.Also I think the hand-pump is more instinctive to use than a lot of the electric pumps.

LadyPenelope · 26/09/2005 14:48

It's been great catching up on this and just wanted to let you know that my ds is 6m old today which means I've been back at work and expressing for 3 whole months! Amazing! I'm very proud of myself ... didn't know if we could do it. Now the question is how much longer I'm going to keep going ... . DS has just started solids so I may be able to drop an expressing session at work and I'm hopeful he'll drop the dreamfeed so that I can go to bed at 8pm and sleep for 10 hours.... DH has been really supportive but I think he'd like me to stop soon ... mostly because I'm so exhausted keeping up with the feeding and expressing. And for me it's hard work keeping supply up.

lua · 26/09/2005 14:53

Shiv - I have also expressed in the motorway... but I was driving!

There was a traffic jam, and I was exploding! [wink}

chipmonkey · 26/09/2005 16:08

Lua, respect!

Shivs1974 · 26/09/2005 18:33

Oh my God Lua - respect! I'll be driving up to my Mum's on Friday to Derby - let's hope for those truckers that I don't have to express whilst driving - but then maybe they'd like an eyeful !!!!!

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