Exclusively expressing?

[Sparklesandglitter]

Hi I'm currently pregnant with dc1 and am planning on exclusively expressing due to the fact I don't want to breast feed(I personally feel uncomfortable with the whole idea of breast feeding.dp is pushing for breast feeding but I really don't want to can anybody who had exclusively expressed give me any advice?in particular I wonder how/when I would give the first feed to baby?
Any advice is much appreciated! :) x

I'm expressing at the moment for DD2 because she was prem so is tube fed. She is only a week old and already I'm getting fed up of it. Getting up in the night to express is very different from getting up in the night to tend to a baby. And while you can feed a baby easily and discretely in public, I think you'd have to be quite brave to express in public. So expressing does eat into your freedom to go out places. If you're using an electric pump it will make a noise, and there's no babies head to protect your modesty, just a see through plastic cone sucking your nipple in and out. And if you don't express frequently enough in the early days you can't establish supply.

DD1 was prem too, and I expressed for her for about seven weeks before she started feeding directly from me. I was very close to giving up quite a few times and I think only continued because I was so conscious of the particular importance of breast milk for prem babies.

So I agree with all those who have said its not an easy thing to do, though of course by no means impossible - if you really want to do it.
I don't know your reasons for not wanting to breastfeed and completely agree its your choice to make, but I wonder if you should wait and see how you feel when the baby is here and maybe do the first few feeds by direct breast feeding then maybe move onto mixed feeding?

I hope it all works out for you whatever you decide to do.

I think another thing to bear in mind OP is that it may be difficult to express if you really don't want to do it. A lot of what goes on in your head and how you feel can affect how much you'll be able to get out.

I'm feeding 6 month old DS on (mostly) expressed milk.

DS was born 6 weeks early, and tube fed for the first 2 - 3 weeks, so expressing milk was initially the only way to get breastmilk into him.
We sadly couldn't manage to establish breastfeeding, but as I'd got into an expressing routine I kept that up.

As others have said, it can be hard work, mostly in terms of finding the time to express and sterilise all the equipment, especially if your LO wants / needs lots of attention when awake. And at first, to establish the milk supply, you'll have to express 8 - 10 times a day, not letting more than 4 hours go by between times.

If you're planning on exclusively expressing, you will need a good reliable electric pump - I express from both breasts at the same time to speed things up, and DH bought me an 'expressing bra' off the interweb so I can do things with my hands at the same time. Although an old bra with holes cut in it would work just as well.

It's also harder if you want to go out and about with baby - you can't practically express when out, so that cuts down the number of times you can express, which can reduce milk supply.

That's the main reason DS isn't fed exclusively on expressed milk for us - if I express every time he has a bottle, I can keep up with him, but if I miss expressing because we're out at a baby group or friends house, we can end up having to fall back on formula.

I did it for my twins for 9 months. My honest answer - don't do it unless you have too. It is not easy - breast feeding is much easier.

But if you can't breast feed than it is a workable alternative to formula.

Get a good electric pump, double pump (it is quicker and gets a better letdown).

Hi there,

I exclusively express for my lo (4 months) and it can be done. It is not out of choice though - it would be much easier to breast feed. The first approx 12 weeks will be the hardest, where you will need to pump every 2 to 3 hours until your milk supply has become established. To keep me motivated, I use this forum:

forums.ivillage.com/t5/Exclusively-Pumping/ct-p/iv-ppexcluspump

One of the girls has written a beginners guide, and I still find it really useful info. Take a read & you should get an idea of whats involved. X

I second that. There is nothing more helpful in the middle of the night when you are expressing than to realise you are not the only lunatic sitting on your own in the middle of the night. A bit of sisterhood goes a long way in that situation.