Breastfeeding and expressing

[Hollywilson261192]

Hi, so i have been reading a few things about expressing and spoke to my midwife about it.

I had no intention to breastfeed and to just express straightaway however my midwife said i wouldn't be able to do this.

I understand they recommend you just breastfeed until at least 6 weeks because once you give the baby a bottle they then can become lazy and only want to use a bottle but this wouldn't be an issue for me as like i said i really don't want to breastfeed.

What i want to know is basically can i actually express straightaway? Do i really have to breastfeed for a while then go to expressing as this is something i really don't want to do personally and i feel a lot of pressure from my midwife about breastfeeding and she says i need to go to the breastfeeding class.

Any advice would be amazing as im starting to get upset about this because i feel like i don't have much of a choice.

You could express from the beginning, but having a new baby is very time consuming. Trying to express and look after a new baby would be extremely difficult. I had to express some feeds because of breastfeeding difficulties, but expressing more than one feed a day might cause issues, especially in the early days when supply is being established.

There are other reasons why you should breastfeed. Your baby's saliva will contain chemical transmitters which are picked up by special receptors on your breasts. These chemicals tell your body what antibodies your baby needs in your milk, and your body ensures that the next feed contains the right antibodies.

Also a baby can suckle much more efficiently than any breastpump, so you may have doubts about supply because the amount expressed will always be less than a baby could suckle, and it will take longer to express it too.

Have you explored the reasons you don't want to breastfeed? If you are determined, your midwife should be able to put you in touch with specialist advisers who can help you learn more about the dark art of expressing.

I may be wrong, but I think you need the baby to suckle to get your milk to come in (which takes a couple of days)?

I tried to breastfeed from the start but DS couldn't latch very well, so I was encouraged to hand express colostrum while we worked on it. He never did get the hang of it so I eventually bought a manual pump, and then a double electric pump, and was able to give him about 80% breast milk for the first 5-6 weeks (topped up the rest with formula as couldn't quite keep up with what DS needed). It takes a lot of expressing to keep up your supply and is very time consuming (expressing isn't as efficient as the baby would be at getting milk out, and once you've expressed for maybe 30 minutes you then have to spend a similar time feeding it to the baby!), but it can be done without having breastfed first...it's just bloody hard work! But, having said that, so is breastfeeding, and there are some advantages to expressing (being able to share the night feeds was the main one for us).

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

I expressed exclusively with my first as we didn't manage to establish breast feeding. I was lucky to have my DH around a lot of the time as it is time consuming and you will need to pump every two hours or so to establish your supply in the beginning. It can be done but its a faff. Your milk will come in whatever you decide.

Can I ask why you don't want to breast feed? I am successfully feeding my second and am very glad to be. am also expressing now back at work.

Kellymom and the analytical armadillo are good sites to get info on exclusive pumping - tips on maintaining supply etc. Also on storing milk and keeping your pump. You don't have to fanatically sterilise like you do formula bottles for example because breast milk is sterile. That saves a bit of the faff!

Thank you for all the information and advice.

To be honest i just have never felt comfortable with the idea of breastfeeding, its just personally not for me. I am aware that breast milk is better than formula and i would like to be able to give my baby breast milk and expressing would be the way to do it with me not wanting to breastfeed.
I totally understand there is benefits of breastfeeding rather than expressing however because its something i really don't want to do i don't want to feel pressured in to breastfeeding, doing so and then me not being happy about it and end up just using formula.

I also have worries that there could be complications and i wouldn't be able to breastfeed anyways as this happened to my mam with me and she ended up having to formula feed.

Also if i express it means my partner can help with the night feeds to be honest i know pregnancy isn't easy but i had hyperemesis from 6 weeks until about 20 weeks and since then as I've got a low lying placenta I've had a few small bleeds so been in and out of hospital and i feel like i just haven't really recovered or got myself properly sorted so the help id be getting with night time feeds i feel would benefit us all a lot.

I expressed almost exclusively for for 6 weeks as DS wouldn't latch. I also had lots of people around to look after me!

You have to express at every feed to maintain supply (even in the night!), and as PPs have said, the pump may not stimulate your supply in the same way as baby's latch would. I think I was very lucky. Some women do find that pumping just doesn't work for them, and they just can't get anything out.

I would recommend you look again at breast feeding directly. New babies are hard work without every feed taking twice as long, and all the sterilising too.

It's really challenging, but it can be done if you have the support and determination.

I expressed exclusively for the first ten days with ds as he was in SCBU. It's such hard work and not rewarding at all. You need to do it day and night every three hours. You also get more engorged through expressing than actual breast feeding (just my experience). I think it's great that you want to do it though.

As an aside I didn't want to breast feed with my first, just not for me, but it's something I've always regretted. I would make a couple of plans but wait and see how you feel once you've had the baby. There's nothing to say you can't try it for a day and then stop if you really don't like it.

Just to add there are things you can do to keep up your supply, like eat oats. Google 'lactating cookies' for recipes too.

Its great that you're intent on feeding breast milk whichever way and you're right, that's the main thing. But do reserve judgment on breast feeding until DC arrives. If you start expressing and feel comfortable with it all you might just feel like giving it a go. We didn't have a problem mixing bottle and boob. I never thought I would feed while out in public so I expressed for that reason second time too, but after a few weeks I just thought sod it and gave it a try - now I'm quite relaxed about it. Good luck

Just re reading your second post I think the thing about night feeds which is the real killer is when they don't settle back to sleep! I found if ds had a feed and went straight back down I didn't mind it was just when he took hours to settle

she advised you against it as breastfeeding on demand is the only way to get a good supply in the long term. I can't understand why you wouldn't want the baby on the breast. your lo will much prefer this closeness and the skin to skin will bolster your supply.the first few weeks are horrific with cluster feeding and I just don't know how you supply will become sufficient with an hr here and there of expressing. They literally suck for up to 6 hours during spurts to stimulate production to match their needs.

Expressing is never as efficient as feeding straight from the breast. I know you say that you don't feel comfortable with it, but do try it because some women really do change their minds and are driven to it. If you are worried about "failing" then seek out the breast feeding support in your area for help and read up on it.

I expressed for a while when DS was a newborn. It was really really hard. If you're exclusively expressing you have to get up through the night to pump as often as the baby wakes to feed. So you don't get any more rest than if you were BF. In fact, you get less as you then have to bottle feed the baby.

I was delighted when I managed to get DS to latch on and feed.

OP has said she doesn't want to breastfeeding directly and would prefer to express. She's asking for useful advice on how to achieve this.

Hollywillson - as earlier poster said, this is possible. I had to express on and off from day 2 onwards due to latch issues. You'll have to start off hand expressing which is painfully slow, but once your milk has come in then you can switch to a pump. A double pump,which can be hired, is best. Some women can express lots, some can't (my supply varied from day to day) - there's no way of knowing in advance how much you will be able to produce.

It is a tiring routine, no doubt, and makes getting out of the house difficult in the early days. But breastfeeding directly can be just as time consuming too. Good luck with whichever way you choose to feed your baby!

I hand expressed and tried to feed Ds as he was a bit rubbish at latching on for 3 days. This was after a section. My milk then came in on day 4, and omg! I was in agony and poor Ds couldn't do anything about it as they were rock solid. so managed to use a manual pump and give him that but also formula as I could only do a bit at a time. The day before that he had massacred me and my nipples were all cut and bruised and was terrified to feed him as it was so painful. So I expressed and topped up with formula for about 2 weeks when I worked up the courage to feed him again. I continued to mix feed with boob, expressed milk or formula for 6 weeks then had to stop breast feeding all together for medical reasons. Ds didn't care what it was luckily just as long as he got fed.
So I don't see why you can't try it and see how it goes your feelings change about things after the baby is born anyway so just go with what you feel is best for you.

I was a bit squeamish about it when pregnant but found after 30 stitches, cannulas and the incessant bleeding; breastfeeding lost its ewww factor. good luck.

The problem with expressing is that it is not the most efficient way of getting milk out. Your baby is. Some people find it really easy and milk will pour out of their boobs and some won't (I am one of the later). Allot of women do express milk, but largely due to their baby being sick or when they are away. It is really hard to solely feed from expressed breast milk. It is far easier to cut out the middle man and feed directly from the breast and as a result you are more likely to get more of a supply of breast milk. Having close skin on skin contact stimulates the production of milk.

Also a baby will have different types of feed at certain times. The first part of breast milk is really watery and then it slowly gets thicker. And that's where allot of the good stuff is. So sometimes babies may only want a short feed and just have the watery milk (especially when they are hot) and sometimes will have the later milk.

I wasn't sure I would get on with breast feeding but was determined to try. However my DS had other ideas and refused to take to it, we saw bf counsellors etc and only managed to get him to take a few feeds. I really wanted him to have breast milk as I have a few health issues and hoped to avoid passing them on.

It's definitely not the easy route - you're effectively double handling the milk, and in the beginning I was expressing 8-10 times a day to get my supply up. For the first 6 weeks DS was mix fed as I couldn't keep up with him but for the last 15 he's been fed exclusively with EBM. It's still not easy, but I now express for a hour four times a day (so still having to wake up at least once in the night even if DH is doing the feeding) and I'm definitely looking forward to stopping when DS is 6 months old, particularly as I'm not one who produces rivers of the stuff, I've always only just managed to keep up, but I'm so glad I've done it.

The advantages for me are that someone can help you with the feeding, I think it's helped my DH feel as involved and bonded to DS (I know he could/would if I BF but some friends have reported their DC refusing to let daddy settle them at night for eg as they're used to mummy), plus I like the routine of knowing I have to pump at certain times and can work around that rather than BFing at random.

Good luck what ever you decide to do.

I had to express for the first month while DS was in NICU - it's absolutely knackering, even with the hospital-grade pump we hired (which at £45 a month was more expensive than formula) as you have to do it every 3 hours to get your supply going. At night is particularly important as that's when the hormones that tell your body to produce milk are at their highest level, so it's when you'll get the most milk. I never got the hang of hand expressing, although to be fair no one every showed me, but even then you still need to go back and forth to the fridge.

I'd never criticise anyone for not wanting to bf, I was unsure about it before I tried but was determined to keep an open mind, once I was allowed to take him out of the incubator it seemed the most natural thing in the whole world to put him the the breast, I couldn't understand what I'd ever thought wouldn't be for me! Unfortunately even with the weeks of expressing my supply failed after about 6 weeks, we mix fed for a while longer then it went altogether. I'm 33 weeks with DS2 (so already further on than I got with DS1!) and although I'm determined not to get hung up on it (got a bit obsessed first time round. Not good for anyone) I'm REALLY looking forward to having another go at bf!