Do we need a breast pump?

[dmuk]

Completely naive set of questions here...

Do we need a breast pump? Or at least do we need a pump from day 1?

Is a pump required even if you are successfully bf'ing?

If using a pump, does this not make switching in between breast and bottle harder?

i gave bf 3 dc for just over 1year each and not pumped so I would say you don't need one

I would wait and see how bfing goes. If you do need a pump you may want to hire an electric pump from the NCT or hospital.

It does give you a bit more freedom to leave expressed milk while you go out or have a drink and can boost supply but I never got on with expressing at all.

I bought a tommee tippee electric one but only used it twice as Ds refused to drink from a bottle so it was really a waste of money. I would see how you get on with ebf and then decide if you want to express or not.

You won't need one right away anyway, so I'd hold out and see how it goes.

I've got away with a cheap avent one with both babies. I only use it to keep a supply in the freezer for if we want an evening out/emergencies or if DP wants to feed.

I used my tommy tippee electronic one from about day 4. This was to express some off as my breasts were engorged and my daughter couldn't latch because of this.

No, but it's worth researching so you know which one you want in the event of needing it. Single or double? Closed or open system system? Etc.

Assuming all is straightforward (e.g., baby isn't premature, etc.) It depends on whether you want to ebf, when you're likely to go back to work, and how long you think you might bf for.

So if you want to ebf, are going back to work after 6 months or earlier, and would prefer to keep bfing rather than introduce formula then, a good electric breast pump would be pretty essential for regular expressing.

But if you have at least a year's mat leave, and reckon you'll bf for at least that long... then you'll only really need a breast pump if you want to leave ebm occasionally and find hand expressing too much faff. An electric or manual pump would be by personal preference.

On the other hand, if you plan to mix feed from the start (or at least quite early on), then it's unlikely you'll have much use for a pump at all.

And there are lots of circumstances in between, of course, but that's a rough guide!

I'd say wait and see. You don't know yet how often you'll want to bottle feed or for what reason you want to express. Frequency dictates type of pump. I bought a double electric as was establishing supply for DD in NICU.Was suddenly discharged on a friday at 5pm and had been using hospital pump - no chance to hire one in time so had to buy! Had DD not been preemie I'd have got a different pump.

Thanks.

Seems like we need to wait and see what happens. There isn't an immediate need to express (for 'storage') however guess we won't know until we start...

I need to do a little more research as I am not totally sure of the mixed feed approach. I thought it is a choice of breastfeeding or not breastfeeding.

I express every day so dh can give her a bedtime bottle. No real need except he enjoys it and it also means I can have a bit of a break. I've enjoyed the freedoms this has given me to have the occasional evening out too. We started at about 4 weeks and dd has had no trouble switching between breast and bottle. It also means I have one less thing to worry about when I go back to work as a friend's baby won't take a bottle at all and she has been very stressed about this.

I didn't bother to get one in advance. I needed one quite urgently when I got mastitis, but was able to borrow a pump from a friend. I haven't really used it since. I'd say research but wait and see.