pumping

[mummamarnis]

Hi first post on mumsnet. I have two dc's ds 6 and dd 4 mos. I successfully ebf my ds till he was 3 I tried a manual breast pump but didn't like it never thought to get another one and ds went from breast to cup and never had any bottles so I'm somewhat a novice in that area I'm only in my twenties and feel like as much as I love breastfeed I would like a break occasionally without risking diminishing my supply with formula so would like pumping to work out better than last time so I'm not always missing out on things or rushing home to feed occasionally. Today I bought a single electric breast pump which I got 90 mls out in 30 mins while dd was on other breast. So a bit later I offered dd expressed bottle she looked at this as if it was poison I thought ok try again another time so I dismantled it all cleaned it all etc I'm thinking this is hard work is it really worth it I'd be exhausted before I leave to go anywhere and dd didn't take it anyway it just seems like a hassle when I could just lift my top up lol but like I said would like a break any tips for successful easy pumping or am I trying to have my cake and eat it xxx

You can definitely pump and feed! First off sounds like you got a good amount 1st try ...and in my experience it gets easier. Some times of day it seems pumping works better (for me it's mid morning) and warming the boob and drinking water makes it even easier.

Some bf babies are very fussy about which bottles they use (and nd some only take milk from a doidy cup or beaker). Some only like milk at a favourite temperature. It's a frustrating few feeds working out what kind of bottle/temperature yours likes (use just 1 oz at a time) but worth it in my experience!

Kelly Mom website has lots of pumping tips. One which saved me time and heartache was learning how much milk they need: not that much per feed! La leche league and Kelly mom both say approx 20-28 fluid oz per 24 hr before 6 months. So an average of 24 fl oz per day - if baby eats 10 times a day each feed is roughly 2.4 fl oz, 60 - 90 ml. Also they may well eat lightly from the bottle and suckle a little longer next breast feed.
Before I knew that I was trying to force 4 oz into baby lol! Almost double what I needed to pump and give.

I now use a hand pump and dh gives baby milk once every day or 48 hr. It helps me when I'm busy and he loves to do it.

Milk stores well in the fridge too - up to 4 or 5 days.

I can't help with the bottle issue as we were lucky and he took well to it. But just wanted to say that 90ml from one breast is fantastic! It's taken me a good few weeks to build up to getting 75-100ml out of two over 45 mins. So you're a natural! Definitely worth persevering in finding a bottle your lo likes. And I really appreciate the break in the evening from feeding him- I just make sure I express over that period to keep supply up

Wow thank you so much for your advice ladies. I am going to check out the kellymom website it has been helpful in the past and I have a lll meeting next week so I can ask them what they think too, squizita your right about the amounts to feed I was completely in the dark. I'm going to keep trying different techniques and bottles to get her to take it. I do think it was a bit cold so will try warming it gently. And if she doesn't take bottles I will try a beeker when she starts solid food your right about midmorning pump I got same amount in about 25mins which was helpful as I have oversupply I have to blockfeed and feel lopsided so that was useful I'm storing it and gonna give it a go with feed later. Thanks so much