Medela supplemental nursing system

[Squashpocket]

Hi,

I've been advised by a lactation consultant to buy a supplemental nursing system to use when my baby is born in a couple of months time.

I've had a look at some YouTube videos of people using the Medela system and I have to say it looks like a massive faff and I'm wondering how I'm going to make this work!

I was wondering if anyone has any advice on using one?

E.g how to manage during the night. The advice on the website is to wash the whole system after every use, so does this mean I have to get out of bed and go and wash tubes 5 or 6 times a night in the early days?! Is there anyway round this?

Also, at £35 a pop they seem quite expensive. I'm assuming you'd realistically need more than one? Would buying second hand be a bad idea?

How do you manage being out and about? I have never seen someone using one of these in public, so I can't imagine how that works?

Also is it worth it in the long run? I'm feeling a bit defeated and could do with some positive stories/a kick up the bum.

Any and all advice/encouragement would be massively appreciated.

I'm confused! Why has she recommended you buy one? These are used in fairly extreme circumstances by women who are having feeding and supply issues...but your baby isn't even here yet and the likelihood is you won't need it.
What's her reasoning?

Sadly I guess I am extreme case then. She has diagnosed me with mammary hypoplasia. This is my second baby, so I know already that exclusive breastfeeding is off the table and it's about maximising milk production in the small amount of tissue I do have, while ensuring baby gets fed.

I went down the bottle route with my DS1 and he lost interest in the breast, so hoping to avoid that this time. She has recommended the sns as a way to have a breastfeeding relationship regardless of the amount of milk I produce, however I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with the practicalities of it and would like to hear experiences from others that have used the system.

Here's how to make one at home. You just need to get hold of a ng tube. I made it after fantastic advice from friends to keep DS on the boob longer and get the expressed milk top up into him.
Hope it helps.

breastfeeding.support/homemade-supplemental-nursing-system/

Great thank you for the link. I'm thinking of buying one of the commercial systems because if this was to work out for us, it would be a long term thing, but a homemade system could be the way to go while we're figuring out if it's worth pursuing

Definitely worth a try, it worked well for us. I sucked the end of the tube to get the milk right up to the top so he got it instantly.
We did find it tricky to get the right amount of the tube into his mouth at the start, too much and it's uncomfy for them, not enough and no milk. But once I worked out where he preferred it it worked fine!

Can I ask how you got on with using it overnight? Do you need to get up and wash it each time or just have lots of tubes and do it all in one go in the morning? Sorry if I sound clueless!

We aren't using it any more as he's finally had his TT sorted and is slowly putting on weight so we're feeding better and for longer and dropping the top ups.
It was easy to clean though, I just used to use hot soapy water and suck it through the ng tube, and wash the bottle as normal.