A Question about the benefits of pumped milk compared to direct feeding?

[PeckaRolloverAgain]

Specifically about breast milk compostion.

I have often read about how the breast milk compostion changes often to suit your babies changing needs - how does this work if your expressing milk with a pump to feed to your baby - how does it know when to change etc etc?

Bump

I don't see how it would really. Its going to be the milk at the time you pumped.

what I don't know is whether it much matters, esp if its say one feed a day

its also still going to be better than formula

It would be more than the odd bottle - Im thinking more like exclusive expressed milk (or as near to exclusive as possible)

bump?

it may not have the immunity to diseases your dd will encounter because my mw was saying your body responds to their salivia????

one of my mates did this - she expressed and bottle fed for almost 4 months for each child and they thrived - she had electric pumps and was very organised

i think technically it is ok but i worried enormously about the time it took her, and how restricted she was going out. It took her twice as long as it would to feed her children directly which was a strain for her and her partner. i guess lots of women do this if they return to work so it must be more than possible

well I am no expert but the one thing that sprang to mind is that when baby is ill her germs are transferred to you and you make the antibodies for it in the breastmilk.
that presumably wouldn't happen if you were exclusively pumping.

I assume there are other similar things that affect how your milk changes from day to day that could be affected by exclusive pumping,.

that said, as fillyjonk points out, it's still far, far superior to formula and your baby is going to benefit hugely from the breastmilk she receives even if it is slightly different in composition than if she were having it direct from source as it were.

oh also it would change a bit if you were freezing/storing it in fridge too

Am not too sure but was going to say more or less what fingerwoman said, esp the bit about the germs being transferred and you producing antibodies in your milk as a response.
Am wondering if there is any decent info on line, kellymom/la leche etc etc.

I'm not sure if this is what you're getting at but my sister has just switched to bottle feeding expressed milk from bfing. Her 10 week old was struggling a lot with colic/pain/wind and was a total misery. She's been fine since the switch - really not sure why. Easier to take from a bottle without gulping air perhaps?

I worry that my sister won't be able to keep up the expressing but so glad my little niece has stopped screaming

page of links on kellymom here

The bits about the body picking up on DDs saliva etc makes me sad as I want more than anything to breastfeed but having to reluctantly use bottles as she now completely refuses to latch on despite help from BFC and recovering from breast refusal once before a few weeks ago.

As long as its stil better than formula thats good enough for me but its a shame she will be missing out on the maximum benefits.

As new mum, i did read about the pumps not being able to replicate the suck of the baby & therefore the milk would eventually dry up? Does anyone know more about this??

Pecka dont feel bad I think its probably minimal difference and giving ebm in a bottle will still provide very nearly all the benifits.
Might be worth you still offering the breast, things might resolve themselves naturally...

serant your milk won't necessarily dry up but I think you have to work quite hard and be prepared for "growth spurts" with pumping too.
when a baby is feeding directly then she will have growth spurts and will feed more often to increase the supply of milk.
when you are pumping obviously this doesn't happen and of course it is less effective to remove milk with a pump than with a baby lol
so if you find your baby is wanting more than you have pumped then you would want to be increasing your pumping (inc during the night) to mimic this

Surely the antibodies would still be in the EBM? What I mean is, it is thought that when you and the baby come in to contact with certain things your milk will contain antibodies to those things. I can't imagine that feeding from a bottle as opposed to the breast is going to make much difference in that respect. You are just as likely to pick up each other's germs anyway.

Pecka, the bit about BM changing to suit your baby is affected by how much or how long ago they fed. Obviously if you are pumping on a regular basis these changes won't happen (on a short term basis, your milk will probably change over time), but nor do these changes happen in formula. EBM is going to be better than formula either way.

I second keep offering the breast, but only in a non-stressful way. Good luck with the expressing. It will be a lot of work, you are obviously a very caring mum

Im still trying her at the breast very often, but exclusive pumping will at least provide her with breastmilk and provide me with a break from the very upsetting experience of each feeding ending in tears (often both of us!)

I am offering the boob whenever i think she might take it and seeing my BFC again this week - hopefully she will come back even for the odd sporadic feed, i am missing direct breastfeeding terribly!

And although she is happy on bottles she is just generally a fussy feeder which makes me kick myself as I originally tried bottles as she was seemingly struggling at the breast which then created this problem!

Hey ho!

Anyway, some of those links on kelly mom are great for anyone else interested parenting.ivillage.com/newborn/nbreastfeed/0,,98xx-9,00.html this one is interesting about the differences between direct and EBM feeding.

Easterbunnylicious - thats the other thing I have been pondering/worrying about - forgive my ignorance but will my milk be "stuck" at feeding a ten week old (the last time she was effectively feeding often) forever more!?

I exclusively expressed for my DD2 for 9 months. My supply obviously couldn't keep up with her increased demands as she got older and her requirement increased so I took medication to boost my supply.

I was assured by the Infant Feeding Advisor that she would still get my antibodies.

I don't know for sure, but logically I would say no, I would imagine that the breast milk matures with time and your hormones rather than as a response to the baby's direct stimulation.

How old is your LO? How are you managing with the expressing?

It's not your fault, I can totally understand giving her a bottle when she needed feeding. I have had to do the same with DD (9 months). Fortunately she would drink milk from a soaked rag if she had to and takes bottles and boob interchangeably. But we had a few months of fussiness, still don't really know why, and I too have sobbed through feeds It's so hard, and you are doing brilliantly by expressing. I hope the BFC can help some more.

Do you try offering the breast at different times of day? Have you tried expressing so you are in full flow and trying to put a bit of ebm on the baby's lips?

yes, she will still get antibodies.
but babies who directly breastfeed also pass on germs to the mother through their saliva. the mother producs specific antibodies to this which are then passed back to baby through the breastmilk. this may not happen if you are pumping as if mum has not picked up these particular germs then will not be producing antibodies to them (in a nutshell)

I do think that this is only the teeniest of downsides to expressing rather than direct feeding though.

pecka, also try feeding her when she is sleepy.
I had a lot of probs with ds1 and ended up pumping for him, but our last few successful breastfeeds occurred when he was quite sleepy and more inclined to take the breast

She is only just 12 weeks - she last fed from me on Wednesday and before that it was Saturday but since then it has deteriorated and she wont even put her mouth to my nipple.

I try when she is hungry, not hungry, upset but not hungry, tired, asleep etc and no joy. Admittedly I have started offering it less because I was just getting so upset being "rejected"

Expressing at the moment isnt that great as my supply is very low and I dont have an adequate pump - I am going to hire a hospital grade one this week and have restarted more milk plus and domperidone.

She is having to have some formula at the moment to bridge the gap and it has made her constipated. Fed her with mostly breastmilk today and BANG she has cleared the blockage (spectacularly!!)

Do those benefits come back again when they are old enough to start snogging your face or putting their sucked hands in your mouth?

Could I just snog her instead then at every feed ;)

it's completely understandable that you feel rejected, feeding your baby is like a primeval response. Good luck with the expressing. I have to go as Dh wants the computer but I hope you are ok.