Is it too late to pump?

[Junebughustle]

My daughter is 10 weeks old and I've been exclusively breastfeeding. I want to express milk for occasional respite (a few hours uninterrupted sleep, some time for me). I tried pumping a few weeks ago but realised that my let down had become so fast my baby was choking while trying to feed. She refused my left breast for a couple of days after.

How can I express milk without it affecting breastfeeding? At 10 weeks, have I missed the boat?

No, but some women can’t pump - it’s not a given. Babies are much more efficient at feeding than pumps are!

You can either fit pumping sessions in between feeds, or pump from the other side when she feeds.

If it affects your let down badly, though, and she refuses to feed afterwards, you may not be able to do both. Have you tried a haakaa or similar instead?

At 10 weeks, have I missed the boat?

I don't think there is a boat to miss here. I started expressing at about 4 months with DD1, and she breastfed until she was over 2. I stopped expressing at about 12 months because her feeds dropped right back anyway.

With DD2 I started at about 5 months maybe.

realised that my let down had become so fast my baby was choking while trying to feed

I had this for the first three months or so with DD1 (when I wasn't pumping). I just used to take her off when I felt the letdown come, use a muslin to soak up any of the faster spray, then put her back on.

It wasn't ideal but I couldn't do much about it, and she got better at managing it as she got bigger, plus I think my letdown naturally decreased a bit. It didn't come back when I started pumping. You might it doesn't become an issue again.