Electric pump - will I get more milk?

[tinierclanger]

Hi, I've been expressing for 5 or 6 weeks now for my 12-week old, and we've got into a routine of giving him a bottle of EBM at bedtime, which is nice for his dad as we can share that job. But I just can't seem to express enough anymore (using Avent Isis hand pump). I used to be able to get 4-5 oz and could trigger a nice big gushy let-down at most pumping sessions, but I seem to have lost that, and usually can only manage a couple of ounces now as I don't get that gush any more.

Would an electric pump help? Would I get more, or is it just easier on the hand? It feels a bit dispiriting to think I will have to do several days of expressing to get enough for me to go out for a few hours.

Also, I've been freezing milk but I tried him on a mix of frozen and fresh last night and he rejected most of it and I had to BF instead. There doesn't seem to be much point in keeping up the frozen stock if he won't take it, or was this just coincidence and he just didn't fancy a bottle? Does it taste different?

Experience with pumps varies widely so suspect there are no hard and fast rules. My personal experience was that the Avent hand pump was the one with most oomph for me and beat all the electrical ones. It sounds from what you say that your supply has settled- after a certain point I found it hard to express much on top of what dd was having. You could try borrowing different types to try?

Re him taking the milk, is it possible that he is more likely to accept it if it's fed by someone other than you? Babies can be clever little so-and-sos in that department

I've found a double pump to be most effective. If you can manage to stimulate the let-down, the pump can take advantage of it on both sides at once, so capturing more milk. Everyone has different ways to stimulate let-down so maybe try a few different things. For me, I need to be distracted so not thinking about expressing (watching tv/reading is good). Also, pulling gently (!) on the pump while it 'sucks' can help let-down.

Haven't tried pulling so will give that a go before anything else. And will try leaving the room next time he rejects the bottle! Thanks!

Best pump I found was a huge double electric one I hired from the nct - I have an electric one at home but its not so good.

Don't forget your baby is the most efficient pump around, so your body gets used to making what he or she needs - so expressing won't necessarily yield the amount of milk he or she gets from the bf. I used to agonise over whether mine were getting enough milk, only to realise that what I pumped wasnt the same as what I produced!