How long before your boobs stop working?

[Ryoko]

I was saying to my mum about taking formula milk with me to the hospital to feed the baby when I give birth (I intend to buy a pump for when I get home as I don't like the idea of baby on boob) but my mum says by the time I leave hospital I will not be producing milk anymore because it wouldn't have been used.

Is she right? how long does it take for em to dry up if they are not used?.

Bering in mind my mum was kept in hospital for 10 days when she had me as mothers where forced to have long stays in those days (and she was never discharged she just had enough and sneaked out without telling anyone after that time)

It will be incredibly difficult to use a pump to get breastmilk with no actual breastfeeding.

AFAIK your milk will still come in - day 2/3 or beyond. After that your mum is right, the demand will regulate supply.
However, it would be a shame for the baby not to have the colstrum - is there any reason you can't also express that? Or even feed for the first day or two?

i do agree you will find it hard to maintain bf like this

your milk will dry up incredibly quickly if you don't feed

the first day or so is colostrum not milk

sucking at the breast will stimulate the milk to come in

the less a baby sucks - or never sucks the quicker your supply will cease

you may feel differently when your baby is born and want to put him to the breast - wait and see?

you will have to pump alot (at least every 2 hours around the clock) to produce enough to bottle feed - pumping is less effective than a baby at getting milk out of the breast

It's the colstrum I want to give it, but I don't want to be sitting in the hospital toilet trying to use a breast pump and there is no way I'm breast feeding (it's a mental thing I just can not do it, I don't even like my other half near them really).

You need to ensure you are going to get the proper help you'll need if you want to express colustrum to give to the baby.

the MW should be able to help you get the colostrum to syringe feed

this happened with me as i was too shattered after DS's birth to feed him myself immediately

How long do you have before the baby is due? Would it be worth seeking out some counselling?

there are breast feeding counsellors who can help you talk through it - whatever you want to do
otherwise i'd mention to your MW and focus on colostrum for now. you won't need to be in the toilet there should be a curtain on the PN ward for privacy.

I'm 34 (and a half) weeks now, I spose I will see how I feel closer the time, I don't really have a MW it's shared care I've never seen the same one twice and they all seem to be uninterested in anything other then ticking boxes on forms and getting you out the door as fast as possible.

I will wait and see how things are when it's time, I haven't had a massive leak in the night and my boobs don't feel heavy and ache like it says in the books so I have not gone out and spent money on a pump or anything yet anyway.

you should be able to get some help after giving birth with expressing and feeding

i bf for 8 days and now express a couple of bottles a day and my lo is 10 weeks old

Ryoko it might be worth a call to one of the breastfeeding helplines

LLL - 08451202918
Breastfeeding Network - 0300 100 0210
NCT - 03003300771

They should be able to give you all the help you need.

Colostrum's quite thick stuff and produced in small quantities. It tends to get stuck in a breastpump and is difficult to collect that way. If you want to express colostrum then hand expressing is the easiest way to do it. There are instructions in this BfN leaflet.

I agree you might find it helpful to talk your plans through with someone on one of the helplines.

I've never leaked or had heavy boobs and I've fed two children for ever.
Colostrum is relatively easy to express straight after birth, but then gets harder to get out. You need a syringe not a pump, for colostrum. I would suggest getting expert help, but many mothers of prem babies too young to suckle manage to get some supply going without the baby being able to suckle, but they do have to pumop right from birth. Hospitals are geared up for this, and there's no way you'd need to be in the toilet.

And I'd recommend a double electric, for exclusive expressing

hello!
just thought id let you know, i managed to EBF by expressing for 4 1/2 months, it was hard, very very hard, but i did it.
I hand expressed the my colostrum and spoon fed my DS in hospital, after he wouldn't latch and wasn't actually interested in my breasts.
although i think it helped by putting him on my chest one side and expressed the other.
I felt like i was attached to the pump night and day, i had to massage my breasts, and i took fengreek and had porridge every morning aswell.
when we got home i was pumping every 2 hours @ 45 mins a time and i did manage to get a great supply, but by 4 1/2 months i was so exhausted i think my breasts were giving up and my supply just dwindled literaly overnight.. turned out i had a kidney infection aswell.
so i stopped after that.
my milk was also quite rich, there was a lot more hind milk than other mums who expressed and bottle feed ( of what i saw anyway )
also when he was at the growth spurt stage i would be pumping every hour it wasn't nice TBH but i was so determined lol.
so yes it can be done, but really if there is no reason physically or extremely mentally not to put baby to breast then please try.

You won't be pumping in a toilet! My hospital had a special room for expressing with a telly and double electric pumps.

I exclusively expressed for 8 weeks until I could get DS to latch, as he was premature. I started as soon as I could get to the pumps, the morning after he was born. It's hard work but worth it. Buy or hire a double pump.

OTT - wow you did well!

You haven't said so specifically, but it sounds like this might be your first baby. I just had my first as well and, believe me, it makes everything completely different. You will find yourself doing things you never thought possible without even thinking about it. You might find the idea of breastfeeding natural and even pleasurable when you meet your wee one. Just try to keep an open mind and see how you feel about it when the time comes.

thankyou SPB, my HN was very supportive, and impressed aswell, it was very important to me.