Exclusively feeding EBM

[bluespix77]

Hi
My baby won't latch on, so I am having to express breast milk. I was wondering what other peoples experience of this has been? I'm only at day 18 and already finding it very tiring and hard work. My babies need has increased to about 70ml every feed, every 2-3 hours and I am struggling to keep up with demand! And really worried about when his demand increases again. Previously when he was taking 50ml, I could 'bank' enough to have 2-3 spare feeds in the fridge, which was great if I needed to go out or to get us through the night. When feeding EBM is it normal to only be producing enough for the next feed or should I be producing more so I can 'bank' some. I am really worried that I won;t be able to maintain this long term and will need to introduce some formula in some situations - for example when we need to go out for the day.
Any advice from peoples previous experiences would be very gratefully recieved!
Thanks.

My friend ended up expressing for almost 6 months. I can't remember how it worked but I think she expressed in the night and have a feeling that by 5 months she had built up a stash in the freezer so she could stop expressing but still give her DC EBM until 6 months.

18 days is probably too soon to have any surplus.

If it helps it took my ds 3 weeks to latch on so you still might crack it.

Should also add that I am using a Madela double pump.

With regards to the support on breast feeding, I regularly attend the breast feeding clinic at the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford. Baby will only 'latch on' and feed properly when one of the clinics experts has hold of baby and my boob!

Am thinking about paying a lactation consultant to come out and visit me at home.

Hi! Please take heart - Chloe and Sally at the JR are brilliant (are they both still there?) and they got me through exactly the same scenario as yours, by the sound of it. In fact, you are probably doing better than I was, as it was two weeks before my DD ever latched at all, with Sally's hands-on assistance - she then refused again until four months, when she took one side, once, when I was 'in charge'. She then didn't again, until she was six weeks old - then she suddenly opened her mouth wide and went for it. I then BF her until she was a year and we moved to cows milk in a beaker.

I won't kid you - it was hard work! My two huge pieces of advice are to get yourself a proper hospital grade double pump - my local NCT group in Didcot hired me one for a small fee, and to take it in really small chunks mentally. I was adamant that I didn't want to 'give up', but I said to myself that I would persevere for two weeks - I was ready to give up, then she took her first 'proper' feed and that spurred me on for another two weeks, at which point I managed it once - then two more weeks, at which time she suddenly got it. I was ready to give up by that point, and was just coming to terms with it - I think she just got old enough - she was more awake, her mouth was bigger - we just seemed to click with it.

I expressed after every feed - 30 mins to bottle feed, 30 minutes to settle DD, 30 minutes to express - side A,B,A,B, keeping going until the flow slowed to a trickle. I aimed to always have the next feed plus one extra in the fridge - I froze any little extra so I had an emergency feed, but you are doing better than I if you've been having 2-3 spare. If you're worried about keeping up, put in an extra express in the early morning when baby has a growth spurt - that is when your supply is greatest. Sleep as much as you can and rest and eat well - you'll need both!

And good luck. I'm off to bed, but I will check in tomorrow in case you want to chat about it.

Oh gosh - sorry: four weeks, not four months!!! DD was 6.5 weeks when we dropped all bottles.

If you search for my name in the archives you'll peobably find my thread, if they go back to 2005.

blue - I expressed for DS1 for almost 9 months, it can be done.....but it's really hard work. I would definatly recommend getting some help with your latch if you can.

Ok so it was 5 years ago so I'm dredging my memory but the things I remember doing that seemed to help was - Expressing during the night (early hours). - Expressing twice in an hour and then repeating hourly during the evening. I found this helped to increase supply during growth spurts but it's heavy going. One trick I used was to express and then put bottle and pump in the fridge with the cap on (washing and sterilising was a major pita) and then reuse it an hour later.

I had already given some formula because DS had lost a lot of weight and the MW had insisted so once I made the decision to give up on trying to get a latch, I gave him a couple of formula feeds so I was 'ahead' as I was finding trying to express feed 4 feed (iyswim) really stressful. Erm...will come back if I think of anything else.

I'd definitely second putting the pump bits in a bagin the fridge - your non-feeding/expressing time is too precious to be sterilising every single time. Once a day did it for me!

I had the Madela pump to begin with but found the Avent Isis an absolute god send, cut expressing time down and seemed to get more milk when using it.

Hi thanks so much for your feedback. Both Sally and Chloe are still there - and are both wonderful! I'm just worried that I can not get the baby to latch on and that doing it just twice a week at the clinic is not enough practice for the baby!
Now the babies demand has increased I'm only just keeping up with demand, I no longer have any in the 'bank'!
I am expressing every 2 hours and about 3 times through the night.
Can I also ask you whether you sterilised the pump funnel everytime? We live in a 3 storey house and am finding it hard in the night to sterilise the funnel every time.

Hi - I've been there and know how difficult it is, so well done for getting this far. I exclusively expressed for my son for 4 months from August, until he finally decided to feed direct from me! Typical awkward man!

Anyway, like you I used a medela double pump and expressed at least 4 times during the day and also whenever he got up at night for a feed (my husband gave him his night bottles whilst I expressed for at least half an hour) - expressing during the early hours of the morning is actually very good for milk supply as this is apparently when a lot of the required hormone is produced.

My son started on 30ml, then 50ml, then 80ml, 120ml and up to 150ml.

After the first couple of weeks, I found that my supply was such that I always had at least 2 or 3 feeds in the fridge and also managed to build up a frozen supply (enough to last for 2 whole days if necessary).

I did keep on trying to get him to latch every day. Sometimes he would feed from me, but it would take about 45mins and he would then be hungry again only an hour later (as opposed to 3hours between bottle feeds). HV and midwifes were no help and to be honest I probably didn't put as much effort into trying to get him to latch on as I should have done.

However, as he got to about 3months old it got much harder. Partly because we started to get out and about more so I felt I didn't have enough time at home to express and partly as he went through a growth spurt and wanted more milk. I was really starting to panic about it and concerned that my supply wasn't up to it. I started to take fenugreek supplements

And then one day I was out with only one bottle with me and stayed out longer than expected. He needed a feed and I had no choice but to try to feed him direct, which he did. This was our most successful "direct" feed as it got him through the next 2 hours!

I spoke with a breastfeeding counsellor who gave me a couple of tips and who gave me the confidence that I could do this. I just really concentrated on getting him to feed direct, spending a couple of days at home, lots of skin to skin, and something just clicked between the 2 of us.

I've only expressed twice since Christmas, when I was going out, but DS has now decided he won't take milk from a bottle anymore, so that was a complete disaster!!

Anyway, sorry for the essay - I didn't intend this to be such a long post. Expressing is possible on a long term basis, and your supply should adapt to keep up. But I would say to keep on trying to get him to latch and feed direct.

Good luck

I exclusively expressed for ds for 19 months- no ormula needs. I successfully bf dd till she was 11 months and refused to feed, she is 15 months now and im exc. expressing since she was 11 months- hoping to get to 19 months with her as well.

It can absolutely be done. Any q's just ask. I would also try to latch baby yourself often as well. My ds never did latch for me, but ive heard of many cases where they have.

sorry for typos- no formula needed.

I pumped for my very prem son for three months. I second advice about expressing at night and getting a hospital grade pump. I did not sterilise the pump funnel every time, even in hospital they would tell us to sterilise once a day. But cold water sterilising made it even easier- just rinse and put it in a plastic tub with a milton tablet and store it there between uses. No faffing.

I had supply problems and I was prescribed Domperidone which increased my supply amazingly. It's not for everyone but if you wanted to try it for a few weeks to get some back up milk in it might work. I had to ask my GP who hadn't heard of it being used for this. Good luck.

i have fed my baby on ebm for the past 14 weeks. She was born 6 weeks early and no amount of encouragement could get her to suck from me. Although i am still trying have kinda given up hope!

as everyone has said its not easy, someone said its like feeding twins! only one is a lovely baby and one is a plastic pump! For the first wee while i expressed every three hours even overnight. She is now on 4 feeds a day and sleeps through the night (i know i'm lucky!) and i express 5/6 times and get 200mls at a time . its just part of my routine now, so don't even think about it.

I invested in the medela swing after 4 weeks of pumping with a manual and what a diffrerence, its great.

good luck!!

(and if anyone has any great fixes about getting baby to the breast at this late stage please pass them on!)

My baby is 3 and a half weeks and has never latched on or fed from the breast, so I am expressing and feeding him a mixture of EBM and formula and trying everything to get my supply up.

It is hard work, and I am impressed by everyone's stories of how long you've kept expressing - gives me encouragement!

I have been lent an Ameda lactaline personal double pump which is great, and I am getting much more out with that than the Medela swing.

I've also bought a More Milk visualisation CD from EarthMamaAngelBaby which is great for getting you relaxed and getting the milk to flow and helping you stay positive.

Really good to hear everyone else's stories - Sugarmuppet, you are doing a great job keeping trying at 14 weeks - really hope it works out for you.

With people who have been expressing over several weeks and months, did you keep doing it every 3 hours? How did you balance this with having a life and getting out and about?

i'm really lucky (or thanks to her being in a strict hospital routine for first 2 weeks) that she has always fed, 7,11,3,7 (now dropped her 11pm and 3am) which has made it easy for us to get out and about knowing exactly when she is going to feed and me express. Would be much more difficult i would imagine if she wasn't in a good routine. If we are going anywhere we leave as soon as she is fed which gives us 4 hours, if we then feed her when we are out we would make sure we were home no more than 2 hours after this for me to express. This gives us 6 hours out and about which has never caused me any bother going this long or getting the usual amount the next time i expressed.

if we have friends over i just slip out for 10 mins ("excuse me am going for an expression" lol) or if close friends just do it in front of them, no more embarassing than breast feeding i would imagine.

right at the start when she was in hospital we ended up staying all day (waiting for her to wee to get a sample but that is another story!) and by the time i got home at night my boobs were like bolders! i can still remember how painful every bump in the road on the way home was! I learned the hard way and since then have always made sure we know when we'll be home!! Ruled by that pump as my husband would say!

Have you looked into using an SNS (Supplemental Nursing System) - it is like a tube which attaches to the breast and means that as the baby learns to latch they are getting expressed milk from the tube. Sounds a bit weird but could be an option to help get the latch going?

I think you are doing fantastically and I really take my hat off to you and anyone who manages to exclusively pump - it must be really hard work.

Hi Bluespix77. How are you getting on today? Please do try to get a hospital-grade double pump if you can - it did seem to be much better. The pump is huge - I hid mine under the coffee table and had 'my' chair for the duration... But it was worthwhile. I had a portable pump for times when I wanted to be out and about at expressing times, and I definitely noticed it wasn't so easy to get the volumes we needed. And I definitely only sterilised once a day - I put the plastic tubes and all into a large sandwich bag in the fridge between goes.

Where abouts in Oxfordshire are you based? If you would like to meet up at the JR one day for lunch or something, we I'd be happy to do that.

Hi jenny I'm doing ok. Given up on the madela double pump, Its not that great and I really struggle with not having a hand free, so I've gone back to using the madela swing. I have a breastfeeding counsellor coming to see me at home on Monday - the lady who runs the baby bus. I'm going to give it one more serious stab at trying to get the breastfeeding cracked. If it fails then I'll look at hiring a hospital grade pump. Would be great to meet up, whereabouts are you based? Will let you known how I get on tomorrow.

I'm based in South Oxfordshire - how about you? I'm not yet set up to CAT (must get that sorted...), but I think others can still contact me, so feel free to have a go.