Talk to me about breast pumps

[absolutehush]

Hello!

Advice needed please!

I will need to go back to work when baby (due in March) is approx. 3 months old. My DH will be a SAHD.

I want to breastfeed but will need to express and bottle feed.. can anyone help me plan, please?

• should I express from 38 weeks to establish supply/ freeze milk?
• when should I introduce expressed bottle feeds?
• how long does it take to express a bottle? I will have a safe, clean private room at work to do this.
• what pumps do people recommend? I'm thinking double, electric but money is TIGHT so if I can get away with single....

Waaaaaaaaa! I'm a FTM so have literally no idea what I am doing!

I had a Medela Swing that I bought second hand on Ebay. Just bought new breast section as was wrong size for me, and new membranes, but everything is sterilised so second hand didn't bother me. I got on well with this pump but never tried any others.

I wouldn't have thought pumping before birth is advisable as may mess up colostrum production - this is the very rich milk full of antibodies that your body produces for your newborn in the first few days.

Wait till breastfeeding is well established (maybe 4 weeks) before trying to intoduce a bottle as the baby may be confused and may stop breastfeeding well.

When you pump, choose a set time of day and pump at that same time every day. At first, you will barely produce anything, but persevere and your body will get used to needing to produce at that time of day, and will produce more.

At first, it will take ages to express a bottle but your body will become more efficient and speed up.

Please be careful buying second hand. The madela swing is a single user unit. The milk can get into the system and contaminate parts.

Hospital grade pumps are different

You can express before birth, but it will stay colostrum until a few days after the birth when your milk comes in. Colostrum is in very small quantities, so if you were expressing you'd be best off hand expressing rather than using a pump. You might get 1 or 2ml each time you express, once you're well practised at it, and you can freeze that for when baby arrives. Google 'harvesting colostrum' for more info.

My baby was premature and I started expressing the day he was born (colostrum to start with). It took me 15 mins with a double pump to drain my breasts and I did that 6-7 times a day. Anything he didn't drink after 3 days was frozen. Feel free to message if you have any questions!

My colostrum didn’t come in as I lost a lot of blood during a c section. I started pumping in the hospital to encourage milk supply, around day 3/4 it started coming through A LOT! I use mendela swing single, as our baby has been used to bottles and breast since birth he takes them both very well (he is 11 days old). It takes me 15 mins to express about 80-100ml which is one of the small bottles, at this stage our baby takes about 60ml per feed. I can fill a bottle faster now than I could at the beginning so I think the supply is increasing significantly.

I would say you will save a lot of time having a double pump.

I know it’s not advised to start too soon but in our case I’m glad I started expressing from the beginning as it means my partner can do a night feed which is a blessing.

Ok - thanks everyone! I'd read it was ok to start harvesting colostrum prior to delivery so think I'm going to pursue that...

I'll be expressing in my lunch hour so will very much be in a routine with it, just want to make sure I express enough for my partner at home as far as possible.

I think I'm erring towards the Medela swing or ARDO Calypso - anyone with experience of either?

I just don't know when to introduce bottles! Arrgggh why don't babies come with manuals!

I've got the ardo but used the medela at the hospital. The medela is better but expensive and the ardo works fine!
In terms of expressing during work, just be aware your supply will more than likely reduce since you won't be "using the milk" as often as breastfeeding as you would be expressing once during the day but would have breastfeed more than that if you were at home. I don't think there is harm in introducing the bottle now. Baby will need to get used to it at some stage! My DS took it to no worries so fingers crossed your bubba does too x

I can recommend the bellababy from amazon. It's a fraction of the price of the medalla but just as good in my opinion. I originally had a medella swing and when it broke I couldn't justify the cost. I thought I'd take a punt on the bellababy for less than £40 and it's been great.

You wouldn’t be able to pump colostrum I don’t think it’s too thick - usually you need syringes for that. I like mendela a lot, super easy to use, no problems - would recommend. If you are doing it at lunch the double pump might be better to save on time as I usually do 15/20 mins per boob.

I hand expressed colostrum. I'm glad I did because i used it all when my baby was first born. Get some 5ml syringes from amazon. It would take me about 3 days to express that much!

You’ll need an electric pump. Hand expressing is exhausting.

Lunchtime will be enough time to express what you have built up.

Don’t introduce a bottle till 6 weeks but you can start expressing and stocking up before that.

Have realistic expectations. It’ll be hard to express enough to allow your partner to exclusively feed breast milk all day long. You make need to supplement with formula unless you have a very strong supply.

- should I express from 38 weeks to establish supply/ freeze milk?
You won't establish supply this way as milk production is triggered by detachment of the placenta. You will only make colostrum of birth. You can hand express that and save it in syringes (2ml syringes should be sufficient)
- when should I introduce expressed bottle feeds? advice is 6 weeks to ensure supply and breastfeeding are established and to reduce the risk of nipple preference (refusing to breastfeed as it takes more effort) however I've found that waiting that long has the opposite issue and you can end up with a bottle refused, so we introduced a bottle at 3days old with DC2.
- how long does it take to express a bottle? I will have a safe, clean private room at work to do this

I respond well to a pump so can express a bottle in 10minutes or less. Others take much longer (1hour or more). Tips for increasing productivity with the pump- have baby feed from one side and pump from the other. Pump at same time(s) each day. If you can't be with baby then have photos or preferably a video of baby to watch. This stimulates milk production and let down.
- what pumps do people recommend? I'm thinking double, electric but money is TIGHT so if I can get away with single... I'd recommend an ardo calypso double. It's a closed system so you can buy one safely second hand for around £60 on ebay- its hospital grade and the same one the milk bank lent me when I pumped for them. I bought one this time (second hand). I'd avoid medela swing unless buying brand new from a shop. If buying second hand make sure it's a closed system so that there's no risk of contamination.

I used the medela in hospital then bought the ardo calypso when I went home. I would say they were both as good as each other but definitely get a double to half your time

Just to confirm as well if you want to express enough for your other half to feed exclusively breast milk I imagine you will need to pump multiple times a day.... it takes me about 15 mins to get enough milk for one feed and my baby is only a few weeks old so if you are talking about a 3 month old it might take 20-30 mins to do enough for a single feed. I’d suggest expressing as much as possible when you are at home and freezing it to build up supply but I think it will take a lot of time for you!

Have you had a look at naturebond silicone pump. It's used to catch let down off one boobs whilst feeding off the other. It's better than my manual pump and you could use it to top up anything you get from pumping. It's only £13.99 on Amazon, the Haakaa is another version but looks exactly the same but more expensive. I know you're not meant to give a bottle until 6 weeks but I momentarily fell out of love with BFing after about a week when my boobs had been so engorged I cried and I was doubting myself and if he was getting enough and started expressing then and giving him the bottle. I've made friends with BFing again now but am pumping 2 bottles a day (without an electric pump!) with one going to the last feed of the night which dad gives and the other going to the freezer stash. Baring in mind my local BF support also advised not to pump until 6 weeks, along with not to offer bottles, but you'll find what works for you will work for you and everyone else can go to hell, especially in the early days. Good luck x

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone for your advice.

I'm realistic about supply in that if I have to rope up with formula then I will - as long as baby's happy, right?

Absolutely OP! Expressing is hard work so whatever you can get is fabulous. And I strongly believe Fed is Best so whatever way that happens is a-okay x

Have a look at the Kellymom website too for general tips about building / boosting a good supply in general for that first 3 months.

Lots of skin to skin, rest, at least a pint of water per feed and indulge any cluster feeding sessions as much as you can. Make sure you are eating well - I swore by an enormous bowl of porridge every morning.

Line up a few really good box sets and plan to spend a lot of time on your sofa!

Just wanted to come and say that I expressed and had my daughters taking a bottle from day 3 with DD1 and day 5 with DD2 (when I got home from hospital in both cases) and neither ever experienced any kind of nipple confusion.

It’s good that you are being open minded - unfortunately everyone is different and some people struggle to express more than others (and this is unrelated to supply)

My personal experience: I started expressing when Ds was about 3 months old and pumped for an hour each evening - this was enough for 1 full feed. As a pp said, if you are hoping to express enough to exclusively use breastmilk for feeds you may need to do several sessions a day.... A friend of mine exclusively pumped as her son was premature and never latched - she had to pump every couple of hours to keep her supply going and have enough for him!