Do I need to express?

[Penguin27]

I'm planning to exclusively breastfeed for around six months when my baby is born. Do I need to buy equipment to express milk? I know that if I don't, it means that others won't be able to feed the baby and that I won't really be able to have any space from the baby until s/he is weaned... but if I'm happy with this, I guess there is no need for me to worry about expressing? Please let me know your thoughts and experiences on this!

I only had a back up plan as I had reason to think perhaps there could be problems. With me, not with breastfeeding. I feel that whilst it is important people know breastfeeding is not necessarily easy, it is the biological norm and most women and babies are completely capable of overcoming any initial difficulties. Going into it expecting to fail or needing a back up is somewhat pessimistic.
You don't expect to need ivf or fertility treatment to conceive. Yes some people do- and it's great that's there. But most people conceive through the normal method. Birth and feeding is also biologically based and the social influence of perception of problems and "I might not be able to" can and does influence success.

Again OP sorry for the tangent but Isadora this is EXACTLY the sort of messaging I referred to earlier.

Can't you see that if a woman like me or the OP wants to breastfeed and encounters some significant difficulty in doing so and right now has a screaming hungry baby (or worse an exhausted starving baby that has screamed itself to sleep hungry), that is the point where we will use formula. And that might be at one a.m. on a Sunday in a small rural town with no shop open until midday. Where is the advantage to my baby in not having the formula to give him? He can't latch, or else he would be latched. He now hasn't got the energy to try. Waiting even the fifteen minutes to pop to a convenient corner shop is too long when the formula is a last resort.

And screw the biological norm. Your comparisons are really wrong and making you miss the point. Conception, even after IVF, results in about a third of pregnancies being miscarried. Natural biologically normal processes go wrong in big or small ways all the time. Breastfeeding is no different and having formula in the cupboard won't change that. If difficulties are surmountable, great, they will be surmounted and the formula stays in the cupboard.

Oh and op, I actually found having a couple of bottles of ready made in the cupboard, helped me to successfully breastfeed. I knew they were there and I knew at any point in the difficult journey (and it is difficult at the beginning) I could say 'enough' or 'she can have a bottle this feed'.

It genuinely helped me to make it through those first weeks. I was desperate to breastfeed my second (first was bottle fed), so it helped me persevere.

She also had 1-2 bottles bottles of formula every few days in the first 2 weeks, as it meant that I could have some much needed sleep and my poor nipples some much needed relief. It has never effected my supply.

I appreciate all your comments, they're really helpful and has helped me to see it from both sides. I think I'm going to buy some emergency prepared formula and also a couple of bottles and sterilising equipment - just in case!

Also, I found bf easy, but I just couldn't express. I tried with my first, but never got more than a drop or two, and I had gallons when the baby suckled!

Yes, you are tied to the sofa and the box sets for the first few weeks, but after that there are decent chunks of time when you can do other stuff. And it really is only a small part of your life........

Hi OP, I'm glad you were able to get something useful from this thread, despite the controversy I've unwittingly stoked up! Just a final thought that may help you with your expressing decision is if/when you are going to go back to work and if you might continue to breastfeed at that point. Again my personal experience and we are - clearly - all different.....

I personally think (from experience as I certainly didn't think this when I was pregnant) that if you happily breastfeed to 6 months then you might as well carry on a few more months and rule out the need for bottles. After weaning, we were down to 4 and then 3 feeds a day fairly quickly (though not true for everyone) and I found it less hassle to give a morning, 11am and evening breastfeed than to bother with bottles. By 7 or 8 months ds was quite happy with a tippy cup of milk (expressed or formula) if I wasn't available, and as he was eating plenty of solids I wasn't too fussed if he chose not to take it. I was working at 9 months and chose to night wean (shoot me now Isadora!) but carried on daytime feeds til 18 months, with the middle of the day one swapped for tippy cup when working. If you do need to go back to work and you feel strongly about not using formula, you may want to consider starting expressing while your baby is younger. When I ran out of expressed milk supplies I tried to go back to pumping and it was very unsuccessful at that point, as my supply obviously didn't adjust as easily as in the early days. I used the odd cup of formula for the feeds i needed to miss and carried on breastfeeding for some time. Best of luck with whatever you decide.

This one specifically to Isadora - I think it's a very dangerous myth that one bottle of formula can ruin breastfeeding and probably leads to lots of women giving up because they don't realise its quite possible to re-establish feeding even after problems.

Even if you plan to exclusively breastfeed, I would advise you to buy:

• A small pack of formula, in case the breastfeeding doesn't happen, for whatever reason.
• A set of bottles and a manual pump, e.g. Tommy Tippee closer to nature is only £15 when on offer (and it frequently is on offer) and worked well for me in both pregnancies. This would help with oversupply and any emergencies when you have to express a bottle for someone else to give.
• Probably no need to buy a steriliser, if you don't plan to express much. If there is an emergency, you can sterilise with a pan of boiling water for 10 mins.

Also to mention, with both my babies I had planned to exclusively breastfeed, but in the first two weeks I had to express milk because my nipples became way too painful to latch the baby on. Using the pump for 2 days allowed my nipples to heal and resume breastfeeding.

That's good advice about the weaning danger, thank you. And also Elle, I've added a manual pump to the list! Even if these items stay in the box, I think I'd feel better knowing they're there if I need them.

I have a good electric breast pump and I've breastfed two babies. With my first the pump was a lifesaver. He needed an operation at seven weeks old and wouldn't feed for a day after the general anaesthetic. Without the pump my breasts would've exploded! I also returned to work after six months and pumped milk at lunchtimes for him to have the next day. My second child is now seven months old. I haven't used the pump once 😂