Breast pump advice please!!

[Rubiales678]

Hi I'm in need of some advice. I'm looking to buy a different electric breast pump as I can't get much milk out of the belababy. I've had it a few months and used it sporadically , some times I can get 1-2 ounces other times like hardly any at all like 10 ml . It's very frustrating. Baby is 6 months and been exclusively breast fed since birth , I need to start pumping more to build up a stash for when I go back to work when baby is 9 months. I'm going back for a day a week soon to ease back in and it will take me all week to express enough milk for that one day! ! 😩 So I need an electric pump that is powerful ( good for slow flow) that I can use easily at work. Any suggestions? I was wondering if I just have weird boobs that don't fit the pump (lol) but I'm beginning to think I have a slow flow as I've never leaked and I struggle to hand express, also had a silicone hand pump similar to hakaa but couldn't get any out with that either. Please help! I can't afford to buy more than 1 more breast pump! Any suggestions welcome ☺️

I used a medela swing double and regularly got 4 to 5 ounces from each side. Saying that, in your shoes I would just give water or formulae whilst you are at work and then do extra feeds once you get home. They change such a lot after 6 months and will be dropping feeds left right and centre once the food intake increases.

Some people just can't really express much, it's one of those things. If i were you rather than wasting money on an electric pump that likely isn't going to work for you, I'd borrow one from a friend first and think about giving your baby formula when you're at work. By 9m he'll be having 3 solid meals, so you could get away with just a few little feeds a day, and BF morning and night. That's what we did when DD went to nursery - i never managed to express more than 1oz at a time.

You may well have the wrong size nipples for the cone, I needed an adaptor, in the smallest size available, who knew!
I have an Ameda Lactaline, it's a sealed system, so I bought it second hand on Ebay, obviously very little used as the washable parts hadn't gone that cloudy colour. It uses a lot of the same parts as the hospital grade one I rented, but for the life of me can't remember the brand right now - it was green.

Thanks you're probably both right , it's hard to imagine how much they will change in a couple months! I guess I can see how it goes with doing 1 day a week and if I can keep up with enough expressing and if I can't then he can have the odd bit of formula.

The Bela baby I have now I don't think I can buy different sized flanges. Tbh I don't know if that is the problem or not. Without being too graphic I think my nipple diameter is average but I have large areolas and fairly large boobs (38D) ?? Lol I have tried loads of different settings on my current pump and even trying to hand express at same time as pumping which seems to help initially for a couple squirts 😂but then the flow just goes again...

If it’s short term then maybe consider hiring a hospital grade one, like the medela. It’s not cheap, but for less than 3 months is comparable to buying one (£140)

It was the only way I could get milk, other pumps were no good for me.

If you keep pumping the amount that your baby feeds, while baby starts on solids so feeds a bit less, then you should be able to build up a stash too. Then as pp said you could just feed morning and night if you want to.

It’s not electric but I got the most of out of my Medela manual. It was so so effective for me.

I hadn't considered hiring one that's not a bad shout. And yeah I'm hoping now we've started solids if I keep pumping I might be able to stash a bit more

I like my Tommee tippee one - the cup is soft silicone, so it’s more comfortable than the one I initially used in hospital (preemie twins too small to feed initially).

See if you can borrow or hire one - lots of areas have children’s centres with breastfeeding support groups that may have one they can lend. Phone your health visiting team

@Rubiales678

Hi I'm in need of some advice. I'm looking to buy a different electric breast pump as I can't get much milk out of the belababy. I've had it a few months and used it sporadically , some times I can get 1-2 ounces other times like hardly any at all like 10 ml . It's very frustrating. Baby is 6 months and been exclusively breast fed since birth , I need to start pumping more to build up a stash for when I go back to work when baby is 9 months. I'm going back for a day a week soon to ease back in and it will take me all week to express enough milk for that one day! ! 😩 So I need an electric pump that is powerful ( good for slow flow) that I can use easily at work. Any suggestions? I was wondering if I just have weird boobs that don't fit the pump (lol) but I'm beginning to think I have a slow flow as I've never leaked and I struggle to hand express, also had a silicone hand pump similar to hakaa but couldn't get any out with that either. Please help! I can't afford to buy more than 1 more breast pump! Any suggestions welcome ☺️

Expressing after 6 months is very hard - most women who have stashes of breastmilk start them at the newborn stage because that’s when supply is highest. I would suggest rather than expressing read up on reverse cycling - I do this with my 12 month old and have been ever since he turned 10 months. It means when we’re seperated he doesn’t drink milk just water. And he makes up for that by breastfeeding at night when he’s with me. He has 3 feeds a night now - once after he comes home from nursery, once at 12pm, and once at 3am and then his morning feed at 7am when he wakes.

What age can you do reverse cycling from? I like the idea of him not having formula ( he's never had any at all so no idea if he would even drink it) . But also not sure if I could cope with all the night feeds once back at work. I was kind of hoping to phase them out but I guess I have to compromise and if I want to keep breastfeeding that might be what I have to do

@Rubiales678

What age can you do reverse cycling from? I like the idea of him not having formula ( he's never had any at all so no idea if he would even drink it) . But also not sure if I could cope with all the night feeds once back at work. I was kind of hoping to phase them out but I guess I have to compromise and if I want to keep breastfeeding that might be what I have to do

I was told by my breastfeeding counseller you can do it from any age but that it’s more effective after solids because babies will naturally drop feeds then. DS was weaned just before 6 months and went from 9-10 feeds per day to 6-7. I dropped the shorter feeds he had around mealtimes and replaced them with breakfast / lunch / dinner. Then as he got older he naturally dropped feeds as his solids intake increase. I was told to expect him to get down to 2 feeds per day by 12 months regardless of reverse cycling ie one first thing and one before bed - he’s on more because I’m a night owl and don’t mind the nights.

I tried expressing after a break (I expressed in the first 12 weeks as he had a tongue tie then stopped) and found it really difficult as my supply had adjusted and there just wasn’t much to make it worthwhile. It was too painful and stressful. I think reverse cycling was a lot easier for me

I should add he got used to it quickly. We started it with full time nursery and they supported me by offering water when he would have had a feed in the day. Within a week he was fine with the new schedule.

elvie changed my Life. It’s hands free. You just stick it in your bra and off you go. Worth every penny.

OP I bought a hospital grade pump second hand. A spectra. They are closed systems so can be reused. It was under £50. I ordered new flanges and pipes that were an extra £15 delivered to my house. I loved it. Had gotten next to nothing with my hand pump, nor with my bog standard electric and like you was returning to work.

The spectra is large. It’s not portable and it’s not quiet. But, in 5-10 mins I could pump 4+ oz per breast. Which saved a world of time and frustration. I used a trick with a nursing bra to hold it in place and used to take the ten mins as “me time” to text friends or read etc.

May be worth a google?

Sorry to ask a question on your thread. Thanks @Angliski. I wonder if anyone else had any opinions on the Elvie! I’ve heard mixed reviews and it’s really expensive to get wrong!

This is all super helpful people thank you . I was waiting for someone to mention elvie ha ha but it's just so much money to fork out when there's no guarantee it will work for me as pretty as it is! GrumpyHoonMain that's really helpful , my DS also has a tongue tie ( still does as no one would snip it during covid) but it's not as bad as it was and stopped causing me pain after 6 weeks. There's no way I could even have thought about pumping back then I just assumed I would be able to pump when I needed to ...bit naive perhaps! Reassuring to know others have had this issue on returning to work but found a way. Reverse cycling is seeming more viable. MissingCoffeeandWine did you take the spectra to work with you then or not? If not did you pump with something else at work or just not pump? Thanks

Hi Op,
I didn’t take it to work. My Lo was 8 months and started on food when I went back and mainly fed (for longer feeds) in the mornings/night/evenings when I was home. For the first week/10 days I used my Hakka at work and dumped! But body soon adjusted and I found I didn’t have to pump for my comfort. I had a freezer stash by then so she could have a bottle during the day. And in truth, when the stash that ran out at 10 months, I did introduce some formula and she was fine. I could have pumped in the night (or day) to get it - but I fell pregnant again and my milk levels dropped/it was the right thing for me.

Ok thanks that's soo helpful. So with reverse cycling I've read it's much easier to keep them in the same bedroom as you. DS is currently in next 2 me crib and soon to grow out of it as he is 6 months. We have a cot bed in his room which we may then have to move into our room? It wasn't what we planned but we probably just about have room. I don't really want to cosleep all the time , we do it for half the night now but wanted to get out of the habit for when he went in his own room. What do other people do ? I'm interested to know

I did what got me the best sleep possible and had the baby on a double floor bed. Feed and roll away when they're asleep, get on with your evening, go to bed, join them when they wake (obviously I'm describing the sweet spot where they comply, plenty of nights when they wake frequently and I didn't escape, looking at you dd). They're 3 and 7 now and both sleep a solid 10 1/2- 11 1/2 hours a night, both fed until preschool age.

Thanks Dowermouse so you had a separate double bed to your own bed? That's impressive til preschool age!

Just mentioning this - my flow when pumping was pretty slow until I was reminded that there's a big hormonal influence on feeding and I needed to encourage let down.

I did that either by holding the baby and looking at him or looking at photos on my phone and imagining I was about to feed.

Sounds silly but it genuinely worked and I could feel the let down kick in then voila the milk would then start pumping properly.

If I was stressed / rushing / thirsty etc all used to make it much harder so it's not necessarily a case of getting a stronger pump (although that will definitely help!) but also try some other tips.

I moved baby out at 9 months and as soon as I did he slept through the night. Previously he would wake several times.
But, you say you want to reverse cycle so that’s not an option for you. If you can’t pump much, I’d be inclined to feed him just before work, give one formula feed mixed with a small about of expressed (whatever you can express on your break at work- if poss) milk, feed as soon as you arrive home and then once before bed. That’s 4 feeds a day and he/she should get plenty of milk that way.

Yes, one in the kids room, one in the grownups room. They're in bunk beds now since the younger dc stopped waking.

I mean I don't necessarily want to reverse cycle , I just want to make sure we keep breastfeeding til he's 1 if I can. Your suggestion of 4 feeds a day sounds feasible @Fatas and Im hopeful of some of you saying your little one slept through in their own room at 9 months even tho they were night feeding before! @FusionChefGeoff thanks for your suggestion and yeah I'm aware of this and tried a couple things to make sure I'm relaxed beforehand but it is difficult when you become obsessed about how much milk is going to come out besides finding the time to pump around the baby!! I've never been able to feel my let down so I don't think mines very strong anyway?