Any other exclusive pumpers?

[CoalCraft]

Anyone else out there feeding baby exclusively with expressed milk? Just thought it might be nice to share stories and support. What are your reasons, what pump do you use and what are your tips for staying sane? Would you do it again for a future baby?

I always intended to EBF the traditional way, but DD was prem (33 weeks) and had to be tube fed at first. I started pumping to provide the food and surprised myself by having a good supply. As she got stronger, the only thing keeping her from coming home was the need for her to start feeding fully, and the bottle was just so much easier for her. I also couldn't be at NICU 24/7 so she was bound to get some bottles from the nurses. I just wanted her home and went full bottle, intending to pick up traditional BFing later.

Except it just sort of didn't happen. She and I never got the hang of it and at this point I'm happy and feel that exclusive pumping works for us. Pumping is a massive pita but it's convenient in other ways. DH can feed her while I sleep, and I know exactly how much she gets, which feels important for a little prem baby. So far I've been making more than she needs, though if the time comes where demand exceeds supply I will not feel guilty supplementing with formula... Or I'll try very hard not to.

If I have another baby, and they go to term with no NICU stay, I will try traditional BFing again, but probably in combination with bottle feeding expressed milk.

I use a Bella Baby double pump. It's cheap as chips, probably the cheapest electric pump on the market, but it honestly works great for me. Weirdly though, I find it works much better if I take the rubber cushions off the horns and just use the hard plastic. Sounds horrible but it doesn't hurt and is much more effective... And it's easier to clean!

I'd love to hear from other mums that are EPing. It seems quite a rare thing and it seems all the online info and groups are geared towards traditional BFing or bottle feeding formula.

Hi OP!

I'm no longer EPing but I did for 5 months. Ds is now 7mo and on formula (I really didn't want this to happen but I could no longer produce enough to keep up with his demand and spend enough time with him).

I ebf ds until he was 6 weeks, he wouldn't stop crying and I was so confused. One day I expressed a bottle so I could add colief drops to see if it was wind, and he stopped crying. I then didn't add the colief and he still wasn't crying. I worked out that he was hungry. Due to COVID I'd had no support for breastfeeding, and when I took him to see somebody at this point they told me he wasn't latched properly and that he was unable to.

I then expressed, and oh wow it's hard work isn't it! I kept going until it felt unfair on ds as I was expressing 8 times a day and never got any time to play with him and I felt so bad. And every time I went anywhere I was back in the car every 2 hours expressing! I bought an Elvie pump (£250!!) in a hope it would mean I could play and express but it didn't work for me, could never get any milk out! They also didn't refund me 🙄 so It came down to what's more important, spending time and playing and cuddling ds or feeding him breast milk. As much as it hurt me to stop, I did it and it's absolutely fine 😊

Hats off to you for doing it, it's rare because it's the hardest way to feed! Your body has to produce the milk, you then have to express it, feed it to your baby, then wash and sterilise all the bottles! Basically breast and bottle feeding!!

You should be so proud of yourself! 💐

Hi, thanks for the response!

Sounds like you did absolutely amazing and should pat yourself on the back! I can definitely see how pumping could get impractical as baby gets older and needs more interaction. I pump seven times a day for 15+ minutes each time, and with the washing and sterilising too it adds up to so much. DD's adjusted age is just over one month, so she's still mostly sleeping just yet, but it won't work when she's older. I'm also conscious of the fact that I'm probably going to have to stop pumping when I go back to work around August. I know they have to provide time and space for it and I know they would, they're decent, but it just seems so impractical to be storing breast milk in the office fridge!

I think it's important to remember that you can raise a perfectly healthy baby on formula alone and there's nothing to feel guilty about in giving them it. Breast milk definitely has benefits over formula so we pump for as long as we can, but that has to be weighed against drawbacks like less time spent interacting with baby.

I'm glad you mentioned the Elvie pump. I have been very tempted by the ads as the idea of a hands free pump is heaven, but I've heard quite a lot of bad reviews so far and they're a bit expensive to buy just to have a go! Also maybe I'm just an old fogie but the app integration put me off. I don't want to fiddle with my phone I just want to get on with pumping!

Thank you!! I don't blame you at all for not wanting to store the breast milk in the office fridge, that made me laugh! You will know what's best when you get there 😊 it did get really hard the more interactive ds became as he craved so much of my attention and I was permanently attached to the pump 😂

Your lo may be happier than he was to lay next to you and chat and look at your silly expressions than my ds was though. You never know how they will manage it! All I'd say though is if you start finding it so hard it's making you upset, do stop. I powered on for about a month crying every day about how much I hated it, and when I switched the biggest weight was lifted. Being a mum is hard enough without adding things on top 😊

I wouldn't personally recommend the Elvie! It was terrible. But my sister tried mine out and it was amazing for her but she ebf her dd so not sure if this made a difference (better supply etc I don't know!) deffo an expensive thing just to try out though as they won't refund!

I hope all is well with your lo being so prem, my son was born at 37 weeks and I thought he was tiny. I can't imagine how gorgeous your lo must be!

Hi

I’m planning on exclusively pumping for baby 2 due in April.

Had a horrific bfing experience with my first and ended up pumping weeks 3-6 after he was hospitalised. I only stopped due to god awful advice from his dietician.

I really enjoyed bottle feeding him, so knew that’s what I wanted to do this time, but want to avoid formula as both DS and I are allergic to cows milk, so expecting this bub to be also.

Best of both worlds for us, but totally appreciate its the worst of both also!

Meant to say I also have the bellababy, as seen people absolutely raving about it. Had a medela swing maxi and ardo double (which was shite) for my first.

@marti2 Thanks for the well wishes, she was pretty tiny when she was born at 4 lbs 2! But she's been growing like a weed and is around 9 lbs now.

@flappityflippers1
Thanks for the response, it's lovely to hear from someone who is proactively choosing exclusive pumping for a future baby, rather than it being something that people just sort of fall into.

I really enjoy bottle feeding too. I don't understand the argument that bottle fed babies don't bond as well; baby still associates you with food and a lovely warm cuddle is just as good for bonding. I definitely haven't felt any lack. If anything, when I have tried traditional BFing I've found it stressful and awkward so that I can't concentrate on her as well.

Yes, I really like my Bella baby. It's probably not quite as good as the hospital grade one I used on the ward but still does the job well. I also have a Tommy Tippy manual pump which I keep in the car in case of emergencies, and actually it's pretty effective too.

Check out lustliving on instagram. She has been exclusively pumping for her daughter for the past few months & has compiled a load of info & support network about it.

Hi, I've been pumping for my 13 week old since birth, I use the tommee tippee single pump with the double 'cones' from the Bella baby! (Found the strength too much for the actual machine and pipes fit nicely)

It is a struggle now he is moving around more and wanting more attention, my supply was super low at first and it took a few weeks of 2 hourly pumping (hell) to get enough to cover his intake.

I read somewhere in take wouldn't change much once baby hit 1 month and was hoping I could build up a freezer stash however baby drinks more and more everyday and I'm struggling to keep up despite pumping 30 oz a day most days

I'm really struggling with it at the moment as this may sound silly but when the pumping starts the feeling makes me skin crawl, I know it is best for baby but it's getting me down and I'm really worried he's going to starting drinking more than I can pump

My initial plan was to pump until injections were done and then transition onto formula with one bottle of bm a day but as baby is thriving I think it's best to keep going Aslong as I can!

Sorry this is a bit of a rant it's nice to get all worries out!

My "baby" is six now but I could have written your second paragraph word for word. I never managed to get her feeding directly from me but she did randomly latch one night when I was cuddling her when she was about six months, long after I had given up trying to get her to feed that way, so I probably could have carried on. However I was going back to work in a few weeks and had heard many stories from friends about babies refusing to take bottles, I just carried on expressing.

She was fully express fed to six months and combi fed to nine months.

@tryingtoebf

Wow 13 weeks is amazing! You've worked really hard and your little one will have benefited so much from it. I also dread the day where my supply no longer meets DD's demand, but the fact is that there's nothing wrong whatsoever with supplementing with formula when it becomes necessary. While breast milk is always beneficial, the benefits are strongest in the early weeks, so you've already given him a huge boost.

That skin crawl feeling, is it your let down maybe? It's a weird feeling for me and I've heard others describe it like that. Otherwise, you could maybe try playing around with your set up, adding or removing the rubber cushions for example?

But otherwise, if it's getting you down and interfering with spending time with your baby I think you'd be fine to stop or reduce quite a lot. Your physical and mental health are important too, for both of you, and think how many hours you've already done on the pumps; no one could doubt your dedication! That said, if you want to persevere, bravo!

@eurochick
Aww was your DD prem too? Amazing that you managed to express feed her exclusively for six whole months! Do you think you would express exclusively again if you had another baby?

@CoalCraft I found that everything breastfeeding was touted to give didn't come through (it prevented bonding, caused severe long lasting MH issues with me, negatively impacted my c section recovery, hospitalised baby, gave me sepsis etc - so granted, I don't have the best experience of direct feeding to go off!)

However, bottle feeding gave me everything bfing didn't, the cuddles were the best and I could actually see his gorgeous little face as it wasn't hidden behind my mahoosive moon boobs We really only started bonding at 16 weeks once he'd been on neocate for a good 6 weeks or so and was finally happy and content.

Great shout about a manual pump to keep in the car!

@tryingtoebf it will feel like the most important thing in the world right now, but your mental health and spending time with baby is just as important (more so IMO having had a triple whammy of MH issues post-natally) You're doing bloody amazing! I also absolutely detested the feeling of let down, I'd go all woozy and light headed, it made my toes curl.

I'm only planning 6 pumps per day (every 4 hours - 4,8,12,4,8,12) if I don't pump enough to exclusively feed bm then I'll top up with formula and won't be feeling awful about it like last time. Hoping my supply will be as good as with my first though so it'll be enough! But if not, it's OK, I'm a lot more chilled about feeding this time

@CoalCraft she was a premmie too - 34 weeks exactly and a teeny 3lb6. It took until she was around 5-6 to catch up in both size and motor skills but she is now a tall string bean and doing well in school after struggling for the first year or so (she's also a summer born and would have been in the next school year if I had been a few days late rather than six weeks early).

I think I'd prefer to have just breast fed if I'd had another but that ship has sailed. She was a 4th round ivf baby and we decided not to go down that route again as it takes its toll.

@CoalCraft & @flappityflippers1 thank you so both much, you've made me feel a bit better about it.

I'm not sure about the feeling to be honest, it does eventually disappear so could definitely be the let down I've always just thought it was me being silly!

I think If I didn't dread that feeling so much I wouldn't mind as much, currently pumping between 4/6 times a day always aiming for 2 hours within a day

@tryingtoebf you are definitely not being silly, it is a weird feeling! Unfortunately if if is your letdown I'm not sure there's much that can make it better

I sometimes randomly get the feeling when I'm not pumping and I'm glad that I'm wearing breast pads...

There's a word for that horrible let down feeling. D-Mer.

Just came here to say hats off to you all! I’ve been doing this for just over a week with my newborn and it is HARD work. I’m trying to transition across to BFing which has been a struggle due to some physical problems but am keeping exclusive pumping open as an option too (or supplementing with formula if need be). I’m really impressed to hear how long some of you have managed to do it for - you are clearly all incredibly devoted mums! Thank you for giving me confidence I can keep doing it if BFing doesn’t work out for me. Can I ask how much people are managing to express? I have no idea what’s a good amount at this stage!

@jamie980 good luck with everything and I hope it works out how you’d like it to ❤️

I can’t really comment RE amounts as not pumping yet, and I’m not sure how relevant my amounts were with DS due to medical issues.

There are things you can do to increase amounts I believe, such as making sure you’re using the right size flange, ensuring you pump in the night, making sure you pump a few minutes after your milk stops flowing is another I think. Also some pumps might work better for you than others - the ardo hospital grade one I struggled to get much with, but my medela was magical and I pumped a lot on that one x

Thanks for the tips @flappityflippers1! I’ve been dragging myself up to pump at least once between 1 and 5am and definitely seeing the difference for the rest of the next day.

@jamie980 Welcome! Congrats on the birth of your baby!

It is hard work. Are you at home or still I'm hospital? I'm some ways I think it's easier in a hospital setting so if you're at home, bravo!

With amounts, it starts off really small. I remember the very first time I expressed I got half a mL and the midwife was impressed! For the first week I wasn't getting more than about 20 mL per go, then maybe 80 by the end of the next week, then I remember being happy that I'd breached 100 shortly after. Now nearly three months on I get around 180 per go on average. I should say in all cases this is both breasts combined.

Also, it varies so much woman to woman. In hospital at the same time as me was a lady who rarely had more than 20 mL, and another who was actively working to reduce her supply because it was getting too extreme. All exclusive pumpers as this was in NICU.

It really doesn't matter how much you make. Literally any amount of breast milk is beneficial and the same amount of love and dedication is required regardless. You are already doing a wonderful caring thing for your LO xx

@flappityflippers1 tips are spot on!

Thanks so much for the encouragement @CoalCraft! I’m a bit concerned my panic pumping might have triggered an over supply... I’m getting up to 250mls in one 20 min expression with a double pump and baby has been really windy / sicky since I’ve started to try to transition to the boob. I think I might be inadvertently water boarding the poor thing! She comes up for air with her face absolutely drenched!

I’m home now - so will speak to midwife and HV about it

@jamie980

Oh lordy that does sound like a lot! At least compared to me haha. I'm sure the professionals will have good advice for you but maybe in the meantime you could try pumping for 5-10 mins before breastfeeding to take the oomph out for LO?

That’s good advice @CoalCraft I hadn’t thought of that - will give that a go! Thank you xx