Breastfeeding but can’t pump!

[TheSpoonyOtter]

Help please! My newborn is 4 weeks old today and is exclusively breast fed. I have tried to pump milk inbetween feeds to start building up a supply (and also keen to see how much i produce) but i’m only getting 1oz after 20 mins pumping! Will it get easier? baby is putting on weight and lots of wet and dirty nappies. I just think i don’t do well with pumps. I’m using a hospital grade double electric pump. Tried the manual ones and found them painful. Really can’t bear the thought of not being able to bottle feed him if i need to.

I had the same problem. I found going native and doing it with my hands was the only thing that worked for me.

As above poster. I had to do it by hand but still didn’t get a lot.

20 ML is pretty good. You can freeze in small amounts like that as it defrost quickly ready to make a bottle (offering is small amounts too)

In terms of improving output you can try changing flange sizes - we used to think bigger was better but it appears smaller might be better, hands on expressing -this where you use the pump while hand expressing, and finally covering the bottle with baby sock - this can help if you are focusing on the out put with eh socks on wait until you feel two let downs then look at the bottle.

Honestly, getting only 1oz is normal if you're also ebf your baby. Your body is designed to make just enough: the overproducers you see on social media are not the norm! Particularly at 4 weeks, when you are exhausted and your body is putting energy into physically healing from birth.

Why do you want to build a stash? I was also concerned with doing it because I thought I "should" but in the end it never happened until I had the occasional missed feed at approx 4/5 months (ie baby didn't feed as usual for some reason) and I kept 1 / 2 small feeds in the freezer just in case. I never used them!

I found I could only pump effectively with a single electric pump, whilst the baby was feeding from the other side. Not ideal, but at least it gave me something to store for bottle feeding when needed.

4 weeks breastfeeding is still very early (congrats on your baby!). Don’t stress about pumping… it took me months to get the hang of it and I never could produce much with a pump, even the professional ones.

I also found hand expressing much easier and effective in the end.. like milking a cow! 😂 then I could get ‘in tune’ with my body and actually feel how much milk I had. Once you’ve established bf (which can 3 months) you might find it easier to pump.

Are you still leaking from the other breast while feeding? You could pop a shell in to catch it?

Thing is we're not cows. We don't make huge amounts to pump unless there's oversupply. After 6 weeks I couldn't pump at all. Baby is much more efficient.

It will be okay. I never got more than an ounce with pumping, even with a hospital grade Medela double pump I rented. Breast fed DS until 2.5. I supplemented with formula once a day about 7pm from about 4 months as I wanted him to be okay with a bottle from DH. Plus I needed to catch up on sleep as I was on my knees with exhaustion and that was their time together while I napped. But that's such a personal choice.
When I think of the amount of time and emotional energy I spent killing myself with worry about feeding and sleeping in that first year I could cry for that new mum that was me. Will they ever know about all that love!? He's ten now and I sometimes wonder this....
Whatever you do, it will be your best and that is more than good enough.

Yes it will, I also used the hospital pump with ds as had bought a cheap one with dd and it was awful. At first it was an ounce and I froze them but after about 8 weeks I was getting 4oz in 20 min. I did it whilst feeding as it seemed to be quicker.

I never got on with pumping. I had a tube thing that you attached to one breast whilst the baby was feeding from the other side and got small amounts of milk that way, but it was a faff. Mine both refused the bottle, so I didn't need expressed milk in the end, but you could use formula if you are wanting to do some bottles. I'd recommend practising this though!

Easier said than done I jnow, but try not to worry about supply based on how much you pump. If your baby is having dirty nappies and gaining weight, those are the best signs.

I think its quite common not to fet much if you are pumping between feeds. Your just not producing liads extra on top if what uour baby normally drnks.

I was so happy to quit pumping after being very much needed in the first few weeks so didn't start again till she was a few months old to have any saved milk, when I did I found pumping at the same time each day helped, my bioy quickly got used to the "extra" feed for the freezer and I didn't worry that there'd be no easy flow of milk when she wsnted to feed.

This really helped too
nancymohrbacher.com/blogs/news/to-pump-more-milk-use-hands-on-pumping

It’s ok not to pump. Your baby is putting on weight and there are plenty of wet and dirty nappies. Don’t add an extra stress to your life. All expressing and bottle feeding said expressed milk does is triple your workload.

Flange size needs to be just right - if too big it wouldn’t suction properly

I never had much success with pumping but it was a bit easier if I had a pint of water shortly before and drank a second while pumping (I have never been as thirsty in my life as when I was BFing).

Baby consistantly refused a bottle so I gave up trying after a couple of months and stuck to the boob.

I was great at pumping but neither of my babies ever accepted a bottle so it was a huge waste of time. The odd bottle of premade formula is just as good as a backup (if your baby will drink from a bottle.

You don’t need to pump to increase supply? Just feed baby very often. Have realistic expectations as well, lots of BF babies dont like bottles, mine never did. But saved the hassle of pumping and cleaning bottles.

I breastfed my DD until she was 26 months old. Couldn’t express a drop. You don’t need to
express.

I fed mine for a year each and I never pumped. Had copious amounts of milk.

I never managed to pump anything. I easily breast fed both of mine for 14 months each and they never had formula, but they didn’t have breast milk from a bottle either as I just couldn’t produce it without baby attached to me!

I ebf until 2yrs. I never pumped and didn't think you needed to if you are ebf only if you combi feeding ( to make sure supply doesn't drop).
I did use a hauka to catch the let down on the other side which worked well but I think i started that at a about 6 or 8 weeks. I had a freezer try full of milk in the end bacuse DC would neve accept a bottle.

It probably will get easier, yes, to pump. But honestly, so will breastfeeding. I could pump loads, but honestly so much more effort and a PITA. Breastfeeding was so easy once I got the hang of it that I never bothered beyond the first few weeks.

I'm a very experienced pumper:

1. Flange size. You need a lot smaller than you think. I needed 15mm on my right and 16 mm on my left.

1. Nipple cream. Lots of it. It's a must, otherwise your nipples will get shredded and it does help pump more. It does not affect the breastmilk.

1. Pump first thing in the morning or at 2-4am. Don't bother after 2pm/evening, you'll get next to nothing.

1. Freeze and actually taste it after you defrost it. Some women's breastmilk is high lypaze which makes it taste off and babies hate it. You don't want to build a big stash and find it unusable.

1. Pumping is a bitch, would be better to use formula. My baby had CMPA so I couldn't, which is why I pumped. If CMPA was not an issue, I would 100% use formula. It's excellent, safe, nutritious stuff.

Do it in the dark while smelling a worn baby grow. It worked wonders for me (was a tip from a midwife)

Never owned a pump or attempted it

i did give my second formula the odd time in the early days do I could sleep / take older child out for a few hours -

but I just gave up on that eventually as it was easier to just feed the baby myself and not have to get up and make the formula etc

feeding the baby is the best way to build up
supply surely

I could never pump. My boobs just didn’t respond to it at all!!