Breastfeeding- exclusive pumping

[ChicaMomma]

Hi mums

Interested to know if any of you have exclusively pumped from the start, and if you have feedback.

My friend said she did it and while it was more work (ie you still have to steralise bottles and what not!), it worked for her, she never had pain, mastitis or nipple cracking.

i have v v v VERY sensitive nipples so seriously considering this- for 12 weeks anyway- i'd rather it be more work than have myself fail miserably at 2 weeks due to pain/mastitis and cracked nipples by nursing the normal way..

It's incredibly difficult as baby is more efficient at feeding than a pump is, I always had to supplement with formula if I had to exclusively pump (health issues so sometimes had to be away from baby). I'd suggest buying nipple shields instead, but just give it a try without first, you may surprise yourself.

OK- good feedback- i didnt take into account that the actual pumping might not work as well as a sucking baby!
I am just not fully convinced my nipples are up to it- do you think the nipple shields work?? I mean i guess they should, given they offer a layer of protection!

Have you had your baby yet or are you anticipating the pain? Feeding for me, was very painful for the first 6 weeks or so but heh got a lot lot better and now it's like I hardly feel it.

However, I still need to pump when I'm gonna on a night out, or whatever and pumping makes my nipples way more sensitive again. So for me personally pumping is painful but feeding isn't.

I he exclusively pumped while ds1 was in nicu, it is incredibly hard work and I wasn't able to keep up with him.

I have also fed with nipple shields with dd, I BFed for a year using them with no issues.

I'm currently feeding ds2 with no shields or pumping (unless I'm out for the evening or something).

Ds2 is by far the easiest of them all to feed - all I need is a muslin and we're set. The other two both needed sterilisers, pumps, other paraphernalia and it was definitely harder to do. However I only really settled into BFing ds2 when he hit 12 weeks.

My nips are also incredibly sensitive. In my experience (pg with dc3 at the moment, bf dc1 and dc2 for 18 and 25 months) the feeling of breastfeeding feeding was not uncomfortably painful. It took a good few weeks to get used to, and my toes curled a LOT in those weeks but it was a normal pain iygwim, not a bigger than normal pain because of my sensitive nipples. Hope that makes sense! In the end the discomfort was more like a good hard scratch of a nasty itch than pain, so actually quite a relief, and once my milk supply had settled down it was totally discomfort free. I did express a bottle every other day or so but these sessions were by far the most painful of the lot, and hurt my actual boon rather than the nipples, and took much more time than a feed would because the pump is so much less efficient than a baby as Rockchick says above.

Having said that, if I had found it very painful or had repeated cracked nipples that didn't heal/ recurrent mastitis I would have not hesitated to switch to formula. As I would if it just hadn't felt right- go with your gut instinct, it's normally right :)

I know that this is not everyone's experience- but guess what I'm trying to say is perhaps give it a go, see how it works for you and your baby and then make a decision based on experience. There is so much you can't plan about having babies and no shame in changing your approach if the current plan hasnt worked out. Good luck whichever way you decide to feed your baby.

Gosh sorry about essay

I'd say it sounds so so hard.

Could you possibly pay to see a lactation consultant to help you get going with bf'ing avoiding lots of common problems? Ie she could check for tt (lots of midwives and hvs are bad at this), help with latch and positioning to make sure that despite sensitivity it is pain free?

I expressed exclusively for 6 weeks with my first. I had a great supply (thanks for pumping at every feed) and managed to get a lot with the pump we hired. However, it was really tiring. I had a super easy angel baby and was living with my parents so had no cooking, washing or cleaning to do. With all the sterilising and bottle washing it's a bit like the worst of both worlds.

I'm now exclusively breastfeeding my second over a decade later. It did hurt at times, but only for 10-15 seconds while she latched on. Now it's the easiest thing! I've had no soreness, no mastitis, so thrush, nothing at all to report, and she's 11 weeks now.

I think my nipples are pretty sensitive too. They toughen up pretty quick, and you both learn how to do it. After about 5 weeks DD would move herself if her latch want right.

I wouldn't want you to underestimate how hard expressing is, and overestimate how hard bf can be!

My SIL started off breastfeeding for six weeks, and then pumped exclusively for a further nine months (she went back to work at six weeks). It worked great for her, and being quite senior and having her own office, pumping at work worked well. Her nanny would come by at lunchtimes and pick up the expressed milk.

I was worried about this but actually found it easier to feed DS directly rather than express which I found fiddly and uncomfortable. I think the best thing you can do is try it when your DC is born and see what works. You can always have pump, and a few bottles & steriliser ready if direct feeding is painful (as you will no doubt use them at some point anyway). But really the only way to tell what works for you is to try it and see!

Planning to exclusively pump is a massive undertaking. You have to be incredibly disciplined about pumping through the night, and may still end up with supply issues (for the reasons explained in previous posts). It is basically all the work of breastfeeding plus all the work of formula feeding. I totally take my hat off to women who do it, but it's most definitely not an easy solution to mastitis.

If I were you, I would try and line up some good breastfeeding advice for when the baby is born and then give it a try. You can always revise your plans later if necessary. But if you pump from birth, it can be very difficult to move onto direct feeding.

Nipple shields can be marvellous, but they can also cause their own issues, like supply problems. So really they are something to try if you have problems and with expert advice, rather than something to try pre-emptively if that makes sense.

Hope that helps a bit.

Ladies, thanks so much to all of you for responding- some excellent advice there and things i had not thought about. Anything i get what you're saying about the 'worst of both worlds', i really do.

I guess i should try the nursing in the regular fashion and hope for the best. And at least i'm prepared for the pain! the maternity hospital i'm going to has great lactation support so that is a good start.
I like the idea of the pain being like an 'itch being scratched*, i'll remember that one and just persevere- hopefully! Information is power and all that.

Have any of you using lanolin or such things for healing cracked nipples?

I used lansinoh cream before and after every feed with both DC and it worked a treat. It's acts as a barrier and stopped my nipples from cracking. Used from first feed up till about 6 weeks I think.

I read somewhere that if you are planning on breast feeding its a good idea to use lanisoh nipple cream from so many weeks of pregnancy to 'toughen them up' for when baby arrives.

Really cant remember where I read that now so I had better check my sources before I start slapping the cream on!

I pumped from birth for over a year with my ds as he couldn't latch. It was a bit of a faffing to start with but I was in a rhythm within 2-3 weeks.
Saying that, he was my 2nd child and I knew from my eldest that I could pump well, and not everyone is able

The best advice I ever had was " it's called breast feeding, not nipple feeding". If nipples are cracked or sore it's because baby isn't getting a big enough mouthful of breast.

Rub your tongue over the roof of your mouth. There's a hard bumpy bit, then towards the back, there's a soft squishy, smooth bit. When you feed, your nipples should actually be near the smooth squishy bit. If you're getting sore nipples it's because they are being dragged about on the hard, rough bit (ouch).

The best preparation you can make is to put all the breastfeeding helplines (BFN, ABM, La Leche League, NCT) into your phone on speed dial so that you can get advice when you need it.

Also, find out where all your local peer support groups are so that you can go along and get your latch checked and get help and reassurance whenever you need it.

Finally, if breast feeding is really important to you, put it in your birth plan. State that you intend to breast feed, and that you plan to remain in the hospital postnatally until you are happy and confident that you have established breast feeding. If the hospital knows you're serious, they should be a lot more supportive as they'll be keen to get their bed back!

Lansinoh is often heralded a lifesaver of the feeding boards! Use before and after every feed, and in conjunction with fresh air and allowing some breastmilk to dry on your nipples, is the solution to soreness.

I used it for about 2 weeks, but not at every feed.

Lansinoh is expensive. Grab as many free samples as you can. Failing that, plain, unscented, unflavoured lip balm (the stuff in a jar or pot, not as a stick) is just as effective, but £££ cheaper.

Yes, it's great stuff. But I would agree, past some minor soreness (which I think lots of people get just 'getting the hang of it', particularly with their first) sore or cracked nipples are normally a sign something is going a bit wrong. By all means treat the symptom (and it is great for that), but you need to fix the cause too

i have very large boobs and very flat nipples (what an intro!) and my son didnt latch; following a traumatic birth it just wasnt a priority. i expressed for the first 6 weeks and ended up probably about 50:50 breast/formula and THAT was hard work.

the only advice i would give re feeding is do what FEELS right for YOU; not what you think you must do to be the perfect mum.....take it easy on yourself and go with the flow (pun intended).

good luck!

Ladies- thanks so much- i've copied and pasted all of this into my 'BF document' :)
I didnt realise you should start using Lansinoh in advance so many thanks greenshirt. Do they likes of Boots sell it?? Do you need to wipe it off your nipple before feeding again?

Great advice too nancerama about making the hospital aware how serious you are. Because I am! So many of my friends ''just didn't bother'' and to be honest there is a direct correlation to how sick their babies (or perhaps it's a coincidence) were vis a vis the ones who did nurse.

You can get lansinoh in boots, most supermarkets, amazon tends to be the cheapest but only if you're ordering something else as well now they've brought in their stupid delivery charges. No need to wipe it off to feed - that's one of the reasons it's better than most other nipple creams :)

My sister in law did this and was very glad she did. They did attempt breastfeeding in the hospital, but things didn't work for them, so she bought an expensive double pump and exclusively pumped for 4 months. Yes, there was more work involved because there was time spent pumped as well as time spent feeding baby, then also time spent cleaning and sterilising bottles, but my brother did a lot of that because of the time his wife was spending pumping.

She liked it because she could gauge exactly how much milk she was producing, how much baby was eating, and it meant that she and my brother could share the load and allowed my brother to bond more with baby and be a fuller partner in parenting.

Exclusively pumping is a lot of work though, and I doubt it would work if your husband or partner isn't fully involved in the process, feeding baby, doing some washing up, etc. I don't plan to pump exclusively, but I'm planning to invest in a good double pump so I can let my husband do some of the feeding, especially at night!

Just a quick message I posted something quite similar a few days ago and somebody told me that they could get the cream prescribed to them by the doctor wish is something some of you may wish to look into? Take advantage of maternity exemption and all that!

Hi, I breastfed for about a week but then used a pump and bottles because my daughter wasn't feeding very well. Although it was better because I could see how much she was having and other people could help it was absolutely shattering. I think much harder than just breastfeeding. It is very time consuming because you need to express then feed. I did this for about 4 months then went onto formula. My daughter was never especially good at feeding and so my experience wasn't great to be honest. My breasts didn't get sore but they did get huge and very uncomfortable. Second baby due in a couple of weeks and going to use formula from the start.