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 is both a benefit and a bind of bottle feeding that you can see how much a baby is taking.

Volume is a good measure of successful feeding in formula fed babies. It is less so in babies fed with breast milk, because breast milk changes to meet the baby's needs.

The joy of breastfeeding is that you are led by baby's appetite and nappy output, not the notches on the bottle.

I'll reiterate here that I don't care how people feed their babies. I expressed then formula fed one and am now ebf-ing my second. I can see the pros and cons of both.

I had premmie twins and had to exclusively pump for the first six weeks or so, then they could only feed with shields. I think the lack of skin-to-skin, or more to the point mouth-to-boob, contributed to my supply issues and although I was able to produce a decent amount by pump it wasn't as much as they needed.

I second the poster who said it's 'worst of both worlds', as you have the time of actually pumping (which is boring, cold and uncomfortable at night, and more awkward than feeding a baby in company), you still have the time of feeding the baby/ies, and then you have the additional time of making/taking apart and sterilising the pump and bottles.

If you do want some shields for peace of mind, I'd recommend the Medela ones but do read the instructions on how to put them on properly (not as simple as you'd think!) and check you have the right size.

All id say is it is SUCH hard work. I did it for 6 weeks but from 3 weeks, when DH went back to work i struggled to keep up the regular pumping due to an unsettled baby and my supply dwindled away and by 7 weeks was fully on formula.

DS wouldn't latch so i had to do this if i wanted to give him bm but i really regret not trying harder to get him to latch as in gutted he only got bm for around 7 weeks.

By all means buy a pump and aim to do a bit of each if your nipples need a break but if you are heart set on baby having bm then try bfing first and don't give up too soon.

I did it for 11 months with DC1 because he didn't latch on. I did have to suppplement with formula for the first week or 2, but after that I got into a rhythm and pumped out lots of milk. For the first few months I had to pump at night too. I would pump and DH would feed DS. It was such hard work. But after about 3/4 months I no longer had to pump at night and only every 6hrs or so in the day . By about 6 months I was just pumping morning and before, so much much easier. I hired an electric double pump from the NCT.

I'm not unhappy I pumped, it allowed DH to feed DS too and I even got a full nights sleep once in a while as DH could get up to feed DS too (although I liked feeding DS myself, so I did most of it).

DC2 was a marvellous breastfeeder ( and still is at 3.5yrs!!) so never had to pump for her. But it did tie me to her for years months, as she wouldn't take a bottle and I had a toddler to look after too, so it was bit of a nightmare.

Exclusively pumping is the worst of both worlds as a PP said, but also it can be the BEST of both worlds...you are giving them your milk, and the breastmilk is much easier to handle than formula (you can keep freshly squeezed breastmilk at room temp for a few hours, not like formula that you have to throw away after an hour, and in the fridge it keeps for a few days, so easy to work with when your baby drinks little and often, like they do) and also someone else can feed the baby! Plus you can wear dresses etc out and about and not worry about having to wear appropriate clothes for feeding.
But it is very hard work in the beginning and it doesn't work out for a lot of people. I was lucky that I had a good supply and never ran out of milk.

Any advice to those of us who won't be given a choice on whether they can breastfeed? It sounds like it is very difficult to exclusively pump but if I'm not able to breastfeed my baby directly I'd, at least, like to try to feed him breast milk. Is that going to be too difficult to keep up?

missmedusa if you cant bf then you'll obviously have to exc pump but id have some formula to hand and prepare yourself for both the hard work and the possibility that it might not be doable to give exclusively bm and that your supply might dwindle away.

Hopefully you will have more success than me though and if i had to do it again then a double pump would be worth its weight in gold.

MissMedusa

Don't panic, it can be hard, but it is also very do-able.

Do some research into where you can hire pumps from so you don't find yourself without one. I had a hospital one for 6 weeks, but you can get them from many NCT branches. Alternatively look into buying one - i thoroughly recommend the Medela double one with a rechargeable battery which means you can sit up in bed and not be tied to a plug socket.

Get some milk bags, permanent marker, and clear some room in the freezer, and you can keep any excess frozen safely.

A microwave or steam sterliser is probably the quickest way to sterilise, and putting it on your boobs when the parts are nice and hot and steamy is much nicer than cold Milton!

Look at La Leche League - they do a leaflet on hand expressing which I found really useful for getting let down started when pumping (although I could never actually hand express).

Make sure you have a comfy chair, box set or iPad, plenty of snacks in the house, and ideally a supportive OH!

The other thing to look into is ways of increasing your supply - Fenugreek, oats etc are all recommended.

I got a prescription for Domperidone which kept my supply going enough to mix feed my twins for 6 months.

Missmedusa that is my view too- if i end up not being able to nurse, i will do whatever it takes and in this instance that will be pumping. It sounds like double the work for sure but what else will we be doing for the first few months?? especially those of us on our first with no other commitments per se. Also, my gynae said to me that even if you can do it for a week, this is better than nothing. 2 weeks is better than 1, a month is better than 2 weeks- so we could just do it for as long as we could manage.

My aim is not to take all the nursing advice on board from here (hello lansinoh, nice to meet you!!!) and give it a go but if i have to pump then i'd rather the hassle of this than switching straight to formula.

SOunds like it's really important to be prepared and have all the required bits and bobs well in advance- incl a pump and the good ole lansinoh.

Chicamomma don't underestimate how time consuming baby will be and its not as easy as 'i wont have anything else to do so ill pump'. For example a colicky baby may not let you put them down, or as i used to find, my milk would just let down on the pump then baby would need picking up. Then it would all leak out while i was tending to baby and didn't manage to get any saved.

I'm really not meaning to be pessimistic or put you off, but please prepare yourself for the fact that it might not work out as you hope and accept that you may need formula and/or may have to admit defeat if its too hard for you.

I was absolutely devastated that i only managed 6 weeks but in the long term formula was the better choice for me and baby ad it wad the only way i could cope and feed baby adequately.

Best of luck.

Oh i'm prepared for admitting defeat alright JR- and to be honest if i can do 6 weeks, as you did, i will be happy with this. 6-12 is my aim. 6 weeks is SO much better than nothing at all!

I would honestly do your best to feed directly, as it's so much easier and you seem keen to given you baby breast milk. The things that are hard about breast feeding (time consuming, trapped on the sofa, engorged boobs) are the same either way, but after just a few weeks bf becomes so easy, and then you're not tied to the pump, the fridge and the steriliser!

Read the bf boards here, buy a book (The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding is great), and find out what support us available locally.

I think as a society we scare pregnant women about bf as much as we do about birth. No one talks about the positive stories! All you hear about is mastitis and thrush. Plenty of people have no problems at all.

That's good to know Anything. You're right- there is so much scaremongering. It's the reason why many of my friends didnt even try it and went straight to formula. that said, you're better off prepared for the worst too.

Will download that book tonite- thanks. I have all the support lined up including Dublin's 'guru' breastfeeding consultant who i've booked a session with in a few weeks time- i will also go to La Leche etc too. I'm a complete nerd when it comes to these things so i will be as well prepared as humanly possible!

I think your approach is right (and similar to mine tbh!). Read everything you can, ensure you have realistic expectations, know where to look for help.

When DH first went back to work, he'd come home and ask how our day had been. I would put my hands in the air and declare "Hurrah - I have kept the baby alive for another day. Now bring me cake and tea I haven't eaten in hours!" This is entirely normal for at least the first month.

11 weeks in I can walk around while feeding. Not for long ... But I can get to the phone or the door. Or the fridge.

Seek out positive stories. If bf were impossible the human race would've died out.

(I'm not in any way suggesting there's anything wrong with ff or expressing or how anyone else chooses to feed their baby - I promise I'm not one of the breastapo women!)

The first 6 to 8 weeks are the worst, after that it is so easy, much much easier than bottle feeding at that point. I found each time, that the key to it was to take one feed at a time. I would not let myself give up at a certain feed, but promise myself if the next feed was as bad, then I would quit. But inevitably, the next feed for some reason or other would not be so bad, and I would get through it.

Next week I will possibly be getting a newborn to look after for a few weeks. The biggest thought to me is how I will cope with doing bottles at night!!!!! It was always much easier with the boob on hand! (but I know other people have other experiences)

Also, "My Child Won't Eat" is a brilliant read. It covers feeding problems from early milk feeding, through to solids and beyond.

It's incredibly reassuring in the early days of breastfeeding (and indeed bottle feeding), and a great book to dip into for reassurance throughout the early years.

nancerama that is funny, because literally about an hour ago a girl in work recommended that same book to me! She said it was a life saver (on numerous occasions) for her. On my download list for sure.

i dont know how our mothers copped without books, internet and scans! As with everything in life though I find that preparing yourself and reading as much as you can is crucial- information is power etc. I'd be LOST without this site for a start, it's so informative and unlike lots of other forums it seems to attract people who actually know what they're talking about.

Until very recently we lived in big family groups, and usually had several siblings. We knew what to do because we had seen our mothers, aunties and sisters giving birth and raising babies. We are so isolated now.

I exclusively pumped for DS4 for 5 months. It was very hard work and in the end although I was producing enough in quantity it was very watery and he lost weight so I had to switch to formula.

Yes, in the past women grew up with breastfeeding as something normal that they saw lots of women doing. So they didn't need all the formal resources so many of us now rely on.

I'm an EPer and I love it. my nips can get a bit sore but coconut oil solves that, and can prevent thrush. If you have any questions I'll be happy to answer them. my ds is exclusively on bm and I have a freezer stash.

Coconut oil- genius! cannot believe i didnt think of that given it's the cure for so many ills in my mind- i use tubs of the stuff for all sorts including scabs (nice) and cuticles.

Why did you choose that road becky- did you try nursing first?
Did you try fenugreek and what not to keep your supply up?

Thanks

personally I wouldn't touch fenugreek, my lo suffered from really bad trapped wind and fenugreek makes babies terribly gassy. my original plan was to bf, I had bought a tommee tippee manual whilst pregnant so the oh could help with nightfeeds. when my son was born he couldn't latch properly as my nipples were too flat, he was also jaundiced so had to spend most of the day on the uv bed so we didn't get much practice in. I started using the manual pump in hospital but had to supplement at the same time. I've kept it up because I like knowing how much my son intakes and being able to get my mum to babysit!!

at the moment I have a nice over supply, I've done that by pumping 8 times a day for at least 20 mins a go. the only thing I take is lecithin, and that's to prevent clogs. I drink almond milk in my coffee and make sure I stay hydrated, and avoid things that are known to reduce supply

My sister said that fenugreek did BAD things to her too.. gassy and constipated and diarrhea alltogether.. nice

One thing i neglected to mention, and it's somewhat OT.

I have NO areola. As in- I have a nice, pink, perky (non inverted) nipple that attaches to a boob. No areola. Thank you Irish skin (not!)

I'm wondering will this be a problem for breastfeeding- MW says it wont, hard to see how it wont make them even more sensitive?? i figured one would ''appear' during pregnancy but not so far! although maybe in teh 3rd trimester.. anyone have this problem too?