Breastfeeding?

[Mmolly2013]

Are you able to breastfeeding by purely expressing milk. As in will my supply remain the same either way.

Yes. Lots of people are able to do this. Whether your supply will be affected is a hard one to answer it may it may not.

It is harder but possible. Your hormones don't respond in quite the same way and you don't get all the benefits eg some of the immunological benefits. supply wise a pump doesn't stimulate you as well as a baby. You will need to pump frequently including at night. Your prolactin, the milk making hormone, peaks in the wee small hours of the morning so try to include a session then for 2 or 3 months.

In addition not everyone can pump despite having a good supply .

That's great thanks

If you move this thread to the breast and bottle feeding forum you'll get a lot of answers too - and from breast feeding advisors too.

It's possible but it's tough - I have heard it described as the worst of both worlds between breast and bottle feeding. You have all the responsibility of producing the milk, coupled with the faff of sterilising bottles and pump. You will need to pump every two hours, including overnight, to establish and maintain your supply.

There are women who do it. It is called 'exclusive expressing' and if you post on the breast and bottle feeding board you will find a few people with direct experience. It is not usually something that women freely choose to do - usually their babies are unable to bf, for example due to severe tongue tie, but they are determined that they will have breastmilk only for as long as possible.

Do you know that you will have problems bfing?

It s possible, but very hard work indeed. Far, far harder than breastfeeding directly or formula feeding. Women who do it are normally very determined, but for some reason unable, either physically or psychologically, to breastfeed direct.

You need to express round the clock, including through the night and it is harder to maintain supply.