Breast pumping - when and how often?

[MissBax]

I'm due to have DC1 in a few weeks and am planning (hopefully) to breastfeed.
Can anyone tell me about pumping as the NCT didn't cover much. When is best to pump (before, after or during breastfeeding), how often and for how long each time?
Is there anything else I need to know about it? Thanks in advance :)

Depends why you are doing it. If you do it to boost supply then probably bump for 5-10 minutes after a feed. If trying to build up a stock in the freezer so you can have a break now and again it's normally said you get more out in the morning but I found it more convenient to do it in the evening.

Bluebell - thanks for replying :) I was thinking more to build up a stock do DH can do some feeds etc
I was told to wait 4 weeks or so to establish feeding before trying to give BM though a bottle, but can I still pump in this time? When you do it in the evening how long do you do it for and how much milk do you produce in that time?

Honestly, unless you're told to pump by a HCP, in the first few weeks just feed feed feed. It will feel relentless, but adding in the faff of sterilising the pump and pumping in the short break you get between feeds just puts more pressure on you at an already stressful time! Your DH can do lots of other things to support you and look after the baby.

You can get things - the name completely escapes me - which you put on the breast you're not feeding from, and which passively collect all the drops you leak from that side. I believe that if you use that at every feed you can collect a fair bit but I've never tried it myself!

Sock - thanks for the head up! I feel like the NCT covered breast feeding itself but didn't really talk about what to do if wanting to pump etc. How long would you suggest before attempting pumping too? A few months maybe? Cheers :)

It is best not to introduce a bottle for the first 6 weeks but you can express milk before and freeze, however I agree not to worry about it start with and just concentrating on getting feeding established and used to life with a new born. I got off about 150ml each time with 30 mins of pumping but this was when I'd been feeding for 4 months and volumes can vary person to person, pumps don't get as much out as babies.

I'd give it 4-6 weeks and see how you're getting on. I was told to pump when he was 8 days old as DS lost a bit too much weight, but I was useless at getting him to drink the expressed milk from either a cup or a bottle so a lot ended up wasted! Once he started gaining weight again with plenty of direct breastfeeding, I let it tail off tbh. He was never a terribly demanding baby so I managed ok with out DH doing many bottles. We EBF for 6 months and he still feeds regularly now at 10 months, but also loves his food!

Saw you're other thread about breastfeeding as well - in short, there's no perfect way of knowing they're getting enough, but the MW/HV will be regularly checking weight and babies themselves are pretty good at letting you know when they're hungry! That makes it sound simple, and mostly it is, but it can be very demanding and anxiety-inducing in the first few weeks, which is when most women give up. I saw someone already suggest you look up an IBCLC, would also add to that researching to see if there's a local breastfeeding cafe and/or La Leche League group. Both of those usually welcome pregnant mums wanting to breastfeed, and you can get some advice and reassurance from more experienced mums. Plus a hot cup of tea, which will be a novelty once the baby arrives!

I used the breast shells sockqueen is talking about in the first few weeks - they were great and collected loads of milk. Medela make them (among other people) and they are available on amazon.

Pumping is a strange beast and something you'll just have to see how your body reacts too. I got the most milk in the middle of the night covering up the bottle with a muslin so I wasn't concentrating on how much was coming out.

Someone recommended looking at photos of your baby or smelling one of their baby gros. I did think that sounded a bit odd however when I'd do that I would get around 120mls in a session (that's a lot)

YY to the faff of sterilisation etc in the early weeks - such a pain if you don't need to - the shells worked really well for me. I just poured it into a bottle in the fridge and by the end of the day I had a nice little amount for DH to feed him which gave me a little rest.

That's 120ml per side by the way.

Also I see you're worried about knowing how much they take. Wet nappies, dirty nappies and you'll soon learn their milk drunk face too! Try not to stress too much! Plenty of help available in the community - your midwifes can point you in right direction - also there are also lovely ladies on here that will always help too and remember formula is not the devil if you need it! DS1 was EBF for around 5 months and then he started having the odd bottle and it worked perfectly for us.