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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

BF/pump

17 replies

firsttimemum090 · 20/10/2018 08:13

I'm hoping to EBF. Do I need to buy a pump now so DH can help with feeds or is it better to wait? If so, when should I buy a pump? Any recommendations? Xx

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RememberWhenRibenaTastedNice · 20/10/2018 08:43

Hi, don't get a manual pump. They are hard work and don't work for everyone.

With all my babies I used a Medala, I highly recommend it. I buy them second hand but if you can afford them new then great!

With DS1 and DS2 I bought them when the babies were a few weeks old.
With this baby I got it already but that's only because he's a Christmas baby and I want to get the expensive items out the way now.

firsttimemum090 · 20/10/2018 08:46

Thanks. Is it safe to use a second hand pump? Are there bits I'll need to clean or replace? When do you start using the pump? Is it better to wait till my baby understands how BF works to start using? Or should I use straight away to make more milk?
I'm utterly clueless! Xx

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Verbena87 · 20/10/2018 08:48

We have a medela hand pump and it does the trick for me - didn’t start pumping until he was a few months old and he then refused a bottle for several months because he thought it was hilarious and couldn’t get the hang of closing his mouth round the teat rather than just kind of opening wide and filling his face with boob.

He will now take expressed milk in a bottle or cup while I’m at work (13months).

The pump was useful earlier on though for when I had mastitis/plugged ducts, so I could feed on the bad side but still pump off the good boob to stop it getting engorged, or to empty engorged boobs on long car journeys, and a friend who got a badly blistered nipple used a pump on that side during healing as baby was too uncomfy. So they are handy to have.

Verbena87 · 20/10/2018 08:50

Medela hand pump was under £30 I think and packs up small to store; we’re short of space and money so both advantages for us. With the hand pump you sterilise all the bits, so I guess second hand would be ok.

bumblebee39 · 20/10/2018 08:52

Mendelas are great I switched to a double Lansinoh pump but ended up switching back to single Mendela pump I had and wished I had invested in a double Mendela not a Lansinoh double. Never used a manual pump, got more out hand expressing than with the tommee tippee manual and always had success with the Mendela.

kmreeve · 20/10/2018 08:53

I second the the medala swing pump.. you can get one of eBay cheap enough then buy new tubing etc from amazon or eBay ( even John Lewis sell spare parts)

I wouldn't introduce a bottle too soon as this can play with your supply, you are best to feed at the breast for a few weeks to establish your supply and get in the hang of it etc

Xx

SinkGirl · 20/10/2018 08:58

Medela pumps are open system which means there’s a possibility of milk getting to the motor, which means it’s not supposed to be used by more than one person / sold on.

I’d really recommend the Ardo Calypso double pump - double pumps are much more effective at getting milk out, and it’s also a closed system. I was pumping for twins in the NICU and it worked really well for me. It’s also much more affordable than some of the others out there (think the double is about £120, single is just under £100 I think but this was 2 years ago so it may have gone up).

However... if all is well with the baby and you can bf right away, you’re not supposed to pump and bf for the first couple of months as it can mess with your supply (and you’d need to pump while your DH gives a bottle so wouldn’t give you much of a break sadly!) so I would wait and see if you need one. Ardo do next day delivery and their customer service is really good (my pump developed a motor issue about 7 months in and I had a replacement the next morning) so I wouldn’t necessarily buy one in advance - you can order one when you need one and get it quickly.

SputnikBear · 20/10/2018 09:11

Hand pump worked fine for me. I was told to establish bf for a couple of months before pumping.

The problem is that your boobs don’t have an Off switch. So you can’t just give DH a bottle and go to sleep. Your boobs continue to fill with milk and then you have to pump. It was totally pointless for DH to be giving the baby a bottle while I was wide awake pumping. So I rarely pumped except for the few occasions I had a night out and left a bottle (and I didn’t bother with that very often because it was a hassle to have to take the pump with me and pump in the loo).

bumblebee39 · 20/10/2018 09:18

I will add DC1 never took to a fake teat and had to be EBF by the breast. DC2 never latched and had to be exclusively pump fed as was syringe fed in hospital and then fed expressed milk from a fake teat so was lazy with latching and ended up FF. DC1 who was EBF went straight onto sippy cups at 6months and I think only drank expressed milk from a bottle twice.

kmreeve · 20/10/2018 09:41

@SinkGirl just to update, the Medela swing maxi ( the updated version of the swing) is a closed system xx

SiolGhoraidh · 20/10/2018 09:45

Some hospitals will rent pumps so you can try them out. My son had a tongue tie and poor latch, so we did a lot of pumping to try and keep him fed while he worked on getting on the boob effectively. He first had a bottle at about 5 days old (previously syringe fed).
We've not had any problems with boob /bottle confusion. My supply is not great so he's formula supplemented, and happily switches between the two though he definitely prefers the breast

SinkGirl · 20/10/2018 09:47

Yes, and not everyone can get much milk from a pump. And as others have mentioned, some ebf babies just will not take a bottle. It’s a big expenditure for something you may not be able to use much, so I would see how things go and whether you feel you need one.

My twins couldn’t latch properly after months of nicu and tube feeding so I ended up pumping every 2 hours for nearly 8 months, and I still had to heavily supplement with formula (one needed some formula anyway for medical reasons, but I never produced enough for even one baby, let alone too). Exclusive pumping is really hard if your supply isn’t great and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone!

Yes, no one really mentions the fact that if you’re bfing, you need to pump when they have a bottle - to make sure your supply isn’t affected and to stop your boobs exploding / getting mastitis. This calms down as they get bigger, but certainly for the first 4 months, you’d have to pump any time they feed from a bottle and pumping is a lot less pleasant than bfing for most people so it rarely feels worth it. Oh, and if you pump between feeds in those early months you can end up with a big oversupply which isn’t a good thing.

I think pumps have become a lot more common now because of American maternity leave being so short - so many American women having to pump because they have to go to back to work so soon. I think it’s only in recent years that bfing mums think they need an electric breast pump.

You might want to have a look at the haakaa - it’s a soft silicone “pump” that attaches to your other breast while you’re feeding, and the suction draws some milk out, plus it catches whatever you leak while feeding from the other side. It’s a good way to build up a small freezer stash without having to do much extra work. Most bfing mums I know love it, and it means they have enough for an occasional bottle feed just from breastfeeding without extra pumping sessions.

bumblebee39 · 20/10/2018 10:27

I used to pump using the Mendela with baby attached on the other side it took some juggling and meant I had to drink water or juice out of a straw as I did so but was more effective than pumping alone) other than the deadly 2/3am sessions when my flow was at its best but was the only time my kids slept 😂

firsttimemum090 · 20/10/2018 18:06

Brilliant advice! I've been thinking I need the pump so DH can also take over some feeds but never thought the baby might not take an artificial teat? Will wait to purchase a bit and see how she takes to the breast first. Thank you all xxx

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sparkles212 · 21/10/2018 07:50

My baby is only 6 days old and I've been expressing already on midwives recommendation. My baby would breastfeed but we were struggling with latch and I was desperate to get food down her. She has tongue tie. Since taking EBM in the bottle a few days ago her appetite has massively improved and she's doing well on the breast now. EBM has been a godsend for partner to feed her whilst I'm sleeping so I'll carry on doing it. I use a Phillips Advent electric pump - it was £10 on the sale rack at boots so I picked it up just incase. Its actually ok and does the job but the Medala one in the hosp was obviously better

SinkGirl · 21/10/2018 09:24

Sparkles - glad it’s going well for you :) There are definitely cases where it’s a good idea to pump from early on (my twins were both in nicu on IV and NG feeds so I started expressing a few hours after they were born) - it’s just when the baby is ebf and feeding well that it’s not advised early on as it can affect your supply :)

sparkles212 · 21/10/2018 09:34

@sinkgirl absolutely, i hadn't planned on expressing so early on and even went to breastfeeding drop in at hosp to get help. Baby latched on a bit there but started struggling again so midwife got expressing machine out. I wanted to do everything by the book but learning early on it's not always practical! My baby has jaundice so that was another factor in them wanting to get it flushed out by feeding as much as poss :)

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