I want to largely express, will it work out?

[PasstheBucket89]

I've suffered in the past from not producing enough milk, this is baby no. 3, i want to see what is or isn't coming out, for my own piece of mind. im going to get an electric expressor rather than handheld. Any success stories from expressing?

I exclusively expressed for baby no 2 for 6 months due to latching problems. I never had supply problems with either baby mind you and always managed to express plenty. That's not always the case for everyone. You can rent a hospital grade pump which I think would be well worth it

thanks ill enquire with my midwife about hospital grade pumps x

Breastfeeding for me was really painful and never seemed to work properly. I expressed from about 2-3 weeks til 6 months. I had a manual pump as electric just never worked for some reason.

It meant most feeds took twice as long as I would feed from the bottle and then pump but I could have multi tasked. It also meant my overactive anxiety could see how much had been drunk and helped a lot with knowing she was full.

Did it for my eldest for 6 months, I rented a hospital grade pump - they are the biz. It was hard work. I never managed to breast feed successfully.

For my second, I managed for 3 months but It was hard with a toddler around. I got interrupted too much! I figured at least number 2 got some benefits of breast milk. Milk was better quality for first born. Think gold top vs semi skimmed! I was just so much more tired second time around.

With my second, I supplemented with formula if I didn’t produce enough.

I haven't used these but came across them recently and my god they are expensive but have good reviews from people. I think you can pay monthly using PayPal too.
I did think that if I was ever going to exclusively pump I'd invest in them as you can still go about your day whilst pumping which is essential when you already have children.

I believe it links to an app too so you can track how much you are pumping which could be helpful if you are concerned about supply issues.

https://www.elvie.com/shop/elvie-pump?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5eSu2e696gIVKYBQBh1J-Q55EAAYAiAAEgJwvDD_BwE

Good luck with whatever you decide to do 😊

You'd definitely need a hospital grade pump. The spectra pumps are pretty good. I think there's some Facebook groups around for exclusive pumping. In many ways it's the worst of both worlds. You're having to do all the sterilising etc of bottles plus the time taken expressing and then time taken to feed also. Babies can generally extract much more milk than a pump. Having had to express to top up my twins for the first few weeks after every feed I'd not recommend it. You'd need to express every 3 hours day and night which is really limiting.

@TheCatsPjammas ive been seeing a lot about Medela symphony and how to use it mostly American though, it makes me realise how little British mothers are told about any of this stuff, i did my best with my other 2 but on limited knowledge.

@TJ17 ive seen those it looks nifty but i wonder how the suction level is if im being honest. ill youtube some reviews.

I exclusively pumped for the first 2-3 weeks; a double electric pump saved a lot of time (I had calypso but also tried a medula which was good). I produced most when in the room with my baby although never enough to completely feed her without topping up with formula. I did manage to when directly feeding though so something about pumping made me not produce so much.

I'm in the US and most women express and insurance pays for electric pumps as normal. Spectra and Medela are the ones I've seen most recommended.

I used medala symphony - just googled it, doesn’t look like it’s changed much! Eldest is off to college shortly. I really struggled to breast feed and didn’t get much encouragement from midwives etc to go down the pumping route.
The plus is you can do both breasts at once which saves time.

I rented mine on a month basis which took pressure off as if it didn’t work out I could return easy enough. Decided if I was going to pump to make it as easy as possible.

I exclusively expressed the first DD for 7 months. I used the same pump to help establish breast feeding with DD2.

Thinking back it was soo much hassle and I’m not sure it’s great for the breasts because you empty full breasts so quickly.

But it was pretty much only breast milk for 7 months with a few top ups.

I rented a medela double pump and would very much recommend. When DD was in hospital over 2 nights they gave me a different hospital pump and it was rubbish.

Usually with each baby the milk flow becomes more active.

And British women get a years maternity leave off work (mostly) so we don't have to express. That's why the UK doesn't have a great knowledge of pumps.

Maybe get a Lactation Consultant to do some 121s with you, to give you confidence and skills bf your new baby.

im a SAHM so im not expressing for back to work reasons, its due to production issues I've had in the past i want to see what comes out, its true even with BF there's little guidance in the UK. i have horrible memories of trying to use a hand pump with DC 1 and not even getting 2oz with an 6 week old, for over an hour, could never bring myself to use hand held again.

I have an Ameda Lactaline and an Elvie - the suction on the elvie is not great and it's very temperamental. I could probably cope exclusively pumping with my Ameda but I would hate it with my Elvie... Sorry.

I have an ardo double pump and am exclusively expressing for DD2 (potential tongue tie but the joys of covid means nowhere will check her out!) it’s a lot of work with a toddler about, but we are on week 7 so I’m pretty proud of that, I’ve managed to produce enough to have some frozen and I’m expressing for the local milk bank 🥰

I fully recommend a double electric pump, but also get a haakaa. It has been an absolute saviour when my breasts have been sore, all the milk with none of the effort 👍🏻

I pump exclusively and top up with formula. I rent a hospital grade pump from medela and I also have an elvie so I can pump whilst playing with baby/making dinner etc.

I don't have a huge supply and would be intrigued to know if my baby would get more milk out than a pump but wasn't able to establish breastfeeding as baby was in the NICU.

mostly American though, it makes me realise how little British mothers are told about any of this stuff

That’s because American mothers get very little maternity leave though. It’s normal to be back at work by 12 weeks, and not unheard of at 6 weeks.

Kellymom is a good resource. Have a look at their suggested pumping schedules. Exclusive expressing is hard and you need to be able to make an informed decision about whether it’s something you can take on with two other children.

Also maybe something to consider is that babies are (generally) far more efficient at getting milk than a pump so pumping may not give a very accurate view.

I don't think you can gauge how much is or isn't coming out using a pump. I understand that whatever you pump is no correlation to how much you're making or how much baby is getting

If you didn't have enough milk before, then have a look at breast hypoplasia. I have this which means I physically don't have enough milk producing tissue. Apparently it is rare but I am convinced it is far more common than people think as I've met several people with the same condition and can be caused by PCOS during puberty which many people have.
I didn't know I had it previously and tried to express with DS1 and 2 because they were losing weight rapidly and I wanted to see if expressing would produce more for them, but I sat there for 2 solid hours pumping and pumping with an electric Medela and only produced 5mls.
Back then (11 and 15 years ago) there wasn't the help I needed. "Just feed more" I was feeding for 22 hours per day already (not exaggerating)

I'd recommend contacting your local La Leche League BFing consultant. I'm 20 weeks now and already been getting lots of help and advice from mine. She has written up a BFing plan and is putting it into my notes. She is also going to let the BFing team know about me so they are ready for me when I come in to give birth.

Definitely worth speaking to someone!

Wishing you lots of luck

I echo @Frazzlerock's suggestion to speak to a breastfeeding counseller. Exclusive expressing won't solve a supply problem and if you have previously had trouble establishing and maintaining a supply then you will have to pump on a schedule day and night. Please bear in mind that a pump is less efficient than a baby.

It would be hard work but to maintain and boost your supply you might want to consider a combination of feeding your baby directly and pumping at supplementary times to increase milk production. A lactation consultant can advise you on all this.

All good advice, How would i go about contacting a breastfeeding counsellor? im 17 weeks its not even been mentioned.

I googled La Leche League and found my local LLL leader that way. You will be able to contact them directly from there

Call the NCT bf helpline and ask for their local person.

Or your council area may have bf trained peer supporters (mums who have done a course in supporting bf mothers)

Or look up the lactation consultant closest to you. She would probably do a zoom consultation. It would cost money, but they are the experts on bf (hundreds of hours of training, knows about bf in more detail than doctors)
I reckon you would save the money spent on changing pumps & bottles etc in the 1 consultation with her.

Be prepared and it's great that you are doing your research now.