Breastfeeding

[19annie86]

This is all new to me and I'm every early only 10 weeks but I'm just curious. Is it ok to express breast milk with a pump for the baby instead of actually breast feeding

Yes, I have done this as my baby was tongue tied. I managed to continue with it for a year. It was VERY hard work in the beginning, but I got through. It probably resulted in slightly less sleep at the beginning as I had to express, feed the baby, wash and sterilise the pump parts and then go back to sleep. I did pump through the night, which you will probably have to do, as a pp says.

The upside was that he wasn't forever on and off the boob. He was a great sleeper anyway, so a big bottle of breast milk, nappy change and back to sleep. DH used to feed him while I expressed. Then I invested in a cordless, portable pump from Medela which was a game changer.

Some of the benefits of breastfeeding though are to do with the actual feeding process, so I'd probably do just breastfeeding if I had the choice. I didn't have the choice though really.

I also was quite "lucky" that I produce a lot of milk. Very fast let down etc. This made feeding hard for the baby, but absolutely great for pumping. In hindsight, with the same scenario, I probably would do it again, as it worked best for us. But if we'd not had those exact circumstances, I probably wouldn't have chosen it.

It is totally possible. When my baby was younger I used to breastfeed all day, put him to bed at 7pm, then express before I went to bed at 10pm, put this expressed milk in the fridge and then my husband would use this expressed milk to feed my baby when he woke in the night. Initially he woke twice so my husband would do the 2am feed and I’d then breastfeed at the 5am feed. When he just dropped down to one feed my husband did it .
Since my baby started sleeping through I’ve dropped down to expressing everyone other evening when I go to bed to build up a stash in the freezer as back home if I ever need to leave my baby. Of course I need to express if I miss a feed but it’s useful to have some int be freezer and takes the stress of having to express enough each time I leave him.
Good luck!

Research shows that breastmilk changes all the time, in response to all sorts of things, like the needs and health of your baby, temperature, and the time of day. For most mothers, breastmilk will gradually increase in fat content throughout the day. During the evening, young babies often cluster feed, taking in frequent feeds of this fattier milk, which tends to satisfy them enough to have their longest stretch of sleep. This cluster feeding in the early months may go on late into the evening when you were hoping you would be asleep, which can naturally feel exhausting.
Overnight, your prolactin levels – the hormone designed to support milk production – are at their highest. So, when your baby feeds frequently at night, the message to your body to boost milk supply is even stronger. Breastmilk at night is also high in the amino acid tryptophan, which in turn helps your baby to make melatonin, which is used by the body to develop its circadian rhythm (our internal system for recognising the difference between day and night) and to sleep better. Hormones produced while breastfeeding also help you to relax and fall more quickly back to sleep, which may be why you find yourself nodding off so easily while breastfeeding.
Given the fact that the hormones in night-time breastmilk help you and your baby to get back to sleep quickly, feeding babies to sleep is completely natural. A mother and baby’s bodies are designed to work in tandem this way. Breastfeeding your baby to sleep helps baby feel calm, safe and secure.

(la leche league)

In short - expressed milk given at night will not be as beneficial to either of you.

One thing that you could do to help you get more rest, is go to bed early and let your partner stay up with the baby, do the first feed of the night and put the baby to bed. That way you might get a couple of extra hours in before the baby wakes up again. It also means you only have to express one bottle so less hassle for you.

I've been there and I would say wait until you have the baby, see how breastfeeding goes and take it from there. Very hard to anticipate how things will go in advance.