Should I start pumping straight away?

[Strawberry06]

Hello I'm nearly 35 weeks and starting to get last things sorted for our first baby due 8th Feb.

Im hoping to breastfeed and intended to do so exclusively whether this is wise or not as its all on me then but I've also read things that say I should pump straight away which suggests a mixture of boob and bottle? I don't want to confuse baby and just wondered what the best way to go about it is?

I started pumping once nursing was established, around 2 weeks post partum.
I introduced a bottle a day, but breastfed otherwise. Gradually built up so baby was used to switching between breast and bottle.

Nipple confusion wasn't an issue, and apparently the earlier you introduce a bottle (once nursing is well established and baby is gaining weight), the easier baby switches between the two.

With DS2 I didn't start pumping until 3 weeks because he was so efficient at nursing that I had too much milk and had overactive let down.

By the time both of them went to daycare at 4 months, they went easily between breast and bottle.

I'd definitely leave it until after they're born and you're comfortable with feeding, you know they're gaining weight and have gotten over the delivery.

I used a Haakaa for the first 6-8 weeks to just catch my let down & then froze that.

I wouldn’t start pumping until you’ve established breastfeeding otherwise your body will be out of sync with your baby.

Congratulations op.
I wouldn't worry about pumping yet unless you need to (as in, there is a plan for someone else to help with feeding).
Just let baby guide you, feed when they want it (demand led), probably every few hours. That way they will trigger your body to make what is needed and they do settle in routine with longer stretches between feeds.
I did pump, but I did it to maintain my supply as baby had a slight tongue tie and caused a great deal of latching issues and ultimately started to reduce my supply a little, but he never took a bottle and in the end, fed him for 18months!
Your midwife will be able to give you advise, as will a breast feeding consultant (which I think midwife can refer to/have details of) if required.
Good luck!

My baby found it hard to latch when he was first born so I didn't have much choice and had to pump straight away. It was hard at first but really good to get the hang of it quickly, and because my baby had a bottle from the get go, he learnt to be totally fine switching between which meant my husband could do half of the night feeds. I know they say the thing about 'nipple confusion' but other people I know who worried about that and didn't start their babies off early can't use bottles at all now. I would definitely try to get them a bit used to it when they are very little - but know that they can really guzzle with a bottle in a way they can't with a boob so you have to give them breaks/make them pace themselves! Otherwise it leads to terrible trapped wind and farts.

I breastfed for 6 weeks then introduced a pump for the occasional bottle, to be honest though I mainly breastfed as I found pumping tedious and as my baby was with me most of the time anyway I didn't feel the need to do it that much, it was much easier to just whip a boob out in my experience

You can try antenatal expressing once you're over 37 weeks which can help stimulate your milk production and help to get you primed for supply in the early days.
Some women produce enough this way to collect colostrum in tiny syringes which is lovely to have ready to take to hospital or to top up your first feeds at home.
Don't be put off if you can't collect any tho, many can't get any but that bears no relation to success of later BF.
I wouldn't recommend pumping in the first couple of weeks, just frequent offering of the boob to get your supply going.
Best of luck!

I mix fed from birth until 7 months and son was fine switching between both.Its tedious pumping though I hated it I’ve got to say!Never manage to pump much tried many different things and a few different pumps too.I do think mix feeding from birth probably didn’t help supply of milk as of course it won’t sync with baby 100%! Going to try a different approach this time and see how it goes. Good luck!