EBF with pumping only

[87mum]

Not entirely sure if this is the right place so apologies if it's not.

Currently 32weeks and I'm hoping to try breast feeding this time round. However I do have some events planned for June (planned pre-pregnancy) and have been looking into ebf with pumped milk only.

I will need baby to take a bottle as I have a concert in another city, 2.5 hours away, for me and my other child and due to extortionate hotel prices my DH will be left with baby at home.

Has anyone any experience of this? Any tips/hints how we go about doing this successfully?

Following as want to do the same (for different reasons)

Sorry to you want to exclusively pump or direct nurse and offer some EBM bottles?

Exclusively pump sorry.

Yes, I did it with my youngest. I did it for a year. He had very occasional bottles of formula when something went wrong, but really not many.

Did you want tips or just to know it's possible?

My tip would be to get a cordless pump and a bra thingy so you can walk about while pumping! I don't think I'd have lasted half as long without that. Mine was from medela (pump and bra thing)

Thanks that's really helpful.

Both tbf.

Glad to hear it is possible. Did you collect colostrum before hand or go straight for first feed with pumped milk/use formula for this?

I've been looking at pumps and have come across the ones you can wonder round with, which sounds ideal.

I would have never managed this, I couldn't express more than a few ounces at a time, low supply I eventually found out, but managed to EBF my first for 6 months I think, but it was very time consuming even doing that, I combi fed my second to save my sanity

I had to exclusively pump for a few weeks with my second child.

It's bloody hard and double the the work.

Because you have to pump. Store. Sterilise. Make up bottles. And feed. Pumping is not as effective as breastfeeding and it takes longer to pump enough milk for a bottle that bf does.

It was a huge relief when I was able to start breastfeeding.

By all means try it but you will really make thing's difficult for yourself. Most people only do this for medical reasons.

With both babies I did do some pumping for bottles and both were fine with bottles enabling me to leave them with DH or GPs.

I did a mix of things for the first few days - breastfeeding, hand expressing into a teaspoon and then giving it to him with a syringe, some formula. I found pumping about as easy as formula tbh (my other dc was combi fed till 3 months then formula).

My problem was never supply though. I've always been quite lucky with that with both my babies.

I did this for my first after 6 weeks due to terrible pain while feeding (thrush) that I couldn’t get rid of.

I found it quite easy (esp compared to breastfeeding!) and soon got into a rhythm of pumping 2/3 times a day - albeit was constantly paranoid about supply etc. I carried on until she was 11 months.

With DD2 I half thought I’d do something similar, but I was never able to pump as easily/effectively second time round and so it didn’t work.

So I’d say it is perfectly possible, but not guaranteed to work.

I know everyone says pumping is significantly harder than EBF. I don't know as I've never successfully breastfed exclusively. But I know that when trying to "crack" breastfeeding with dc1 was one of the worst times of my life. It was awful doing all of it - breastfeeding then topping up with formula and pumping as well to build supply. That was hellish tbh. Pumping was easy compared to trying very hard to EBF and still not being able to with dc1.

I might be very unusual in this regard, but I don't think it's correct to say that EBF is easier than pumping (half the work). It categorically was not for me

Edit as x posted with pp. I definitely found breastfeeding the hardest part of feeding. Pumping was more reliable. I used to get two massive bottles every pumping session. It was really quite efficient.

I exclusively pumped for 18 months and it’s the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. Looking back I think I must have been a bit insane (kept it up after 6m because DS was allergic to dairy). BF a baby in the normal way was so, so much easier.

It’s possible but takes over your whole life. I found it stressful, exhausting and lonely. I had a very generous supply but even so it took hours every day. It was the worst aspects of BF and bottle feeding multiplied by each other. I did it by necessity but would never have embarked on that journey if BF had worked out.

It's quite common in the USA because of their dire maternity leave policies. My friend who pumped found Kellymom website to be very useful.

BF both my babies and if I had to leave for a night or leave baby with husband or grandparents, I left bottles of breast milk for them.
I would say that exclusively pumping is very hard work and you can just pump enough for the day and night etc. you’re away.
I would start by using a Haaka or something similar to collect the let down from one breast when you’re feeding from the other. You could get 1-3 oz (sometimes more!) doing this! if you did this for one feed every day, you wouldn’t be long building up a stash for your freezer. The milk will last up to 6 months in the freezer using the breastfeeding bags. I wouldn’t use the Haaka for more than one feed a day as it can cause over supply issues.
If you needed more you could pump for a while after feeding to get more using a wearable pump.
For when you actually leave, I would normally leave 3-4 oz for every 2 hours I’m away. BF babies don’t tend to take more than that volume per feed. I would always leave a bit more just in case.
And before you ever go away, make sure your baby will take a bottle. Start giving the baby 1-2 oz of expressed milk in a bottle from when they’re about 2-3 weeks old every day or every second day.Just keep at this as some babies can stop taking a bottle!!
Start by leaving for a few hours and a bottle or two. Then work up.

Wearable breast pumps like the Elvie pump don't always get as much milk out. Better off getting a portable pump and a pumping bra. Medela or Spectra.

I pumped for 6 weeks as my daughter was unable to breast feed and I was told formula wasn't good with her medical condition. It was incredibly hard, I was a tired emotional wreck. 6 weeks was all I could do and I stopped as I wasn't coping. The nights were what got me, the constant pumping, feeding, washing, it was too much. 21 years later I still remember the joy when I pumped for the last time.

I know I have a negative view and possibly very skewed but I tried my best and at the time it wasn't for me.

The best thing I had was the cow bra ( we called it ) it held the funnels on. It was quite the thing, I suspect better ones are available now.

I exclusively pumped for 3 weeks as my baby couldn't directly feed. I found it really hard and it was so much easier when I could feed directly. I didn't have any problems switching between breast and bottle for that baby and would express if I needed to leave them.

To add I had a portable Medela and pumping bra which were great.

I exclusively pumped for 5 1/2 weeks and found it really very difficult. I was very happy that we were able to transition to breastfeeding. I found it so much more work than just breastfeeding.

When I had my second, I had more options and decided that I would mix pumping and breastfeeding. I wanted to be able to share feeds a bit. It did not work initially, as my baby would not take a bottle. Then my nipples cracked so badly that I was bleeding a lot. I could see blood around her wee mouth and she was not taking as much. So she took a bottle, I healed and it seemed grand.

Then, after a couple of months, I was just lazy with pumping for about 4, maybe 5 days (I just really don't like it and never got anything like enough for even one feed). So she had just boob for a few days. She has never tolerated a bottle since, or a cup or whatever. She will drink no milk, regardless of type, heat level, or receptacle other than my milk from my breast. Though she will take water. If she sees me with her wee cup and a carton of milk, she shouts "no, no, no!". If I give it to her, chucked instantly.

So if I was doing it again, I would be 100% consistent with bottle/cup. My monkey is 14 months and v difficult to leave for more than a few hours.

My sister did this. There's a website - pumpingmamas that has loads of info about it

I exclusively pumped with my first. We had awful latching problems so direct nursing became too difficult and painful. In the first couple weeks while you get used to the pump, find what works for you, and build up a supply, a little formula top up may be needed. It is hard. You need to express on a schedule and regularly, including through the night early on, to ensure you build and keep your supply up. Depending on what you're comfortable with it can be fairly limiting as well. Such as if you're out for the day having make sure you can find somewhere to duck away for 20 mins to express.
I second a pp saying a good pumping bra and something like a medela or spectra. Everyone is different but wearables don't always get the same results.

Thanks for this, I will have a look at the website.

I struggled to bf with my first and my milk didn't really come through. It was hell, I got myself into such a mess about not being able to succeed at it. When my midwife suggested switching to ff, after a few days of ff the cloud started to lift and I started to enjoy spending time with my LO. It was never suggested that I could try pumping exclusively, which is why I'm trying to look at all options.

I was also anaemic and have since been told that's possibly one of the reasons why my supply didn't come through.

I'm more determined this time round to give it another bash, but I'm so aware that baby will need to be able to take a bottle hence the exclusive pump.

I will look into both wearable and bra pumps properly.

I did it for 6 months and it was hideous. A pump is less efficient than a baby so you have to pump every 3 hours day and night and I had low-ish supply so pumping took about 40 minutes, with washing and sterilising and then feeding the baby, I only had about 90 mins before the next 3 hour pumping session came round again. My baby was in NICU and tube fed and then couldn't breastfeed so I had no other option. I'm now breastfeeding my second and although it's hard it's so much easier. I would pump once a day in your case so that you can do concerts, things like that.

If you do want to do it, I would suggest hiring a hospital grade pump for pumping by bed (best supply), getting a good double pump you can move about with for home (medela swing for me) and getting a double Elvie for outside the home. Also get multiple sets of all the parts so you don't have to clean every time. It's crazily expensive but made it possible. Good luck whatever you decide.

My baby is 1 year old and I'm slowly weaning from exclusive pumping. I won't lie, it's not the easiest option, but it is feasible. It's also more expensive than direct breastfeeding (though cheaper than formula feeding) because you need to replace pump parts quite often as they get used more quickly than if you pump occasionnally, and you need accessories like handsfree pumping bra or wearable pumps. Here are my advices:

• First and foremost, check the www.exclusivepumping.com website, it has so many detailed articles to understand everything about pumping, including plenty of tips to make your life easier.
• Find a way to feed the baby and pump at the same time. In the first 2-3 months, in order to establish your milk supply you need to pump in the middle of the night, which is really hard. In my case I put the baby in a bouncer and bottle fed him while pumping, so I wouldn't have to wake up twice. Also useful in the first few months when you are alone with a baby who wants to be held all the time and its difficult to find the time to pump.
• Wearable pumps are a must, but you can't use them as your main pump, because the motor is not as strong as hospital grade pumps so the risk is either they break down, or it is not enough to establish your milk supply. It is recommended to use them once a day at the maximum.
• Don't hesitate to ask for support from an IBCLC who is knowledgeable about pumping, or support groups
• Last but not least: make sure your partner is supportive of this plan. I could not have done it for that long if my partner hadn't been supportive. He was the one who was in charge of washing bottles and pump parts (and there is a loooot of that...), he was ok to take care of the baby whil I was pumping, he took one entire month of paternity leave, which was the time I needed to get the grip with exclusive pumping before I had to do it alone with a baby, he helped set the baby in his bouncy chair while I prepared for night pumping/feeding...

Finally I would like to add, I never had to pump every 3 hours as it is recommended. From birth I pumped 6 times in 24 hours including one pump during the night. At 3 months, I stopped pumping in the night and only pumped 5 times a day (including 2 at work), at 5 months, I pumped only 4 times a day (including once at work) which was quite manageable, and I stayed there until last month. It was enough to produce enough for my baby for one year. But according to my lactation consultant, it's because my breasts have a good "milk storage capacity", something that is different for each women, and can make exclusive pumping easy or not.