Tips for solely exclusively pumping?

[AmberM223]

Hey everyone, I am due in a few months and have decided i want to exclusively pump - not breastfeed. It’s my second baby, i had so much milk with my first but due to a bad birth just couldn’t do it. But if all is the same milk wise this time i would love to pump, but does anyone have any tips for this? How easy is it to do? Is manual better than electric (electric is sooo expensive!!)

Any tips welcome x

I’m sorry I don’t have experience with solely pumping but have you thought about how time consuming it might be? Obviously if you think you have the time amazing but you’re essentially having to breastfeed and bottle feel and everything that comes with that - sterilising etc. I think I would find it too much personally.

electric pumps are much better though and a double one would save some time. Medela is a good brand, I bought a medela single one on ebay for very little 7 years ago and its done 3 babies.

I expressed and breastfed my DD from birth until 9 months and then exclusively expressed until she was 2. In the first few months I'd express whilst she had a bottle (given mostly by my partner) and then breast feed the next one. I could never get her to latch on easily so at around 9 months I decided I'd had enough of breastfeeding and just expressed. I think I spent about 15 mins 4 x a day and then once at night. Either myself or my partner would feed her a bottle at the same time.

I bought a single tommee tippee electric pump, and then found a second one on FB marketplace or something like that. I don't think I could have done it with manual pumps!

It might be tricky to exclusively pump in the first few months, but once you've got the routine sorted I'm sure it would be manageable. I found all the admin, like sterilising, only took a few minutes each day so not too bad.

Let me know if you have any questions 😊

I exclusively bottle fed DS with pumped breast milk for 4 months because he wouldn't latch, and in my experience it is really really hard. I'm currently breastfeeding his sister and it is so much easier.
I understand it won't be the same for everyone but just why I found it hard - you have to pump numerous times a day and night to get your supply established, and you can't just lie in bed having a feed. You have to get up, get the pump parts, connect to the pump, finish off, disconnect everything, clean and sterilise. I had to pump every time DS had a breast milk bottle so DH would do all the feeds while I was sat in the corner connected to my pump. Because there's no baby there to regulate how much they need I found I really struggled with oversupply.
In the end I had to stop because I found it was really affecting my mental health.

Also please be aware that pumping may not be for you!
I tried with a manual and an electric ( would recommend manual if you're pumping just the odd occasion but electric if you're doing full time) but I actually struggled to get more than an oz combined on both sides, and yet when breastfeeding I'd practically drown the poor thing.
Tried for months and in the end gave up because it just wasn't worth the hassle when I could just pop dc onto the boob instead of a pump on there. Also dc hated bottles 🤪

I had a tommeetippee electric and an avant manual but as I struggled with expressing couldn't tell you if theyre actually good or not....

I did it for 18 months and it was an absolute nightmare. Looking back I have no idea why I put myself through it for so long - though am still glad I did. BF my second baby was not without its difficult moments but was about 1000 times easier. And I found it very easy to express large amounts, which not everyone does. Getting up at 3am to feed the baby and then start expressing, just in time for him to need changing and then feeding again and more pumping. For months. Washing endless bottles, pump attachments, storage pots, strange devices to allow me to double pump hands-free. Never being able to leave the house for longer than 3 hours. It was awful.

Congratulations on your pregnancy op!
it’s a few years ago now, but I exclusively pumped with both of mine. My tips are, hire the medala symphony double as soon as possible and drink a min of 3 litres of water a day and eat oats and dairy to keep your supply up. If you don’t, you’ll notice a reduction in supply and thus will take a couple of days to put right, which I found really fascinating! A standard electric will burn out for exclusive pumping. Save your money. A handheld won’t work for exclusive either.

you’ll need to pump every 3-4 hours. Basically mimicking BF. It is hard, but there’s things you can do. To make it practically easier.

I wet sterilised with Milton in a bucket so didn’t faff with an electric steriliser. I bought a 1L glass jug from ikea and poured all of the expressed milk in that for the day. At first I was topping up with formula but by the end of the 2nd or 3rd week I didn’t need to. I was getting excess. it was 6,6,6 when I did it - 6 hours at room temp, 6 days in the fridge, 6 months in the freezer.

have a look at Kellymom website. She’s brilliant.

It’s really awful. I managed 2 months with my first. He was too small/early to latch. It was so painful for
me and I got blocked ducts and moving was agony. I couldn’t put myself through it a second time and the thought of anything pumping/sucking my boobs made me feel ill so I went straight to formula.

I find pumping a massive pain and often don’t get a huge amount out (despite baby having enough when she feeds) - from what I’ve also heard from others, I don’t think it necessarily works well for everyone (anecdotally!). As mentioned already, faffing around with bottles is such a pain compared to breastfeeding, which once it’s established is pretty low maintenance. (And yes I’m aware that for some it’s not always possible to establish it…)

Thanks so much everyone that all is really helpful! The sterilising bottles/ pump parts bit is fine with me - i know it’s an absolute pain in the bum haha but i am good with that!
Also i’m not putting pressure on myself to do it, a few people have said now how they just couldn’t express (i think in your head it sounds much easier than it actually is!!) so i will just take it as it comes.

I’ll look into all the pumps everyone mentioned and so helpful for the water/ food tips too!! i’ll make sure that’s written in my notes for PP!

I suffered with really bad PND after my first so like i say not putting pressure on anything, and i know i won’t be able to breastfeed exclusively (due to work commitments and other bits soon after baby is born) but this is just something i had in my head i want to give a go and hope for the best😬😬

Also really good to know some of you have actually done the same thing as i haven’t really come across anyone who has exclusively pumped!🥳

I exclusively pumped my toddler for one year. Here are my tips:

• first of all read everything from www.exclusivepumping.com . There is a Facebook support group too "exclusive pumping mamas"
• You absolutely need an electric double pump. I recommend a hospital grade one because they have different flange sizes (a wrong flange size can be painful and reduce your supply) and you can buy pump parts separately if your need to replace them
• You also need a pumping bra or DIY a system to hold your flanges while you pump to free your hands.
• You need to find a way to pump outside of your home and if front of people of your have visitors or you will feel chained. Consider buying a wearable pump in addition to your main pump
• In the first 3 months you will need to pump at night to kickstart/ maintain your supply. As a pp said above, waking up to feed your baby and then pump will not be sustainable. You need to either split the job with your partner or find a way to feed your baby and pump at the same time. I used to strap my baby in a bouncing chair, then feed and pump at the same time.

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