Anyone else exclusively pumping?

[RhondaLou]

Hi all.

My first son is now almost 6 weeks old. We started off ok on the breast but after the first 24hrs he started fussing and refusing to feed. We were still in hospital at the time and were cup feeding formula top ups. On day 3 he took a cup top up and practically fed himself he was so hungry. So we made the decision to express and bottle feed.

I have been expressing ever since with at least two ff a day, usually overnight.

Is anybody else pumping rather than direct breastfeeding? Would be good to hear your stories and offer each other some support xx

 

[J_Anne]

I am but our history is a bit different. My son is almost 13 weeks old but was born 16 weeks early, he's still being fed through a tube but has had a couple of goes at the breast. He's latched on a couple of times but is never hungry enough to have a proper go. I'm really hoping to be able to bf once he's ready because I absolutely hate expressing and I'm not sure how I'd manage once he's home with expressing and bottle feeding him as well as looking after a 2 year old!xx

 

[Rose83]

Me! I'm exclusively pumping and my little girl is only having breast milk (no formula top ups) she is 14 weeks old. Basically she was feeding fine from me for the first 3 weeks then I got thrush on my nipples and she gradually got fussier and fussier because of the taste of the thrush until I had switched every feed to an expressed bottle. I still have extremely irritated nipples and have to wear Actiformcool wound dressings to keep them soothed as it took about 8 weeks for the thrush to start to go and left me very sore and irritated. I now pump three times a day as I just trained myself to go as long as possible because I hate pumping. Once I realised I was going to be stuck doing this I invested in the Medela freestyle double pump which at least means it's over with quickly! X

 

[RhondaLou]

Oh bless you hun. Yes it's hard work pumping and I don't have an older one to consider. I thought about switching to formula once he hits 6 weeks but he has started going on the breast occasionally. He latched and has a few minutes feeding. I can hear him swallowing so I know he can breastfeed. I don't want to stop pumping and dry up and take that option away from him even if he just wants it occasionally for comfort Xx

 

[Irishemma]

I've stopped pumping now, but my I fed my daughter by exclusively pumping for 9 months, I just stopped in January. She had complications at birth and was nasally fed for a few weeks and we just never got her to latch. Just wanted to let you know it's possible

 

[RhondaLou]

Has anyone got any tips for increasing supply?xx

 

[RhondaLou]

And as for the pump im very lucky. I was given a tommee tippee electric pump free and left hospital with 2 sets of medela pump parts which fit my electric pump. I bought an adaptor for a fish tank pump to split the tube to the breast pump so I can double pump and cut holes in an old bra so I can go hands free. It's great. I can't do much but csn pump twice as long in half the time and chat away to you lovely lot at the same time ��

 

[Rose83]

Increasing supply: all I was told by midwives was to do extra pumping sessions and to let the pump carry on for an extra ten minutes after you've emptied your breasts so that your body knows you need more. They say it's the same theory as when you start out, your body produces the amount of milk you are telling it it needs. I Could really do with increasing supply but as I hate the sensation so much I really can't stand an extra session or more time! X

 

[RhondaLou]

I'm trying to get more pumps in but lo is more and more awake every day and I struggle to get enough in to begin with nevermind extra. Nipples are very irritated today so I'm single pumping until empty then go back to double pumping tomorrow when I've had a bit of a break. I try and pump at least 6 times a day and get about 10oz a day at the moment would like to increase it as much as I can I know I probably won't be able to get all his feeds in ebm but want him to have as much as possible while I have it available for him xx

 

[Rose83]

Hey rhondalou don't worry, if you stick with the pumping you should be able to keep up with what he needs - like I said I pump 3 times a day and produce 28oz a day which is what my baby needs. I know another mum who is at 5 months and still exclusively pumping and she is down to 4 times a day. I don't want to sound like I'm telling you something obvious but I'll just tell you what I do to get it done:
First thing in the morning (7am) we wake up and I feed baby then sit her in her bouncer chair while I sit and pump at about 7.30am. As I have a double medela pump it empties both sides in 15 minutes. Then I go until somewhere around 4pm before I pump again, I make sure she is again in her bouncer chair or my OH can watch her for 15 mins. Then the final session of the day I do at between 10 and 11pm when she is in bed. It was really tough at first but now I'm in the routine it's fine. Another tip an exclusive expresser gave me was to smear a bit of Lansinoh cream around the pump funnel so there is less friction on your nipple when it is sucked in and therefore you don't get quite so uncomfortable x

 

[RhondaLou]

How long have you been doing that my lo is almost 6 weeks old and I'm concerned if i only pump 4 times a day I will start to dry up. I don't know if my supply is established at this point or not? I would love to pump 4 times a day even if it's double pumping for 30 mins if I get a good output it would much less of a stress than my current effort x

 

[J_Anne]

That's amazing that you can get 28oz just pumping 3 times a day. My son is 13 weeks and in the last week or 2, my supply is gradually dwindling from 30oz pd to around 27 and that's still double pumping every 3 hours and 4 at night. If I go longer between, I produce too much foremilk which is no good for him at the minute as he needs all the calories he can get, so I end up throwing away half

 

[Rose83]

Maybe I'm a bit odd then! My supply has started to decrease a small amount this week (14 week old little one) as I'm pretty sure I ovulated last week and that can affect supply I believe so I've pumped an extra session today to try to get it back up. I think I've been doing 3 sessions a day for at least 6 weeks and before that was doing 4. Back when I was 3-4 weeks post partum I was still doing it 6 times a day I think. I had my little girl weighed this week and she is still gaining on the 75th centile line and is now 14lb so has definitely been getting enough.

When she was a newborn and for the 2-3 weeks following she never liked feeding from the left breast so I always pumped that side and she got all she needed from the right side so I suppose in effect I was producing double what was needed and that might be why I manage to get so much still now x

 

[RhondaLou]

Well I'm currently pumping 4-6 times a day and I haven't seen a decrease in supply yet. Of course that means that I haven't increased and so still giving half the feelings as formula but it seems to be working for us.

Next question then who pumps while out and about? Went to mil for dinner today and everyone decided as it was so nice to take a walk round the local country park. I was faced with the choice of going out and doing something nice and delaying my planned pump or being boring and sticking to my pumping schedule. I have a hand held pump and could have drove to the park and then pumped on time in the car or local facilities. Has anyone tried this or got any tips/ suggestions? Xx