Why would I need a breast pump?

[Unicorn]

I'm planning on breastfeeding and hope everything will go well with that. Do I need to buy a breast pump before knowing how things go, does everyone use one? why? or may I never use it?
Thank you xx

 

[BunnyN]

I never used one. If you are not planning on regular pumping you can always hand express on a temporary basis or on the odd occasion. Then if the need comes up buy a pump later.

 

[El1en]

I loved mine. I had a medela swing. I didn't want to give my little girl formula at all (just not for me ) so when she was about 4 weeks I started pumping every day so that if someone was baby sitting they could feed her breast milk. I also froze a stash to use with porridge and food from 6 months old. It just depends if you want to express or not. My Lo had few bottles as I rarely left her with anyone but for me it was great that she could still have breast milk when she did.

 

[KeelyT90]

They're good if you're planning on sharing the feeds I guess or returning to work and sticking to breast milk. However my auntie preferred to alexclusively breast feed, as exhausting as it was as she said she felt like a cow being milked hooked up to a pump! Lol. The only trouble was she could never leave baby with anyone else X

 

[Phoenix85]

I agree with Bunny.

I never had one with my last baby (now 9) and I breastfed her full term. She never had a bottle.
I did hand express occasionally once she was over 4m

This time I'm getting a pump because I want to donate milk, otherwise I doubt I'd bother x

 

[Blueclass]

Iv been advised by mw and friends who bf to wait untill bf is well establised i.e a good few weeks. Im going to try bf and ifnit goes well i will buy an electric pump so hubby can feed when his at home and i can get a break. Plus i think its good for bonding if hubby does it also. Its good if you want a night out with the OH and then someone else can feed baby. Iv been told to avoid manual ones as they really hurt your hand after 5 mins. Someone also told me to buy a bandu bra from primark and cut a hole in it and put the pump suction bit in there. Then you can be hands free whilst doing bits. I was told this but a few people.

 

[Unicorn]

I've been speaking to a friend today and she also recommended getting a pump to be able to express to ensure your supply stays regular and so you have some milk available to feed baby if there are any problems eg you get ill and need medication you couldn't pass onto baby etc. So I think I will get one. What one would people recommend please? Xx

 

[lisa1985]

I bought one before i had my lil girl and it was a good job i did as she wouldn't latch to left breast at all. So i was pumping by day 3. You could just wait and see how it goes though and if any problems then get one delivered from amazon? X

 

[Blueclass]

Im going to wait till baby comes and i know i can bf as they are alot of money and if you cant bf you have wasted it. Im also going to harvest colstrum from 36 weeeks. Well il try depends how much comes out. This is good as after birth if your shattered or have problems hubby can feed this to baby.ypu get the bits from hospital of anyone is interested. X

 

[Phoenix85]

I've been speaking to a friend today and she also recommended getting a pump to be able to express to ensure your supply stays regular and so you have some milk available to feed baby if there are any problems eg you get ill and need medication you couldn't pass onto baby etc. So I think I will get one. What one would people recommend please? Xx

Actually pumping does the opposite of keeping your supply regular. Pumping increases the likelihood of messing up supply especially if you pump and then give EBM some feeds and pump in between feeds or in place of other feeds.

If you decide to pump it's recommended you stick to pumping at the same time every day and if you give a bottle at any time you should try to express at that feed or be aware that you may get engorged.

Still try to avoid pumping in the first 6-8 weeks if you can until your supply is established and you're less likely to have issues with having too much milk (and avoid giving bottles in the first 6 weeks as this can reduce supply as the baby is more efficient at getting milk than the pump is.)

I do plan to express right from the start, but only because I have breastfed twice before and know I have no problems in the first 8 weeks (which most people find the most difficult time). I'm also donating the extra milk rather than using it to give some EBM feeds. So the "worst" that would happen is 'oversupply' but in theory that will just mean more milk to donate lol.

Honestly though the longer you can avoid it, especially giving expressed feeds/bottlefeeds and stick to direct breastfeeding the more you are likely to successfully BF.

As for medication, if that were to happen please make your doctor check, or look on "Breastfeeding Network" for "drugs in breastmilk" (may have to google it). Most medication is safe for breastfeeding and those that aren't usually have a safe alternative so you can continue to breastfeed.

As for which pump... I wish I knew LOL!!!

I saw an article about the medela that it's not a fully closed system so the milk can get trapped in one part of the tubing that is impossible to clean. So I decided I'd get the Ardo Calypso as it had good reviews, but then recently there was a thread on Facebook and 3 people said they had the Ardo and it didn't work so well... so now I'm not sure.
Someone said they like the Lansinoh electric pump, and it's currently about £30 cheaper than the Ardo so I'm considering trying that one lol.
My plan is to pump off one side while feeding from the other because with my daughter I always leaked loads from the other side whenever she fed lol.


Good luck! x

 

[Unicorn]

OK, totally confused now thank you ladies I'm just going to wait and see and as you said Lisa, if I do find I need one I can just order one from Amazon! I like the idea of the Lansinoh one Phoenix and we've got quite a few of their products so far. Can you only use the bottles of the pump brand or can you mix and match? Xx

 

[Phoenix85]

I'm not sure tbh. I think they are universal but wouldn't say for definite, I've not tried other bottles with a pump.

I think you can use any bottles but maybe only the same brand will actually attach to the pump.

If I were to use bottles I'd go for Mam ones, I like the shape of their teats better than others (they are a bit flattened where as other teats are sort of bulb shaped lol).

 

[Alrm198]

I'm aiming to BF but if bump doesn't latch I would still like the option to provide her with BM. I'm ordering the MAM BF and Steriliser Starter Set. Atm Amazon is the cheapest place to buy it, but I'm going to have another look around later. I also like the idea that the bottles are self sterilising and you can express straight in to the bottles. This is my preferred choice, obv I'm by no means an expect as this is our first, but I do prefer MAM after reading reviews and speaking to friends.
Hope you find the right one for you!

 

[raisingingrid]

I plan on waiting to buy a pump after I see how the baby latches and if I can even breastfeed. That is my biggest fear and I don't want to waste any money on a pump if my baby doesn't seem to cooperate or if I can't breastfeed for some reason

 

[Unicorn]

Yeah, we've got a MAM bottle and some MAM dummies but I like how the Lanisoh ones claim to be as close to breastfeeding as possible, so won't confuse baby's sucking mechanism between breast and bottle!?
I agree raisingingrid, I'm going to wait and see xx

 

[scn]

I'm waiting to see as well. If I am successful in breastfeeding then I'll get a pump eventually so that I can get some time off and go out without baby once he's older and so that I can use it for porridge etc when weaning xx

 

[fairyprincess]

Thanks for posting this, I've been wondering the same recently x

 

[Kholl]

I've been nursing 1-2 kids for 4.5 years straight now and I've never pumped!

 

[Prettypee]

I used mine every day at 10 so that's husband could give an expressed bedtime bottle from 3 weeks onwards, this was really nice bonding experience for them and got Ashley used to using a bottle, this really helped when the inlaws babysat from 6 months ( my sister had horrendous time trying to get my neice to accept a bottle) x

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

 

[Prettypee]

I had electronic medela swing and found it great to use x

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk