For those of you who pump...

[brownhairedmom]

What type/brand of pump are you using? Also, how early can you start pumping? And how do you do it? (eg. pump from one, feed from one, switch? etc)

 

[Emmea12uk]

hey, you can pump as soonas you give birth! But i would strongly recommend exclusively breastfeeding wihtout pumping for at least two weeks. If you do want to add a pump in, pump after each feed. Feed for 15/20 minutes each side until baby is full and then pump off both boobs afterwards for 10 minutes each side. If you do this before 2 weeks, your milk supply might go a little mad! As the more milk you take out in this period, the more your body makes, so you may find yourself getting uncomfortable if you dont pump after every feed.

Try not to introduce a bottle until after this two weeks, and if you do, make sure you get the slowest flow bottles and keep it to a minimum. My baby decided after having a bottle that he didnt want to go back to breast feeding and i could not convince him otherwise!

As for brand, i did a lot of research and the avent electric ISIS IQ pump seems to be the most popular and sucessful. If you are only pumping once a day or so then a manual will do the trick nicely, but if you are going to be doing it more than that, then you will prob need an electric one. If you really want to pump every single feed then you will need a pump that does both sides and i would recommend some of the medala ones which cost £100's.

You can hire a pump free from your hospital when you give birth. Just as the MWs. They usually have the top of the range ones too!

Best of luck!

 

[brownhairedmom]

I'm not going to be exclusively pumping, just enough that if someone else has to watch her for a few hours she'll be able to feed. Or if I just need a break or someone else wants to feed her. So maybe a few bottles a week, but most defintely not every day! I don't have enough time and energy to pump enough to exclusively bottle feed breast milk hah.

 

[sam's mum]

I was advised to wait 4 weeks before pumping or giving Sam a bottle (by then my supply had settled down and breastfeeding was established so we shouldn't have any problems with nipple confusion) - and to try it before 6 weeks because he was more likely to refuse a bottle the longer we left it.

I guess it was a bit different for us because Sam slept through the night from the start so my breasts were always really full in the mornings, but milk production is at it's highest overnight and mornings are therefore a good time to pump for anyone. I only feed from one breast in each feed, so I either used to get up before him in the mornings and pump one side, then feed him from the other...or if he was up first I'd feed him and then pump the other side straight after. That way I got a whole feed in one pumping session, and by the time he wanted fed again the side he'd originally fed from would be full enough for him.

I've got an Avent manual pump and it's great for occasional pumping! Takes about 20 minutes to pump a bottle - it sometimes has problems with suction when it's first put together but sticking a finger on the rubber seal sorts that out and then it's perfect! x

 

[ryder]

I'm not going to be exclusively pumping, just enough that if someone else has to watch her for a few hours she'll be able to feed. Or if I just need a break or someone else wants to feed her. So maybe a few bottles a week, but most defintely not every day! I don't have enough time and energy to pump enough to exclusively bottle feed breast milk hah.

lol you do realize that BF is going to take up just as much time and energy Only mentioning this because I know your in the middle of school and doing homework etc.

I hope it works out for you.

Im going to just get the medela single pump electric one... It is about $139, but the manual ones ive seen are around $60 plus.... I figured id just skip the manual one in case I need it more.

 

[brownhairedmom]

I'm not going to be exclusively pumping, just enough that if someone else has to watch her for a few hours she'll be able to feed. Or if I just need a break or someone else wants to feed her. So maybe a few bottles a week, but most defintely not every day! I don't have enough time and energy to pump enough to exclusively bottle feed breast milk hah.

lol you do realize that BF is going to take up just as much time and energy Only mentioning this because I know your in the middle of school and doing homework etc.

I hope it works out for you.

Im going to just get the medela single pump electric one... It is about $139, but the manual ones ive seen are around $60 plus.... I figured id just skip the manual one in case I need it more.

I've got it worked out now that I can finish my degree through another university in BC via the internet! So plenty of time to BF. But, just pumping all the time would drive me insane, I'm sure of it. At least when I'm BF'ing she's getting fed at the same time, rather than spending all that time pumping only to have to take the time to feed her on top of it(not that I see feeding my baby as a chore, just that I'd like to get it all done in one shot if I'm going to be sitting down anyway).

 

[sam's mum]

I think I'd find it a lot harder work to pump and feed Sam breast milk all the time, even with an electric pump. Breastfeeding is the only chance I get to sit down and relax for a bit ...can't do that with the pump, and as Rae said you still have to feed your baby after it!

Definitely nice to be able to pump occasionally if you're out somewhere though x

 

[ryder]

That is great rae! Im glad you were able to work that out with school... It will be so much nicer for you to be at home.

 

[shanegem]

The health visitors normally recommend waiting till baby is 6 weeks before pumping. I started hand expressing when my LO was only 1 or 2 weeks old though. I think they like your supply to be established before you start pumping. I use a tommee tippee manual pump, but I really think everyone is different when it comes to pumps. I tried an electric one and got nothing, but electric ones work for some people. I dont think theres a best or worst pump, iykwim? HTH xxx

 

[ryder]

I was looking at one electric one that also had an option of being used manually... it was one of the medela ones.

 

[Emmea12uk]

you are right, i had to pump and feed tom because i never made enough milk - he fed for an hour, i pumped for 45 minutes then i had to steralise the pump and it was nearly feeding time again! it feels like a never ending circle