Looking for advice on pumping/combi feeding

[sethsmummy]

Hey ladies,

Im just looking for as much advice etc as i can get. I want my baby to have breast milk to start with BUT i dont want to actually have to latch baby onto the breast.. i have very uneven sized breasts and it makes it so much harder. I tried with DS2 and after so much frustration and now being able to see what i was doing with my bigger breast the midwives and i decided FF was better.

So i have just ordered an electric pump (half price in tesco) and want to be able to pump.. so when would i start? would i pump and store or just pump when needed? Im in a whole new world here (DS1 was FF from word go.. i never even got a chance to try BFing with him due to different medical reasons).

I am aiming for the first couple weeks (2-3) to be just breast milk and then from there (i wont decide this until the time) maybe move onto combi feeding. I am willing to give it a go from breast but im not going to put preasure on myself to "have" to do it.

so really any advice you can throw my way will be great. anything i need to do to keep supply up? when to start pumping/ how to store breast milk/ how to defrost it etc.

many many thanks ladies. sorry its all a bit jumbled. xx

 

[Bunanie]

Hiya...

I have small boobs so I didnt have great storage or over supply issue... I would pump from day one coz that's when you would have an enormous supply, and store/freeze the excess... Just to keep the supply up.

My lo was a good latcher so I only pumped for storing... Apparently with exclusive pumping tho, your supply could drop quicker, so if you want to bf as long as you can then I suggest pump around the clock if your other kids allow you lol... But just keep in mind that over pumping can also cause oversupply/clogged ducts too, so just listen to your body.

Frozen bm is good for 6months and I stored mine in packs of 100ml/4oz, 3oz when lo was younger, and defrost one pack at a time, once it's defrosted you gotta use it in 2hrs...

That's all I can think of... There are lots of ladies here who pumped exclusively for a loong time, they would be more helpful than me

Good luck!

 

[steph.]

Exclusively pumping is really hard work, VERY time consuming, but also very satisfying when you get to admire the effort of your boobs in a bottle! You will need to start pumping from the get go to make sure your milk comes in, every 3-4 hours to mimic what a newborn would do. You will likely get an over supply initially, so take advantage of that and freeze as much as you can. Once your supply is established then the process becomes much easier as you can adapt pumping times to suit your schedule. Eventually I only needed to pump 3xday to get 27oz. I recommend using breast milk bags to store the milk which are great, and makes warming up the milk a lot quicker.

 

[sethsmummy]

Thank you so much ladies I'm only really wanting to bf for the first month maybe. I have a busy busy schedule with nursery runs/hospital appointments etc for ds1 so some days ill hardly be home. I just want to.make sure baby gets the best start
Xx

 

[Miwi]

Found this hun, basically sums it up!

https://www.womans.org/index.cfm?md=pagebuilder&pid=191

As far as storage, you pump into a sterile bottle and then transfer into sterile bm bags if you want to, to save space or whatever. You can keep in the fridge or freeze. You can store in a number of ways:
At room temperature (no more than 25 degrees C), for up to six hours.
In a cool box, with ice packs, for up to 24 hours.
In a fridge (at four degrees C or colder), for up to five days. Store it at the back of the fridge, where it's coldest, away from meat, eggs, or uncooked foods.
In a fridge’s freezer compartment, for two weeks.
In a home freezer (at minus 18 degrees C or lower), for up to six months.

 

[sethsmummy]

thansk hun