My baby screams the entire time I'm pumping

[Fizzyfefe]

It seems to have gotten worse the older he gets.

Hubby goes to work, so it's just the baby and myself during the day. Hunter is a very demanding baby, and always needs to be entertained. I wear him throughout the day. The only time he is put down is when I pump. He will not feed from me, so I pump and bottle feed.

It takes up to 33 minutes to completely empty my breasts, and I try to pump every three hours. I use a double electric pump.

Within a few minutes, he starts to fuss. And minutes after that, it turns into full-blown screaming. Hr will continue the entire time that I pump.

He is next to me for the entire pumping session. I have laid him down on his play mat. I have put him in the bouncer. I surround him with toys. I've tried turning on music. I have tried talking to him and interacting with him the entire time that I pump. Nothing helps.

Do you all have any other suggestions? It breaks my heart when he gets hysterical like that, and I don't know what else to do.

 

[kellyc1987]

Aww poor hunter, it's so horrible to see them really upset!!

I don't express so I'm not sure how helpful this might be, but when I was pregnant I remember thinking that it could come I handy as it (apparently) leaves your hands free

Expressing Bra

 

[lisaalove]

I don't know if this will help but have you tried pumping one feeding him that and pumping the other while he's being fed?

 

[MindUtopia]

Is it possible to get an expressing bra so that you can pump hands free, possibly while you feed him? I know when I was expressing, I often put my daughter in the bouncer in front of me, which worked for us (otherwise, she was in a wrap or on my chest, which like you said, obviously doesn't work while you're expressing). But I would have gone for the hands free option had I needed to. Or could you plan expressing around his naps?

 

[Fizzyfefe]

Kellyc, that looks super helpful. I will definitely need to get one of those. Thank you.

Lisalove, thank you for your response. Unfortunately, it takes multiple pumping sessions to get enough to feed my son one bottle. I don't believe he cries out of hunger. Also, I pump at the kitchen table and it's not possible to hold and/or feed him while pumping. I've tried, but he's so squirmy and it just doesn't work.

Mindutopia, thanks for responding. I am definitely going to get one of those bras with an extension cord, and I hope that it will enable me to interact with him more. I don't think he is crying out of hunger, though, as I will generally try to feed him before I start pumping. And doing it during his naps doesn't work, either; if I'm not holding him, he will only sleep for up to twenty minutes and then start crying upon waking. It I'm holding him, he'll sleep for over an hour (which leaves the dilemma of not being able to pump).

 

[Linnypops]

He sounds a bit like my baby was.is he sitting up yet?

 

[Fizzyfefe]

He can sit in the tripod position, but he will topple over sometimes. He can also pull himself up to a sitting position if he has something to hold on to. Why do you ask? What did you do for your baby?

 

[Disneyfan88]

I exclusively pumped for my daughter as well, and I too took a while to empty each time. I generally put her in her Mamaroo when I was pumping. If I knew she wasn't going to nap, I moved the playpen over in front of the couch, put LO in the upper bassinet portion, and shook random noisy toys over her while I pumped.

I highly recommend this pumping bra. https://www.amazon.com/Simple-Wishes-Hands-Free-Breastpump-XS-L/dp/B00295MQLU

Also, now that you ar well past 12 weeks, your milk supply should be stabilized. You should be able to start extending the amount of time between pumping sessions so that you are not having to pump quite as often throughout the day. It was so liberating to drop one or more pumping sessions during my husband's work hours, and it was helpful to be pumping less often when I returned to work. I think everyone reacts differently, but I actually noticed a slightly higher output when I started stretching out my pump sessions and pumping a little less frequently. If you do start to extend your gaps between pumping sessions, be sure to take it slow so that you don't subject yourself to blockages.

Exclusive pumping is a lot of hard work, so I applaud you for sticking to it for as long as you have. My milk supply was never superb, so I had to supplement with formula for most of my daughter's first year (I think we were only all-milk for 1.5-2 months). I've been gradually (slowly!) weaning from the pump now that LO is past her 1 year birthday. I'm down to one pump a day and will likely be done soon. Best wishes to you and your LO.

 

[Linnypops]

It was just that mine became happier to be sitting beside me or by herself when she was sitting reliably on her own. At that point she became interested in objects and toys around her and manipulating them. it meant i could put her down more often to do things which were hard to do when holding or carrying her.

 

[Fizzyfefe]

Disneyfan, thanks for your reply. I went ahead and dropped a pump yesterday. My output was about half an ounce less. We'll see if I make up that much today. I only produce about ten ounces a day (which equates to two or three bottles a day), so any decrease is super disappointing.

Linnypops, I really think Hunter will be happier when he can finally start sitting and moving on his own. Did you do anything to encourage her to sit? I practice with him as often as possible so that he is developing his muscle strength, but I think it still may be another month before he can comfortably sit independently.

 

[Disneyfan88]

Disneyfan, thanks for your reply. I went ahead and dropped a pump yesterday. My output was about half an ounce less. We'll see if I make up that much today. I only produce about ten ounces a day (which equates to two or three bottles a day), so any decrease is super disappointing.

Linnypops, I really think Hunter will be happier when he can finally start sitting and moving on his own. Did you do anything to encourage her to sit? I practice with him as often as possible so that he is developing his muscle strength, but I think it still may be another month before he can comfortably sit independently.

Don't give up hope. I know the feeling of counting those ounces (or really ml's!) and willing it to go up. A few things that helped me were heat compresses before I pumped, hand compressions while I pumped, and I made sure I drank a tall glass of water every time I pumped. There are supplements and lactation cookies that you can try. None of that ever made a difference for me, but others swear by it. How many times a day are you pumping now?

My daughter took well to the Mamas and Papas Baby Snug floor seat. The Fisher Price piano kick mat was a god send at keeping her occupied.

 

[Fizzyfefe]

I actually unintentionally dropped two pumps, oops! I pumped four times yesterday and the day before. I went up from 9.4 oz on the 22nd to 10.2 oz on the 23rd. I'm about to pump for the last time today, so we'll see how much I get.

It's nice to know that there's someone else with low supply. Five months later, I still feel so discouraged that I don't produce enough for my son to be exclusively fed breast milk. I've tried everything to increase supply - warm compresses, lactation cookies, fenugreek, breast compressions, power pumping, Reglan, you name it - to no avail.

My mother in law bought Hunter an exersaucer, and hubby and I just finished assembling it. I am going to put him in it tomorrow while I pump. Fingers crossed it works! The playmat he has now is a fisher price jungle mat with dangling toys and music, but he's had it since birth, so I'm thinking that he was getting bored with it.

ETA: I pumped 9.9 oz total. A 0.3 difference is better than 0.8!

 

[Disneyfan88]

You're doing great!

In addition to ensuring that you drink a lot of water and are eating enough calories, the thing that made the biggest difference for my supply was the amount of time I pumped for. There was a period where I was pumping for way longer than 30 minutes, and while I was pumping a lot more, it was making me - so I can't say that I'd recommend putting someone else through that. Pumping 4 times is great and frees you up a little to have more available hands-on time with Hunter.

 

[Fizzyfefe]

What you say is so true. For the longest time, I only pumped for ten to fifteen minutes, never realizing that I would let down two more times if I pumped for thirty minutes. I'm kicking myself for not pumping that long since his birth (but the lactation consultants always said that amount of time was fine, so I was clueless), especially when I had family members over to help take care of him.

Thank you so much for all your support. He didn't cry this morning, as he was so fascinated by the new toys. I hope it lasts.

 

[redneckhippy]

Have you looked into the freemie cups? They work with most pumps and you could hold him while you pump.

 

[Linnypops]

We did sit her up in things but I'm not sure whether it speeded things up tbh! She sat unaided at 6 months literally overnight (same with every other milestone)- she seemed so unstable until *poof* sitting. I hope the distraction stuff keeps working for you until he's upright and more capable of engaging in the world. Just know - it's nothing you are or aren't doing. Babies come out being particular about thigs they do and don't like and it takes a while to figure it out!

 

[hanni]

I had this problem whilst I was expressing.
You don't need to buy an expensive bra if you don't want to. I always found a seam free sports bra kind from primark with holes cut in worked just as well!
Does your son have a high chair? I find if I put dominic in his high chair and give him some toys to play with it keeps him entertained long enough for me to do things like dishes, and he can be right next to me. It also helps him to sit!

Hats off to you for expressing for so long and so often! I was doing pretty much the same as you were, getting about 1.5 bottles a day and topping up with formula. By 16 weeks my supply had dropped and I was barely getting 3/4 oz a day so I thew in the towel. I know the struggle! I used to express sitting in bed though and it ment I could feed him at the same time. Bit of a faf on though.