The ins and outs of exclusively expressing

[babybumplady]

Lina. My good friend exclusively expressed for 5 months before she was able to establish breastfeeding. This was her second child, she was told she could not feed her first child and wanted to try again. They had multiple issues but worked hard through them and were able to attach in the end with a shield. They then stopped using the shield about a month later. She now has had her third child and was able to breastfeed from the start.

Not sure I can give you much more info about the hows etc but think it is such motivation?

 

[Dimbo]

I just wanted to say well done to all you expressing mummies. I had to express for a week while LO was on a nursing strike a few weeks ago and it was hard! Trying to juggle looking after LO, pumping, doing the usual housey stuff, and trying to get milk into her as she was refusing it in drink form was time consuming!! Well done to you all you are doing an amazing thing for your LO's

 

[inperfected]

Im expressing whilst bubs is in nicu, and I've so far a couple of life savers

Firstly, a handfree expressing bra (mine was about $15us on ebay). its so much easier when double pumping!! Secondly, I should get a freestyle by medela next week... I can then go out and about and still be able to pump - yay!! And thirdly, an application for my iphone called baby connect so i can keep an eye on my supply to make sure its not decreasing or anything (1.5L per day).

Anyone else have tips?

 

[Lina]

Calling all expressing mommas, how many ounces is your LO drinking and how old. I have been giving mine 4 ounces roughly every 2.5 hours and feel this may be excessive as he spits some up and has bad wind/gas.

 

[mons75]

sorry i dont know how to remove my tickers below...!

if anyone need really amazing hands on advice from a lactation consultant worth her weight in gold call Ann Dobson, she will come to your house depending on where you live, London, Cambridge etc. google her. she is £90 an hour but worth it! she got rid of my mastitis lumps by massaging my breasts for 2hrs, 2 courses of antibiotics didnt help me,

xx

 

[LuvMyBoys]

Calling all expressing mommas, how many ounces is your LO drinking and how old. I have been giving mine 4 ounces roughly every 2.5 hours and feel this may be excessive as he spits some up and has bad wind/gas.

At 3 months LO was eating 6 oz 5 times a day. Hope this helps!

 

[proudmumgoth]

 

[loveinbinary]

Here's our story, a lengthy one but I'll try to simplify it.

Went into preterm labor at 32 weeks, hospitalized for 4 days, send home with bedrest and Nifedipine (Procardia) every 4 hours for the next 5 weeks. Induced at 40+4, had an epidural, pushed for over 4 hours but his head just wouldn't move under the pubic bone. Had an emergency c-section. They upped my epidural twice but I could still fully feel the doctor cutting into me so they had to send DH out and completely put me under. I didn't get to see my son until he was almost 3 hours old because I was still completely out. I had him at 7:21 pm and by the next morning the lactation consultant had me supplementing him with formula using an SNS feeder. No one really told me why I had to supplement and I didn't question because I'm brand new to this and if the doctors said he needed formula then he must really need it. He lost 10% of his birthweight before we left the hospital and 12% by the time he was a week old. I tried to wean him off the supplementing and breastfeed as much as possible to help work up my supply. By 4 weeks he was gaining slowly and still wasn't at his birthweight and the pediatrician told me he was failing to thrive because I wasn't supplementing him enough. I didn't understand why she told me this because he was very alert, awake most of the day, flopping his arms about and kicking his legs. Far from lethargic but she made me feel like I was a horrible mother and was hurting him so I started giving him more formula. Of course he started to gain weight but my supply was still very low. Here at almost 7 weeks I am still struggling with supply issues and LO gets distressed when I try to breastfeed. I've tried taking Fenugreek and am now taking More Milk Special Blend. We have seen several consultants and the last we saw was a pediatrician who was also a board certified lactation expert and is a physician consultant with the LLL.
First off, Roman has an 'okay' latch. It's not horrible but it's not really good either. He makes a lot of clicking sounds with his tongue because he isn't forming a good seal (doesn't have tongue tie). Also, we figured out that he isn't efficient at removing the milk. At times he moves his mouth up and down rather than drawing in a mouthful of milk. He's smart enough to know that he isn't being rewarded for nursing so he doesn't want to try. My body isn't producing enough, he isn't removing enough milk and it doesn't flow fast enough which makes him frustrated and not want to take the breast. The game plan is to go back to feeding him like a newborn, waking him every two hours to nurse, offer each side and then if he still needs more after nursing offer only 2oz of formula using the SNS. 30 minutes after feeding him I should pump for no more than 15 minutes and after pumping I should try manually expressing to try to remove the milk from higher up. She doesn't think I'll be able to exclusively breastfeed at this point. I've decided exclusively express to try and up my supply because I go back to work next week and 1 week isn't enough time to turn everything around with her gameplan. Had I found this help weeks ago I would have been more than willing to give it an honest try, regardless of how little sleep I'd get. This is my last hope before completely giving up. I've been renting a hospital grade pump and plan to purchase one from them for when I go back to work. Any advice would be wonderful. I don't know how often I should pump and for how long. I would love to eventually be able to cut formula out completely but I'd be happy to just work it down to only one or two bottles a day instead of most of his feedings because I can barely pump 1.5oz between both sides at present.

I apologize for the novel...

 

[victoriajane]

Well, I've finally done it - I've pumped my last bottle of milk! I am astonished to have got to 22 weeks expressing - and I managed 17 weeks feeding my daughter on just expressed milk.

My milk was slowly starting to slow down and this has co-incided with me just wanting to do more in the day with my LO, so I started to cut down from 6 to 5 then 3 pumps a day. Unfortuately, 3 pumps a day wasn't enough to keep a decent amount going and my boobs started to strike (went from 4oz per boob per pump to 1 or 2) so I just took that as a sign it was time to stop. I was lucky enough to have a great milk supply (just a baby who would never breastfeed and a late diagnosis tongue tie) and have got enough milk in the freezer to keep her half and half with formula for the next month, taking her to six months with some form of breast milk every day!

When I started, my plan was just to get to 4 weeks, then 8, then 12, and then somehow I manged to carry on. It was incredibly difficult at times and I almost gave up on 3 or 4 occasions, but I can honestly say I would do it all again...I think!

I don't post on B&B much anymore as I just never seem to have time but so many people from this thread and other posts were so helpful to me, and I would love to be as helpful to anyone if they ever wanted it - please feel free to message me if anyone want advice/moan/chat about exclusively expressing. My health visitor was next to useless and I would have gone mad without the internet!

 

[shambaby]

well done, you! expressing is hard work, and you did a fantastic job to keep it up for so long. it really does sound like the right time for you to stop, and you should feel very proud of yourself for getting this far.

the lack of advice does make it even harder, but i think the problem is there aren't many exclusive expressers around, so it's difficult for the professionals to find the information. usually if someone is unable to breastfeed the only other option presented to them is to formula feed, which is a shame. i don't know if i helped you personally, but i am also more than happy for anyone needing advice to pm me.

 

[Newt4]

Hit the year mark of exclusively expressing last Wednesday Totally worth every minute. If any newbies need any advise pm me I'll be more then happy to help.

 

[hkj]

Hit the year mark of exclusively expressing last Wednesday Totally worth every minute. If any newbies need any advise pm me I'll be more then happy to help.

Wow that is brilliant, you should be really proud of yourself! I am aiming for one year too and reading your post helps me believe it is possible

 

[victoriajane]

Newt4 - that is AMAZING!! I got to five months and thought that was good! Congrats and good luck hkj, hope you make it!

 

[Emma.n.Chloe]

What a wonderful thread! My lil preemie is still in NICU and isnt able to nurse/bottle feed yet. I pump every day, and she gets my breastmilk through a feeding tube. She is 6 weeks old now, cant wait to start nursing her! Since I cant always be with her, pumping gives me a way to feel like im doing something great for her even though im 50 miles away!

 

[ttcnewbie123]

Hi ladies, I'm hoping to exclusively express when I have my LO. Does anyone know how soon you should start pumping i.e the day of the birth or wait until your milk comes in properly? I've got the medela swing pump, anyone else use this one?x

 

[shambaby]

hi there, good luck with your lo. why are you planning to exclusively express, if you don't mind my asking?

my milk had already 'come in' by the time i started to express, so i went straight onto pumping. generally, though, if you have to express from the beginning, i think it's advised to hand express (as in actually by hand, not with a hand pump) at first. this is because the volumes you are likely to get in the beginning are so small, they would get lost in the pump, so you would end up with nothing. i think once you are getting a good 10ml or so you could reasonably start to use the pump. however it might be better, if you can, to start off bf, in order to establish your supply - it can be much harder to establish and maintain a decent supply by expressing. all depends why you plan to express.

my own pump was a tommee tippee single pump, but i was able to borrow a medela symphony (the same ones they have on the postnatal ward at the hospital), which was really good. i think the main thing is to make sure you have a good, double electric pump as it will save so much time if you can double pump, and it helps boost your supply.

wishing you all the best x

 

[pachamama]

Hit the year mark of exclusively expressing last Wednesday Totally worth every minute. If any newbies need any advise pm me I'll be more then happy to help.

Only just read this. Wow! Wanted to say congratulations too... I truly understand what you've been through. Good for you!

x

 

[Waiting2Grow]

Ttcnewbie: i tried to reastfeed the 1st few times after birth, then started pumping. So, within 12hours, i was pumping every 3hours like clockwork. At first, sometimes i wouldnt get anything, but by day 4 my milk had come in. Now im getting almost 5 oz every 4 hours.

Weve been doing formula at night, just so hell sleep longer. I felt bad at 1st, but now ive realised, im alot happier . Ive already got 6 bags full of BM in the freezer. I feel like a cow. Haha!

For anyone out there that quit pumping, how did you do it slowly? More time in between? Pumping for less time? How long did it take u to be pump free. Im trying to make it to the 4week mark. Iknow, i know, no criticism!

 

[katlin]

Two months in over 1000 oz stored and no stop in sight! I'm so proud of myself here's hoping for the 6 month mark and beyond!

 

[JadeEmChar]

Thank you for this i was hoping to find some advice so i could try this with my lo when she comes...I havent successfully bf my first and sec so want to try pumping exclusively