Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Exclusively pumping?
-
10-12-2012 7:27am#1Hello!
I just wanted to know if anyone here is exclusively pumping? I'd like to hear your stories as I've been doing it for almost three months now, it sure is tough going.
Also, how much breast milk does you baby take per feed from the bottle?
0
Comments
-
-
-
-
Did it for 6 weeks with my first because she had trouble feeding, it was so hard. I could express at best 3-4oz at a time, and had to top up with formula from time to time, so even though I dont remember the amount she was taking now, it must have been more than2-3oz at 6 weeks. After that got on to exclusively breastfeeding. With my second I wanted to express so I would have rreserves for bottles later on, done it twice and it reminded me of the hard time I had first time around so much that I gave up!
Fair play to you! My sis in law did it for her two boys, for the only reason that she wasnt confident enough not knowing how much they were getting. 0 -
I did it for 3 weeks in 2010, I hated every minute of it. It really got me down. I am in awe of you keep going for this long. I think it is way harder than breastfeeding. You do double work for each feed. And you have to clean bottles!
At 3 months old on my second I was pumping about 3.5 oz in 20mins, both boobs and he would take that and then have another feed 2 hrs later. (I didnt start solid food until he was 6 and a half months).
Oh, I presume you mean you were getting 3.5oz all together from both boobs, not per boob right?
I'm pumping every 3-4 hours, (when I'm good :P ), and I get between 8-10oz, I used to get more, but due to being lazy, my milk reduced!Is there any reason why you're not breastfeeding? As already said, bf is so much easier.
My sister-in-law pumped exclusively for the first 3 months of her little guy's life as he was premature and it was the only way to get him breast milk in the hospital (not here in Ireland) - she found it very rough going. Once he was home she switched to bf and found it so much easier.
Fair play to you though, I've expressed twice in the last 3 months, and while I had no problem filling a bottle the sterilising and washing and faffing about would drive me crazy if I had to do it all the time.
I breastfed for the first 36 hours of his life, but it was a lot of hassle with him latching on, the midwifes said I have flat nipples, so it wasn't easy for him! So that's when I started pumping.
Lot's of people say that breast feeding is a lot easier, but for me it doesn't really seem that different. My biggest issue is that I will not do it in front of anyone, other than my partner and his mother. So I'm slightly imprisoned haha. When I was pumping loads of milk, I had enough bottles filled for the day to go out and not worry about feeds!
If I was just breast feeding I wouldn't get that chance, if you get what I mean!
Surprisingly, I don't really mind all the sterilising haha.There's a great thread in the Breastfeeding section of Rollercoaster.ie that is dedicated to exclusively pumping mums. They won't turn around and suggest formula as a default!
It's hard work to pump at all, huge kudos to you for exclusively pumping.
Thank you!littlemissfixit wrote: »Did it for 6 weeks with my first because she had trouble feeding, it was so hard. I could express at best 3-4oz at a time, and had to top up with formula from time to time, so even though I dont remember the amount she was taking now, it must have been more than2-3oz at 6 weeks. After that got on to exclusively breastfeeding. With my second I wanted to express so I would have rreserves for bottles later on, done it twice and it reminded me of the hard time I had first time around so much that I gave up! Fair play to you! My sis in law did it for her two boys, for the only reason that she wasnt confident enough not knowing how much they were getting.
I totally understand your sister in law haha. I tried breast feeding about two weeks ago, and after two months of taking bottles and dummies, he was suddenly a feeding master. Little miracles aren't they haha. But I felt a little lost not knowing how much he had taken!0 -
Advertisement
-
I also pumped like a mad thing!
Without being to patronising good on ya for doing it for 3 months.
I couldn`t get my little fella to latch on at all, ive small boobs so when i had milk it made latching near impossible. Also got no aerola and inverted nipples
So wanting to do my best I pumped and pumped (and pumped)
KellyMom has a calculator to ease your worry about volume, I always seemed to be a little behind on production so baby had 1 Aptimil every day or 2.
http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/milkcalc/
It`s tough work because although baby slept through the night from early on, I was still surfing the net and pumping every 3 hours and every hour (power pumping
) every now and then.
After a while I started giving baby 2 feeds of Aptimil throughout the day cos I was back to work at 4weeks and began to freeze some for down the road.
Now at nearly 5 months he has 200ml once a week
Next time I`m getting a double pump though...:D0 -
-
-
I also pumped like a mad thing!
Without being to patronising good on ya for doing it for 3 months.
I couldn`t get my little fella to latch on at all, ive small boobs so when i had milk it made latching near impossible. Also got no aerola and inverted nipples
So wanting to do my best I pumped and pumped (and pumped)
KellyMom has a calculator to ease your worry about volume, I always seemed to be a little behind on production so baby had 1 Aptimil every day or 2.
http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/milkcalc/
It`s tough work because although baby slept through the night from early on, I was still surfing the net and pumping every 3 hours and every hour (power pumping ) every now and then.
After a while I started giving baby 2 feeds of Aptimil throughout the day cos I was back to work at 4weeks and began to freeze some for down the road.
Now at nearly 5 months he has 200ml once a week
Next time I`m getting a double pump though...:D
Wow, good on ya!
That calculator is completely way off for my little person. It tells me he should be having around 125ml a feed, when he usually has at least 200ml
Thank you very much for the link though!
Yeah, I'm investing in a double pump in the next month or so, I can't wait! haha
Haha, I do often think of myself as a cow in the shed sometimes :POP, what ever works for you!
It was 3oz from both boobs after 20 minutes, but both my babies were small feeders. Even now they eat like birds, they were both well over 12 months by the time the reached average weight on the PHN chart, but were fine on the WHO chart.
As long as you're happy thats the main thing. I felt I was 'trapped' attached the the bl**dy pump. I had visions of the milking parlour! But if it suits you and you're happy, good for you.
Its great that baby took to nipple and switched back to bottles with out hassel. Some mums have hell with nipple confusion.
Is it the way you planned or did you plan bottles or breast or pump and feed all along?
Yeah I was really surprised, I had read a lot about nipple confusion so I thought at this stage there'd be no hope.
I had originally planned to pump but mainly breastfeed, just so I could be away from baby without having to supplement with formula, not that I really planned on being away from him much haha. It's also nice to have dad, and others family members being involved in feeding!+1 on rollercoaster.ie.Helped me through exclusive pumping my first bub for 2 months after having suffered from severe cracked nipples from latching.
Some people can be very condenscending when one cannot breastfeed directly. You won't get those type of smarty pants on rollercoaster.
Yeah I'm surprised at the outlook some people have. My friend is also EPing, but her mother thinks we're ridiculous for doing it, and constantly asks why we don't just switch to formula.
Thanks for the support everyone! It's nice to have your input!0 -
-
Advertisement
-
I was exclusively pumping for 7.5 months after breastfeeding didn't work out. Its a very hard work but its possible. I stopped when my daughter start being more mobile and I didn't have time any more. I manage 3 growth spurts. There is a lot of interesting reading on the internet. But I have to say I'm pregnant with my second and I will do everything to breastfeed as I defenatly won't have time to pump:) remember that any amount of breast milk has huge benefit for your baby
Good luck0 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
I pumped for my little one as I spent the first two week of her life trying to get her to latch and failing (even with lots of support and help!) Kept it up for 4 and a half months and dont regret it or the time I had to put into it. I did however have to supplement one night bottle with formula as my supply wouldnt have been as strong as if I was bfing directly. I do hope to do it it "properly" however when my baby arrives next June as I would have loved that closeness 0
-
-
Advertisement
-
Advertisement