Breast pump advice

[jsth1979]

I'm expecting my first baby in 9 weeks and am doing some research on breast pumps. I'm not sure whether I will be able to breast feed successfully or not so want something to assist if this is the case.

What are peoples' experiences of electric vs manual? What make is better?

Any suggestions I would be grateful

Thanks!

[craftingfoxcub]

Hi, you may find that your hospitals t infant feeding team will have pumps to rent, which mean you make sure you get along with the pump you might then order. I find hand expressing more effective than any manual pump I've tried, but the super duper hospital medela symphony pump I used for the past few days when my son was in hospital was fantastic, but not affordable, and not a pump I would want to use if I was also feeding directly, as it has increased my supply to a state where my recovering son can't empty the breast. (If you repeatedly empty the breast at each 'feed'/pumping session, they create mite to meet demand!)

More importantly, why don't you think you'll be successful?

Contact your local NCT lactation consultants, they are fantastic, and do house visits in many areas. Also La Leche League are practical and supportive about helping you maximise your ability to feed and to make decisions that work for you and your family. These sources of support are good at dispelling myths that are often bandied around, like your nipples are to big or too small, or that a baby that wants to feed often means you don't produce enough milk. They can also check your latch and rule out potential issues like lip and tongue ties.

I hope you find the appropriate equipment and support to get feeding off to a good start.

Merry Christmas.

[Curlyk250]

I started with an Avent manual which was fine, but soon switched to electric one, ( which has both options) soon after because pumping can be hard work. It was affordable and did the job fine for me. Good luck. It's not easy, but persevere and in the end you have to find what works for you xx

[Irishmama]

Hi there's actually very few people who can't physically breastfeed for medical reasons so try not to worry too much about it now. I had real difficulty at the start with poor latch and flat nipples but we managed to get it established after a bit of perseverance and support from breast feeding support workers. I expressed and used the medela swing pump which I can highly recommend (I had also used the medela symphony in hospital but as mentioned this costs will over £1000 so not exactly affordable as it's a hospital grade pump). I think the medela swing costs around £120 but you might be able to get it cheaper online. Good luck

[nellynel]

How long do you have to breast feed for before you can express please?

[tazmania in reply to nellynel]

in response to nellynel, you could start expressing straight away if you needed to! in fact this would help your supply get going if you pumped between feeds - But if you completely replace breastfeeding with expressing into bottles very early on you're not giving baby a chance to learn how to latch onto the breast. I had to express between feeds at hospital to encourage my milk to 'come in' - at first i only managed 5-10 ml at a time, but after 2 days i was expressing 50 ml after each feed and if i did it now i would probably get over 150 ml in one sitting

[tazmania]

it's a myth that lots of women cannot breastfeed - in reality they do not have the right support around them, too many people trying to be helpful saying 'if they are still hungry just give them a bottle' - please remember, if they are hungry you need to give them breast, breast and more breast, even if this is several times an hour (only happens in the early couple of weeks or so don't worry), and then call the midwife or health visitor if you're worried that something is wrong. Most of the time you think you are doing something wrong when in fact you are doing it perfectly - and if there is a genuine problem, it can usually be fixed very quickly with their expertise. So, I have almost no doubt that you will be able to breastfeed successfully, just don't be afraid to ask for help hen you need it . As for the pumps - I didn't buy a pump in advance as it simply didn't cross my mind that I might want to express. However, we were re-admitted to hospital on day 3 due to my milk supply still being quite low and baby losing too much weight and becoming jaundiced - I was given a specialised feeding plan and admitted to the ward for 2 nights, where I expressed using their Avent electric pump between breastfeeds to encourage my supply to increase. This pump was brilliant - very quick and easy - and certainly got my milk supply up very quickly. When I got home I had to continue to expressing between feeds for a few days, so I had to send my mum out to buy a manual pump because i couldn't afford to buy an electric one. Very stressful that I didn't already have one at home. The brand didn't match my steriliser ... meant that bottles and accessories of the pump had to be done individually in the microwave - nightmare!! I also don't like my particular manual pump as it leaks sometimes and the lid slowly unscrews whilst you are using it, resulting in spilt milk going to waste. The brand is "MA" - other brands of manual pump may be better. In summary, I would recommend that you hire an electric pump shortly before your due date - then if you are still using it after the first month, you can hire it for another month. Personally, after the first couple of weeks I stopped expressing altogether and I just breastfeed. Occassioanlly in the first few weeks my boobs would get overfull and spray at baby too fast - the manual pump was useful on a gentle setting to get rid of a little bit of milk. Probably could have done this by hand actually....

[Pandamum]

Thanks ladies, I had the same concerns.