Restart breastfeeding

[Aimeec543]

My daughter is now 2 weeks old and I'm feeling guilty over not breastfeeding her. So i was wondering is it worth pumping and giving her breast milk that way. I don't want to physically feed her as I don't feel comfortable but still want her to have it.

[Rebecca2019]

There is nothing to feel guilty about a fed baby is the most important thing wether it be breast or formula, I’m in pretty much the same situation and in all honesty just trying to pump milk is so so difficult and demanding, without the stimulation of feeding the baby the milk reduces which makes it harder to express. I’ve kind of gave up hope of feeding my baby breast milk as she refuses to latch and expressing isn’t working but everyone is different

[pinkie93]

It is so much more difficult to express milk than it is to breastfeed, especially early on, but there's no harm in giving it a go. I don't want to be too intrusive and feel free to ignore me, but may I ask why you don't feel comfortable breastfeeding? I just ask because it really can be a wonderful experience once you get established.

[Seb9]

Any breast milk you can give her will be beneficial, if you're still producing milk then pumping is a great idea.

To increase your production lots of skin to skin is meant to be good as well as pumping at night so your body knows to make more milk.

There's lots of websites out there that can give you lots of expressing advice and it might be worth speaking to your health visitor about any help or support groups in your area.

Breast milk offers your little one so much the more you can give them the better. I wish you lots of luck

[Floradora87]

I’ve been exclusively pumping now for 8 weeks and my little one is 13 weeks old. We gave breastfeeding a good go for 5 weeks and had latching problems and he reacted really badly to formula when I tried to give up, with what I suspect is a dairy intolerance, hence why I now pump.

I’m not sure if it was easier due to already having a supply from breastfeeding for those first weeks, but I’m managing to pump just a bit more than what he feeds per day and so am freezing a little to have a stash.

One thing I would say is invest in a good pump if you’re planning to exclusively pump. I have the new Medela freestyle flex and I couldn’t have gone this long without it. It’s chargeable so I take it with me where I go and don’t have to sit next to a plug (does take a lot of organising to bring sterilised parts along and a cool bag to keep milk cold) and I can get two days pumping out of one battery charge now I only do 5 pumps a day. I’ve been able to pump on the go in the car and wear a baggy jumper with a scarf, I pump round the house and get all the sterilising done whilst pumping. I couldn’t imagine being hooked up to the wall with a plug in pump.

It’s taken me a while to learn lots of info about pumping but I learnt it all from the Facebook group “exclusively pumping mamas- education and support”

They post all types of things about how many pumps to do to maintain supply. If you’re just starting out, from what I’ve read, you need to pump every 2-3 hours. This is what I did at first but now I’ve hit the 3 month mark, I’ve reduced it. I pump for 20-25 mins per time and do it whilst I feed him in his cushion.

The other bit of advice I wish I knew sooner was to make sure you’re using the correct size flange because if you use too big then the pump will suction too much areola instead of just the nipple, and you will get sore. I pumped for weeks with the wrong size and got very sore.

You definitely shouldn’t feel guilty as a fed baby is what is important. I felt that same guilt when deciding to give up breastfeeding and I think all the hormones and lack of sleep don’t help how you feel. I felt it even more so when I saw how much pain he was in when I started the formula which is why I quickly decided to try to pump as it was so much less painful for me than feeding him from the boob and he was like a different baby after half a day of no formula and just my expressed milk. If you do decide to pump then I hope those tips will be helpful. And if you ever need any help or advice then feel free to message me and I will be more than happy to answer any questions. You can also join the fb group and post on there. People are so helpful and supportive of each other on there.