Pumping Milk?

Ok, so I got the Medela pump. I wasn't going to breast feed my twins at first, but then thought, why not, if it would save so much money.... although I don't want them to feed off my boobs Call me weird, I just find it awkward although I've never done it before. So I bought the best pump I read reviews on, and now people are telling me you shouldn't pump until after 4 weeks, that you should breastfeed the first four weeks so your supply will be what you need it to be. Is this true? I kind of want more milk then what my babies want so I can store it. I am so confused!!! Please help

Thanks ladies.

 

If you do not want to breast feed - but are willing to pump - then do it! My daughters are now 5 weeks old...and I have pumped the whole time because they were in the NICU.....so YES you can exclusively pump - it is a little more difficult ---washing bottles ---and timing with their schedule - but you'll do great! My babies just came home from the NICU last week. They were born at 33 weeks...they are great - and they only had my breast milk.

I have tried tandum nursing for a couple of days...I think I will get used to that sooner or later. BUT i am still pumping.

 

If you are exclusively pumping you should be okay. I pumped for my twins for almost 5 months since they were in the NICU the first 2 months, and I never had to supplement even after they came home. I pumped every 3 hours. Your body is like supply and demand so if you keep pumping you should be okay. If you don't want to BF, but want your twins to have breastmilk, then pumping is the way to go.

 

Thanks ladies

 

I pumped from about 2 weeks. I pumped exclusively because we had latching problems. Pumping will also allow you to get your supply up--it's all about stimulation, but you have to pump often to build up your supply. I pumped every three hours until my supply was ample--and I had plenty. You won't pump much at first, but in a few weeks you will be pumping a load. I had the same kind of pump you did and it worked well. It can get milk out of a dry well!!! I had enough to freeze and feed. I was pumping two 8 oz bottles per breast per session by the time the girls were 6 weeks. I don't know if that's normal, but I was a milk-making machine.

 

I agree with the PP's, if you are going to exclusively pump, then start it right away. Otherwise your body won't realize it needs to keep making milk. You'll have to be good about pumping every 3 hours even at night. Just my 2 cents but you might want to try nursing since you haven't before. You may like it more than you think. :winking0009: Otherwise pumping is a great option to get that liquid gold to your babies for however long you can manage. Every drop is a gift.

 

I exclusively pumped, as my DD's spent their first 5 and 6 weeks in the NICU, then needed extra calories mixed into their EBM, so it was just easier to pump. I was able to keep my supply up with them until around 6 weeks, then had to supplement.

BF'ing, as I understand it, is a supply and demand thing, so having them to the breast helps your supply whereas the pump sometimes doesn't. You'll have to be sure to pump every 3 hours and don't go over 5 hours at night between pumps.

 

I think most women (at least nowadays) find the thought of breastfeeding weird in the abstract--I had a mother of eight tell me she felt that way before every baby was born--but it's a different matter when you have a hungry little baby in your arms. Most of us once thought boys were icky, too. ;-)

Probably the reasoning behind wanting to nurse directly for the first few weeks at least is that the milk let-down reflex is both physical and emotional; a pump can suck on you, but it can't give you warm fuzzy feelings like a baby can. Some people never get as much pumping as they would nursing directly, and in the beginning when you are trying to establish supply that can keep it from ever coming in in sufficient quantity. (Although obviously some people still succeed!)

Also the pump doesn't know what your particular babies need, whereas when you're nursing directly the milk content adjusts in proportion to their demand and even changes content and creates antibodies as they hit particular growth spurts, come down sick, etc. That of course is even more helpful the first month or so when they are so vulnerable to sickness and growing so fast.

That said, my hat is off to these ladies who are pumping exclusively :bow2: --it's got to be a whole lot of work, all the work of making and expressing the milk AND of storing, cleaning and filling the bottles. That's a tremendous sacrifice to make sure your babies get the best food you can give them! I will certainly do it if I need to, but I hope we can make it to full term and it's not an issue. Plus I find it kind of weird to think of hooking myself up to a machine.

 

you may want to check out Kellymom.com -- there should be resources there for EP

 

I pumped from the very start. I wanted to breastfeed both but I was only successful with one and EP for the other. Just remember you need to pump VERY often in the beginning, I'd say every 3 hours round the clock to get your supply going. There are lots of things to help supply though like fenugreek, oatmeal, lots of water etc.

By the way, you may change your mind about breastfeeding once you are holding those little hungry babies and they go right for the breast!

 

I'm with you on this one. I found breastfeeding very awkward and messy and did not really enjoy it. They didn't seem to either. They were also very, very slow eaters so I would have been constantly attached to one of them for the few months. I'm sure if I had stuck with it it would have gotten easier, but frankly I enjoy having help feeding the boys. The bottles aren't that big of a deal with DH help and this is working for us.

I have been pumping for 5 months now. I have had a great supply and I think the biggest part of it comes with consistency. At first I was very rigid about every three hours skipping one overnight (or whenever you can get some sleep). For the first three months I kept up with both of them. Then we figured out Logans fussiness and gassiness was due to milk protein allergy. Since I had such a great supply (50-60 oz daily) early on I've been able to slack off to 3-4 times a day and still keep up with Mason and store a ton of milk.

You did the right thing on getting a great pump. I would add that you should get a hands free pumping bra so you can be on TS or deal with a baby while pumping. The biggest downfall to pumping is HAVING to make the time for it. If you don't one day you will see supply dip and have to spend that much more time pumping to get it back up for the next couple of days. Stay on top of it and you will be fine. PM me if you would like to talk. There are many on here that are ep but only a few who do it by choice

 

Pump. You should actually start pumping in the hospital right after giving birth so that you can build your supply up. Pump every 3 hours and have the babies on your breast! I know you don't want to do that, but if you even do that for a little while in the hospital, the extra stimulation will really help!

 

Check out the breastfeeding forum , you can read all kinds of stories and experiences.
IMO I would start out nursing, you can always switch to pumping, but it is much harder to go back to bfing. You may be suprised how pumping makes you feel like a cow being milked, whereas bfing allows you to get cuddle time in while feeding them. I always found pumping to be a dreaded chore, but not bfing.

Just some food for thought B)

 

QUOTE(excitedk @ May 2 2008, 10:02 PM) [snapback]753046[/snapback]
Check out the breastfeeding forum , you can read all kinds of stories and experiences.
IMO I would start out nursing, you can always switch to pumping, but it is much harder to go back to bfing. You may be suprised how pumping makes you feel like a cow being milked, whereas bfing allows you to get cuddle time in while feeding them. I always found pumping to be a dreaded chore, but not bfing.

Just some food for thought B)


I agree! I pumped for 3 months b/c mine had problems with latching/sucking/swallowing. I was SOOO happy when mine finally learned to nurse. It's SOOO much easier and it's really not wierd at all - I promise! I would give nursing a chance and then switch to pumping if you don't like it. Like Kristi said, it's much easier to switch to pumping than it is to get the babies to nurse again if they haven't been. Please join us in the BF forum too