Breastfeeding/Pumping

kc0721

I'm trying to become more educated on the whole breastfeeding issues and whats good about it.  I've done research and read booksl, but don't have anyone to talk to regarding my questions. 

I know I want the baby to have breast milk, however I'm still unsure if I want to breast feed.  I think I would rather pump and feed baby from a bottle rather than breastfeeding, but I'm not 100% sure on that yet.  I'm kinda doing a "wait and see" approach, but I don't want to be blindsided by problems or just throw in the towel at the first problem.  Some of my questions are, can you pump right away?  Do you need to "try" to breast feed before even thinking about pumping?  What if milk doesnt fully come in for a few days, do you give the baby formula up until your supply comes in or try to build your supply up? 

I'm so confused about all of this. The hospital has LC's I can talk too, but figured I would ask you guys first.  Also, I didn't register for a breastfeeding course b/c until recently I wasn't interested, so now all the classes are full.  

Right now I"m in the process of reading "So That's What They're For" and it's really helpful, yet it doesn't seem to be answering a lot of questions about pumping instead of directly breastfeeding. 

Any advice/help/tips would greatly be appreciated. 

RachelJohnson

You do need to try to breastfeed before pumping (in the hospital). Your body produces colostrum those first few days and it has lots of anti-bodies in it. It's fine for the baby to just have that until your milk does come in. Once your milk comes in you can pump.

Just from my experience....breastfeeding is MUCH easier once you get over the little 'hump'. No cleaning bottles/parts. Those first few weeks are brutal though.

 

RachelJohnson

RachelJohnson:

You do need to try to breastfeed before pumping (in the hospital). Your body produces colostrum those first few days and it has lots of anti-bodies in it. It's fine for the baby to just have that until your milk does come in. Once your milk comes in you can pump.

I hope this is right....lol...I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

MissLMS

I don't have much advice as far as exclusively pumping since I BF and then later pumped while I was at work.

But, as far as milk coming in, mine did not come in for four days. I was breastfeeding but the LC also told me to pump too to encourage my milk to come in faster.

I would highly encourage you to try nursing before going straight to pumping. I think it's a great thing you are doing, to even consider pumping and giving your child the breastmilk. Who knows, you might find that you really enjoy the bonding time between you and LO with nursing. It's something so sweet... something I never really thought about before K came along.

 To be honest with you, before I had K I was kind of wierded out by the thought of BF and had also thought about just pumping instead. But pumping was so much work, while nursing was a lot more convenient for me personally.

I will warn you though. Breastfeeding is one of the hardest things I have ever done, at least during the first 3 weeks. There were moments where my boobs hurt so bad I wanted to cry. My milk came in late, Kennedy was losing weight and we had to supplement (not something I wanted because I was afraid it would hurt her ability to latch) because of her jaundice. If it weren't for the LC's, I don't know if I would have stuck with BF'ing, but I did, and I'm so glad I did it.

 We are here for you if you have any other questions or need support. We've been there before!

MrsAO

I did try breastfeeding initially but it was before my milk came in and I'm not sure if baby got any colostrum at that point.  3 days after birth, the nurse suggested that I try pumping to get it going because Mitchell just wasn't really interested.  I was so emotional and frustrated that I never ended up successfully getting M to latch or feed from my breast, so I ended up exclusively pumping and bottle feeding for about 2.5 months.

I'm glad I did it, but I want to be honest and say that I loathed pumping.  I became obsessed with when I would have to do it again.  I couldn't leave the house for more than a couple hours without it.  It was hard and it made me misrable.  That being said, I would do it again in a heartbeat for my baby and would probably try and do it longer next time.  But also next time I'm committed to trying harder to make traditional breastfeeding work out.

I could say some other things but I don't want to discourage you.  If you want to talk more about it, let me know and I'll give you my email.

hamillm

I didn't take a course or read anything, but here's my experience...

I knew I wanted to breastfeed, and just talked to the LC's once I was in the hospital.  Once J was born, I started nursing him right away.  They say the colostrum that comes in before the milk will satisfy their nutritional needs, so no need to supplement (as long as you are adequately producing colostrum, you know?)  My milk came in about 3 days pp, and J gained weight consistently so we didn't have to supplement right away.  I think you can start pumping right away, but they will probably encourage nursing first...I believe that will help your supply more than EP from the get-go (JMO).  We did supplement a little when I went back to work.

Now, about 3 weeks into BF, I decided it was too much, and I was going to just pump...worst idea (for me personally).  It was so much harder to work to pump milk out, then have to feed him.  I will tell you, though, it's one of the hardest also one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.  I was sore, LEAKY, exhausted, tired of pumping at work, etc...BUT I had these great bonding moments and a huge feeling of accomplishment! 

So sorry to have written a book, and it's not written very well, so I hope it makes sense!  I'll just say, try, try again   I know that Sarah (sdkrlm) and others will probably have more insightful information for you.

loyo03

Honestly, I had such mixed feelings about BF before I had DD. All of my family had exclusively bottle fed and my mom was always for some reason anti-breastfeeding. I am also SUPER modest, so I wasn't sure if bfing would be for me..However, my mind quickly changed. Like someone else said, it was SO much easier than having to deal w/ fixing and cleaning bottles. However, I would pump so that I did not have to bf in public due to my modesty.

Pumping was not fun at first, but neither was breastfeeding. I swear, I thought that she had razorblades in her mouth at first.  However, as people have said-if you stick it out for the first few weeks, you will find that it ends up being the easiest thing ever--and is such a bonding experience. But do whatever works for you. That is the most important.

lilcrablegs

Everyone has given great advice.  I started out wanting to breastfeed but had the attitude that "if it doesn't work out, I won't be heartbroken."  Once LO was here, though, I had to amp up that attitude and COMMIT to breastfeeding in order to be successful.  If you get through the first few weeks, it gets SO much easier.  Just keep in mind that the pain/inconvenience is temporary and you're doing a great thing for LO. 

As far as pumping - I pumped once a day for a while but it was all going to waste.  I was the one with LO virtually every moment, so it didn't make sense for me to spend all the time and effort pumping when I could just nurse.  There are some women who successfully do this (check out the BFing board) but it wasn't feasible for me.