XP from BF... EPers

peelester429

Me again.  I know y'all are sick of my BFing woes - so am I!  As y'all know, I've had a rough go of things and am not sure how much longer I can tolerate my excruciatingly painful nursing sessions.   LO has a small mouth, an aggressive suck, and constantly loses her latch and clicks due to my strong letdown.  I've battled mastitis and am now in the middle of thrush...Anyway, I'm considering switching to exclusively pumping.  For those of you who do this, what is your system?  Do you pump until you get a certain amount, or do you pump until your breasts are empty?  How many months can you keep up EPing?  Originally I'd hoped to BF for a year... is EPing for that long a possibility? 

jill&eric

my LO has never bf well and in the beginning, i pumped probably longer than the norm 20min and would go until the milk was pretty much gone as to build up supply and pumped many times a day. now i pump about 15-20 min unless i am still getting a ton of milk and pump 4-5 times a day because i get usually 6 oz per side most sessions, i still try to nurse her occasionally and sometimes she will (most times she wonrt) . i plan to pump at work (which is difficult with my job) and do it for as long as i can with a goal of at least 6mo. hope whartever you choose works for you and keep in mind you can do both it doesnt have to be all or one and you can also get mastitis/clogged ducts ep as well. i also had a friend who ep for a year due to her baby being a lazy eater.

Kendrav4

I started EPing due to LO being a very lazy eater. I pump for at least 15 minutes or until all of the milk is gone and I try to pump every 3 hours (sometimes more if I can) I am going to try and do this for at least 6 months. I only pump about 3 ounces from each breast every 3 hours so I am taking fenugreek to increase my supply. I put any extra in the freezer at night so when he gets older if I dont produce enough I will have a nice stash of frozen milk to help out.

leahandbuck

I also wanted to BF but DD was a lazy eater and had severe jaundice.  When she was hospitalized they needed to know how much she was eating so I started pumping and then we could never get her to latch. 

I pump every 4 hours for 20 minutes.  I freeze the milk and use the oldest milk first.  I plan to pump as long as possible, but I know a lady that pumped for twins for 9 months so I know it is possible. 

I know you have been trying very hard to BF.  I felt very bad when we were not able to BF but now that I am pumping I feel very good because I know she is still getting breastmilk which is really the main point of BF'ing.  Plus, when I have told my OB or her pedi that I am pumping and feeding from a bottle they are so encouraging and say that they respect pumping mothers so much because it takes more dedication than BF'ing in a sense beause of the extra time needed to pump.

Accounting Chick

I've been EPing from the get-go for various reasons. 

I pump every 4 hours, and skip a pump over night.  I generally pump approximately 15 minutes, though my first pump of the morning, I pump longer becuase I've gone longer since pumping.  Sometimes I end up pumping shorter or longer periods - I usually just pump until I feel my breasts are empty.  I usually get 4 oz out of each breast (up to about 6 oz out of each), so I've been freezing the excess. 

Yes, it is extra time required, which sometimes gets very tiresome.  Yes, there are extra things to wash (though not that much more than if you were FF).  However, there are some very important advantages:  I know exactly how much my LO is getting.  On the weekends, DH takes the 1 am feeding, so I'm able to sleep through to 5 am feeding.  Pumping has been a very positive experience for me.  Not something you will often hear.  I hope to EP at least 6 months. 

spedi

Little man never latched or sucked right, so I have been pumping from day one. At first I pumped ALL the time and now, not so much. I never got more than 2 oz total from both sides. SO he gets BM during the day and formula at night...or that's what I try to do.

Pretty sure I'm weaning myself off the pump though.

 

AWomanInLove

I pump every time she eats - usually every 2 to 3 hours.  I pump for 15 minutes, unless the flow stops before the 15 minutes are up.  I usually get about 3 or 4 ounces each time.  (More, if it's been longer since I last pumped.)

 My baby also has an aggressive suck and I love Motherlove cream. It heals me so quickly!

https://www.amazon.com/Motherlove-Herbal-Company-10011-Nipple/dp/B0007CQ726/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321662005&sr=8-1 

nycbride0707

Accounting Chick:

I've been EPing from the get-go for various reasons. 

I pump every 4 hours, and skip a pump over night.  I generally pump approximately 15 minutes, though my first pump of the morning, I pump longer becuase I've gone longer since pumping.  Sometimes I end up pumping shorter or longer periods - I usually just pump until I feel my breasts are empty.  I usually get 4 oz out of each breast (up to about 6 oz out of each), so I've been freezing the excess. 

Yes, it is extra time required, which sometimes gets very tiresome.  Yes, there are extra things to wash (though not that much more than if you were FF).  However, there are some very important advantages:  I know exactly how much my LO is getting.  On the weekends, DH takes the 1 am feeding, so I'm able to sleep through to 5 am feeding.  Pumping has been a very positive experience for me.  Not something you will often hear.  I hope to EP at least 6 months. 

Finally someone else who doesn't think pumping the worst thing ever! With my hands free pump, I can actually pump and feed DD at the same time-so not always extra work. I really don't mind pumping, again maybe that's because its hands free, but I always get stuff done while I'm doing it-like responding to this post I pump about every 3-4 hours, and I get around 7-8 ounces each time-so enough for two feedings. Washing the bottles can get annoying, but if I FF, I'd have to that as well. DD is a pretty hungry baby, and always falls asleep while nursing-pumping allows me to give her bm without having to spend an hour + feeding her each time, which helps me stay sane. Its not for everyone, but I find it to be the best of both worlds.

Accounting Chick

nycbride0707:

Finally someone else who doesn't think pumping the worst thing ever! With my hands free pump, I can actually pump and feed DD at the same time-so not always extra work. I really don't mind pumping, again maybe that's because its hands free, but I always get stuff done while I'm doing it-like responding to this post I pump about every 3-4 hours, and I get around 7-8 ounces each time-so enough for two feedings. Washing the bottles can get annoying, but if I FF, I'd have to that as well. DD is a pretty hungry baby, and always falls asleep while nursing-pumping allows me to give her bm without having to spend an hour + feeding her each time, which helps me stay sane. Its not for everyone, but I find it to be the best of both worlds.

I have found most opinions on TB are very negative about pumping.  I'm glad to hear that you are also having a positive experience pumping.  I haven't figured out the whole feeding and pumping thing, but I definitely do other things like go on the bump, etc. while pumping. 

I love knowing exactly how much my LO is eating - he's growing so fast!  I love letting my DH get up at 1 am on weekends while being able to roll over and go back to sleep (I've dropped that pumping session).  I love knowing that although we could never master the latch (and honestly, we didn't try horrendously hard - I had bigger fish to fry), I'm able to feed my baby BM - both for the health benefits as well as the cost savings! 

I agree that it's the best of both worlds!

stardust317

My LO never latched right and breast-feeding haas been an issue for us. I started pumping early on, and around the 3 week mark, it was getting really old. I took an old sports bra and cut holes in it to make a hands free bra. It totally changed the quality of my pumping experience. I pump for at least 20 minutes every time LO eats. I've been power pumping before bed to help with my supply. I'm battling some borderline supply issues right now, and she's getting some formula. I'm doing the best I can to provide her with BM and that's what matters to me.