If I pump exclusively

Brittany Goodwin · March 2009

Every two hours, will that provide me with enough supply to feed her? She's just so tiny, and I have huge (flat too) nipples, that latching is a problem.

jay.otter · March 2009

If you're having latching issues try a nipple shield. You can pump, but it's a lot harder that way, and you don't get as much milk as you would if she was eating at the breast.

Mogwai · March 2009

That's seriously entirely up to your body. It will definitely get you stimulated, but not quite as quickly/effectively as nursing that often would. Has your milk come in yet?

iris427 · March 2009

SC, are you working with an LC? Pumping exclusively may work for you, but it may cause you to have insufficient supply. Have you tried using a nipple shield?

Brittany Goodwin · March 2009

Mogwai:
That's seriously entirely up to your body. It will definitely get you stimulated, but not quite as quickly/effectively as nursing that often would. Has your milk come in yet?

Not yet, and I know worrying about it doesn't help. I use the nipple shield, but she's reluctant to accept that too. Just going to take practice I guess!

LucyPevensie · March 2009

Yes, it will. BUT - EP'ing sucks. And I EP. I've written this same post to so many people who ask about EP'ing instead of BF'ing, I'm too tired to write it out again, I need a stock answer that I just cut and paste. Please keep trying to BF - it will ultimately be so much easier and so much more satisfying for you and your baby than EP'ing. EP'ing is double if not triple the work of bf'ing - it's basically all the work of bf'ing plus all the work of formula feeding (washing and sterilizing bottles, nipples, getting bottles ready every night, warming bottles up as baby cries in hunger rather than simply putting baby to your breast) not to mention how often throughout the day and night you have to decide to either pump - because you HAVE to - or comfort your crying baby. You lose out on time with your baby when you EP. It is NOT the easier way. That said, it is possible, and if nursing is impossible, it's a way to continue to feed breastmilk to your child and that's a great thing if it's important to you. But a good LC can help you with your flat nipple and latch issue and there are special Medela hard plastic shells you can wear (when not nursing) that help your nipples to "learn" how to protrude and stick out. GL to you whatever you decide.

abbbeyc · March 2009

Try the shield! $4 from Target with all the BF supplies

JOEBunny · March 2009

If you have milk now, you could probably pump, but it is a lot of extra work to pump and feed. I BF, then feed DD what I could pump or formula, and then pumped some more at every feeding for the first month or two. It took about 45 minutes each feeding, which is a lot, when you feed them 10 to 12 times a day! I would keep trying to feed from the breast and then give the bottle, so the baby associates BF first with getting food. DD eventually got good enough at BF to reject the bottle all together.

Good luck and stick with it, it gets easier and faster.

KellyG6279 · March 2009

Are you talking EPing for good or just for now? ?I would try really hard and practice latching, nipple shield, LC, etc. ?EPing is double hard and should be a last resort! ?

rachi · March 2009

I EPed the first 3 weeks and although it was enough to feed him it was a pain in the ass. If I ever skipped a pumping session I would have to formula feed him a feeding because I was only able to pump enough for one feeding at a time.

So it can be possible but will most likely be a pain in the ass.

I only put him to the breast twice a day and pump the rest and even those two BF have increased my supply. I would try BFing at least once or twice a day.

I also found that laying him on my bare chest in just a diaper while I pumped increased the amount I got in that pumping. So if you are going to pump try that. It is amazing what skin to skin contact will do.

Megan Briggs · March 2009

I had flat nipples and latching issues. The first week was hell. A nipple shield enabled us to nurse, but it did keep DD from being totally effective and I had to supplement with pumped milk after each feeding. But we were able to ditch the shield at 5 weeks and the supplementing at 2 months. DD is now almost 5 months and nurses just fine.

That didn't answer your question, but I wanted to give you some hope. Oh, and my once flat nipples are now like machine guns on my chest. The baby will eventually draw them out.

leslienpete · March 2009

have you tried a nipple shield? I also have huge, flat nipples and they NS have worked great! I haevn't had a problem BF with them at all.

BTW - Congratulations!!!

skaplan000 · March 2009

rachi:

I also found that laying him on my bare chest in just a diaper while I pumped increased the amount I got in that pumping. So if you are going to pump try that. It is amazing what skin to skin contact will do.

I cant remember where I saw this but I read somewhere that if you have to pump at work or where ever to take a picture of your baby to stimulate better milk production. I thought that was interesting.

mieuxmieux · March 2009

Have you tried pumping a little before feeding your LO to draw the nipple out more? I read that is supposed to help.

OTgrl · March 2009

Have you tried the "Latch Assist" made by Lasinoh? Available at Walmart for 10 bucks I think. I haven't personally tried it, but worth a shot?

lauraanddave · March 2009

I EP now and have been ever since DD was born. She was a preemie and had feeding issues b/c she was born before her sucking reflex developed. She did nurse relatively well with a nipple shield, but it was too much work for her to eat until she was full and we always had to supplement with BM that I'd already pumped earlier in the day.

DD is 4 months now and pumping is a pain, but I work at home and I'm determined to do it for at least 6 months and then we'll see where we are. It's definitely more work...cleaning and sterilizing the pumping parts, getting pumping bottles together, making sure there's enough milk pumped out if we're going somewhere, getting bottles ready, etc.

To piggy-back on what some pp's have said, while I was still in the hospital and was pumping to send milk up to the NICU, I'd watch some of the video that DH took of her right after she was born while the NICU team was getting her cleaned up and hooked up to monitors. Watching her squirm around on the camera definitely helped increase my supply.

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