pumping

Hi. Those of you who have pumped breastmilk, how did you go about it,
when did you start, and what time of the day did you feel was best,
and did you do it between feeds, or after feeds?...


Eva and a week old baby girl.

"Eva Huld Valsdottir" wrote in message
om...
Hi. Those of you who have pumped breastmilk, how did you go about it,
when did you start, and what time of the day did you feel was best,
and did you do it between feeds, or after feeds?...


Eva and a week old baby girl.

Congratulations on the new baby

For the first 8 or so weeks with Nicolas I had to pump on a schedule because
I got REALLY sore REALLY fast (I'm so glad he didn't get nipple confused!)
Anyway, I used an electric pump that I rented from my local (I can't
remember the name) store, the hospital I had him in referred me to a few
different ones and I went to the one closest to me. I had to buy my own gear
but was able to rent the actual pump, it was a Medalia PIS. The times I
felt I got the best pump going was the first one in the morning and I got
the least in the evenings but still did it in the evenings because I knew if
I skipped that one my supply would have suffered.
At first I wasn't able to BF at all because I was in too much pain, so I
would pump and bottle feed. DH got to feed Nicolas quite often. After a
couple of weeks when I was starting to heal up I switched him back to the
breast as much as I could stand, it was about 2 feeds a day at first and I
worked my way up over the next few weeks. By the time I gave the pump back
to the store the routine was I would feed the baby and then pump and then a
little later give a bottle of EBM. It worked out pretty well plus I ended up
with quite a nice freezer stash because I was trying to BF as much as
possible and not use the milk I had pumped.

I dunno if any of this made sense or was helpful at all (I hope it did and
was) but that was my experience. In a way I miss it but only because he was
such a tiny little squirt and I'd have a baby once a month just to have them
be small like that LOL (just kidding, it hurt like hell and I'm SO done)
Then again there are lots of reasons I don't miss it either, he is such an
interesting little guy, some days he makes me laugh till I have tears
rolling down my face and some days I could pitch him out the window he can
be so rotten LOL

Jen
Mom to 18 months old Nicolas munchkin rotten guy as of yesterday g...jeeze
how'd he get so damn big already!

Eva Huld Valsdottir wrote:

Hi. Those of you who have pumped breastmilk, how did you go about it,
when did you start, and what time of the day did you feel was best,
and did you do it between feeds, or after feeds?...

Eva and a week old baby girl.

I've told my story here before; but it's going to be much easier to
advise you accurately if you first tell us why you're going to be
pumping, what pump you're thinking of using, how long you're going to be
separated from your baby, etc, so you get advice that suits you, not me.
I can tell you all about exclusive pumping from week one, but if you're
planning to express once a week so you can go to a movie, that advice is
not going to be of much use.

At one week, if the baby is nursing and you're not going to be forced
apart in the near future, the focus should be on feeding your baby and
establishing your nursing relationship well (which could easily take six
weeks or more), not on feeding the freezer.

Lara
EPing for Luke, thirteen months and thirteen days

Hi. Well, I was just thinking of pumping once in a while, to have a
little milk in the freezer, just to be able to go the the store or as
you say the movies, without her crying her head off. I was just
wonderng if I should wait until breastfeeding is well established, and
then how and when should I go about it. I have the Avent Isis pump.

Eva.

I've told my story here before; but it's going to be much easier to
advise you accurately if you first tell us why you're going to be
pumping, what pump you're thinking of using, how long you're going to be
separated from your baby, etc, so you get advice that suits you, not me.
I can tell you all about exclusive pumping from week one, but if you're
planning to express once a week so you can go to a movie, that advice is
not going to be of much use.

At one week, if the baby is nursing and you're not going to be forced
apart in the near future, the focus should be on feeding your baby and
establishing your nursing relationship well (which could easily take six
weeks or more), not on feeding the freezer.

Lara
EPing for Luke, thirteen months and thirteen days

Hi. Well, I was just thinking of pumping once in a while, to have a
little milk in the freezer, just to be able to go the the store or as
you say the movies, without her crying her head off. I was just
wonderng if I should wait until breastfeeding is well established, and
then how and when should I go about it. I have the Avent Isis pump.

Eva.


Wait another few weeks. You should introduce the bottle to your baby at 4 to 6
weeks of age. Any earlier carries a high risk of nipple confusion, any later
carries a high risk of bottle refusal. Obviously you will need to do some
pumping *before* you plan to introduce the bottle, so that you'll have milk to
put in the bottle, and it won't hurt you to pump as soon as you feel like
trying, but don't get discouraged if your yield is very, very small. Early on,
that's very normal.

I'd suggest pumping a bit when your baby is 2-4 weeks; it will probably take
you at least two or three sessions to accumulate enough milk to make up a
bottle of 2-4 ounces to try. You'll get the most milk if you pump early in the
morning and/or if you can pump on one breast while your baby is simultaneously
nursing on the other. Nothing wrong with pumping at other times of day,
whenever is convenient for you, but you'll get the least milk for your efforts
in the evening.

You can store the pumped milk in the fridge for up to a week or so, or in the
freezer for 3-6 months. It's perfectly all right to combine the output from
several pump sessions into one bottle, but it's best to chill each batch
separately before combining. Don't add warm milk to milk that's already
frozen. You can also freeze the milk in smaller portions, then combine after
thawing. One advantage to small frozen portions is that they do thaw faster;
the only disadvantage is you need more containers!

As often as you can, after your baby is taking a bottle once in a while, pump
as close to the *same* time as the baby is getting a bottle as you can. You'll
get more milk pumping in replacement of a nursing session than you do pumping
in between feedings, and pumping at or near the usual feeding time will help
prevent engorgement. Maintaining your supply isn't a big concern unless you
end up using bottles on a daily or near-daily basis.

The Avent pump is pretty easy to use, but do be careful to assemble it
correctly. It won't work if all the parts aren't tightly sealed or if the
little white button thingy with a star shape on it is upside down (a common
mistake).

Holly
Mom to Camden, 2.5 yrs
EDD #2 6/8/04