pumping

[musiclady]

There should be a forum for pumpers.

I posted in BF...

I'm having a hard time keeping my supply- the nurse said it woudl be much easier when she comes home... ugh.

I have a love/hate relationship with the pump. Love giving her exactly what she needs, hate my life revolving around cleaning pump parts and pumping every 2.5-3 hours. And my supply is getting lower.

Blech.
:

[azgirl]

I pumped for my preemie while he was the hospital (4.5 months) and then when he got home....13 months total! I have a couple of tips:

I bought 4 complete sets of horns/pump parts. I had recurrent thrush, so I had to sterilize after every use. Having so many sets of parts really made it bearable.

Power pumping: 10 minutes on, 10 minute break, 10 minutes on. Once a day to start...but I was a low supply mama and power pumped for 40 minutes 6 to 8 times a day

I started doing one breast at a time and using my other hand to massage the milk out. I really increased my supply. Then I went back and forth between breasts with no break.

I took domperidone which increased my supply a lot!!

Are you holding your LO? My supply increased at that point. He was about 7 weeks old at that point. Good luck! Pumping for a preemie is so stressful...

[azgirl]

I agree that there should be a separate forum for pumpers...so many issues!

[musiclady]

pak---

is domperidone $$$ and does it have depression/fatigue as a side effect?

i've gone back to pumping every 2.5 hours to make my body think hungry baby demands....:

[henriksmom]

Gotta nap, here is a link that OGirlieMama gave to me: http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=462944.

[henriksmom]

Dom is $90 for 500 pills in Canada (if you are close). But I do not know if they would take a US script.

[VroomieMama]

Originally Posted by musiclady

There should be a forum for pumpers.

I posted in BF...

I'm having a hard time keeping my supply- the nurse said it woudl be much easier when she comes home... ugh.

I have a love/hate relationship with the pump. Love giving her exactly what she needs, hate my life revolving around cleaning pump parts and pumping every 2.5-3 hours. And my supply is getting lower.

Blech.
:

I'm exactly on the same boat as you! Pumping for my twins are so hard!!!!! And having a demanding 6 years old needing my time making me feel guilty for not pumping OR not giving my 6 yrs old attention she needs. AARGH!

[saimeiyu]

Not sure if you've seen this video or know about this pumping regimen, but I found it extremely helpful, so I thought I'd share.

The thing is that there's tricks to using a pump that *I* certainly never would have thought of! It's not as simple as "use warm washcloth, look at pictures of baby/think about baby, and attach pump to breast and turn it on, and do that 8-12x a day."

So anyhow, here's the video. If you've seen it before, sorry! If not, I hope it helps you out!

http://newborns.stanford.edu/Breastf...roduction.html

[Lindsay1234]

Originally Posted by musiclady

There should be a forum for pumpers.

I posted in BF...

I'm having a hard time keeping my supply- the nurse said it woudl be much easier when she comes home... ugh.

I have a love/hate relationship with the pump. Love giving her exactly what she needs, hate my life revolving around cleaning pump parts and pumping every 2.5-3 hours. And my supply is getting lower.

Blech.
:

Love/hate here too!!! Ive been pumping for my dd in NICU for 8 adays now and its completely consuming!
I just talked to a LC today and she said pump every 2 hrs for 15 min OR every 1 1/2 hrs for 10 min.

I think they do have an "exclusive pumpers" thread in BFing but Id like to see a NICU one too!

[VroomieMama]

I saw the video and where do I get that bra for pumping breasts so I don't have to have both of my hands tied and not be able to converse with my husband (I'm deaf so I sign) or to do some multitasking while being pumped. The video is amazing and learned several tips. Thank you to the poster who linked this link!

[henriksmom]

I have a Medela nursing bra and I just put the pumping shields in the slit. The bra does a good job for me by holding it. This bra is not ideal but it works. I have heard that you can cut slits in an old sports bra.

[saimeiyu]

Originally Posted by VroomieMama

I saw the video and where do I get that bra for pumping breasts so I don't have to have both of my hands tied and not be able to converse with my husband (I'm deaf so I sign) or to do some multitasking while being pumped. The video is amazing and learned several tips. Thank you to the poster who linked this link!

I think the one in the video is an easy expressions
http://www.easyexpressionproducts.com/
or just do a google search for easy expressions pumping bra.

[OGirlieMama]

Originally Posted by henriksmom

Gotta nap, here is a link that OGirlieMama gave to me: http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=462944.

So glad you posted that one. It's not a whole forum but it's a great "tribe" and a fantastic thread.

I used the Made by Moms pumping band for 18 months and loved it. I never would've survived EPing without! I got it through Babycenter but it's on Amazon now, too. http://www.amazon.com/Made-by-Moms-P.../dp/B000HKYKT0

If you have any specific pumping questions, feel free to PM me. I'm pretty much an expert.

[Amys1st]

I second Betsy's post. She got me thru my pumping too since my Maggie is a month younger then her beautiful girls!

I used to PAK (pump at keyboard) when I was exclusely pumping for 8 weeks than a bit of nursing and pumping and then Maggie came home and nursing and pumping. Its VERY hard work and you feel part cow.

There is a great book nursing your preemie by LLL. Also Pump for 15 minutes every 4 hours or 20min if you have 2 or more. If you pump more, you may get overlet down etc. I had 3 pairs of horns and I also kept one pair at the nicu to use. Make sure you are doing it for the whole time and using a hospital grade pump most of the time. Also, if you pump in the morning, try to divide out the milk because that has been sitting in your breasts all night and not as fattening as what you will get next.

[Lindsay1234]

Originally Posted by Amys1st

Also, if you pump in the morning, try to divide out the milk because that has been sitting in your breasts all night and not as fattening as what you will get next.

Oh thanks for this tip! I actually noticed this morning that my milk looked really thin!!!

[VroomieMama]

Originally Posted by henriksmom

I have a Medela nursing bra and I just put the pumping shields in the slit. The bra does a good job for me by holding it. This bra is not ideal but it works. I have heard that you can cut slits in an old sports bra.

This idea actually inspired me to cut slits in an old bikini that got too small for me and I'm actually pumping and typing this...works like a charm! I'm happy. :

[fairejour]

I also ended up EP for 13 months for a NICU baby.

Tips.....

1. Get a good book and relax.
2. I pumped every 2 hours for about 20 minutes. I could tell when I was done, so I pumped a few minutes past that each time.
3. I would pump during the night at first when I was getting my supply up. It sucked to roll out of bed at 3, but it helped a lot.
4. I took Fenugreek. I don't know if it helped, but it didn't hurt.

My pumping habits changed as she got older, but I think that I was a killer milk maker (we ended up donating some to the NICU so I don't know how much help I am.

[OGirlieMama]

I took Fenugreek, too. And definitely pump overnight until at least 12 weeks. I can't remember how much longer I did it than that, but that would be the minimum recommendation if you're not nursing by then.

My best pumping accessory after the pumping band was the laptop! It really helped with the isolation I felt at the time.

[henriksmom]

OGirlieMama, after 9 months of pumping, how often should I be doing it? I find that I am pumping for longer periods of time but less often per day. By now my milk supply should be well established, right? When my production goes down I do it 8 to 9 times per day.

[OGirlieMama]

I think I was doing around 6 times per day at that point - I'll see if I can find my little notebook and confirm that. I definitely was not pumping overnight, and had to pump for a loooooooong time in the mornings.