Confused after breastfeeding class - Page 2

[LionessMom]

Originally Posted by MeredithK

I went to a breastfeeding class last night and while I was there, everything sounded great. But, when I got home, I started to think about the instructors' suggestions.

She really advocated getting a hospital grade double pump before the baby comes. She thinks that they work the best and are important to have BEFORE it becomes a problem.

Her main reason for advocating pumping is to keep up the supply. She suggests waiting until 4-6 weeks before introducing a bottle (if needed, she suggests a small cup, spoon, or soft feeder), but during those first few weeks, she said that it's important to have a good stable supply.

I don't work outside the home and am not expecting to need to have to pump regularly. It just seems weird to spend so much money on something I may not even need.

I'm all for being prepared, but now I'm just paranoid. If I am going to spend money, I want to get one that will last and be worth it.

So, I'm wondering...did you buy a pump before the baby came? If so, single or double.....manual or electric?

Thanks in advance.

im just putting in my experience here. i havent even read the other posts.

i got a hand pump. i used it to alleviate engorgement before feeding b/c DD had a hard time latching on if i was too full. i used it maybe ten times.

i am a SAHM. i only tried to give her a bottle 2 times. sometimes i used the pump to get fresh milk to mix with baby food when she was older.

basically, i didnt need it. the amount of milk that i expressed could have been done by hand.

now, if you want to get a good freezer stash going just in case, then i would reccomend a good electric pump. a hand pump wont do the job for a serious stash. i never needed a stash, but if i had to have surgery or something else drastic, it would have been nice to have.

[Kidzaplenty]

I never had a pump until I needed to get one with my FIFTH child. He was a FTT and I needed to keep up my suply for a bit when he was hospitalized. Never used one again until my sixth child had an accident and could no longer nurse. Used it for a while until I began making her formula. Then never used one again until number nine.

So, suffice it to say that I don't think a pump is a necessity to have on hand before you even have a baby.

[ewe+lamb]

I think the issue here is that a LC is planting that little grain of doubt in your head, just in case? Well just in case what? Problems, yes some women have difficulties in getting breastfeeding off to a good start but honestly, this sort of advice really gets me. Why can't we encourage women and bless their bodies, give them confidence, make them aware of some issues that may happen yes, let them know that we are there to help when and if the 'problems' arise. I feel that this information which you were given is rather foolhardy. I would highly recommend going to a LLL meeting which will introduce you to a breastfeeding community which you may get more enjoyment from! Congratulations on your (soon to be) birth.

[inkedmamajama]

Originally Posted by MeredithK

I went to a breastfeeding class last night and while I was there, everything sounded great. But, when I got home, I started to think about the instructors' suggestions.

She really advocated getting a hospital grade double pump before the baby comes. She thinks that they work the best and are important to have BEFORE it becomes a problem.

Her main reason for advocating pumping is to keep up the supply. She suggests waiting until 4-6 weeks before introducing a bottle (if needed, she suggests a small cup, spoon, or soft feeder), but during those first few weeks, she said that it's important to have a good stable supply.

I don't work outside the home and am not expecting to need to have to pump regularly. It just seems weird to spend so much money on something I may not even need.

I'm all for being prepared, but now I'm just paranoid. If I am going to spend money, I want to get one that will last and be worth it.

So, I'm wondering...did you buy a pump before the baby came? If so, single or double.....manual or electric?

Thanks in advance.

as a bfing counselor, i dont advise moms getting pumps prior to needing one. especially a hospital grade! depend on and trust your breasts to provide the food for the baby. put a new born to breast every two hours and your milk will come in and your supply will be just fine.

[paulamc]

I'm not saying that the advice was good or that you should get an electric pump before the birth by any means. But in my case, I sort of wish I had bought an electric pump early on. DS has gained slowly, and initially I was using a hand pump to boost supply, though I'm still not sure if low supply or genetics is the issue. I wasn't able to pump much, and I wonder if things might have been different if I had had a better pump. Of course, I could have bought one at my early trip to the LC at the hospital, but somehow I thought the manual was okay and I didn't. Now, I wish I had.

[mama k nj]

I didn't read all the other responses, but I think that for a SAHM an electric pump is overkill. I just had a basic manual pump. I rarely used it to be honest. It was useful for getting a little stash of milk in the freezer for emergencies and for when we tried giving him a bottle at 6 weeks.

My advice is to just focus on establishing a good nursing relationship for at least the first 4 weeks. Don't bother with bottles, pacis or pumping. All those other things seem to complicate the process while you are both still learning. Just nurse the baby! A newborn should nurse (at least) every 2 hours during the day and every 4 hours at night. But baby might need to nurse more frequently and that is totally normal too! Breastmilk is quickly digested and baby's brain and body is growing at an incredible rate those early months.
Baby will hit growth spurts where it seems like they are nursing all. the. time. That is just their way of telling your body to make more milk. I found that feeding on demand is the easiest way to prevent any supply issues.

Oh and be sure you are taking good care of yourself too... drink plenty of water and eat lots of good foods. Rest as much as you can. You probably won't always sleep when the baby sleeps, but maybe try for one nap a day in the beginning. Being a new mama is a lot of work and taking good care of you will help all around.

[bandgeek]

You don't NEED a pump if you won't be giving bottles of expressed milk. Pumps can be handy if you get engorged and just need to take the edge off to get baby to latch, but you can also just hand express some milk. The BEST way to make sure your supply is adequate is to just nurse, nurse, nurse! IF you think there's a problem and nursing more doesn't seem to help, any pump (manual is fine) can help get your supply up.

If you think you might ever need to express milk (night out, let dad feed, part-time job, ect), it wouldn't hurt to get a manual one beforehand. I think hospital grade is overkill unless you have to pump exclusively or pump more than 1x a day at work.

[LROM]

My plan was: put a breast pump on our baby registry and if we get it before the baby's born, great... if not, I'll wait to see how BFing goes and then get it when I'm getting ready to go back to work.

That plan worked fine: BFing was fine right from the start, and then by the time I was getting ready to go back to work someone getting us a late prezzy gave us the pump.

I really can't imagine telling a mom to get a pump before you know if a) there is a need for it - especially for a SAHM, and b) before you know how BFing goes. If there are problems you can rent one to see if the problems go away and then decide to buy later, but no need for one before you even see how BFing goes.

I second the La Leche League recommendation - find a LLL mtg near you and check in with them too, whether things go well with BFing or you have questions.

[Bluegoat]

Before my first baby was born I got a little kit with a hand pump and a few bottles, just in case. I was living in the boonies and thought it would be good to have around. I think I used it a bit to pump milk for baby cereal for dd1. With dd2 I didn't feed her cereal, so I only used it once or twice when my milk came in to relieve engorgement.

I think it's silly advice.

[etsdtm99]

i had a manual pump that with my first kid (i'm a SAHM) .. i used it some, for just in case, but ended up never using a drop of the milk i froze (and it all went bad due to excess lipase in my milk - not a super common issue, but it does happen)

anyway, i didn't have to pump at all for supply reasons etc. with either kid.. even a cheap electric pump would have been a giant waste of money for me.. if i hadn't gotten the manual pump as a hand-me-down (it was new) i would never have pumped at all ..

pumping before you have an issue is bad advice, now, getting help before you have an issue is good advice! i would see a LC early on to check latch and everything before you have a baby who isn't gaining or cracked nipples or any of that..

[_betsy_]

I got a pump before baby was born, because I was going back to work. If I hadn't been returning to the workplace, I wouldn't have bothered with a pump.

I went back at 7 weeks PP with DD1, and I pumped once a day to freeze for about 4 weeks of that. The first 6 weeks were really hard with the baby, but that was because I had flat nipples, not because of the pump. If anything, the pump helped pull them out.

Anyway, no I don't think SAHMs need a hospital-grade pump. A manual, handheld, single pump is probably all you'd ever really need for occassional use, if anything.

I wonder if the pump talk is to make BFing seem more "normal" more "accessible to the mainstream" or something. So Moms think "If I have a pump, I don't have to worry about NIP, or baby's bad latch, or tongue tie" or whatever. I wonder if giving moms-to-be the idea of pumping actually helps them nurse longer instead of turning to formula if anything goes wrong.

Truly, though, the best advice I think anyone can give is to nurse your baby as soon as possible after birth (and typically a med-free, intervention free, safe, happy, healthy birth allows this to happen sooner), nurse often and on demand, and don't look at the clock.