Any other moms exclusively pumping? - Page 2

[Monarchgrrl]

Originally Posted by ktcl 

Here is my question... recently my pumping sessions have produced less milk, and I can't figure out at all why.  Sometimes it seems that there is more milk in my breasts that just isn't coming out.  I know it's not the pump because I just got a brand new PISA (lovely christmas present...).  What are the other reasons my supply could be tanking right now?  Or if it isn't the supply, and it's that I'm just not getting it out, why would that be?

Are you doing breast compressions too? And it's still not coming out? I have to do MAJOR compressions for the second half of the pumping session to get all the milk out. I usually get about twice as much when I do this. And I mean constant sqeezing and pushing on my breasts. Just an idea but you've probably already tried that.

[windymama]

I pumped from the time DD was 1 month old until she was about 7 or 8 months old because she exerted too much energy nursing and then when she gained strength she was to interested in the world to nurse.  In the end I found myself having to choose between being with her and comforting her (she loves to be held) or pumping milk for her.  It just didn't make sense to me to try to make milk while the baby is screaming to be held so I quit.  While I wish I had the stamina to make it to a year or longer I'm glad I held out for as long as I did.

KTCL - Has your period returned?  Are you extra stressed?  Maybe you need more domperidone (I can't remember what the maximum dose is but it can be pretty high)?  Did you switch from a hospital grade pump to a PISA?  Hospital grade pumps work better than the PISA.  I think someone else mentioned this but breast compressions help too.

myk -  Can you make arrangements with your healthy baby class for a place to pump?  Maybe they can rig something up for you because as others have said, you need to get out.  When I went out I would pump before I left.  I would also bring either the PISA and a cooler, bottles/milk storage, etc or the manual attachement and a couple of bottles.  I would also try to go places where I knew I could pump.  Our local malls had nursing rooms with electrical outlets so I'd pump in there or make sure I had a battery pack fully charged to pump in a private place.  I remeber for one of DD's hospital appts that I needed to pump and there was no designated area for outpaitent pumping at a **Children's Hospital**. :( 

[ktcl]

Yes, breast compressions are a must for me.  I have been using a PISA all along.  For a little while we rented a hospital grade pump, but I have to say it never really seemed like it made much more milk.  I'm wondering about the whole menstural cycle question.  I don't really remember when it returned with DS (who actually nursed for a long time), but maybe that is part of it.  I am taking 4 tablets two times per day of the Dom peridone.  Trying to stay up on the water consumption as well, though I think that is sometimes my downfall.Thanks for thinking of my problems with me!!

[myk]

Originally Posted by windymama 

I pumped from the time DD was 1 month old until she was about 7 or 8 months old because she exerted too much energy nursing and then when she gained strength she was to interested in the world to nurse.  In the end I found myself having to choose between being with her and comforting her (she loves to be held) or pumping milk for her.  It just didn't make sense to me to try to make milk while the baby is screaming to be held so I quit.  While I wish I had the stamina to make it to a year or longer I'm glad I held out for as long as I did.

KTCL - Has your period returned?  Are you extra stressed?  Maybe you need more domperidone (I can't remember what the maximum dose is but it can be pretty high)?  Did you switch from a hospital grade pump to a PISA?  Hospital grade pumps work better than the PISA.  I think someone else mentioned this but breast compressions help too.

myk -  Can you make arrangements with your healthy baby class for a place to pump?  Maybe they can rig something up for you because as others have said, you need to get out.  When I went out I would pump before I left.  I would also bring either the PISA and a cooler, bottles/milk storage, etc or the manual attachement and a couple of bottles.  I would also try to go places where I knew I could pump.  Our local malls had nursing rooms with electrical outlets so I'd pump in there or make sure I had a battery pack fully charged to pump in a private place.  I remeber for one of DD's hospital appts that I needed to pump and there was no designated area for outpaitent pumping at a **Children's Hospital**. :( 

well that's just odd, you'd think a children's hospital would have good places to pump! even our new library will have a special area for moms.. i'll tell the librarian i'm pumping there. he's my husband ;)

[jeminijad]

Considering EPi'ng... really, strongly considering it this time around. Nursing was excruciatingly painful w/DD, and I've got several quality pumps.

[triskelion]

I'm EPing-DD is 7 weeks old and had some latching issues when we tried to BF at the hospital immediately post-birth. TBH, I really didn't try that hard to get her to latch for a variety of reasons so I fall pretty much into the elective EPing category which I know seems crazy to some, but it's really working for my family. I have a great support system for bottle feeding but a rather weak one for breast feeding so I'm going with what works! Before I was a mother, my desire to breast feed was always about 90% for the nutrition and other health benefits breast milk provides and about 10% for the bonding aspect so EPing was a pretty easy choice for me and I am not mourning the loss of a BFing relationship like many EPing moms do.

MYK, a lot of women on the EPing boards I hang out on use car adapters for their pumps while they're out and about. I know at least Medela has car adapters for all of their pumps, including the rental grade ones. It is hard to get out in the immediate pp period when pumping needs to be so frequent. It's also much more important to get the number of pumps in than to have them evenly spaced, so you can make up pumps at home and go longer without when you are out. For the first 4 weeks or, I'd leak like a faucet if I went more than 5 hours without a pump but now I can go for 6-7 hours without it being too uncomfortable.

Jeminijad, have you checked out the ivillage EPing forum? It's a really great resource and they have a "Beginner's Guide to EPing" posted. 

[justjess]

I am an ep of a 14 month old. I've ep since she was 3 weeks old. I got mastitis in both breasts and they were so engorged she just couldn't feed. Then the lack of feeding was keeping my breasts infected so I pumped and her aversions due to acid reflux kept her from nursing me again. I just couldn't take forcing her when we were already up half the night from the pain of the reflux. No one understood how hard it was to pump. I stayed stressed at first. Make sure you have a good double electric pump. I have an Ameda or try the Medela. I always stay hydrated as dehydration will ruin your supply. I pumped every 3 hours around the clock at first now its every 4 to 4 1/2 hours during the day and now I've managed to go 10 hours at night. I had so much milk that I've had to try to get my milk to slow down and that is a problem in itself. I have pumped 20 oz at one setting. I still pump 12 oz every 4 hours. Don't give up!! Despite the challenges it does get better. Now its no big deal. I can pump and drive. Pump and type on the computer. Pump and hold her!! I just worry that she isn't getting the nutrients she needs cause she refuses all solids. I just want her to start eating.

[gemasita]

I am like the OP in that I have been pumping since DS was 1 week old and he's now almost 8 weeks old.  We had latch issues and major supply issues (he is very lucky to have donor milk in addition to mine).  His latch is getting better but I only nurse him about once/day because I'm so sore from pumping!  It's ridiculous!  I only pump about 1-2 oz per session and pump about 7 times a day.  I appreciate all of the suggestions on here.  I am struggling, like some of the others, with a baby who will now sleep 6 hours and I go that long without pumping and then feel guilty.  But the sleep is SO nice!  DS usually goes from like 7 or 8 pm until 1 or 2 am and then after that, he's up every 3 hours.  I've tried absolutely everything for increasing supply including the max dose of domperidone and now trying Reglan.  Nothing seems to make any difference.  I think that's why I go 5 or 6 hours at night - because nothing seems to increase my supply.  If I had a reward for getting up more often, then I probably would.  I do power pumping (pumping very often for an hour) some days...doesn't help.  I guess I could try power pumping in the wee hours of the morning.  It's going to suck but I guess I should try it.  I also do let things get in the way of my 3 hour pumping sessions during the day and sometimes go longer.  But when I tried pumping every 2 hours for a few days, it didn't help!  Maybe I should try 10 minutes every hour or something like that?  I don't know...I feel so hopeless some days.  And then others, I feel more confident that I can get him nursing more and me pumping less.

Does anyone have any advice on flange size for flat nipples?  It's hard sizing them when you can't tell what is nipple.

[gemasita]

Originally Posted by myk 

question for all of you - my daughter is now 3.5 weeks old, and not latching due mostly to my inverted nipples and her habit of not opening her mouth enough. so, we're exclusively pumping with attempts at latching, but i'm feeling very house bound. how do you balance full-time pumping with having a life? i mean it seems like i'm always either feeding her, trying to make her latch, or pumping. i've only left the house once in the past 3 weeks and i'm starting to go nuts. in a practical sense, how do you go out? how do you prepare to go out (i assume you pump first), what do you pack with you, what if you're due for a pumping and you're out in public? what do you do, how do you make it work?

i'd like to at least go out to my healthy baby classes, but there's no place there to pump discreetly, and because of my breast size/shape/nipples, i have to bare all and watch what i'm doing the whole time, i show quite a bit of skin when i pump or else i can't see whether the nipple is in the pump correctly.

Would love to know the answer to this too.
 

[homemademom]

Gemasita, when you say you can't tell what is nipple, do you mean that it all just blends in with your areola? If so, I'd get one of the larger sizes.  What are you using now? If your nipples are really sore and rubbing tightly against the inside of the flange when you pump, they're too small (the flanges, that is). Your nipples should move freely and draw in a good part of the areola, too. I have some XLs I don't need (36 mm) that I'd be happy to send you. Dh bought me every size when I started pumping because he didn't know what I'd need, lol. BTW, I started out using a smaller flange and I wasn't getting much milk. When I switched to sz L, I started getting more.

[gemasita]

homemademom - thanks for replying.  Yes, I meant that because my nipples are flat, it's hard to tell where nipple ends and areola starts.  I have 30mm's and 36mm's but use the 30mm's most of the time.  They just feel like they are pulling in so much breast tissue that my nipples look huge and totally different when I finish pumping.  But...just now I tried the 24mm's and didn't get much milk and they did rub.  I was curious if I should try the 27mm's that I saw at Target.  I guess I'm worried that they are making my nipples bigger than they naturally are and making it harder for DS to latch.  I use a nipple shield and when I pull it off, my nipples look a lot smaller...but they look more natural than after I pump.

[myk]

y nipples are so flat, it's near impossible to tell whether it's centred properly at first. despite having huge breasts my nipples aren't very big so a standars flange works fine for me. it's gotten to the point where i can tell pretty quickly now though. i found that medela flanges fit better than the amedas, the ameda felt like there was a sharp corner and when the areola was alternately drawn in and released, there was excruciating pain from friction. lanolin helped. i got the best result from medela softfit flanges.

we EPed for 8 weeks and did latch practice 2-3 times a day. she started to get it then, and we had to deal with oversupply (16-18oz in the morning and 8-10oz every 3-4 hours during the day, i didn't pump at night). we only pump 2x/day now. it's a relief. bfing is the easiest, EPing is tougher but doable, trying to do both near drive me out of my mind from exhaustion and pain.

[mom2tig99Nroo03]

anyone still ep-ing?

i'm down to two times a day now, and where this time last year i was still getting about 90 oz a day, i'm now getting about 7. since school started back up a couple weeks ago though, everyone has been sick so i am trying to hang on a few more weeks at least. ds's adjusted age now would be about 2, so i feel i made my goal.

[ms sig]

Hey! Just wanted to say that I EP-ed with my 1st for 9 months and you're doing a great thing! (Well, I mostly EP-ed -- she had nipple confusion and would only nurse at night. At 9 months she finally started nursing again.)

There used to be an EP tribe, but maybe that died down by now?

[AnnieA]

I'm EP and I have been since my DD was born 13 weeks ago w/a CHD. She spent her first 3 weeks in the hospital recovering from open heart surgery and after being intubated twice, we have not been able to get her to latch because of her oral issues. We had to work hard with the speech path at the hospital just to get her to take a bottle nipple. She still has her rooting reflex though and has started showing interest in my breasts again so I have hope that I can get her to latch.

Question for those that pumped past one year. Did you continue to give your LO bottles of the BM or did you offer it in a cup? Due to DD's CHD and ongoing need for surgeries, I would like to be able to offer her BM well past 1 yr old, just not sure the best way to get it in her or if that even matters.

[MadelinesMama]

I'm joining in here I guess!  DS was born 12 days ago by csection at 27w5d.  He's going to be in the NICU for quite a while so this is my life for now!  I'm seriously hoping he learns to latch on, because I'm already a bit bored of all this pumping.

[kitchensqueen]

I'm glad I found this thread. My son is six weeks old, and I've been exclusively pumping for about the last three. He spent nearly a week in the NICU being bottle fed and having a paci, so he had some major issues with latching. I also didn't get to even offer him the breast until he was three days old. We tried really hard to nurse - I worked with the lactation consultant at the hospital, tried a nipple shield, and offered the breast at every opportunity. He would just get so frustrated and cry so hard that he couldn't tolerate me re-positioning him for a better latch and things. And I was in a terrible amount of pain. But we kept trying, even though after five or ten minutes I'd end up having to give him a bottle of breast milk. 

He had trouble regaining his birth weight, so our ped told us we should supplement with formula a bit, and he did get formula bottles at night for a few weeks. I had problems with oversupply at first due to not having my pumping schedule right, then quit pumping for a few days while trying to EBF - which was a disaster that led to under supply. The low supply coincided with his failure to gain weight. I got back into pumping, and that saved me. I started out pumping every two hours for 30 minutes religiously, and now my supply is much better. I stopped offering the breast and went completely to pumping after a nasty incident with a blood blister and then a case of mastitis.

In this last week, I've transitioned to pumping every three hours, which is so much better for me. I feel a little less tethered to the pump, and my supply is still good. One thing I'm bad about it night pumping. My last pump of the day is at midnight, and then I don't pump again until 8:30-9:00 usually. I know pumping at 6:00 would be a ton more reasonable, but my little guy is usually sleeping through that stretch of time, so it makes it really hard to wake up and do it. I think I'm currently getting 30-40 ounces per day, which is slightly more than he's currently eating, so I've been able to freeze the surplus. Trying to build up a little stockpile. 

So, that's my story... I'm glad to be able to feed him only breast milk, but I am disappointed that EBF didn't work, and honestly, I hate pumping. But I'll do it for as long as it takes. I'm glad to have a place hear to talk about it. 

[lunabin]

I EP'd for just over a year with DD, and am hoping to avoid it this time.  But, I would say that while it was a lot of work, I actually think (in retrospect) it was a good experience...  and wanted to share some of what I learned. 

First off, I didn't have any supply issues.  Right off the bat, week one I developed cracks that got worse, and worse, and worse - to the point that I was on APNO cream and my midwife wanted to stitch my nipples!  3 lactation consultants, weekly support groups...  And I started pumping at 5 weeks.  At first I did hand expression, but that only lasted a day or so until I broke out the pump (often would combine the two for maximum output).  I initially pumped every time my DD fed (on demand, not scheduled) and always pumped an extra 5-10 minutes when it seemed my flow had stopped (usually could get at least another ounce).  This I kept up for at least 6 months, and then when I had too much frozen (100+ oz) cut back to just scheduled pumping.  Cutting out the overnight pumping was a great feeing... especially when I could pump 12-15oz in the morning!  But, I always pumped at least as much as my DD consumed in a day - no matter what.  

I've heard that low supply with pumping can be an issue of the size of shields used with the pump - and if they are too small they can restrict your flow.  

I also looked into foods that would help supply, but never took more than a multivitamin, drank a TON of water, ate many snacks, etc..  

As for the 'how to survive and have a life' issue - I pumped everywhere I went.  My back up plan was always to pump in the car using a nursing cover for discretion.  I used the Medela Pump in Style, which has both a car adapter and battery pack.  Basically, I would try to arrive early to places, pump in my car, store it in the little cooler with ice pack, and go about my business.  My DD had her bottle of milk ready, and what I pumped could be used in case she needed extra.  It was common to also pump before I headed home or immediately when I got home.    

The last month or so when DD was eating solids, I started to lose supply, and then would "power pump" where I'd pump every 2 to 3 hours (even overnight) for a weekend (a good 2-3 days).  This would increase my supply again, and get me through another 2-3 weeks without issue.

Double pumping was critical for me, because it cuts pumping time in half!  Plus, I had a lot of support from my husband which was crucial!  I think for me the key to success was overdoing it in the beginning, and then cutting back when my supply was stable and ample.  

EP'ing is hard and very few people understand it.  I felt BF'ing momma's wondered what I did wrong, and formula momma's wondered why bother, and personally, I was truly devastated that I could not BF.  But, in the end, BF'ing was very stressful for us!  VERY stressful!  EP'ing was the best solution and allowed us to replace painful, tear-filled, tense moments of feeding with calm  moments of bonding that I'm grateful my DH could also share in.  

[lunabin]

Originally Posted by AnnieA 

I'm EP and I have been since my DD was born 13 weeks ago w/a CHD. She spent her first 3 weeks in the hospital recovering from open heart surgery and after being intubated twice, we have not been able to get her to latch because of her oral issues. We had to work hard with the speech path at the hospital just to get her to take a bottle nipple. She still has her rooting reflex though and has started showing interest in my breasts again so I have hope that I can get her to latch.

Question for those that pumped past one year. Did you continue to give your LO bottles of the BM or did you offer it in a cup? Due to DD's CHD and ongoing need for surgeries, I would like to be able to offer her BM well past 1 yr old, just not sure the best way to get it in her or if that even matters.

Kids will drink milk for years, so there's really no issue with supplying them with breastmilk past a year.  Your pediatrician will have ideas about when to introduce other forms of dairy, including milk.  We just put it in a sippy cup instead of a bottle.  Mostly, this was because daycare wanted her to transition around that time.  I didn't care either way, the bottles, sippys, straw cups, real cups are all just tools.  

[kitchensqueen]

Originally Posted by lunabin 

EP'ing is hard and very few people understand it.  I felt BF'ing momma's wondered what I did wrong, and formula momma's wondered why bother, and personally, I was truly devastated that I could not BF.  But, in the end, BF'ing was very stressful for us!  VERY stressful!  EP'ing was the best solution and allowed us to replace painful, tear-filled, tense moments of feeding with calm  moments of bonding that I'm grateful my DH could also share in.  

This is so true for me as well.