Painful when pumping!

[Iamhappy2BAmom]

Whoever said that breastfeeding was cheaper than formula definitely did not have any issues- Anyway:

I have to go back to work in a month (baby will me almost 4 months) and I am worried that pumping has not worked out for me. The most I am pumping is a fraction of an ounce per breast and the experience is not only excruciating, but it does not empty my breast and it also makes breastfeeding for the next few days additionally painful than it already is.

I've already seen 4 LC's. Tried a hospital grade pump, bought the Medela Advance pump, am using 2 sizes of suction cups and tried 2 differnt types of hand pumps.

I am worried that going back to work will greatly reduce my supply as most people have mentioned.

Background:

I had lot's of BF challenges in the beginning- Low supply, inverted nipples, bad latch,lot's of wrong information, lot's of non supportive people around me. I had to supplement in the beginning, but was able to aggressively work hard to bring my supply up and am now currently successfully breastfeeding at 10 weeks (it took me till 8 weeks to get things going without the help of a pump). Now you know why a reduction in milk would be extra painful for me-was such a struggle to wean her off of formula.

Thoughts?

[sanguine_speed]

Originally Posted by Iamhappy2BAmom

Whoever said that breastfeeding was cheaper than formula definitely did not have any issues- Anyway:

I KNOW! Drives me crazy that people think breastfeeding is always "free". My pump, my LC, my accessories, bottles that I need anyway to pump...no, these were not free. And in fact would have formula fed my baby for several months in terms of pure financial cost.

The only piddly thing I can suggest is using a very low speed/suction on the pump, but since you've seen 4 LCs already, I'm sure they've made any suggestion I could make. I'm sorry you're dealing with that. Breastfeeding is NOT always cheap, and it is NOT always easy nor convenient. I feel for you. I'm in my own breastfeeding hell right now.

[bdavis337]

Can you hand-express at all? I get nearly an ounce that way, and less than 1/4oz with any pump I use.

[MamaBear1976]

Originally Posted by Iamhappy2BAmom

Whoever said that breastfeeding was cheaper than formula definitely did not have any issues-

Oooh, I can relate to this!

First off, wow! You are really dedicated. Good for you, mama!

Second, I have to ask what hand pumps you've used. I've had the best luck with hand pumps, but only good ones (the Medela Harmony is my favorite). I still use two different hospital-grade pumps, but when I have the energy for it, I hand-pump because I get the most milk that way. I've tried some hand-expression, but I find it tiring and my boobs get sore after a while of that.

If you haven't taken herbs and tinctures to increase supply, you might want to try that for while you're at work, and try to get as many pumping breaks as you can, even if they're only for five minutes, to get as much stimulation as possible. If you can afford to only work part-time, that would help too, as well as going home to nurse your baby if you can, on a break. Obviously you've probably thought of all this already, but I wanted to throw that out there.

[SaharaRose]

Most woman wouldn't have kept on going with all the challenges you've had. You're wonderful!

This may not work at all for you, but this is what helped me when I couldn't get much while I was pumping. Mine was partly a mental block, because of how unnatural the pump felt, how uncomfortable I was while I was pumping, and how desperate I was for this to work for me. I fianlly just laid down on my bed, put on the most relaxing music I could find, attached the pump and didn't look at it. At all.

10 minutes later I had half a bottle in there. Watching my nipple getting squished around was making me nervous & limiting my success.

[babycarrier]

Pumping one side while nursing the other worked wonders for me. I got some extra letdown when not pumping that side when nursing, but it helped.

Pumping can be so frustrating.