when should i start pumping? and other related questions

[brooklyn_warbler]

nak...

so i know this is probably better suited to the breastfeeding forum, but i trust my lovely ddc mamas so much i'd prefer to ask here first.

starting the beginning of february i'll be out of the house twice a week for 6 hours at a time. wren will be 2.5months then. andy will be home with her and obviously will need to giver her ebm during those hours.

so when do i start pumping? and when do we introduce bottles? she's 3weeks now, and i'm definitely not ready to introduce bottles yet because while she's had a great latch from the start, i can see her getting lazy if she has the option. but i also know i don't want to wait too long because then she might reject bottles, yeah?

any advice?

[cheeseRjedi]

The official advice is to introduce a bottle at 6 weeks if planning on giving one at all. It's too late for nipple confusion but early enough to not reject it. We started at 6 weeks with DD and it worked out fine. I'd say by 10 weeks she had it down.

As for pumping, start whenever you are comfortable. Personally, I'd say the earlier the better. BF'ing is such a supply and demand thing - you want to get a good supply if you are going to be giving a bottle regularly. Plus it takes a while to get used to pumping. Some women have a hard time pumping so you want to see where you stand to make sure you'll have enough by the time you have to be leaving your babe.

I don't plan on going back to work or being away from DS, but I've been pumping a bit here and there. At first it was because of engorgement and now I do it just to build up a good freezer stock whenever I feel full or DS is having a long nap. DH and I go out to shows every once in a while and it'd be nice to have milk for him if I want to go to a movie or something (when I am ready to leave him of course - probably not for a while). I have no trouble pumping though - I usually get at least 4 oz. a sitting and have about 30 oz. frozen already.

[Momma Aimee]

pump now

-- BM will last up to 6 month easy in a freezer attached to family fridge ... put it back away from the door

-- BM will last a year or more in a seperate Deep freezer ....

it might be tough to pump day by day the full amount your needing ... but if you start stock pileing now.. there will be alwasy be extra to add to whatever you pump on any guiven day.

you can never have tooooo much milk in the freezer .. we have 200 oz in the freexer now ...

more later about the bottle

AImee

[brooklyn_warbler]

thanks for the answers thus far! i forgot my other question which is...when do i pump? as in, at what time of day or when, related to her feedings? i don't want to have an empty boob when she wants to feed.

i'm such a newbie, i have no idea about any of this.

[*Lindsey*]

We introduced a bottle at 4 weeks with both DS and DD#1. We had no issues with nipple confusion, latch problems, etc. DH would give them a bottle a few times a week to keep them used to it.

I pumped during nap time, usually I was full enough then to get out a decent amount. I would start pumping now, too, some people aren't good pumpers and it may take you a few gos to get enough to freeze for one feeding.

[Momma Aimee]

as for what pump to buy -- the biggest and best one you can afford.

Really I am on pump # 4 .......

i started with an "occasional use" pump (one sided) cuz well I am a sahm and don't need to pump enough to send each day to day care .....

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...ductId=2747181 this is the one i started with -- don't waest your time....

now i have a dual pump rated for going back to work

and I still stay home and an RARELY away from either boy .......

a doul pump works better -- you will pump a lot more pumping both sides at once.

I now have the OLD version of this one http://www.toysrus.com/product/index...ductId=2409073 ........... and i bought it used and spent only 100 on it .....

the stronger pump with 1. pump moe, faster, and 2. not burn out (I burnt out two pumps that were so wimpy they didn't pump much -- so i used tehm more and more to get less and less .... yk?)

so buy the biggest and best you can afford

i would never waest my money again on a single pump.

also -- in the long run you do not save money buying one for 30 or 40 and finding it way too wimpy, or whatever, then going back to buy the 100 buck modle -- do for the 150 modle to start with ................

[brooklyn_warbler]

aimee, i have the medela swing breast pump, which has gotten a lot of good reviews on the breastfeeding forum. it's essentially the one-sided version of the pis...

lindsey, naptime?? right now wren never naps longer than the interval between feedings (she eats every 2 hours -- that's 2 hours between the start-time of each feeding, so really i only get 1.5 hours in between feedings at best...) so how would i navigate that?

[maisiedotes]

I have the Medela pump in style advance and I like it. The lactation consultant said it is a good one... I have a manual one too but no hand strength! Our hospital rents them out for I think $30/month but I know some places have them as high as $60. The PIS was almost $300 so if you are planning to not do it for long it may be worth it to rent one.

[GinaRae]

If baby often eats just on one side and you have the one-sided pump, I would pump and feed at the same time.

I have the most milk in the early morning because he hasn't emptied my breats in a whike so I would pump then. But that's up to you when you have the most!

[sorteep]

i have done well introducing bottle at 4-5 wks... i have already been pumping but am already back working pt.. you can try to pump 1/2 way in between nursings but you might try pumping just after she is done nursing and you should get a bit out of the 2nd side... my pumping scheduleis weird due to hyperlac so i wo't go into my weird timing..

i used advent isis hand pump one sided for all my pumping with ev.. i broke three of them in the 1st yr and got tendonitis in my thumb!!..i pumped daily and multiple times on work days.. they did replace all three for free btw..

i have been using a one sided hand medela right now but will use the medela pis when i go back full time.. i like it a lot better than the advent.. also medela plastic is bpa free

i freeze in medela zip lock bags

hopefully he will take to the really $$ born free bottles and nips i bought...

[renaissanceed]

We introduced a bottle with DD at 6 weeks and it went fine. We had a lot of bf problems in the first 4 weeks but most weren't latch related so by 6 weeks I was OK with giving her a bottle, especially because it was only going to happen once or twice a month.

I found pumping in the early morning worked best for me, like Gina, cause I hadn't nursed her for the longest time and so got the most from the pump.

I have the Medela PIS and found it worked really well and got tons of milk (6-10 oz in 5 minutes) but part of that is my hyperlactation syndrome, which, while nice for pumping, causes other problems when bf.

[*Lindsey*]

Originally Posted by robina_josephine

lindsey, naptime?? right now wren never naps longer than the interval between feedings (she eats every 2 hours -- that's 2 hours between the start-time of each feeding, so really i only get 1.5 hours in between feedings at best...) so how would i navigate that?

Oh. What about nursing on one side and pumping the other like Gina suggested? First thing in the morning is a good idea, too, since most women have the most milk then. Would either of those work?

I used a medela pump in style (double electric pump) when I was in school and had to pump for DS and then DD. It worked great for me! I still have it, but it's collecting dust b/c I don't have the time to pump.