Ladies who pump please help...

Who here pumps? My baby is three days old and he is having trouble latching. Sometimes he is a champ and latches no problem and has a good feeding and sometimes he will not latch. I am sending my husband out to buy the Medala pump. My milk is coming in...my hope is I can pump and give him the breast milk. Has this worked for anyone? Ideally I would like to BF but as long as he is getting the milk I am happy with that. Please share our experience if you turned to pumping for similar reasons.

Re: Ladies who pump please help...

A pump is handy to have but at three days, I would not stop trying to get a consistant good latch. Did you see a LC at the hospital? Maybe you can contact one now or try a LLL meeting. Good luck.

I'm not much help for pumping this early. I pumped a little later to store/freeze milk for when DH started to give a bottle at night at around 4 months and so I could get my hair done.

Re: Ladies who pump please help...

I've been BFing for a year. My LO initially had trouble latching and it took a while to get it right. I was told to exclusively BF the first three weeks. Yes, it will be exhausting and time consuming, but so worth it. Definitely consult with a LC. Not sure where you live, but St. Catherine's has an opening weekly class that might be helpful. If your LO continues to have problems latching, you might want to try a nipple shield (a silacone type shield that is sold at Babies R Us). It goes right over the nipple and helps baby latch. We actually used that for a few months, until LO mastered BFing.

Good luck!

Re: Ladies who pump please help...

Do whatever feels right for you!

If you think pumping will work better, then pumping is what you should do. I pumped after a month of torture, because my daughter would hurt my nipples sooooo bad. At first I felt terrible about not giving her my breast, but then I realized that not only is it the same thing.. but you have to be happy and feel good about what you're doing, otherwise it won't work well for anyone.

The only downside to pumping is the washing and sterilizing of the bottles all the time, otherwise it's all good, imo.

For me, it's like down time when I sit down to pump :)

Re: Ladies who pump please help...

I pumped from day 1 w/ both my DC b/c both were in the NICU. I had a HUGE freezer supply.

With DD I couldn't get her to latch at all, but kept trying & after my milk came in in another day/two I finally got her to latch. It was probably around a week old.

It helped though too b/c she was used to the bottle so DH could feed her. I ended up nursing her a few times a day supplementing w/ pumped milk. I lasted about 8 weeks & then went exclusively to pumping until a year old. It can be done.

I did the same w/ DS who latched like a champ.

I just liked knowing exactly how much they were getting.

Re: Ladies who pump please help...

Thanks ladies. I sent DH to get nipple shields and a medala pump. I am going to keep trying with the shield and have the pump in case, or to use down the road bc I always planned on pumping down the road.

Re: Ladies who pump please help...

I wouldn't make any decisions regarding feeding at 3 days pp. Number one, you are probably very hormonal and overwhelmed, two, your supply isn't completely in yet if at all, and three, the baby needs to get the hang of nursing. Both of my DD's didn't latch well at 3 days old, but got the hang of it after about a week or so. Good luck and hang in there!

Re: Ladies who pump please help...

At 4 days, my nipples were raw and painful. I would cry every time I nursed and was becoming resentful because at that age you have to nurse every 1.5-2 hours and I would pray that he would last longer in between feedings so I wouldn't have to do this. Day 4, I sent DH out to get the pump and we exclusively pumped for 2 months. Pumping was really stressful for me but it wasn't painful so therefore it was better. After 2 months, I would try to put him on me and after a few days he got the hang of it and 13.5 months later we are still going strong with breastfeeding.

You need to do what works best for you and the baby. If you are going insane, are in pain, etc, etc then if you think pumping would be better than try it. Everyone was saying that I should just keep trying but it wasn't working for me, I finally just listened to my gut and did what was best for DS and I. He got my breastmilk, I got some sanity.

Re: Ladies who pump please help...

I was having the same issue, she would latch sometimes, and not others. It turned out she was just being lazy and didn't want to wait for my let down. It's gotten better now at 5 weeks. If you have the pump, you can try eliciting a let down with the pump first, and then have her latch so the milk is already there. EPing is a big commitment, but it can work. I agree that you have to do what keeps you sane, and if that means pumping thats ok.

Re: Ladies who pump please help...

The first week of life, your baby's stomach is so tiny that he needs very little milk/colostrum at all. As long as he's getting some, he's fine. Think of this first week as practice / bonding time and not feeding time. Every time you try to nurse, you're doing a good thing.

I think you should keep trying, and see a LC if it doesn't get better in the next couple of days. I know a lot of insurance plans even cover LCs so you'd only have a $20 copay. You should call your insurance company and find out.

As for pumping - I have the Medela Pump In Style Advanced and it works great for me. I bought the bra with the holes in it to hold it in place too, so I can do it hands-free and read a book or go online while I pump. I didn't pump at all for the first 2 and a half weeks, though. Just BF'ing and napping took up all of my time - I wouldn't have had time to mess with pumps and bottles too! Keep trying; at 3 days you're both amateurs as are all new moms and new babies. It's always been that way, so babies don't need much milk to do will the first week. If you really want to BF, keep trying. If you feel like it's not working and not for you, no worries, there are options then. But decide what you want. And good luck!

Re: Ladies who pump please help...

This is the very last thing you want to hear but I have to agree with above posters - I would keep trying with the latching and not go to bottles just yet. Giving a bottle this early will make latching much much more difficult for you, and if you stick with it, your LO WILL eventually get the hang of it. Then a few weeks down the road, you will have the option of bottle or breast, whereas you may regret it if the only thing you can do is pump. EPing takes double the time and is a hassle to clean all the equipment every 3 hours.
I was in the EXACT same position as you only 1 month ago - I'm glad I stuck it out, and by 2 weeks my son was able to go between breast and bottle without much trouble. I do understand how completely exhausted and frustrated you must feel, though, and just know whatever decision you make - BF, pumping, formula - everything will be ok and your LO will be just fine and healthy. In terms of pumps, my LC highly recommended renting a jospital grade pump for pumping this early on - stronger than the store bought ones, they are better at establishing a good milk supply - I use the medela symphony.
Good luck and hang in there!!!

Re: Ladies who pump please help...

I pump and nurse. I got the pump right away. It helps give me sanity so I can have my husband or mom give her a bottle and sleep a little!

It also helped in the beginning because she really hurt my left nipple, so I would just nurse her from the right side and pump my left until it healed in a few days. I love pumping. It's a nice break and I pump more when I'm really sore.

I know some people exclusively pump so that is definitely possible. Or you should see a LC (look at the LLL online they have different groups in different areas of LI/Queens- I'm going to try to go to a meeting). They c an help you with the latch.

Good luck and CONGRATS!! :)

EDIT: My DD had no problem going from bottles to my nipple. I was very nervous about that, but I started with bottles when I got home from the hospital (one or two a day), and she;s been find. Her latch is pretty good.We still have some latch problems sometimes (she's almost 3weeks), but it's been getting better and better.

Message edited 10/9/2011 12:21:52 PM.

Re: Ladies who pump please help...

My babies were born at 30 w 4d, for the past 4 weeks all I have done is pumped. The hospital grade pumps are way better then the ones in the store. I have both, I rented the hospital one, an use the store one on the go and will once I return the hospital one. My twins are too young to bf. However they have been getting only breast milk in tube and now bottle since day 1.

Re: Ladies who pump please help...

Yes, get the pump but if you REALLY want to BF keep trying to get him to latch. If he's latching for even a few minutes at a time, that's perfectly fine. Learning to BF does take practice.

Pumping and feeding is REALLY time consuming.

Congrats on your little guy!

Re: Ladies who pump please help...

Message edited 10/9/2011 1:47:07 PM.

Re: Ladies who pump please help...

i pumped for my twins for a year and it worked fine. the only thin i can say is that the pump doesn't demand as much as the baby directly, so i never truly made enough for two

Re: Ladies who pump please help...

Where do u live? there are support group meetings with Lc's everywhere

Re: Ladies who pump please help...

Re: Ladies who pump please help...

It gets a little easier when your milk comes in, so you may want to try a bit longer.

But you can definitely EP for your child. For #2 I was pumping 60oz a day! Now with #3 Im at 50. The key is to pump every 2-3 hours. And once over night. Each session should be 15-20 minutes long. Keep a journal of your times and amounts so you can compare if your supply is increasing or decreasing.

Re: Ladies who pump please help...

Thank you so much for insight, it is very helpful