Expressing mum and pump recommendations

[southside852]

Nursing was one of the toughest things for me as a mom. It's hard work, draining and time consuming. It requires a lot of dedication. I actually nursed my first and 2nd son for about 2 months, then expressed. I actually prefer expressing b/c it I didn't feel as bound to indoors and a schedule ( I don't like nursing in public). I actually feel quite accomplished for expressing and for me, it was just easier. I used the Ameda double electric pump that my hospital in London recommended. It was very easy to use and put together.

 

[hazelnut]

I had the same issues you cited with my baby. He would fall asleep after 5 minutes and never get a full feed. As a result, he would wake up hungry after 15-20 mins and I would need to try and feed him again, only to have him fall asleep again! It was really frustrating. That led me to exclusively pump after one month. Exclusively pumping was really depressing for me because I felt like I couldn't spend time with my baby while I pumped even though I double pumped. It was hard to hold my baby while pumping. And I was constantly pumping in order to up my supply. It just felt miserable...but it was better to have breast milk for my baby rather than go all formula. For me, the pumping experience was the least fun out of all the motherhood duties, but the thought of giving my baby what he needs kept me motivated.

It's tougher than breastfeeding directly in my opinion because you lose that time to bond. And it's 20 minutes each pumping session, 8+ times a day. You should not feel like you failed; if anything, it's another challenge you've overcome as a new mother.

Google ivillage and exclusively pumping for great forums on how to handle EP'ing.

Good luck!!

FYI, I also used pump in style with pumping bra. You have to massage your breasts while you pump to drain breasts and get all the milk out, which is the best way to increase supply.
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[bonita]

My son is a lazy nursling, too. He usually sucks for 5-7 minutes then falls asleep. He nurses every 2 hours. What I found that works for us at night is let him nurse on one breast while pumping the other breast at the same time. This simultaneous nurse & pump increase milk flow on both breasts. I end up with a good quantity bottle, and he has enough milk to last him 4-5 hours of good sleep at night. And this only takes us 10 minutes.

 

[Junebugwhite]

I had the freestyle, and was sick about how much it cost here compared to buying it in the US. I had issues and had to pump as well, but my lactation consultant did not think the freestyle was powerful enough for what I needed. We ended up renting the Symphony from Celki and it was MUCH more powerful. If I had known that, probably would have just rented instead of spending the big bucks on the Freestyle, which i only used for one week.

My daughter is 7 months old now. I remember being so upset and feeling like I was letting her down. Now several months later I realize how wrong I was and have gotten over it.