What’s everyone doing regarding breast pumps/breastfeeding ?

Question

I’m so confused- 
>When do you pump?
>How much do you pump?
>If you pump won’t you produce more? (Get painful)
>Anyone used naturebond silicone manual suction pump or Haakaa one? Recommend?
>When would you introduce your milk in bottle? 
>Do you even need a breast pump? 
Any thoughts welcome 🙏🏽

Answer

When do you pump? This really depends on you. It’s recommended to pump immediately after breast feeding or 30 min after breast feeding. You want to leave yourself an hour or so to build you your milk back up before your next feeding. 
How much do you pump? It’s recommended not to pump longer than 15 minutes each session. So depending on how much your body produces within those 15 minutes is how much you would get. 
If you pump, won’t you produce more milk? Most of the time yes, but between pumping and breastfeeding, you really shouldn’t have to worry about engorged breast. As long as you make sure to empty each breast each time. 
As for the pump type. The Hakka isn’t really a pump per se. it attaches to whichever breast your aren’t feeding your baby from and catches any excess breast milk that will leak during your breastfeeding session. Pumping is not necessary unless you are planning to return to work. It just helps to have a supply built up so that you can have a break from the baby every now and then. If you are exclusively breastfeeding, you will need to be with your baby so that you can breast feed every 2 hours or so. This is why it is recommended to have some sort of pump. If your pumping to build up a large supply for returning to work for example, you should invest in an electric pump (most insurances cover these). If you are just planning to pump occasionally, then a manual pump should be fine. 
When do you introduce your baby to bottle? This depends entirely on you and your situation. I plan to start introducing bottle after 2 weeks of exclusive breastfeeding but again this is because I will be returning to work after 9 weeks. It is also recommended to have a partner, spouse, or someone else introduce the bottle to help the baby latch. Otherwise, he/she will be wanting the boob instead. 
Do you even need a breast pump? Again, really just depends on your situation. 
Hope this helps 😁

Answer

I’m a FTM, all I know so far is that I will breast feed, then after a couple of months when I get too busy with school I will pump.... I’m gonna be following this post because I have the same questions 😂

Answer

With my first I fed on demand so when he was wanting it I’d give it to him. I would pump on the opposite breast while feeding. It does cause a supply increase basically like tricking your body into thinking it had twins. As he got older I just pumped here and there and my supply went down. For the first months I was probably feeding/ pumping every 1-2 hours. My kid loved to eat! I’d only pump as long as he was eating too so usually around 10 minutes each time. We didn’t give any bottles until he was 3-4 months but I think it’s recommended waiting at least 4 weeks to help with your supply.

Answer

kellymom.com is an awesome website with tons of information for breastfeeding moms.

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With my last baby, I would use the hakaa on the breast he wasnt feeding on to catch anything that leaked out. I would usually leak 1-1.5 oz each time and that is too valuable to waste! I plan on using the hakaa with this baby too. As for advice on pumping, kellymom.com is a great resource! Lactation consultants are also very helpful.

Answer

Following

Answer

Going to try to remember each question since Glow hides it while I comment lol. 
>It’s not recommended you pump the first 6 weeks (unless you are exclusively pumping) because your body is trying to regulate its supply. You just want to latch baby at any hunger cues those first few weeks. Remember that cluster feeding (where they seem like they are latched on 24/7) is completely normal and does NOT mean a low supply. 
>yes, pumping will signal your body to make more, and then if you don’t nurse or pump your boobs will be overfilled and can be painful. So let’s say your baby nurses every 3 hours, and you add in a pump session once a day in between those 3 hours. When you skip that pump session, your boobs will be full. Your pump session is telling your body “baby needs this much more milk! Gotta make this much for baby now” (this is why it’s good to let your supply regulate before introducing the pump) 
>every woman pumps for a different amount of time. Some can pump 8oz in 5 minutes, others pump 3oz in 15 minutes. You’ll know once you start pumping how long to pump for; either to clear your breast or to hit the amount of ounces you are wanting to store. I will say, only freeze in 2-4oz increments so you don’t waste milk when you thaw it and baby doesn’t eat it all. Babies only need an ounce per hour (so if they go 3 hours without eating, they will eat about 3oz) 
>my son would get completely full in only 3 minutes of nursing. He was an efficient nurser lol. Some babies want to nurse for 45 minutes at a time. Either is perfectly okay. 
>Haakas work well, but they are easily knocked off or spilled. To me, it wasn’t worth the hassle. I pumped and stored 1000oz with my pump and didn’t mess with the haaka hardly ever. 
>some babies can be introduced to a bottle early and never have a problem latching still. Others get lazy once they’ve had a bottle and don’t want to “work” to nurse so you have to reintroduce the breast and wait for them to latch without a fit. I prefer to wait to introduce bottles until after 6 weeks. 
>just remember that the first 3ish weeks of nursing get HARD. You’ll be in pain and you’ll want to give up. You’ll question your supply 100 times. But as long as baby has wet diapers, they are getting enough. Just tell yourself a realistic goal “I won’t give up before 1 month” (or something similar) and stick to that. Once you hit that first month, things will be easier and I think you’ll have no issues! 
Let me know if I missed something or if you have any questions. I nursed my first for 14 months. I’m no pro but I do know a thing or two! Lol

Answer

The book The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding is a great resource🙌🏼 No offense to anyone but most women are not educated very well on breastfeeding and how it all works. For myself I don’t take advise from personal stories bc everyone will give you their different experiences and a lot of them don’t have helpful information or it’s just what worked for them but doesn’t give you proper breastfeeding knowledge.

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You should go to a breastfeeding class. They cover these items in detail. Whatever you do though don't pump before you have baby unless your doctor says you can.

Answer

I’m a second time Mom this pregnancy. I’ll tell you what was told to me with my first born, in hopes it will help with your questions. My first didn’t gain weight as quickly as the doctor would’ve liked and although I had colostrum, my actual milk didn’t come in until the end of the first week after birth (roughly 5 days). I didn’t have a pump (only a hand pump that didn’t fit me - nothing electric) when my baby was born. I was told to feed baby on demand as often as baby wanted/needed to be fed and if he was sleeping to wake him up to feed every 2 hours. I struggled at first with latch problems and soreness. I was referred to a lactation consultant at the hospital. At the consultant’s office, I was given a Medela electric pump for free through my insurance and they also gave me a week’s worth of pre-mixed formula, some gel nipple pads (they’re cold and moist for pain relief), a tube of lanolin cream, and all the pump accessories that I needed with the pump to be successful. They also taught me how to better position and latch my baby.
How often to pump: I was told to feed baby first, then pump for 10-20 minutes after baby. This was meant to increase and establish milk supply, because I was struggling. Once milk supply was established I could pump on one side while baby was feeding on the other, or pump between feeds to create a stash in the fridge/freezer for when I went back to work.
How much to pump: I was told not to worry about how much I got. The exercise of pumping for 10-20 minutes every 2 hours or every time baby fed would stimulate the hormones so every time I’d make more the next time. I never made more than 6oz-8oz at a sitting, even at my fullest. When I went back to work was when I pumped the most. I pumped every 2 hours for 10 minutes. I got two full bottles (4-5oz bottles) every time. This was enough to feed my baby while I was gone for one day. Each day I had to replenish the stash.
If you pump will you produce more and get painful: it depends on how much you’re producing. I never got engorged while pumping unless I skipped a feed/pump session. And even then I didn’t get pain unless I’d been engorged for several hours without access to baby or the pump. That would’ve happened even if I wasn’t pumping but was producing enough for baby and skipped a feed. It’s easy to relieve the pain - just like having to pee - all you need to do is express milk and the pain goes away.
When to introduce milk in a bottle: We introduced bottles in the first week baby was born, because I didn’t have enough milk at first. So we did supplement with formula sometimes and when I did get a pump, some feeds I would pump and then bottle feed the fresh milk (because my nipples were sore and needed to heal). We did bottles more consistently when I went back to work (4 weeks after birth). In our case, my baby preferred mom’s milk to formula and he didn’t like pacifiers and preferred the boob to the bottle (although as long as he got milk he didn’t care much about the delivery system), so we didn’t have any nipple confusion.
If you’re like me, than yes you do need a breast pump. You definitely need one if you’re going back to work or going anywhere without your baby (even for a few hours) in the first 6 months after baby is born.

What’s everyone doing regarding breast pumps/breastfeeding ?

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