Tips for wanting to exclusively pump ???

Question

This will be my first baby, I know I’ll have to breastfeed directly while I build up a supply but my goal is to get to be able to only pump, just wondering if theres anything I should know and also how long to expect to be breastfeeding until I will have enough supply to pump exclusively, thanks😊

Answer

You can pump exclusively from the beginning, if you want. I pretty much did, but that was because she wouldn't latch. But if your baby does latch and you breastfeed for a while, pump after every time you feed them. You may get nothing, or you may get something. Just keep it up because it tells your body to make more milk. Then you can start bottle feeding your baby your breastmilk, then still pump after you bottle feed. Again, this tells your body how often your baby is eating. So keep up that routine. It's a lot easier to get into that pattern of pumping after feeding. In the beginning, you'll probably just be feeding them the milk you just pumped from the pump session before. And that's fine. It's been a while for me, but I believe pumped milk is good out of the fridge for 3 hours (not 100% sure) and it's good in the fridge for 3-4 days (roughly). If you have a lot in the fridge, you can put them in a deep freezer and it's good for up to 12 months, depending on the freezer. I recommend investing in breastmilk storage bags if you start to freeze them, and write down on them the date and time you pumped. Some of this info might be more than you wanted, but hope it helps! Oh also, one of the best tips I got, was that instead of having to wash your pump parts after every pump (which is so annoying) you can put them promptly in the fridge and keep doing that for the day and it's good for 24 hours! I would do that then wash them at the end of the day. And having a second set of pump parts is not a bad idea either!

Answer

Same here

Answer

You can pump exclusively the whole way through. My daughter was born premature and couldn't latch right / didn't have the mouth strength to suckle. So I had to pump exclusively from the get go. We tried to get her to nurse later on as she got bigger, but by then she was too used to how easy milk comes from a bottle and would only take breastmilk via bottle.

Answer

I exclusively pumped with my first — not by choice but because I had twins in the nicu and they didn’t have enough fat in their cheeks to suck effectively. I tried breast feeding for the first 2 weeks but went to exclusively pumping after that. Those first 2 weeks were awful — breast & bottle for baby A, breast & bottle for baby B, pump. And then do it all over again 20 minutes later lol. Once I started exclusively pumping life got way easier and my husband could help with feeds too. I can’t remember how long it took to be able to exclusively give breast milk without supplementing — but there were 2 babies! If it were just 1 I don’t think it would have taken very long. 
I took 1000 calcium + 500 magnesium supplement and that helped with my supply — recommended by the lactation consultant. 
I pumped every 3 hours for the first few weeks until I just couldn’t handle the lack of sleep and I dropped 1 middle of the night pump. I pumped for 30-40 minutes at a time but I was trying to produce enough for 2 babies.
When I was trying to up my supply I would “power pump” — I forget exactly how often that was but if you google it I bet you can find it. It was kind of like mimicking cluster feeding I think. 
Get an extra set of pump parts. I would throw my pump parts in a ziplock in the fridge so I didn’t have to wash them every time. 
This time around I’m hoping breastfeeding works for us and I won’t need to exclusively pump!
Let me know if there’s anything else you’re curious about! I exclusively pumped for a year!

Answer

I never actually breastfed my first. She was in NICU and had latching issues so I only ever pumped. It didnt take but a couple days to start producing more than enough for her. Unless you want to, dont assume you have to start out on the breast. Have you spoken to a lactation consultant? They helped out tremendously while in the hospital.