exclusively pumping?

[kaylaharney]

Does anyone have any experience with exclusively pumping? I want to have my baby drink breast milk, but I don't want to actually breast feed if you get what I'm saying. I know it probably  sounds strange to a lot of you and please keep any negative comments to yourself. I'm just curious if anyone can give me any tips or knows any good websites for info or anything like that?

[Babyy2DueFeb22]

@Kayla, she had formula for the first two days .. then when I got home I pumped and gave her colostrum until my milk came in.

[mrsMartinez91]

I exclusively pumped. It's tons of work. If my baby would not have had nipple preference I would of stuck with it longer. You have to pump very often at the same time every day. Some breast don't respond well to the pump so that is another thing to think about. Do tons of skin to skin and at least have baby latch once a day to promote supply and demand. I did not have to supplement with formula. My milk came in on day 3 and would pump 24 to 30 on bads days and 30 to 45 oz on good days. If it weren't for work I would have gone longer.  My baby is totally worth.

[kaylaharney]

@babyy2duefeb22 could/did you pump right from the very beginning or did you need to use formula for a few days before your milk came in?

[Babyy2DueFeb22]

Oh also, I use a medela single manual pump. It is wonderful! They sell them at target for 29 dollars. Iove it personally.

[kennimae]

When you know let me know lol .. I exclusively pumped until my milk came in which took almost a week and I had so many blisters. What can help is to make sure you are using the right size for you (the cup thing cant think of the name) and you dont have the pump turned up to high. You can also use lansinoh nipple cream to help or you can put expressed milk on the nipples. When I had the blisters I saw a lactation consultant and she told me whenever I am just lounging around to let the girls roam free because fresh air helps with healing if you do get them.

[mege26]

I have a double that I can use as single or double. I want to pump and be successful this time but Im not looking forward to the soreness. Any ideas to help with that?

[Babyy2DueFeb22]

I had planned on exclusively breastfeeding when I was pregnant BUT when I had my daughter Feb 18th she refused to latch on !! So I had no choice but to pump or formula feed....... Well she's eight days old and I'm exclusively pumping. I pump every 2-3 hours and I have a great milk supply. I pump about 20-24 oz a day. But I pump what I'm going to use for the day. I don't really have a lot stored. I don't do anything different except I drink A LOT of water now .

[kennimae]

Yeah depending on what you eat and everything can change the color but most dont notice because of breastfeeding and not pumping. Also there is a difference in milk (foremilk and hind milk). The foremilk is kind of like getting a drink and the hind milk is all the fatty stuff to fill the baby up so you need to make sure you pump long enough to get both kind (you should feel a let down kind of feels like pins and needles mine did). Another good tip is a double pump is the way to go but if you only have a single have the other one out and have like a bottle or something because you will leak and you can collect more milk instead of having a pad fill it up.

[mege26]

@Kennimae- why is it different colors? I started pumping and it had a green tint so I thought there was something wrong with me, which is why I gave up!

[mege26]

I pumped. I wasn't comfortable with actual breastfeeding either. I didn't produce enough. But I know what I was doing wrong! 1) I didn't not drink enough water 2) I didn't not pump often enough (my daughter slept through the night at 2 weeks... So I did too! I needed to get up and keep pumping til my milk supply came it). 3) I gave up on myself too soon
If you go to communities and medical forums there is an actual forum for breastfeeding too. I'm hoping to be able to produce more this time.

[kaylaharney]

I didn't know it could be different colors! Lol that's crazy. Thank you for the tips :))

[kennimae]

If your going to exclusively pump biggest tip is to probably get an amazing pump which is self explanatory. Next you need to make it in your schedule to pump around evey 2 hours like clock work and maybe evey 3-4 at night. Stay hydrated and eat well. Also make yourself familiar on how long you can keep milk in the fridge/freezer. And when you pump your milk isnt always goin to be white just so you dont freak out. I had had white, pink, green, etc. Yesterday I saw a picture of pumped colostrum that was gold (funny because colostum is called liquid gold).