Sunday, 19 July 2009
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Do You Ever Pump Your Breast Milk?
Do you ever pump breast milk? What are some of the times you need to pump breast milk rather than nurse your baby?
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Comments (32)
Ew.
Ummm... when you have to go to work? This is a ridiculous post momaroo....
@Momma_Kate@xanga - This isn't a ridiculous post; a lot of breastfeeding mothers pump on a regular basis, so there could be so good information and discussion from this post. Perhaps the original post should have been an article or blog instead of a simple question though.
I'm a SAHM and I pump about twice a day. Once in the mid-morning when my son only nurses for 4 minutes (around his 10 am feeding) I'll pump the side he didn't nurse from and I pump once two hours after he goes to bed at night. This gives me about 4-6 extra ounces per day that I either freeze or give my 19-month-old daughter every morning mixed in with her whole milk (she hasn't been sick a day since I started doing this).
I had supply issues with my first, so this is my way of making sure my body keeps up milk production. My son doesn't take a bottle, so every so often I donate my extra frozen milk to a mom who is unable to breastfeed.
My ex pumped. She belonged to the leche league. I don't know if they are still in existence.
I pumped for my son when he was first born because he had to stay in the NICU for 10 days. Then I continued pumping until we established good nursing habits (when he was about 2 months old) since he was used to primarily eating from a bottle.
I pumped when I went back to work after my son was a month old. It worked for a little while, but I couldn't keep up with him.
I never pumped at work, just before I left, or at night.
I pump on occasion to have some in the freezer in case I'm ever at an appointment and can't get back in time for the next feeding. I find pumping in the morning to be the best time- I'm usually still pretty full even after he's had his morning nursing.
@Nina1981@xanga - I do the same thing.
I pumped the first month of my son's life because he spent his first 25 days in the NICU and I loved it! I did trying breastfeeding a few times but I liked pumping more. Atleast this way I knew how much he was getting.
As soon as my milk turned more white when my son was a couple weeks old I started to pump after feeding him when he ws down for a nap. This way I had a large supply in the freezer for when I went back to work. I also used this pumped milk to give him a couple of ounces in a bottle once/day to get him used to a bottle before I had to head to work. I always tried to pump enough at work so that the amount covered however much he ate during that day so that I wasn't loosing backup supply. After 5 months of work I was able to start staying home (it's been a wonderful year since then!) and stopped pumping except occasionally to reduce engorgment or because I knew I'd be out for a couple hours. I still had a good strong supply in the freezer. ...until the dreadful day that the freezer stopped working and we didn't find out until 10 hours (ish) later! Nothing like loosing as much milk as it would take to feed your baby for a whole week should something happen to you...
My son couldn't/wouldn't latch and I exclusively pumped for 6 weeks. Lots of work!
@hapax23@xanga - Yes, the La Leche League is very much still in existence!
I pumped to stimulate my supply, and to generate a freezer stock for my husband / babysitter / family to use on my nights out.
I pumped when my son was younger when I left him with a sitter and when he was in the NICU. I exclusively pumped until he learned to latch on.
I pump about once a week to have a bottle for my little one while I'm out at church volunteering. He usually won't take the bottle though, so I simply freeze it in hopes that he will take a bottle some day. (He won't take a pacifier either. I can honestly say that he is over 5 months old now and has had formula only one time and that was because I didn't want to unfreeze some milk and throw it out if he didn't drink it and I didn't have time to pump a fresh bottle). I usually have about 12-15 ounces frozen in the freezer at all times just incase. It also makes it nice if I want to have a glass of wine with dinner. Then I have some untainted milk to feed the kiddo.
I pump in the morning when my son is taking a nap and then again at night after he goes to bed. I'm just trying to build up a supply in case I get sick and my supply goes down, or my husband needs to give him a bottle in case I'm running errands or need a nap, or for date nights when my mom babysits. I try to keep about 20-25oz in the freezer. Plus, I like having his daddy feed him now and then, it's sweet. :)
I did all the time with my son. He refused to nurse in the evening so I would bottle feed him either formula or pumped breast milk. During his night time feedings I would pump milk while my husband fed him a bottle so that I would have my supply for the following evening. I would also pump if I were going to leave my son with a sitter, until my supply dried up when he was 3 1/2 months old. I would nurse during the days though and right before his bedtime. If I were going out for at least two hours I would pump at least one side so I wouldn't leak
I pumped with my daughter to have a supply when I went back to work. And I pumped when I was at work as well. But I am a hairdresser and at the time I worked in a salon where I had my own little room, so all I had to do was shut the door and have some privacy. I kept up a pretty good supply that way.
When I had my son a couple years later, I decided that I might try hand expression over using the breast pump and was so surprised how much easier it was. In fact, I seemed to get more milk expressed that way because I could stimulate the milk glands naturally. It was awesome.
@muslimmom - I only pumped so that my husband had milk at home while I was at work. (He's a stay at home daddy.) Whenever I was with my babies I nursed them - - EVERYWHERE. I could walk right through Walmart nursing my baby and nobody was ever the wiser. I was discreet, but I never ever felt like I should not nurse. It is the most natural thing in the world.
I'm surprised no one was in the same situation as I was, I'm totally inverted on both sides and all the gadgets out there that are supposed to help have done nothing at all, and I wanted my son to take breastmilk for all the health benefits and such so I had no choice but to pump exclusively for about 7 months, then my milk supply decresead but I continued doing it till he was 14 months old. It was A LOT of work getting connected to a machine every 3-4 hours for 15 minutes at a time, those who knew thought I was crazy and that I should just switch to formula but I was so insistent on him having all the benefits. I wonder if I'll be able to do the same for my second baby when I decide to have one, only time will tell.
@averyswife@xanga - I've thought about pumping to spike my older daughter's milk (so to speak) but I haven't because there really isn't a time during the day that it is necessary or convenient without having to shift our schedule too much.
@muslimmom - I think public facilities should be more accommodating to the needs of women who nurse their children. I don't think a woman should be forced to do it at the dinner table. If I were to breastfeed, I would want to go somewhere a little more secluded. But that's just me. Public breastfeeding does freak a lot of people out, true...but some women do kind of just let it all hang out. Others are very discrete.
Pumped a couple times but, it really is a hassel. In my case a freezer stash would only be used in the case that I was in some horrid accident, in the hospital and forced to take meds that would make my milk unsuitable for my son. My son is nearly 8 months now, was exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months and although he has some solids now his diet is still prodiminatly breastmilk. He's never had a bottle. I didn't even buy a bottle. The only one I have is the one that came with my pump. Breastfeeding was difficult this time around just as it was the last but, I stuck with it, never gave in to formula on those long nights full of crying on his end and pain on mine, and was fortune never to have a supply issue to make matters worse.
I'm a SAHM to my 2 kiddos and don't use a babysitter so it's isn't nessesary that my son take a bottle... so he doesn't. As a someone who prodiminatly formula fed their first child after 3 months of age I never thought I'd be saying that breastfeeding is much easier once the painful, latching issue, oversupply, phase is over but, it is!
The little bit of milk that I did pump I ended up mashing up into slushy consistancy and spoon feeding to my son when he was first teething. He loved it!
@songbird27@xanga - That's why I added a "feeding" (pumping session) at night before I go to bed. My son goes to sleep around 8:30 and sleeps for about 4 hours. So I pump about two hours after I put him down and I usually get about 4 ounces (as long as I'm hydrated). I stay up late to wait for my hubby to get home (11ish) so it fits into my schedule perfectly. And my daughter has been soo much healthier since I've added breastmilk to her whole milk (her bowel movements are more regular, no diaper rashes ever, and very few colds...and all from just 4 oz a day!) so I think it's totally worth it.