The Breast Feeding Support Thread

jlm29

I have a medela swing, it’s a great little pump, but I don’t think I’d buy another. It’s an open system, I would buy a closed system if I had my time back! A friend has the spectra s something or other and recommends!)

Millem

I have a spectra 3 which is cheapest closed system I could find. £50 on amazon. I paid £45 at time.
It’s great. I bought double kit recently but haven’t used it yet.

bee06

Millem wrote: »

I have a spectra 3 which is cheapest closed system I could find. £50 on amazon. I paid £45 at time.
It’s great. I bought double kit recently but haven’t used it yet.

I never heard of the Spectra S3! That’s a great price. I had been toying with buying the S1 or S2 but I don’t pump at all at the moment so don’t think I’d get the use for the cost of those but £50 is reasonable especially for a closed system.

tea_and_cake

I have a spectra and it's great. It's a double or single and it's a closed system. It's hospital grade. It's about €150 so it's expensive. The haakaa is a good alternative and on offer with the stopper for €33 on inhealth. I don't have one but people rave about them.

bee06

tea_and_cake wrote: »

I have a spectra and it's great. It's a double or single and it's a closed system. It's hospital grade. It's about €150 so it's expensive. The haakaa is a good alternative and on offer with the stopper for €33 on inhealth. I don't have one but people rave about them.

I have the haakaa and don’t find it great. It’s really awkward to use with a wriggly 6 month old and I don’t really have a visible/strong let down so don’t get much as a result. However, if you were a person who has a strong let down I think it would be great.

catrionanic

Big fan of the spectra s1. Open system, double electric pump. Battery powered so not tied to a socket. Night light for late-night pumping. Fast and easy to use, with lots of different settings. I highly recommend a double pump.

Previously I had used a single Avent manual and electric pump, but it would take three times as long to pump and I would only get about two thirds of what I got on the spectra. I also have a haakaa. Everyone seems to rave about it but I never managed to get more than an ounce or so. I used it as per instructions so maybe it's just me - I've never once leaked milk, and the other boob stays dry when I'm feeding from the opposite side, so maybe my milk just doesn't flow for me.

Millem

bee06 wrote: »

I never heard of the Spectra S3! That’s a great price. I had been toying with buying the S1 or S2 but I don’t pump at all at the moment so don’t think I’d get the use for the cost of those but £50 is reasonable especially for a closed system.

Yeah it’s great. You can buy extra expression set for £10 on amazon to turn it into a double.

I don’t pump every day......only if I have to like when I had to work Great gadget! You can buy from amazon or ana wiz. Prime day on monday so might be cheaper on amazon?
I bought second expression set and spare valves from ana wiz and used address pal....it was cheaper.

Ana wiz also sells ex hospital rental pumps too!

Sausage dog

Thanks Millem, I'd never heard of that one. Will look it up.

Toots

The haakaa is grand to collect milk when both your boobs let down, but in terms of actually pumping a full feed I wouldn't find it strong enough. I use it in the morning first thing, because the baba sleeps through so when I wake up I'm really full and it would be like trying to feed the poor child with a power hose

I'd stick the haakaa on each boob (I bought a second so now so both at the same time) for about 10 mins while I'm eating my breakfast and would probably get about 60ml each side. It only works first thing in the morning though. If I stick one on while feeding any other time of the day I'd be lucky to get 20ml.

I've the Lansinoh electric double pump and I really like it. AFAIK it's a closed system - it says in the manual that the pump can be used by different women. I had a medela swing for my eldest and didn't like how milk would sometimes get sucked into the tubing and then the motor burnt out.

I got my pump on Amazon and I think it was on offer so it was about £80. Also if you've a fuller bust, sometimes it can be awkward to use the flange things that come with the pump - I always found I had to pump leaning forward otherwise the milk would leak back out. The lactation consultant recommended a thing called "Pumpin pals" which are a slightly different flange that fit most breast pumps and stop that happening. One thing I'd recommend is DO NOT buy them directly from the Pumpin pals website - it was a total rip off! They're not cheap, but mother of god, I think they wanted something like $50 for basic shipping!! Cheapest way I found was to use their website to work out which size I needed and then ordered them on Amazon.com and used address pal to get them delivered to Ireland.

waterfaerie

I used to find I needed to get the Haakaa in place before the let down started. If I put it on too late, I didn't get much. If you get it on in before the let down and it's on right, then theoretically it should collect as much as the baby is getting from the other side.

hollymartins

I'm a fan of the hakaa but I do have a strong let down. I also have a medela swing which is grand, I've just taken it out of storage as I'm going to try and pump.

My girl is 13 weeks now and still feeds for hours before bed - a typical evening is 6.30 to 9.30 which is so draining. I was at the end of my tether at the weekend when she fed til 10pm, I went out and bought formula as I don't know how much longer I can keep feeding her like that, especially as she's still wants to feed every hour during the day. I've been feeding on demand but surely she should be stretching out her feeds to a couple of hours at this stage?

I haven't used the formula yet, if it was just a growth spurt I'd be fine but after 13 weeks I'm not sure how I can keep going.

shesty

She may be having a growth spurt at the moment hollymartins, but it's probably unfortunate that it's been so hot lately too.That might be why she's feeding the whole time.I have posted elsewhere, my little guy is nearly ten weeks and I have moved him mostly to formula.Mainly due to the fact that he wouldn't settle on the breast when he had any bit of wind in him - and he is now the same on the bottle, won't settle to drink a full one if he has any bit of wind.He's feeding every couple of hours of this stage, which I find is a lot.I am pumping a few times a day at the moment to give him a bottle a day of breastmilk (supply has gone down a good bit) and he snacks at night on the breast :-) Can you pick one or two feeds to give her with a bottle of formula if you want a break?You have another child, don't you?

hollymartins

shesty wrote: »

She may be having a growth spurt at the moment hollymartins, but it's probably unfortunate that it's been so hot lately too.That might be why she's feeding the whole time.I have posted elsewhere, my little guy is nearly ten weeks and I have moved him mostly to formula.Mainly due to the fact that he wouldn't settle on the breast when he had any bit of wind in him - and he is now the same on the bottle, won't settle to drink a full one if he has any bit of wind.He's feeding every couple of hours of this stage, which I find is a lot.I am pumping a few times a day at the moment to give him a bottle a day of breastmilk (supply has gone down a good bit) and he snacks at night on the breast :-) Can you pick one or two feeds to give her with a bottle of formula if you want a break?You have another child, don't you?

Well done keeping up the pumping, it's good you can still give him some of your milk.

Yes the hot weather has certainly contributed to the frequency of her feeds. I have a toddler so being tied to feeding his sister every evening means I barely see him before bedtime. I know it will pass but I just feel quite drained after an intense few days of feeding. I spoke to PHN last week and she mentioned going on solids at 17 weeks but I told her I wanted to wait until 6 months and she didn't push it.

I'm going to try her on a bottle of expressed breastmilkfor the next few evenings then maybe see about topping her up with formula if she doesn't settle. Although she's still not great on the bottle yet but that's another story!

shesty

I hear you, I had him on a bottle in the evening from the start.Found it too difficult to deal with my second cluster feeding and my first at bedtime when I had no.2, so I wanted to be able to let my husband do an evening feed for this little guy and I could do bedtime for the others too if needed.The guilt is bad, specially second time I found.Try not to beat yourself up too badly.I'd be more inclined to leave the solids and top up with formula myself, but that's my personal choice obviously.I don't understand why they suggest solids like some kind of magical solution.....
But do what works for you, and go easy on the mummy guilt about it all, god knows there's enough guilt about other stuff going on!

hollymartins

I definitely don't want to go near solids til she's 6 months, she's still so young and I don't believe their digestive system is ready before that. The guilt is awful but I just hope we can all settle into a new routine in the next few months. If that means combination feeding then so be it.

Anne_cordelia

If you want to continue breastfeeding my advice is not to go near the bottle unless using paced bottle feeding. It’s crazy the amount of babies I’ve heard of who ended up refusing the breast after starting taking bottles. It’s totally up to yourself of course but I’m just letting you know the risk. It’s such a short time in the grand scheme of things. You will be surprised in the next few weeks how she pulls back on the feeding and starts falling asleep earlier for the night. I understand he guilt when you have older kids but it might help to build some one to one time in with your older child at 5.30/6 before cluster feeding starts for a couple of weeks. Also you could try handing baby over to your OH and see if she’ll settle with him once you know she’s fed well.

hollymartins

Anne_cordelia wrote: »

If you want to continue breastfeeding my advice is not to go near the bottle unless using paced bottle feeding. It’s crazy the amount of babies I’ve heard of who ended up refusing the breast after starting taking bottles. It’s totally up to yourself of course but I’m just letting you know the risk. It’s such a short time in the grand scheme of things. You will be surprised in the next few weeks how she pulls back on the feeding and starts falling asleep earlier for the night. I understand he guilt when you have older kids but it might help to build some one to one time in with your older child at 5.30/6 before cluster feeding starts for a couple of weeks. Also you could try handing baby over to your OH and see if she’ll settle with him once you know she’s fed well.

We used paced feeding with my son when he was introduced to the bottle at 7 weeks and I breastfed him for 7 months so I would aim to feed her for at least the same length of time

hollymartins

I've started using my medela pump every evening as my daughter is beginning to take a bottle. At the moment I rinse out the parts and sterilise in the microwave each evening but I'm wondering is that necessary or would washing in hot water be sufficient?

Cakerbaker

hollymartins wrote: »

I've started using my medela pump every evening as my daughter is beginning to take a bottle. At the moment I rinse out the parts and sterilise in the microwave each evening but I'm wondering is that necessary or would washing in hot water be sufficient?

If she was full term when born then washing in hot soapy water and rinsing well is all that’s needed. I think it’s recommended to sterilize for premature babies though.

catrionanic

For breast milk, just hot soapy water is good. No need to sterilise.

hollymartins

Excellent, thank you!

Sausage dog

Just to update...I got the Haakaa and the Spectra 3. I've only used the Haakaa so far....fed on one side whilst using Haakaa on the other and got about 50ml each time with no effort, just attach it, give one gentle squeeze & leave it hanging there. Will try the Spectra 3 over the next few days.

Mondo123

Hi ladies,
It seems I have a milk blister on my nipple which is very sore. Anybody got any advice on how to get rid of it? I'm feeding with it but it is very sore. Thanks

saggycaggy

Mondo123 wrote: »

Hi ladies,
It seems I have a milk blister on my nipple which is very sore. Anybody got any advice on how to get rid of it? I'm feeding with it but it is very sore. Thanks

oh I remember I had one of those during the bad snow when we were housebound. Someone here sent me this link:
https://kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mother/nipplebleb/

I think I just fed through it though and it was a week to 10 days, sorry not much help to you.

mojesius

My daughter's first teeth are out (bottom incisors) and she's had a few bad days in pain with them and wants to nurse more. She's 6.5 months. She has bitten while feeding three times today, last time was so painful. I'm really anxious now about feeding her.

I've a small supply of pumped milk in the freezer (was saving it for next weekend as my husband and I are planning a few days away alone), but might need to dig into it and pump more if the biting continues.

Anyone been through this? Any tips? I've sort of yelped each time she's done it (nearly f'd and blinded the house down the last time to be honest) but she's obviously in pain, it's not intentional and her teeth are constantly at her. She likes to be nursed to sleep so we're on shaky ground here. I had recurring mastitis when she was younger and would really like to avoid it again!

Thanks

scarepanda

Ha! You cursed me ;-)!! I was just after reading your post when my 2 yr old, who rarely bites, bite me hard!

Anyways, whenever she does bite, boobs go away. No discussion. I tell her she's hurt mammy and leave it for a minute or two and then offer her boobs again, but tell her that she can't hurt mammy and if she does boobs are going night night. Iv done this from a very early stage and I carry through, if she bites me a second time boobs go away, so she knows I'm serious. If your baby won't go to sleep without nursing to sleep, I'd put boobs away for a few minutes, possibly even get up and walk around before settling back down for a nurse to sleep session. Biting is a natural way for them to relieve pain, but they also can't be biting you, and they learn very quickly not to when they know your serious, even at 6 months.

Pocos

Hi all, just wondering has this happened to someone before! Herself has had her vaccinations on Monday and has gone completely off solids and not much interest in feeding from me either! To be honest I think she’s just miserable and doesn’t know what she wants!

Due to her sporadic feeling my boobs have been all over the place and my left one seems to be filling much quicker than the right? Like if I feed off the left the next feed I would always go to the right and there could be about 6 hours between left being used and then being used again! I’m finding this week though the left seems to fill up and engorge by the next feed even though I fed off it last! Then I have two really full boobs it’s very uncomfortable!!! Kinda seems to settle by 4/5pm but the rest of the day I’m sore and I want to avoid matistis..

Any advice would be very much appreciated?!

lazygal

I would hand express for relief if necessary and feed from whichever breast you finished on the last time.

Eviledna

My little fella cut his teeth before we started solids and I'll admit to yelping a few unsuitable curses through the bites!
I found that nurofen worked so much better for his pain than calpol, just for the days it was really bad. I stopped lingering during feeds; I noticed he would stick out his bottom jaw just before biting me so I'd watch like a hawk for his tell, and whip away the boob before he had a chance, which worked some of the time.

I've also been uncomfortably full during weaning and I found Lasinoh microwave heat pads excellent for reducing the pain and blocked feeling.

Pocos, my bubs also went off his food with injections 1 and 2, the rotavirus doses are usually to blame, but I hear it's very common for all of them. It usually lasts a few days. Poor little things, it's a pity doing what's best is so hard on them!

bee06

mojesius wrote: »

My daughter's first teeth are out (bottom incisors) and she's had a few bad days in pain with them and wants to nurse more. She's 6.5 months. She has bitten while feeding three times today, last time was so painful. I'm really anxious now about feeding her.

I've a small supply of pumped milk in the freezer (was saving it for next weekend as my husband and I are planning a few days away alone), but might need to dig into it and pump more if the biting continues.

Anyone been through this? Any tips? I've sort of yelped each time she's done it (nearly f'd and blinded the house down the last time to be honest) but she's obviously in pain, it's not intentional and her teeth are constantly at her. She likes to be nursed to sleep so we're on shaky ground here. I had recurring mastitis when she was younger and would really like to avoid it again!

Thanks

My little fella did the same when his first teeth arrived and I did a lot of boobs away for a few minutes and watched him like a hawk with a finger at the ready. The anticipation of the bite was nearly worse than the bite itself. He stopped after about a week. He does still occasionally give me a nip every now and again. His first top tooth is on the way now so I’m hoping it doesn’t start up again.