Buy a breast pump now or wait until after birth?

Kyra Beautiful Rump wrote: »

Hi ladies I'm due in february and although I would like to give the breastfeeding a go, I'm not sure if it will work out (it's very possible that I will be put on strong pain medication after the birth). I was having a look at a few pumps and given that they are pricey enough, I'd be wary of buying one in case it won't be used. On the other hand, I want to be prepared for every eventuality Would I be better off waiting until after the birth to see if I will actually need it?

def wait my baby is 6 weeks and only buying one now. You would be kicking yourself if you bought one and didnt need it

I didn't get one when I was pregnant in case I didn't need it, but I ended up going to boots the day I was discharged from hospital to buy one as I had been pumping in hospital!

I am due in January and bought a tommee tippee set on amazon, manual pump with bottles, breast pads, milk storage containers and soothers. It only cost around €20 so the way I saw it was the bottles, breast pads and storage containers probably would cost that! The pump might be rubbish but sure €20 you can't go wrong! I wouldn't splash out on an expensive one yet as who knows maybe the breast feeding will be a disaster but at least I have the bottles

A lot, if not most, medications are compatible with Breastfeeding.

I'd wait until after the birth. If there is a medical need to pump while you're in hospital, the hospital will have a medical grade double pump that will be available to you.
Otherwise it's not ideal to pump before 6 weeks.

It's tricky to get the hang of, but a lot if peoplefind hand expressing is the most effective way of expressing too

I agree with most people - wait and see if you need it. You'll be able to nip in or send someone in to get it on the day you're discharged if necessary. I would say though do your research now and have one picked out and if it happens to go on offer while you're pregnant I'd definitely pick it up(only if you get a bargain though).
I'm using the tommee tippee closer to nature one, its manual, and it does the job really nicely for me. I picked it up half price in boots at the end of my pregnancy. I had to express pretty much as soon as my milk came in as baba found it hard to latch and I had to top up all her feeds cos she was jaundiced. If you don't have any of those difficulties, it's better to wait.

If I had been able to look into the future, I would have bought the Medela Symphony or Lactina. A small fortune but would have been cheaper to buy it out right. I ended up renting one for 11 months as my son never quite took to breast feeding. He latched on for a few weeks but our technique was not that great and I found it very sore. In the end, and I felt terribly disappointed in myself, I just gave up BF altogether and switched to full time pumping.

I rented of Medicare for 80 euro per month so ended up paying 1000 euro in the long run. Once or twice I was caught out and used my sisters Swing but it just wasn't powerful enough - I only got to express 50 mils out of each breast each time I used it and was painfully engorged until I could get home and use the Symphony. Using the Symphony, I would get 200 mils every 3 hrs. This is why, I would say, that if you can afford it, and you plan on having more than one child or could share it cost with a sibling -obviously one who wont have a EBF baby at the same time- go for the hospital grade pumps.

That way, your baby gets fed the good mommy milk - and you will get decent letdown - for as long as you want. That would be my opinion anyway.

Oh and something I didn't know but is useful to know that they give you a standard 24mm breast pump flange but 24mm is not actually standard in Ireland, you may need bigger or smaller so check out some youtube videos to make sure you have sized the correctly...

Mummilk wrote: »

when I stop pumping I ll still have a stash for about 5-6 weeks by my current calculations although could well be more than that

Hey Mummilk, I am sure you already know this - but it might inform other mums so...

Do you know that once you freeze the breast milk, it loses some of the benefits of the "living organism" properties so you are better off rotating your freezer supply Say one of every daily feed could be from the frozen collection and then you replace it with the fresh one?

Also for any other mums interested check out... Breastfeeding Facts

Good point Mummilk. It would be great if antenatal classes covered the basics of pumping too. I remember how terrified I was to put my nipple in a pump when I started

Millem wrote: »

My milk has just come in today, so far breastfeeding has been a disaster finding it so hard to get baby latched on, have had to do combined feeding with formula as baby now has jaundice! Got a loan of an electric pump today it is the avent scf334 double electric pump and all I can say is WOW! I got 50ml and my milk has just come in today my plan long term is to pump and feed to bottle only unfortunately but at least he is still getting the breast milk.

Please get a lactation consultant or get to a breast feeding group before you give up on it and resign yourself to exclusively pumping. I had no help in the hospital and PHN was crap, I was in agony abd worried about her not getting enough. I was afraid to feed in front of people and terrified to go out in case she needed feeding. All I needed was some help and reassurance from someone who knew what they were talking about.

Exclusive pumping is very time consuming, always trying to keep ahead of yourself, sterilising bottles, pumps etc I was stressed out til I finally gave up at 8 months. I've friends who had the same hassles as me but got help and are still feeding a year later no problem so it makes a big difference

Chattastrophe! wrote: »

I'll second the advice on seeing a lactation consultant. Mine watched him trying in vain to latch on and bawling crying with frustration for about 30 seconds - then she sent me to buy nipple shields, and he's latched on perfectly every time I've tried since. Sometimes it's very easy to fix.

Went to the lactation consultant before the baby was born. Midwives have come every day to my house since Sunday and have been amazing help, have been using shields but still having problems he just falls asleep etc. starts to suck then stops. In fairness to midwives the have never stayed less than 1 hour every day with me trying to get him latched on. I am starting to think he might have "nipple confusion" because we have had to top up with formula for jaundice. Have to back to work in sept (but will do 8 days in June and 3 weeks working at home in July) so I never planned on breastfeeding past the 5-6 month mark. We both have found it so extremely time consuming and frustrating. The electric pump will only take 20 minutes and I just whack it in my steriliser 5 minutes. He guzzles down the bottles not a bother. I would prefer to give him breast milk than formula so am prepared to try pumping. What brand of nipple shields did you get? The MAM were recommended to me but were out of stock so got the madela ones. No one can seem to figure out my problem as I don't have inverted or flat nipples, I think my boobs are too big that they kind of smother him as I need to push into boob with finger so his nose isn't blocked! Lol lol lol second time using pump got 30ml 3 hours after last pump delighted with myself

Millem wrote: »

Went to the lactation consultant before the baby was born. Midwives have come every day to my house since Sunday and have been amazing help, have been using shields but still having problems he just falls asleep etc. starts to suck then stops. In fairness to midwives the have never stayed less than 1 hour every day with me trying to get him latched on. I am starting to think he might have "nipple confusion" because we have had to top up with formula for jaundice. Have to back to work in sept (but will do 8 days in June and 3 weeks working at home in July) so I never planned on breastfeeding past the 5-6 month mark. We both have found it so extremely time consuming and frustrating. The electric pump will only take 20 minutes and I just whack it in my steriliser 5 minutes. He guzzles down the bottles not a bother. I would prefer to give him breast milk than formula so am prepared to try pumping. What brand of nipple shields did you get? The MAM were recommended to me but were out of stock so got the madela ones. No one can seem to figure out my problem as I don't have inverted or flat nipples, I think my boobs are too big that they kind of smother him as I need to push into boob with finger so his nose isn't blocked! Lol lol lol second time using pump got 30ml 3 hours after last pump delighted with myself

I've the same problem with having to hold back boob out of the nose! I found the football hold easier than any other cos i found I could see baby's mouth more easily so I could tell if she'd her mouth open wide enough etc. have you tried any different positions?

Just to update, I found out that the electric pumps you buy yourself should only be used around twice as day as motor can burn out! I have have rented a hospital grade one to try out for a month it's a madela symphony €3.22 per day.

Moonbeam wrote: »

Millem - your experience sounds pretty normal but try to persevere and take all the help that you can.
I had the medala mini and it was used alot more then twice a day but the motor did burn out in the end after 3 kids. The Medala Swing is alot better for when you get the hang of it.

Moonbeam I have been at it 8 days now and I am just exhausted! If he was on formula he would be fed every 4 hours, if he gets pure breast milk every 2 hours and if he has a combination it's every 3! The amount of bottles I go through a day is unreal and It feels like my steriliser is permanently on! Don't know if I can make it to the 6 week milstone my OH is telling me just to give him formula as I am so tired from the night shift