Breast Feeding discussion

sarahlouise210

Like Mummy Jo I also hated the Avent hand pump - While I was in hospital I was "milked" using a massive electric pump...oh the joy !!! I had a row of small bottles in about 15 minutes !! I found that once |I got the hand of it, I could express manually really quickly once I got into a rhythm ha ha!!

newbie71_2

cazziebo wrote: »

Warning!


Talk about engorged- I was like Dolly Parton towers!

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:I know how painful it is but that me made laugh out loud!

Juicy_Tube

I had both electric and hand pump on loan. The avent hand pump was a dream for me.

Good luck

JT x

Gale_10

I use an avent hand pump, absolutely brilliant thing it is too. Breast feeding is so great, I know your baby is young and it will be horrendous for you, but in just a few weeks time your nipples will toughen up and it will be a breeze.

Just look forward to the time when you can just prop yourself up in bed and feed your baby, when other mums are still rushing round the kitchen and their babies are screaming for food, your baby will be contentedly feeding the best food there is for him or her.

I believe that women should be able to breast feed anywhere at any time. Most mums don't publicly feed, there are lots of little rooms tucked away for breast feeding. But I just feed where I am - and I do get funny looks. But I have made the way for other mums to feed when their baby is hungry. So if you hear about the large woman who breastfeeds in the middle of the Braehead Centre in Glasgow - thats me!

Anyway, rant over, please feel free to email if you want to chat or rant or anything,

All the best

Gale

pavlovs_dog

Gale_10 wrote: »

I believe that women should be able to breast feed anywhere at any time. Most mums don't publicly feed, there are lots of little rooms tucked away for breast feeding. But I just feed where I am - and I do get funny looks. But I have made the way for other mums to feed when their baby is hungry. So if you hear about the large woman who breastfeeds in the middle of the Braehead Centre in Glasgow - thats me!

Anyway, rant over, please feel free to email if you want to chat or rant or anything,

All the best

Gale

we had a debate over this in work the other lunch time. some of the girls in their late teens (who are only a few years younger than me) were relating a tale of how they had seen a woman openly breastfeeding in the middle of carphone warehouse, and that it was "absolutely disgusting".

i was very quick to get on my soap box and point out that what was truly disgusting was that if that woman had shoved a bottle into that babe's mouth, they wouldnt have batted an eyelid or given it a second thought.

they now all think im batty, especially seeing as how i dont yet have kids of my own :rotfl: but it just goes to show how backwards this country's attitude can be. think my indignation was worsened by the fact that they were female, but thats a whole other story

Outnumberedbysmallpeople

I had/have the tommee tippee closer to nature manual pump (the one in the silver box- not the blue/green one- the blue/green one isn't as good aparently) and it's been great- right now tesco and morrisons are both doing it for £10 I do believe (comes with sterilising box too)

However one thing i would say (and this will sound ridiculous i know but one thing i have learnt over a decade of parenting is often parenting is ridiculous and you just have to roll with it) is don't assume your baby will take a bottle- my youngest just adamently would not take a bottle, sippy cup, beaker- anything!!! He was a 100% boob baby LOL and when we were encouraged to "go out he'll have no choice" we returned to a screeching baby who would not take expressed milk for anything! He is my 4th child and if you'd have told me there was such a thing as a baby who wouldn't take a bottle before I had him i'd have laughed and insisted it was just a case of perservering but I am honestly not sure how many hours i'd have had to keep him hungry for to achieve before he was willing to! He's nearly 13 months now and will take a cup but it was long road to get there!

Avent isis is also highly rated but you can tell that by this thread.

Justie

purely from a money point of view I wouldn't buy an electric pump yet - if you can borrow (or hire) one (ask at the hospital and your local NCT or put a message on your local freecycle) then you'll see if it works for you and if it's worthwhile. As has beed said not all babies will take a bottle and you may find that expressing is as hard work as feeding. The manual avent is good to begin with imo.

The early days are the hardest and it really does get easier.

Congrats on your LO :T

Krystaltips

If you could try hand expressing (Your mw or hv should be able to show you how) it is far more cost effective than forking out £40£100 for something you're only going to use for 5 mins. The other thing to take into consideration is supply and demand, if you're feeding your baby on demand your baby is boosting your milk supply. Once you start introducing bottles it could affect this. And also you should take into consideration nipple confusion if you introduce a bottle too early.

Find a comfortable position to feed lying down and try snoozing at the same time (But not on a sofa as this is a bit dangerous) or doing what all the books say and sleeping while the baby sleeps helps.

A lot of women struggle in the early days, it's a bit of a shock going from not having a baby to having one that wants to feed every 5 mins / 2 hrs etc... But bear with it and it gets so much easier as you both learn what you're doing. (And the day the baby learns to find the nipple by itself is a monumentous one!)

You are doing the best you can for your baby, not only did you grow it inside you but now you are giving it everything it needs to thrive. Well done! If you do find yourself struggling a breastfeeding group in your local area is a great way to meet other mom's who are going through / have been through the same things as you are. Calling the Breastfeeding Network's supporterline will put you in touch with a fully trained breastfeeding supporter in your local area who will be able to help you over the phone or point you in the direction of your nearest group. The supporterline number is on the website (Not sure if I can list it here but if you google BfN it should come up)

HTH

daphne_descends

I have a nightmare of a time trying to express so am no use to recommend something, but do bare in mind your baby will be far more efficient at getting milk from you than a pump. You need to feed as often as you can at this stage as this will help establish your supply.

As a tip though, I do better expressing if I feed on the other side at the same time - if I'm not feeding I can sit for hours before getting anywhere (or not - I get fed up )

As for tiredness, repeat the mantra "this too will pass" - because it WILL get better.

Oh, edited to say: can you co-sleep? This has saved my life, without a doubt!

Bun

HIya, I'd say that you need to give it longer than a week so bfing is extablished. Then the advise you've been given already is good - only problem is the Avent one feels like it has 400 pieces, and sometimes I was so tired I had problems putting the flipping thing together. Tommee Tippee do one with only 3, although don't know how good it is to use.

Personally it took me longer to express than feed the baby myself so was doing it twice, but having had a stomach bug where I was feeding the baby and having to pass him to DH to be sick in a bucket half way through, having some breast milk on standby in the freezer is a lifesaver!