When can you start to use a breast pump?
3 February 2010 14 Responses
A Parent asks, I had my baby 6 days ago. I bought one of those Advent hand-held breast pumps. I tried to use it yesterday but I’m not getting any milk out. Is it too early to be using it just yet?
My milk has come in. When I squeeze my nipple there is milk there at a decent amount.
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You can use the breast pump now! to get your supply up.
Pump and freeze the milk!
The more you pump — the more milk you will produce.
Milk is produced on a Supply and Demand basis.
– pump between feedings so you can produce more milk–
(it’s not too early to pump — you should be getting milk if you pump. Maybe you aren’t using the pump correctly?)
If the baby is eating milk from your breast — then you are producing enough milk to pump.
I didn’t give my son pumped milk until AFTER 6 weeks old (so he wouldn’t get nipple confusion .. but I did pump before 6 weeks and froze the milk to use at a later date.)
make sure the beast pump is latched on correctly and your pumping it the right way. when i first started, i was doing it wrong and it took me forever just to get an ounce, then i figured out i was doing it wrong, and it worked a whole lot better.
I used a pump as soon as my daughter was born. because she would latch on, but she wouldnt suck!
make sure its latched on right.
keep going, try different angles, try longer strokes on the handle, try to stimulate a let down. never too early to pump. Good job for trying. everything is taught by practise.
Is your pump “syringe-style” or “trigger-style”? Trigger style pumps are more efficient.
Also, your baby is much more efficient than any pump. If you’re not getting much, it doesn’t mean that your baby isn’t. And pumping is a learned skill. You have to relax enough to experience let down, and you may just not get a whole lot right now.
Just keep at it.
My sister in law breast fed all of her children and her Dr. told her not to pump for 2 weeks. However, I have heard of people pumping from day 1 too. So I think you should ask your Dr. Especially if pumping is not working for you right now.
the hand held pumps never really worked for me. I bought an electrical and could pump two to three ounces my third day after delivery. Every one is different though.
I found that when I tried a breast pump for the first time I had a hard time getting any milk to flow. It seemed my milk wouldn’t let down if I wasn’t nursing. So I nursed him on one side and then pumped the other… rotating sides each feeding. Now I’m getting better. My milk will let down if I just think about him nursing. Good Luck!
You can still use the pump to bring your milk in more and then you can store the milk in the freezer for 3 months and in a deep freezer for a year
i started pumping right away. what i’d do is feed my child on one side and pumping on the other breast at the same time. I initially had a hand held but eventually got the pump n style (medela) as it had better power. I was then told the hand held are for short term pumping.
I started pumping day one in the hospital because my daughter had problems latching on due to inverted nipples. I pumped out my colostrum and fed it to her through a syringe. I also did feed her from the breast when she would latch on but when she got too frustrated I gave it to her by syringe.
Any way I know I totally went off of the topic. You can start pumping now. Since you have a hand-held pump that is a little bit harder to use. Try doing short pumps first to act as a suckle part of the feeding that will stimulate your breast to let down. Also look at a picture of your baby or have your baby near by. Or do it while you are feeding your baby so that way your breast can let down while actually feeding the baby and you can pump the other side. After you get the let down do long strokes like the baby would do and you have to stay focused. Pumping is not too easy in the beginning because you do have to concentrate and think that you are feeding your baby. Also check the suction level. If you can change it on the hand-helds then try to make it a little stronger and make sure you have it position correctly.
If doing those few things do not help then I would probably go and get the Medela pump in style pump because they are really one of the best pumps out there. They use them in hospitals as well. I love my pump and I have used it since my daughter was a baby and that was almost 4 years ago. I am now using it for my son.
I hope this helps you.
You can pump as soon as you would like, but make sure you don’t pump too much and make your nipples sore. Start out slowly and take breaks from pumping if you need to. Pumping is a great way to get your milk supply end since breast feeding works on a supply and demand theory.
My baby is 6 weeks old and pumping has just now got really comfortable for me. I pump a few days a week and freeze the breastmilk- if you must pump because you are going back to work you should probably pump a few times each day and freeze as much as possible before you go back to work. It’s all really hard work, but breast feeding is the best!
Good Luck
You can start using it right away. Do not get discouraged, your first few times can be a bit tricky. Is your pump a manual pump? that is what I am assuming by “hand-held”. Manual pumps are hard to get going which is why I love electronic so much… I use Avent ISIS IQ Duo. It helps with let down. You can try gently massaging your breast to get the milk down before expressing the milk with the pump… or until you get the hand of it you can try to have your baby suckl a little at your nipple and then move them away as soon as let down occurrs. Good luck.
That pump stinks. If you want to get a good amount of milk you need a hospital grade pump. I had one of those little cheap wal mart pump and only got .5 oz after 30 mins, with the hospital grade I got .5- 2 oz in about 5 mins.
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