Exclusively pumping advice….

Hey Mammas, I have been battling with latch issues for the past 4 weeks with my newborn and have decided to hit the nail on the head and try expressing exclusively full time. My boobs are so sore and when he is latched and feeding I just feel like I’m going to be sick.🤢 I have been pumping on demand which has been extremely stressful, especially if he is on a growth spurt day. Can any mums who are exclusively pumping offer any advice on how many times I should pump? What works for them? Etc. I have rented the medela pump which has been amazing but looking to try a hands free, has anyone tried either Elvie or Medela Hands free? Any advice would be much appreciated. Big love ❤️ Siân x

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I have used the elvie Hands-free pump, and it is good but pricey.. one hands-free pump I would suggest (I'm currently using and just ordered another so I can double pump) is the Momcozy s12 pro.. It's my go-to pump atm. I am also currently exclusively pumping as my baby suddenly stopped breastfeeding, I seem to be able to pump literally just enough per feed as my supply dropped 😪

I have been exclusively pumping since the beginning. I used to pump every 2 - 3 hours until now (8 weeks) and have just moved to pumping every 3 - 4 hours. When baby is going through a growth spurt (or when I feel like my supply is not meeting his demand), I would do some power pumping sessions: https://lansinoh.com/blogs/breastfeeding-pumping/power-pumping-how-to-increase-your-milk-supply I usually do this for 2 - 3 days to see some impact. In terms of pump, I started with medela hands free, but it's not truly hands free as it still has wire to the main unit which means if I want to walk around the house one hand will be carrying the main unit. I finally gave in after 5 weeks of doing this and bought a wireless, wearable pump. I went for Fraupow at the end as couldn't justify buying Elvie when I already have a pump🙈🙈 and Fraupow got good reviews too. Best decision ever as I can now hold and feed baby (with some careful manoeuvres) or do house chores while pumping !

And I feel that Fraupow is less harsh on my nipples while still give me the same amount of milk (and sometimes more) as using medela :) Ps: I ordered two Fraupow so I can double pump!

I exclusively pumped with my first for 16 months. It’s hard but you get in a routine and it gets more manageable. I used to pump every 2-3 hours including overnight. I used the pippeta pump which worked great as they’re hands free and I often pumped while driving!

I use the elvie stride double and think it's great, never had an issue but I've never tried any others. I have an oversupply of around 10oz a day, not sure why but im probably pumping too much or too long. I'm now pumping about 5 or 6 times a day and make sure i do it overnight. To start with I fed my little girl formula at night so that I could catch up with her demand so I was always 2 feeds ahead of her, but now I don't need to do that and I'm way ahead of her 😅 I've used it 5-8 times a day for 7 weeks and my pump is still going strong

Have you tried using nipple shields to feed? I struggled with mine latching but as soon as i wore them, she was latched straight away. They dont give you quite the odd sucking sensation either if thats whats making you feel sick? X x

I exclusively pumped following latch issues and tongue tie, slowly reintroducing feeding from the breast but it is slow going. At first, I pumped every 2 hours day and night, it was relentless, grueling hard work but did build my supply. I now pump every 6 hours (personally I have alarms for 12, 4 and 8 am and pm) but I’m feeding baby in between pumping. She’s having top ups of EBM after every feed. I hired an ardo carum double pump from a local IBCLC but was effectively chained to the sofa so purchased an Elvie double pump (120 on eBay). I haven’t seen a difference in milk yield but am able to move around so pumping is less of a chore.

I don’t exclusively pump but I have an Elvie double pump. I got it second hand on Vinted, it had been used once (I can verify that as the app logs every use and the only one that wasn’t me was in August last year). I got it for a bargain price because of it being second hand. It took a while to work out how to use it so it doesn’t leak but it works so well for me. I have been out on walks whilst pumping, I’ve driven and pumped all sorts. The app controls them which makes it super easy and it logs the amounts (it isn’t accurate and often tells me wrong amount but not a big issue as you can manually alter it. I would say mine is only used 1-2 times a day for 6 weeks now and it’s already “aging”. If you were using it more frequently it would need parts replacing pretty quickly. But if you were using it once or twice a day and another pump alongside it it would serve you well.

I exclusively pumped with my first- a Medela hands free bra was how I went hands free because that rented pump was the BEST and no other pump came close in terms of speed, ease and comfort. In terms of how often I went for a similar pattern as breastfeeding 8-12 sessions a day at first (2-3 hourly if possible) and even when I dropped the sessions as time went on I always pumped around 2 in the morning when prolactin levels are high.