So I would definitely say rent, don't buy until you know something is going to work for you (and that your baby will accept a bottle!) We ended up renting the large electric Medela, which was marvellous and got enough milk for three babies in about 5 minutes, or so it seemed to my sleep-deprived mind.
Like ecb said, everyone is different. I had a super-fast let-down reflex (to the point where my son would start choking almost immediately and have to be patted on the back and allowed to breathe while the milk carried on going everywhere) but still had no luck at all with the Avent hand-held pump with either him or our daughter three years later. I could get about 20 ml out easily - basically the amount that wanted to come out fast - and then that was it, not a drop more.
The rented pumps are a lot stronger and are recommended for people who have low supply or are trying to bring in their milk. Every woman is different, but what I can say is if you are stressed, it can affect your ability to pump or even make milk. The rule of thumb I heard re: manual vs electric is that if you are going to work, you really should get an electric pump just for convenience and speed. Manual is great for relieving engorgement or for small freezer supplies (e.g. for date nights or irregular feedings), but it can be frustrating and not as affective for long term use.
Do you have a local breastfeeding support group (e.g. La Leche League?? I've looked it up in the past and saw there were some English speaking ones in Zurich.. I haven't looked elsewhere).
There are actually very few women who are unable to breastfeed. Most of the time, when women have difficulties they have unknowingly made it harder on themselves. So, here are some tips:
- Do not use a pacifier/bottle until the breastfeeding relationship is well established and a pattern of weight gain is seen. There's a reason babies nurse a lot. It's to learn how to nurse (both you and the baby) and to establish your milk supply. Any sucking off of the breast is milk you might not produce. Usually this takes about 3 or 4 weeks. You'll know when it happens. Things just feel "easier." Once this is established and the baby is doing good, then you can start playing around with pumping.
- Unless you have an under supply issue, if you pump while exclusively breastfeeding, you can actually create an over supply, which an cause just as many issues (e.g. symptoms very similar to reflux... but it typically means the milk lets down to fast and the baby gets too much fore milk, rather than both the fore and hind milk, which is needed).
- Since you say you're worried about the baby getting enough, look at the diapers. If you have good poopy diapers, then the babies getting enough. It can't come out if it's not going in. Kelly Mom is a great breastfeeding resource. They talk about diapers here: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/newborn-nursing.html
- If it hurts or doesn't feel right, talk to someone. Nursing shouldn't hurt and it is usually a sign of latch issues. A lot of times a great lactation consultant or support group (e.g. LLL) can fix the issue quickly and get you going in no time.
Good luck! Breastfeeding is such a healthy choice for you and your baby!!
Oh, and try not to watch the clock! Nursing on a schedule can affect your supply. Not all babies are good at getting milk out quickly. Some babies can drain a breast in 10 minutes, others may take 45. Your baby will let you know when he/she has had enough. They're a much better judge than a clock Also, remember breastmilk is digested faster than formula... so someone suggests only nursing every 4 hours, that is true for formula because it creates a curd in teh stomach that slowly digests... but since breastmilk is thinner and is designed for the baby, it's much easier to digest so they get hungry faster. In the beginning when they nurse so much, remember the baby is currently being fed 24/7. So her tummy is tiny.. it takes a while to stretch it out and slowly build up skills to fill it up It's so worth it though!
I used the Ameda pump which costs less than the medela- and it worked great for me. My insurance gave me an allowance which basically would have covered 3 months rental (maybe 6? don't recall), buying an Ameda outright, or pay for half of a Medela. I suggest this because a few friends later said they didn't even know Ameda was an option- they had them right there at the hospital and I brought it home with me.
I found the Ameda more than adequate, very portable, could really control the suction pressure, and easy for friends to buy replacement pieces and you can pass it along to the next mom when you are done. Best of luck to you!
Couple things to add to the above comments which pretty much cover everything I just bought a pump a month ago so have just gone through the whole electric vs manual and brand comparison thing and it is rather daunting!
1) Consider how much, if any, travel you will be doing. For me, I have to travel a fair amount for work when I go back so I didn't want to be having to add something the size of a backpack and too much added weight. If not, then renting a bigger unit is a great way to go.
2) If you are using it at work, which you said you would be, most people say to get an electric as it is faster. Again, for me, I will be going full time so will have to pump each breast usually twice per work day (a third time if I have to work an extra hour) and so a double electric pump was the best choice so I only have to find two times to pump.
Bottom line, like so many have said, it's best to wait until after you have your bundle of joy to buy a pump so you can address your specific situation BUT if you happen to have someone who wants to buy one for you for a shower gift, I would recommend a double electric but don't open the box so you can either return it or resell it somewhere like here on EF I bought the Medela Freestyle and so far it's been great for me. It's super small and easy to carry around, and it has a rechargeable battery pack (another feature to consider if you don't want to have to make sure you are near a plug when you are pumping).
Good luck with figuring out all the purchases to make! It's mostly fun, but sometimes can get a bit overwhelming as everyone has opinions You honestly don't need much other than a whole lot of love, some diapers and a safe place for them to sleep, and once you have the little one you will figure out anything you may not know before.
Breasts like water melons, super fast let down reflex, 150 mls in 5 mins ....
I am having serious breast feeding envy reading this thread
Now there's something I never thought I'd say
Hello, No, there is no need to be buying any formula or bottles before hand. Over years of observation, it seems to me that the main reason breastfeeding is not properly established, is through a lack of confidence in the process (often brought on through the well meaning but erroneous advice of other people)
Your baby has a tiny tummy and doesn't need much to start with. Being relaxed and feeding regularly will ensure that your supply will meet the initial and changing needs of your baby. There is nothing unusal in a baby losing a little weight in the first few days - keep offering your breast and that weight will soon come back on.
I have been in awe as I watched a newborn, prem baby take just 1ml of expressed milk - enough to stabilise the baby's temperature and blood sugar levels. I have also seen a baby that had been given formula for the first ten days of life ( through an error of nursing staff) successfully breastfed from that day on.
Common infection in the mother ( mastitis, colds, flu, taking antibiotics, etc do not need to interupt breast feeding. Infections of the baby, are going to be lightened through the abundance of natural antibiotics in the breast milk as well.
Re the pump: as stated by another poster, what works for one, does not necessarily work for all - try hand expressing first, before spending your money. As it sounds as if you do not have to rush back to work, then there is no rush to be pumping. Once you have established feeding comfortably, then expressing by any means will start to become easier and faster.
There are books around that have an abundance of true facts and that promote breastfeeding. One that has been updated and reprinted many, many times, that was a big help to me ( and to my self confidence) is the La Leche League book - The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding.
Bottom line is to just relax and enjoy your baby.
Hi
I had problems breast feeding my daughter when she was born. She wouldn't latch and I had 5 days in hospital, stressed, tired and my boobs being pulled and prodded by the midwives. In the end I gave up. So, I expressed in order to feed my daughter.
I tried them all. My ex went out and bought me the crappiest, slowest, and cheapest pump so that I would have something when I returned home. I spent 2 hours to get a miniscule amount of milk and I sat an cried and threw it away the same night.
I went on to Avent and that was a life saver and made my life a bit more bearable in terms of expressing. However, after a couple of weeks, I went on to rent a hospital pump, Madela Lactina breast pump, and it was like the Ferrari of all pumps. Nice and quick and efficient pumping. I used it for 4 - 5 months, 2-3 times a day.
I did feel like I was going for milking at the farm, but I thoroughly recommend it. Especially if you are working and have a small baby. Time is short, and with Madela it produced the best results. Well, for me at least.....
Good luck
And, remember, if your milk does get low for some reason, you can build it back up again. There are even women who induce lactation for adopted babies. So, there's so much you can do!
I take it this is your first little one... I was the exact same! First of all, I would not worry about this now. I would get yourself positive and prepared that breastfeeding will be just fine. What I would do, is find a Breast feeding consultant, that you can call. All you need to know is how many diapers you should be changing a day. Then you know your sweet little baby is getting plenty to eat. I ended up with a little chubby bundle of joy, because I was of course afraid of starving her. Once I called the "professional hotline" and asked them, I'm not sure she is getting enough milk!! They asked what her birth weight was and what her weight was now. I told them, and they laughed at me! lol Stating she was clearly getting enough.. haha. Nursing is AMAZING, it is bonding time that you can never have any other way. It is beneficial to your child, and I think it is very important. However, it is not going to be easy. The most important thing is to make sure they are latched correctly!!!! I cannot even explain how important this is. (This is why it is a good idea to have some one you know and trust to be around to help.) When I had my little girl, they showed my how to put the nipple under her nose until she opened her little mouth wide as she could and then you want to get our nip in as far as possible. Well I got tired of doing this every time, and figured it was fine to just let her latch on by herself. Two weeks in was torture! The skin came off my nipples, and it was excruciating pain to nurse, but I powered through, not without any tears I might add... but it really is for the best. Anyways, I just thought you had enough advice about the pumps, and thought I would add my two cents for Breastfeeding itself. Like I said, just get yourself prepared now, and make the commitment that you will want to do it for the baby. It really is a once in a lifetime experience. I ended up loving it some much (believe me I never thought I would make it through those first few weeks...) that I nursed well over a year! You will love the closeness, and I wouldn't make plans on going back to work until after you have seen that little face. You might not want to go back at all!! lol But do drink lots, and keep up your prenatals while nursing. Also, my vote is for the electric pump if you go back to work while nursing. Especially if you are at work, you don't want to mess around with hand pumps, ect. I had one, just in case, and they work fabulously. I had the Medela one. Good luck with everything!!!
Which was exactly what happened to me. No one told me I didn't have to pump out every single drop while he was in hospital - or perhaps I just didn't understand them - and as a result my body thought I was feeding more than one baby. Very difficult when he started breastfeeding again. And we had the issue with reflux symptoms for months. It wasn't until we had our second that the midwife explained your body tends to try to produce enough milk for twins (ok, I may not have understood this all completely either!) so you have to let the baby decide how much is enough or you end up with an oversupply. So we had a much nicer time with the second!
ecb, it was a good job I did have good let-down, because one side decided it had had it with this after getting mastitis at about 8 or 9 weeks and I was feeding with just one for the next 10 months! It would have been awful to have to struggle with that side as well. Talk about looking lopsided though... (Don't worry, OP, I'm told that doesn't usually happen!)
Hi, I haven't read all the posts as there are so many, so I don't know if anyone has already mentioned this, but I tried both and would recommend an electric one (I'm sure all those reasons have been well covered). I rented an electric one from my mid-wife centre and as it was for medical reasons it was covered on insurance so thought I'd mention that. Mind you, it only cost a few francs a week anyway, so I'd go with renting. It's good to know your options in advance but hold off investing until you know what you need, a lot can happen that might change or limit your options.
all good advice, and a few things i can add...
i exclusicely breast fed my twin girls for 8 months, pumping over 2 litres per day, so my pump did a lot of "miles"!
a few things to add.....
pumping mobility... i liked to multitask while pumping, and to be honest, with a new baby (or 2) its essential. so getting a portable hands free model like the medela freestyle is awesome. it comes with arm and waist band so you can carry round the pump with you while doing laundry, dishes, eating dinner, even driving to the airport (yes i did that a few times, and lucky for them, was never pulled over!)
for portability, the freestyle comes with rather complicated bra attachement devices, but much better are handsfree pumping bras, available on www.expressyourselfmums.co.uk , not sure if also available in switzerland.
cup size...no one tells you that the pumps come with these cones, and when u buy or rent, they give you the standard sizes. however, these cones come in bigger and smallervsizes. i found out the hard way... after rubbing both nipples raw using too small cones, only then did someobe advise me i could get bigger ones. so if u r getting rubbing or not enough suction, the cones may b too small or big respectiveky.
cleaning... medela makes great steriliser microwave bags for in the office or travel. you rinse the parts then put in the bag and microwave to sterilise. really convenient when on tne go.
storage... linosoh bags much better and cheaper than medela bags. beware with all bags of splitting when defrosting. defrost in a sterile jug so u can decant if bag splits.
since milk composition changes as baby ages, rotate milk, using oldest first, as a 6 montn baby won't be getting what it needs from your breastmilk pumped at 3 wks (for exmaple)
milk supply... fennel tee, fenigrek seeds, and lots of fluids all help boost milk supply. i drank 5-7 litres per day to feed 2 babies. you also need to eat lots.
(and incidentally if you bothered to read this far, pumping is also the BEST weight loss technique EVER, and was one of the best motivators when spending another 30 mins on the pump... obviously along with knowing it was good for my kids!)
Yup. Great point. We discussed this in LLL the other day. The size of the cone they supply is usually only ideal for about 30% of women. The size of the cone actually doesn't need to correspond with cup size. It's all about hitting the milk ducts. You want the entire nipple to go down the canal and the edge where it flanges out to hit the milk ducts. It might even be different on each size. I use the standard size on my left breast and a larger one on my right. It's odd, but it works better. (Luckily, I'm not having to pump much with this one. I've been able to stay home with her.)
Oh, and another note. If you decide to have another, you're body will make even more milk than this time because you make more ducts with each pregnancy. Our bodies are amazing
I'm very impressed with how knowledgeable all you mommies are! Thanks again for super advice
I've been watching videos because it's hard to picture all of this in my mind and I'm going to see my mid-wife tonight to get more info about renting. I'm living in France and on private health insurance and we're taking advantage of every benefit possible because we're still upset with the company.
Long story short - the insurance company accepted me on my husband's insurance when we first got here. I was already pregnant but they somehow "missed" that on the questionnaire and rejected me later on and insisted we pay back everything. Rejected me for even basic insurance like accidents, flu etc! My good hubby got all the French authorities involved making phone calls to the company and the pressure got to them
One question I forgot to ask is how you handled BFing if you had to step out in the first few weeks before introducing a bottle? I have a couple of weekly classes, each requiring me to be gone 4 hours. Should I just cancel going for the first few weeks? Can I nurse right before and if she cries while I'm gone, just let it be? Or maybe the best compromise is to leave the class a bit early for the first weeks or so.......or how about you ladies who simply just wanted a girl's night out in the beginning?
If it's any help, my experience was to cancel EVERYTHING for the first couple of months. You just cannot commit to anything apart from highly essential stuff. I could never (no matter how hard I tried) get out of the house before 1pm with my baby for the first 3 months. You get hit by an unexpected poo-ey nappy or a sudden screaming fit which results in projectile vomit all over you and the baby, it takes half a day to pack the nappy bag, get you showered, dressed, fed, etc.
Arrangements for meeting friends goes from "I'll be there at 7" to a chain of SMS apologising that you'll be 10 mins / an hour / can we leave it till next week...
Or maybe that's just me - I can't organise my way out a paper bag...
I can cut one class but my Satuday morning French class is pretty essential. We start next week - I know, poor planning on my part but I missed the last session - so maybe I'll check in with the teacher and students and see if they're okay with me coming with the baby and leaving early if her crying interrupts the class?
I'd much prefer to leave her at home with Papa but he's not very good with BFing
Can you feed her just before you go into class (you will quickly get the hang of feeding in public .. here in CH it is very accepted and there are all manners of little tricks with scarves etc to make it extremely discreet - but the first time is always a little nerve wracking ..) then get your husband to take her for a walk and then she wakes up, SMS you so you can pop out .. and hopefully pop back in if this is still through the middle of the class.
When it is early days, you can be surprised at how long they will go without a feed .. particulary if they are being lulled in a deep sleep by being walked around in the buggy .. but I would say that 4 hours is on the outside of what is possible for a new born.
But generally their cries are very sweet and low key (just wait until they get a big bigger ...wow!) so whilst it may be cutting through you like a knife, it will be perfectly fine for little one to be crying for a short time whilst husband doubles back pronto to your class and you slip out.
Do try to keep up with your other activities. I did not with my first but made a much better effort with my second and carried on with German classes through out pregnancy and (with 2 weeks break) afterwards. Indeed breast feeding is a great time to prop up the grammar/vocab books and get learning. We managed with a mish mash of pacing the streets with baby and b/f breaks, and then after about 6 weeks, we moved onto pumped milk.
Try not to plan too much .. as most plans just go out of the window .. just muddle your way out of that paper bag (as Sandgrounder so brilliantly described it) .. you'll find a way.
Because it's your first I would tend to agree with Sandgrounder. Even if it turns out you are able to be super-organised and sociable, it takes the pressure off you to have cancelled everything in advance. You can always schedule extra stuff later when you've seen how/when the little one sleeps, eats, ....
We had some very laid-back friends who just took their baby everywhere they went and fed her when she needed it, regardless of where they were. I've fed ours in all sorts of places too, albeit not in class, and never once had an unkind comment or glance. So depending on the sort of girls' night out, you could take the little one along and pass him/her around so you still get a break.
Also worth bearing in mind that you will probably be quite tired yourself - breastfeeding takes a lot of energy! So you may find that even though you are not organisationally challenged, you would rather go back to bed when the baby does and have a nap, and be in bed early rather than out on the town. I used to try to arrange visits for the afternoon so that I could sleep in and have plenty of time to get the house relatively tidy by the time people turned up.
Having said all that... our little one had no trouble switching from bottle (in hospital) to breast back at home and then to a bottle again if I needed to go out for some reason. No one told us not to mix them - well, we had no choice anyway to begin with - and it was fine. I guess every baby will be different.
ETA: I missed the bit about the Saturday class - ecb's idea is great!
Hey that's such a great idea to have my hubby nearby taking her for a walk. The class is near a pretty park and I'm sure he'll appreciate getting out early on a Saturday after all these months of my sleeping in until 11am
That seems the best compromise - plus I'm sure the students will like experiencing the transition of seeing me fully prego now and the baby afterwards. I'll just make sure to check in with the instructor and let her know I can't guarantee my attendance.