Is anyone else exclusively expressing?

[Mischief]

Hey, I was wondering who else out there is exclusively expressing......I really kinda feel like I dont fit in anywhere. I'm not really a BREASTfeeding mum and I'm not a FORMULA feeding mum....my baby gets breast milk from a bottle.....

I have a girlfriend who is exclusively expressing but her baby CANT feed, he has a cleft palate and she was advised to express as it will help keep him from getting infections until after his operation at 6 months, and then to keep going while his mouth heals.

Me, I'm not expressing because my baby cant feed, but because I dont feel COMFORTABLE breastfeeding, I'm probably one of a freekishly small few who dont feel bonded with their baby when feeding. So I know the beneifits of human milk and express.

Its pretty hard and time consuming, and I feel really lonely doing it. Like I said, other mums do it because their baby cant feed......is there anyone else out there exclusively expressing....how do you cope, and why do you do it?

Cheers,
Kat - :wave:

[AM]

Nope, not expressing, i'm really useless at it... :o

But... I take my hat off to you, What a huge, amazing commitment you are taking on for your baby!! :yelclap: :yelclap: :yelclap:

[AM]

O, and from where I stand, I think you definitely ARE a breastfeeding mum, you're just doing things a little differently...

[Milly]

Hi there!

I have a good friend who is exclusively expressing. She did so for a variety of reasons. She has been going for nearly 5 months now. She often does not know where she fits either. I have referred her to the Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA) website forums who have a few other mums who exclusively express too. There is actually a thread on the forums dedicated to that. If you go the the ABA website http://www.breastfeeding.asn.au, you will find that there are actually a few like you. Just do a forum search. I saw it a little while ago, but one mum there is very active with it and got the thread originally going. The ABA also have a book available through their Mother's Direct section dedicated to mums who exclusively express. You are definetly not alone at all:hugs: .

What a great job you are doing! :yelclap:

[Rainbowbrite]

Nope, not expressing, i'm really useless at it... :o

But... I take my hat off to you, What a huge, amazing commitment you are taking on for your baby!!

I agree, you are a fantastic BF mum :yelclap:

I'm also useless at expressing, i struggle to get 50 mls after expressing for an hour.

[tickle]

I too have no idea how you do it. There is definately an art to it and I don't have the gift. You are doing a great thing for your Oliver.:D

[blueeyes]

My SIL expressed for ten months solid. This took her supply to just over 12 months. She did it because she suffered from nipple vaspospasm. Diagnosed late and by then there were so many other issues that they had to bottle feed the boy. She was so adamant on bf that she continued. It used to be funny hearing the boob 'vibrator' as we called it.
Very remarkable job that she did, I am so proud of her. I hope that she can feed her new little one due in a month.
Keep up the great work Kat, it is so wonderful your dedication. At the moment it probably seem tedious to do, but it will be all over before you know it.
Mel

[cheezelkat]

You're still a BF mum :smiliedance: :yelclap:

I too applaud you for expressing. I tried and got too lazy to keep cleaning everything. It's so great you can do that for your son!

[Mischief]

Thanks for the support guys. I still feel pretty lonely in my little pumping world though! LOL Doesnt seem like many people do it.

Thanks for the link to the ABA forum, I signed up last night and we'll see maybe Ill get lots of tips and tricks there! :D

[Mischief]

Hi Shezi,

We offered Oliver a bottle of EBM at about 4 weeks old....mainly so that I could have a rest sometimes of a night and Steven would get up.

My main tip with bottle feeding was a little trick my hubby discovered....trace the teat down their lip like you do with your nipple...then rest it on their lower lip....bubs sucks it in...NO MILK IN IT YET....then tilt the bottle up so the milk flows in.

As for expressing, get an electric pump, even if you dont do it often, an electric pump is much faster....its noisy, but it wont hurt your hands! Massage your breast down towards the nipple...gently. Lean forward...Gravity is a wonderful thing...Oh and even after you think you have gotten all the milk keep massaging and pumping for 5 minutes or so afterwards, you could get a second let down. :)

Goodluck, and congrats with your new pregnancy! :D

[MummyCharmzy]

yep I'm exclusively expressing for my 3rd child, I try to get her ont he breast sometimes but she just dummy sucks for a minute then spits it out.

I expressed for 5 months for number 1 as he was premmie and never learnt to bf

I expressed for 3.5 months for number 2 as she was tongue tied and premmie and never mastered it either and was losing too much weight while i was trying to bf

And I started expressing for number 3 as she wasnt gaining any weight, then she got nipple confusion and refused the breast completely for a few days, then would only take one side and it would take up to 2.5hrs to latch her on each time, and now she just can't get on properly as she has a bottle all the time.. so exclusively expressing ONCE AGAIN.. I really thought 3rd time lucky this time but no luck.

Speaking of which I have to go express now.

I've seeked a lot of help already with savannah to get her feeding and am going back to to lactation day stay for the THIRD TIME this week but after this week I think if we arent bf I'm just going to continue expressing for as long as I can but not keep trying to bf. With 4 kids aged 4 and under it is completely draining me atm!

[Mischief]

Charmzy - You are amazing! I dont know how you find the time to express with 4 under 4! I have enough trouble with 1 little bubba!

Goodluck today with the LC, let me know how you go!

[bronny-jane]

Thanks for the support guys. I still feel pretty lonely in my little pumping world though! LOL Doesnt seem like many people do it.



i plan on bf this bub, but failed at it before, but im keen on the baby getting breast milk, so if all goes wrong or im not comfy with it, i'll be joining you :D

[aliinwonderland]

Hi Kat, you are not alone!!

I have been exclusively expressing for my little one who is now 7.5 months since he was one week old.

I did it initally because he fell asleep soon I put him on breasts and he was not gaining enough weight! Since then, I was like a cow expressing all day and feed him with a bottle!

I went back to work full time when he was 2 months old and gave the expressed milk to my mum in the morning, and expressing at work!

From he was 4 months onwards, I have been getting milk ducted from time to time, and it makes expressing time longer! I am managing the problem with herbal supplements!

At the moment I am expressing 4 times a day - 06:00, 11:30, 16:00, and 21:00 to keep up the supply!

Keep up the work Kat!!!

[Mischief]

Hi Alinwonderland

Lovely to meet you and welcome to bubhub!

What do you mean by milk ducted?

You are doing an amazing job keeping going for so long....each month I say, next month is IT, but I really want to give him the protection of my milk for as long as possible.

[aliinwonderland]

Kat, from time to time I could feel fine tubes in my breast while massaging and expressing. And no matter how how much I massage it, I still cannot get the milk out as much as I should (eg if I could expressing 150ml normally from my left, all of the sudden, it dropped to 50ml)!

This is due to the milk was clogged in the milk tubes from not expressing as frequently as I should, as I dropped to expressing 3 times a day only and not draining them out well!!