Exclusively Pumping and Trying to Nurse Again

Are you lot thinking about exclusively pumping breast milk for your baby? When I started out, I had no thought what I was doing and pieced together information from net searches. Here is all of the information y'all need in one place – what exclusive pumping is, the pros and cons of exclusive pumping vs nursing, and how to exclusively pump breast milk.

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What is Sectional Pumping?

Exclusive pumping is breastfeeding using a breast pump and bottle.

Exclusively pumping moms pump breast milk around the clock to feed to their babies via a canteen. They do not nurse their babies for true feedings, though they may comfort nurse.

Exclusive pumpers may supplement with formula or feed their babies solid foods. "Exclusive" doesn't refer to the babe only getting chest milk, similar it does in the phrase "exclusively breastfeeding."

The term "exclusive pumping" means that the babe is not nursed but is fed breast milk, and is meant to differentiate sectional pumpers from (for example) moms that mostly nurse but pump at work.

Why Exclusively Pump?

Moms exclusively pump for many difference reasons. Some of the more than common reasons for exclusively pumping include:

Having a baby that refuses to nurse
Difficulty with weight proceeds/baby doesn't transfer milk well while nursing
Physical reasons (such as cleft palate)
Infant was in the NICU after nascence and so had difficulty establishing nursing
Baby has gotten teeth, and biting has become an issue
Desire to provide baby with breast milk just aversion to nursing (sometimes due to sexual abuse, sometimes only personal preference)

Exclusively Pumping vs Nursing (aka Exclusively Pumping vs Breastfeeding)

First, exclusive pumping IS breastfeeding – it's just not nursing. When you pump and feed your baby the milk you pumped, yous are feeding from your breasts – just not straight. However, when people are asking this question, they ofttimes say "breastfeeding" when they hateful "nursing."

And then – is it okay to just pump and not nurse?

Yes. Exclusive pumping is a perfectly valid option for feeding your baby.

Withal, there are advantages and disadvantages. Hither are the exclusively pumping vs nursing pros and cons.

Exclusive Pumping Benefits

You always know how much your infant is eating (so no "is she getting enough milk?" worries) – when you're nursing, yous have to guess unless you weigh your baby before and afterwards feedings.
Y'all know how much milk you lot are producing and can come across trends over time (especially if you rails this information in an app). This way you tin take action more than chop-chop if your supply starts to driblet. Nursing moms have to guess if supply is an issue or their baby is fussy for other reasons.
You don't have to worry about your infant biting, because breast pumps don't have teeth!
You lot are more in control of deciding when to wean, as chest pumps tend non to exist as attached to the breastfeeding relationship.

Exclusive Pumping Challenges

It's a big time commitment – exclusive pumping requires almost 120 minutes of pumping per day, in improver to the time yous spend bottle feeding your baby chest milk. With nursing, the milk product and feeding steps are obviously combined.
Pumping when y'all have a baby to have care of can be challenging.
Information technology requires a lot of free energy and effort to wash all of the bottles and pump parts. Nursing moms have zip to wash; formula feeding moms only take bottles.

How Does Exclusive Pumping Piece of work?

If y'all're feeling overwhelmed by how to become most exclusively pumping, here is what you need to know.

How often should I be pumping? And for how long?

This depends on how old your babe is.

When you're exclusively pumping, you should exist pumping for nigh 120 minutes per day (this is a minimum – you can pump more if you desire to).

Even so, if your baby is a newborn, you'll want to pump more often and for shorter periods of fourth dimension than if you accept an older baby. Read this if yous have a newborn (0-3 months sometime), and this if your infant is older. Here are some sample pumping schedules.

Once you've expressed your milk, here are guidelines for storing and using it.

What practise I need to exclusively pump?

The one matter you definitely need is a chest pump – preferably a double electrical one (and hopefully covered by insurance)! I wrote virtually my opinions of some of the different options here.

There are also lot of breastfeeding products that tin can brand the hours upon hours that you spend pumping much, much easier. The about important ane is a hands-free pumping bra.

Other than that, some corking investments include:

Extra sets of pump parts
Breast pads
A nursing cover (then you tin can pump outside your business firm)
A lactation massager (in case of plugged ducts or to help with letdowns)

I'm not pumping enough milk. What should I practise?

Fear not! At that place are lots of things that you can practise to get your milk supply up. I wrote upwards a long post about what you lot can do (what you can eat, herbs yous can accept, etc.) to increment your supply one most how to get the most milk out of each session (compressions, etc.), and one well-nigh how to get additional letdowns.

At a high level, some things that you can try include:

Herbs (such as fenugreek or blessed thistle)
Eating oatmeal
Medication (such every bit domperidone or Reglan)
Lactation cookies
Power pumping

If you're experiencing supply drops when you get your period, here are some things that you can do to attempt to mitigate the issue.

If you lot need to supplement with formula, here is how to practise it if you are exclusively pumping.

I'm having nipple pain or breast pain. What is going on and how tin can I brand it cease?

Having breast pain equally an sectional pumper is the worst since you tin can't have a break from pumping – you take to keep doing it every couple of hours regardless.

If you lot're having breast pain related to pumping, the beginning thing that I would check is your breast shield size. Pumping with the wrong size chest shields tin impairment your nipples. Here is a great sizing guide from Medela that can aid you make up one's mind if your flanges are too small or too big.

Here are some tips for how to treat and prevent a variety of issues that tin can occur when you're breastfeeding:

Clogged milk ducts
Mastitis
Galactoceles
Thrush
Milk blisters (otherwise known as blebs)
Nipple vasospasms
Cracked and Bleeding Nipples
Full general nipple hurting

This is really hard. How can I make my life easier?

It is difficult, but at that place are and then many little things that you lot can practice to make information technology easier.

Some of the things yous tin practice include: seeing if your infant volition take the bottles that yous pump into, setting up a "pumping station" so that everything you demand is in ane place, and getting comfortable with pumping on the become and then you lot tin can leave of the business firm. (Speaking of getting out the house, you should also know how to pump and bulldoze, travel with chest milk, and pump and fly.)

Equally your baby gets older, one affair that tin make exclusive pumping easier is to drib pumping sessions. Here's how to do it without losing your milk supply.

I desire to stop pumping and wean from the pump.

When you lot're wean from the pump, y'all'll want to gradually drop pumping sessions – first yous'll get down to three sessions about 8 hours autonomously, and so to two pumping sessions 12 hours apart. Then you drop either the morn or dark session – whichever is more than abrasive to you, and reduce the final remaining pumping session past fourth dimension or volume. More info here.

Hither is information on transitioning your infant off of breast milk when you wean.

I am the but person I know that is exclusively pumping and I feel solitary.

If yous're feeling alone, try reading some exclusive pumping stories from other exclusive pumpers. Also, join the newsletter and our Facebook group! You are non alone!

More than exclusive pumping tips hither.

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Source: https://exclusivepumping.com/exclusively-pumping-guide/