When to start expressing? AND Medela Swing - dual action - is it so much better??

[Juicylucytoo]

Am currently 33weeks and intending to breastfeed. I am looking to invest in a breast pump so that DH can participate in the feeding.

2 questions:

1. Breastfeeding advisor said you should BF exclusively for the first 6 weeks - have other people tried to introduce bottle feeding of expressed milk sooner?
   
   
2. I think I want to go for an electric pump. The swing sounds like it's the ones with all the whistles and bells, but do I really need DUAL ACTION (2 speeds simulating babies feeding action)?? What other pump would you recommend.
   
   Thanks for any and all advise. Sorry for long post and lots of questions!

[amiandlils]

Hi jlt

I think there are several schools of thought about when to introduce a bottle, but I gave my dd a bottle at around 3 weeks old having followed the advice in the Baby Whisperer book. She took it without batting an eyelid and it in no way affected her ability to latch on. I carried on giving her a bottle of ebm every now and then just to make sure she didn't forget. I'm not totally sure what 'nipple confusion' is supposed to be but she didn't have it for sure!

I would definitely recommend an electric pump, and I used a Medela Swing which was fabulous. As a first time breastfeeder I was a little nervous about expressing milk but the Swing couldn't have been easier. Very pricey though so I bought one on eBay for half the price.

Good luck with birth, baby and breastfeeding! x

[kiskidee]

you may find that after your baby gets here, that attempting to express before 6 wks is another job to try to fit into a day just when the arrival of the baby has thrown an almighty spanner into your routine. so from a purely practical point of view, exclusively bf is probably easier. have your dh bond with you and the baby by him making your teas, sandwiches, handing you the remote... no honestly. i found having new baby so shattering i needed someone to help look after me. then let your dh bond with your baby by taking him for walks when you sleep or sleep on his chest in the evenings between feeds, less dewy eyed, burping, nappy changes....

imho, dh/dp feeding the baby to bond or help out is highly overrated. not feeding dd didn't make my dh bond any less.

if you think you will express for a long time, an electric dual action pump is handy and worth it. i used the ameda lactaline for over a year with my dd after i went back to work. found it excellent.

[kiskidee]

ps. dd took a bottle till 10 wks and then stopped so giving a bottle early was no guage of what will happen a few wks down the road.

[yomellamoHelly]

This time around I expressed from the day my milk came in to keep my supply ahead of my dss needs and therefore to avoid the whole growth spurt /cluster feeding lot of nightmares that I experienced with ds1. Consequently tried him on a bottle at 4 days. He wasn't at all fussed, but it sent my boobs solid for a couple of days so I avoided a repeat for a while. Didn't regularly start giving him a bottle until he was 6 weeks, but he's never had a problem with taking one.
Ds1 had a bottle (formula) from day 10 because of his first growth spurt. I didn't know better so didn't start expressing until he was 4 months.
I used the Avent manual pump, so can't comment on electric pumps. Both times I've found it really quick and simple to use.

[MarsLady]

The Almeda Lactaline is good. Go onto the Breastfeeding Network to get info on the best way to express. You'll thank me!

[Juicylucytoo]

Thanks everyone.

I've also come across recommendations for the Avent ISIS IQ. I don't suppose there is much between all three.

Will check out the Breastfeeding Network website now and add to my favourites for later

[Rochwen]

I started expressing in hospital because they wanted to top up dd with formula but I wanted her to have EBM. I worked very well and dd never had any sort of nipple confusion, she knew whether she drank from a bottle or my breast. Expressing worked very well for us as it meant hubby could feed her occassionally and I could get a longer stretch of sleep, also I stocked up on EBM in the freezer so when dd had a growthspurt I could just top her up with a bottle of EBM without loosing our routine.

I used the AVENT hand pump and it worked well. Electric pumps I found quite painful (but I do know women who thought it the other way around).

[LittleMonkiesMum]

I tried avent manual pump and hated it, switched to basic medela electric and like it a lot more. Aren't the big heavy duty pumps they use in hospital medela?

[chocolatechipmonkey]

Yes, Littlemonkiesmum, the big ones they use in hospitals are Medela and when my ds3 was born 8 weeks prem, I ended up sending dh out to buy me an Avent Isis manual pump because I found it worked better for me than the Medela pumps! It was hard work on the hands though! When I went back to work I got the Avent IQ Duo and loved it but it was VERY pricey and probably not worth it just to give the occasional bottle.
Juicylucytoo, I had to express from day 1 because ds3 was in special care. It certainly didn't cause any problems for ds3 but as kiskidee says, it is a terrible faff when you have a small baby and it's so much easier to put them straight to the breast. My ds3 did end up refusing bottles, rather than refusing the breast but he is a very fussy individual generally! I do think that he may have started refusing bottles because he was mostly given them by MIL when dh and I were going out. I have watched her bottlefeed dh's niece and she seemed to be forcing the bottle on the poor little mite and I know that ds3 would have very little tolerance for that kind of behaviour. If I ever do have another baby, I will make sure that he/she is given the odd bottle by me or dh, not exclusively by her!